Spider-Man Unlimited #21
A Real Boy
Peter Parker arrives at the Daily Bugle to drop off some photos. Joe Robertson tells Peter that J. Jonah Jameson wants to see him. In Jonah’s office, the newspaper publisher assigned Peter on an assignment to the Swiss Alps to investigate experiments in cloning with reporter Betty Brant.
Later, Peter wakes up from a nightmare on the flight to Switzerland. Betty asks Peter what’s wrong and he tells her that the assignment has him on edge because he has issues with clones.[1] They are soon driving to the castle owned by a scientist named Walston Kraft, who has made a breakthrough in cloning technology and has invited other scientists and the press to see his work. Along the way, Peter elaborates on why he has an issue with cloning. While he can understand the potential benefits of cloning he is concerned how such technology can be abused.
When Peter and Betty finally arrive they are welcomed by Doctor Kraft who tells them they will have to share a room. As they mingle with the gathered scientists onsite, they determine that there are a lot of scientists that are concerned with Kraft’s work and there have been a number of strange rumors surrounding him as well. They decide to sneak past a roped off area that is marked off-limits to the guests. Half-way up the stairs, they are stopped by the Frankenstein’s Monster and another massive brute named Ivan who warn them to go downstairs before they get hurt.
Later that evening, Peter Parker decides to go and investigate and sneaks out of his room. He decides to wear dark clothing instead of his Spider-Man costume so that Betty doesn’t become suspicious if anyone reports seeing the wall-crawler snooping around the castle. Climbing up the outside of the tower, Peter peaks into a window and sees the Frankenstein’s Monster standing in front of a cloning vat. He can’t wait until his mind is transferred into a new clone body so he can finally be rid of his monstrous form. Peter narrowly avoids getting observed and decides that he’s seen enough.
The next morning, Peter meets with Betty to compare notes and suggests to Betty that the two guards they ran into earlier were likely keeping them from Kraft’s lab and that he’s probably already started his cloning technologies.[2] Betty also says that she heard rumors around town about a Baroness Frankenstein who lives in a castle fifteen minutes away. Although they find the idea that this woman is related to the characters in the Mary Shelly novel, Peter decides to investigate this Frankenstein woman to see what he can find out. When Peter arrives at the castle, he finds Victoria Frankenstein trapped in a room by a pile of rubble. She tells him that she has been trapped for weeks and is only alive thanks to her little ones, who were able to bring her food and water but unable to free her. Peter turns and is horrified by the sight of the “little ones”, tiny humanoid creatures.[3] While back at Kraft’s castle, the Franeknstein’s Monster waits patiently for Kraft to come through with his promise. The monster finds himself embracing life for the first time and looks forward to being called something other than a monster.
Back at Castle Frankenstein, Peter frees Victoria Frankenstein and she tells him about her family history, particularly as it pertains to the creation of her great-great-grandfather, Victor Frankenstein, who created the Frankenstein’s Monster. Apparently, the Mary Shelly story was true, as it was related to her by Victor’s brother Ernst. She tells him how the Monster was frozen in ice in the late 18th century and was only recently freed. The monster was tormented by her father Ludwig and her grandfather Basil. She later took the creature into her care since, until the arrival of Ivan, the servant of her great-grandfather, Vincent. The two brutes formed a friendship that was almost ruined thanks to Vincent. However, Ivan eventually returned to tell the Monster of a method that can make them normal humans. Shortly after the pair had left, Ivan returned to the castle and trapped Victoria.[4] Whatever the case, Victoria knows that Ivan is no friend to the Monster and Peter agrees. That night, he returns to Kraft’s castle to investigate things further. Using his spider-powers to break into Kraft’s lab, Peter is horrified to see that the scientist is using his cloning technology to create an army of Frankenstein’s Monster clones. On his way out of the lab, he spots Betty talking to Ivan and the Monster, asking if they have found Peter. As Ivan is leading her away, Peter leaps down and tells the Monster everything he has seen. Ivan comes back in time to hear what Parker is telling the Monster and calls him a liar. However, the Monster sees who the real liars are and attacks Ivan. When Peter tries to help he is struck by Ivan so hard he is sent flying out a window and is only saved thanks to his ability to cling to surfaces. The two combatants end up tumbling down into the ballroom, frightening all the scientists and Betty.
