Created By: Dean Koontz & Kevin J. Anderson
Adapted By: Chuck Dixon
Art By: Brett Booth
Colors By: Color Dojo, Andrew Dalhouse and Mohan
Lettering By: Bill Tortolini
Ballantine Books
There isn’t a person I know who hasn’t spent at least one night cowering in the dark in fear of, what I consider the most recognizable monster around, Frankenstein. His dark, dead eyes staring at you from between your closet doors. His immorality and pent-up anger radiating around you as your anxiety erupts into a fit of sleeplessness and night terrors. Yup, those were the days.
Fast forward two centuries from that thunderous night when Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s monster came to life and meet Deucalion, aka Frankenstein of the now. He has spent countless years separated from what we consider proper society, and has found what is likely the closest to inner peace he can. That is until he is found by a messenger sent from New Orleans with news of Victor’s continuing survival; having seemingly found a means by which to become practically immortal. Unable to allow what he imagines is a horrifying reality be laced upon mankind at the hands of his mad-creator, Deucalion makes a trip back to the city in order to track down the man, who now calls himself Victor Helios of Helios Biovision, and end his miserable existence.
Meanwhile, a series of grizzly murders involving stolen body parts has Detective O’Connor and her partner Maddison on a wild goose chase. Everything leads to something, they just can’t seem to pinpoint what that is exactly. But, the longer they take the higher chance they have of another capture, unless another mad-man gets his hands on the murderer first that is.
In case you weren’t aware up until now, this take on Frankenstein was originally created by Dean Koontz and Kevin J. Anderson and written in novel form. Needless to say, that means there are a lot of side plots happening alongside all this madness involving a ton of crazy cool characters that play a huge role in Prodigal Son‘s finale. So, while reading be patient because some answers won’t come until Volume 2 but, I promise you they are worth the terror and distress they will cause until then.
The title Prodigal Son is odd but, very meaningful when you compare it’s original form to the tale inside this comic. The Prodigal Son was in the bible, also known as Lost Son and many other names, and spoke of a boy who harassed his father into giving him his inheritance before death. The father agrees but is met with a man who ruined his fortune quickly in an attempt to live lavishly. Despite his sons obvious issues with money, upon returning home the son is greeted with a feast and forgiven. In the case of dear old Victor and Deucalion I believe Victor to play the role of the son in the biblical version and Deucalion that of the father. Despite his knowledge of Victor’s insane antics and schemes, Deucalion allowed Victor to live hundreds of years ago and is therefore partly to blame for whatever happens next – unless he can have Victor’s head before then, of course. Victor has taken his life for granted, experienced everything but nothing at the same time. He has crossed the line now and with Deucalion’s power and determination there should be nothing stopping him from committing this necessary evil, except that damned bit added in where he isn’t able to lay a hand on his master…
There is something to be said about a person who can effectively and accurately adapt a novel into any other form, especially that 
of a comic. There is a ton of detail in novels and to break that all down into bits and pieces, then manage to find a way to piece the puzzle back together with a plot that will impress both familiar and unfamiliar fans of the novel, well that is just plain old impressive. Dixon captured the essence of each characters their dialogue and presence immensely well; nothing gets me laughing more than O’Connor and Maddison’s back and forth. He has also managed to make these seemingly separate stories involving many questionable characters fit together smoothly and without confusion. And here I am, unable to even summarize a 100-and-some-odd page comic is less than 500 words…
The art, by the immensely talented Brett Booth, is simply breath taking and worthy of attention. It is almost pure color and has very little in terms of dark inking. This allowed allowed the colorists some room to show off their shading skills; which are impeccable by the way. It has that little touch of anime that everyone adores in both the stature of the characters and the overall feel of their expressions and attire. Character movement felt fluid and natural, while panel and scene changes never felt overbearing or too drastic.
Overall, I really enjoyed every aspect of this series thus far. This modern take on Frankenstein will have your veins pumping and that kid terror returning in heavy doses. Every member of the team who worked on this book has clearly put a lot of themselves into it because the amount of emotion and sheer anticipation it inspires could not be provided if everyone wasn’t totally on board.
I recommend this to anyone who was a fan of Frankenstein or Koontz’s novel. Frankenstein: Prodigal Son Volume 1 was made to please and includes an introduction from Koontz, an original comic by Koontz and a gorgeous image gallery all of which make it worthy of a buy. Rating: 9 completed crosswords out of 10.
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