Frankenstein's Womb

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"You are born of the dead; Just like me." Frankenstein's Womb, the most recent in the Apparat line of graphic novellas by Warren Ellis, tells the story of the birth of the future. Well, the early Nineteenth Century's future, our present. The tale is told throughout time, but both begins and holds its base in 1816 with Mary soon-to-be-Shelly Wollenstonecraft Godwin, Percy Shelly, and her pregnant stepsister Claire Clairmont travelling through Germany. It is here that they find Castle Frankenstein, which Mary enters, and a story of alchemy, electricity, destiny, and the origins of today is conveyed to her by the monster that made her famous, Frankenstein. "The future, seen through an old windowpane." Like so much that he writes, especially within Avatar's Apparat line, Ellis is more concerned here with The Idea than The Story, which makes Frankenstein's Womb something of a disappointment the first time you read it, unlike his previous Crecy, which was a gas from the very first read. Fortunately, The Idea is enough to make the lack of story worthwhile, and upon a second or third reading, it's all a bit clearer and makes for a much more satisfying read. You come to realize that The Idea is The Story and actually worthier for it. While it is certainly not the first thing I would recommend to an Ellis-virgin, it has grown on me and I cannot help but be proud that it lives on my shelves.

B+

- Dave Conkey / MOVEMENT North