By the time Peter arrives, Frankenstein has snapped Ivan’s neck for his betrayal his their friendship. Upset that he killed his only friend, the Monster turns his attentions to Peter, who insists that Ivan was never his friend and takes him up to Kraft’s lab to prove his claims. Seeing all the clones of himself, the Monster is horrified to see this but wants to have his new cloned body. Peter can relate to Frankenstein’s Monster’s situation, pointing out that despite his monstrous form, he is a human being. He also explains that there was a time he thought he was a clone and it made Peter feel less human and less responsible, for his actions saying that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be.[4] That’s when Kraft unleashes his clone army on the pair. The monster lights the lab on fire to destroy the lab. The pair fight off the clones and eventually have to flee when the fire rages out of control. Ultimately, the fire destroys the castle and everything still inside. Later, Peter tries to convince the Monster of its own humanity, but the Monster doesn’t think Peter will understand. To illustrate, he has Peter look their reflections in a nearby pond. Peter tries to understand what it must be like to look like the Monster but discovers that he can’t. That’s when Betty and some firefighters arrive and when Peter tries to explain that only he and the Monster escaped, he notices that the Monster has disappeared. On the flight back home, Peter finds he can’t sleep as he thinks about the Frankenstein’s Monster’s plight and what answers the creature might find while trying to find its own humanity. While back in the ruins of the castle, Doctor Kraft emerges from the rubble alive and well and vows to destroy the monster.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Frankenstein’s Monster, Betty Brant, Victoria Frankenstein, (in flashback) J. Jonah Jameson, Joe Robertson, Ben Urich
Continuity Notes
Peter’s issue with clones stems from the recently ended Clone Saga that took place in the main Spider-Man books.
These “little ones” are Victoria Frankenstein’s “children” that were created in Frankenstein #18.
After seeing Betty in a bathrobe, Peter reminds himself that he is married. He married Mary Jane Watson in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21. However, years later, Mephisto erased their marriage from existence in Amazing Spider-Man #545. In this new timeline, Peter would likely remind himself that he is in a committed relationship instead of being a married man.
There is a lot of Frankenstein history to unpack here are the facts:
The origin of the Frankenstein’s Monster and its subsequent imprisonment in ice were chronicled in Frankenstein #1-3.
Ernst Frankenstein was revealed to have told the story of the Monster to Mary Shelly in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #37.
Victoria states that the Frankenstein’s Monster was trapped in ice for over a century. The monster was revived in the modern age in Monsters Unleashed #2. This story states that this took place in the 20th century. Per the Frankenstein’s Monster entry in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #4, a number of the Monster’s appearances happened prior to the start of the Modern Age and are locked into the 20th Century. The creatures first appeared in the Modern Age is identified as his appearance in Giant-Size Werewolf #2.
Victoria Frankensein’’s family tree is unaffected by the Sliding Timescale. This is because many of the Frankenstein’s (including Victoria) use a formula that reduces their aging process. This is will be explained in Hulk Monster-Sized Special #1
The Monster fought Vincent Frankenstein from Frankenstein #9 to 11.
The Monster later encountered Ivan in Frankenstein #10-11.
Peter is, of course, referring to the Clone Saga again. Specifically, the time when he was tricked into thinking he was the clone in Spectacular Spider-Man #226, and that Ben Reilly — Peter’s clone — was the real Peter Parker. They learned this was false when Reilly was killed by the Green Goblin in Spider-Man #75. As it turned out Osborn was responsible for the phony test results as seen in Spider-Man: The Osborn Journal #1.
Continuity Errors
Peter acts as though he’s never met the Frankenstein’s Monster even though the pair worked together in Marvel Team-Up #36-37.
Victoria states that Frankenstein’s Monster was tormented by her father Ludwig and grandfather Basil. This is not accurate as neither man had direct interactions with the monster. They did, however, abuse the scientific discoveries of the Frankenstein family. Basil attempted to create monsters for the Nazis during World War II as seen in Invaders #31. While Basil, in the modern age, invented a means of creating a duplicate of the Silver Surfer in Silver Surfer #7.
