I ART FRAZER IRVING

The latest batch of Frankie pages contains some of my favourite elements. Firstly, there’s the shift in the point of view denoted by the wonky panel borders at the end pages. This is where we get the Monster’s angle on the story, twisted and disturbed as it is, reflected in the shape and edge of the panels.

The second aspect is the view the Monster has of Victor when he first awakes. When I read the book and I learned about the shifting points of view I just knew I had to do a scene where the same events were seen from 2 different sets of eyes. We saw earlier the horrifying and creeping fear of the Monster approaching Victor on his bed, and his panic as he ran. On the first page of the Monster’s recollection we see the same thing from its point of view, neatly tying the two events and giving us a visualisation of the Monster’s intent/personality. In Victor’s scene the monster is lumbering and fearsome, almost predatory. In the Monster’s scene all we get is confusing and panic, a sadness even, as the only other living thing in the room (indeed, the entire universe as far as the Monster is concerned) abandons it with no explanation.

I dig those two aspects because they are inherently Comics, as opposed to storyboards for movies or illustrations to be completed with text. They are telling the story and its themes with drawings and graphic shapes in the form of panels, and it’s great to play with that when inspiration strikes.