Advance Review: Prometheus in Chains #1

From Red 5 Comics

Coming soon from Red 5 Comics is a new horror series - Prometheus in Chains - and I had the chance to have an advanced look.

Doctors Victor & Elizabeth Frankenstein fled Nazi Germany in 1939. Their work on the Manhattan Project helped bring down the Reich and usurred in a new age of promise and possibility fueled by the splitting of the atom. For Victor, that promise became a curse. He blames himself for the cancer that took the life of his love. That loss drives him into a spiral of addiction, depression and obsession with bringing her back. This is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein as you've never imagined it.

(W) Richard Davis (A) Jordan Direnzo (CA) Les Lindon Garner

Taking the classic tale of Frankenstein and adding a new twist, Prometheus in Chains #1 starts the ball rolling with tragedy as we get introduced to the fallout of the death of Victor’s wife.

Interspersed with some well-played-out flashbacks, we look at their relationship, how they got to where they are now, and the devastating reaction to the death.

We can see what will happen, and this issue really hammers home the emotional part of the story. Victor is in a bad place and possibly not in the right frame of mind to make these decisions, but the name is key, and how things are happening means we know the immediate aftermath. What happens after will be interesting, as this is more of love and despair than the original story.

The art takes excellent directions, with clever play with panels and page layouts. There are also some interesting angles as Victor falls deeper down the rabbit hole.

I really enjoyed the colouring and lighting choices in this book, and it combined the elements of the time and the tone of the emotions being felt.

A dark and emotional beginning to this classic story.