Frankenstein is an
undead body composed of parts from several corpses stitched together, created by Victor Frankenstein some time in the 19th century. He was assumed dead in the
Arctic when he sank beneath the ice, but he survived and swam to America, having "many adventures". He was revived by Victor Adam. Frankenstein vowed vengeance against Adam for restoring him to life, successfully killing him, but accidentally bringing about a coma for
Doctor Thirteen's wife Maria in the process. In particular, Frankenstein became a frequent enemy of
Melmoth, whom he referred to as the Ringmaster of the Circus of Maggots. In a climactic battle in 1870, Frankenstein faced Melmoth and stopped him from destroying
a town with maggot-hominids. The fight took place on a moving train, which was derailed during the conflict, and Frankenstein's fate was unknown. In 2005, a high school student, called 'Uglyhead' by all the other children, acquires telepathic abilities through contact with the
Sheeda, which he uses to torment his peers. At the senior prom, the now-docile students are killed by the Sheeda maggot-hominids. This causes the return of Frankenstein, who had survived in a state of hibernation underneath the town, who makes short work of the maggot-hominids and the boy, before burning down the school to cover the bodies. Afterwards, Frankenstein tracks down Melmoth and makes his way to Mars through an "Erdel Gate" (a reference to
Saul Erdel, the scientist who first transported the
Martian Manhunter to Earth). On Mars, Frankenstein confronts Melmoth once again. Frankenstein frees the children Melmoth has enslaved to work in his gold mines, and feeds Melmoth to the flesh-eating, praying mantis-like horses of Mars. Before he is consumed, Melmoth reveals that it was not lightning that brought the monster to life, but several drops of his own immortal blood, sold to Frankenstein's creator, that still course through Frankenstein's veins. In the third issue of the series, Frankenstein meets an old acquaintance greatly resembling the "
Bride" in
Bride of Frankenstein, albeit with two extra arms grafted onto her by the Red Swami, a supervillain who brainwashed her into thinking she was the reincarnation of an assassin goddess. She is now an agent of the Super Human Advanced Defense Executive (
S.H.A.D.E.), a secret government agency, which temporarily drafts Frankenstein as well. Of their previous relationship, she says "It's nothing personal, but you were never my type". In the final issue, he stows away on a time-ship which brings him to the Sheeda realm in the distant future. There, he destroys their world-destroying fleet, kills the Sheeda-Queen's time-yacht's steersman, and hijacks her ship to the present. Once in the present, though,
Klarion the Witch Boy gains control of Frankenstein using a witch-brand and forces him to take the castle back to the future. He appears briefly in
Infinite Crisis #7, which takes place one week after the
Frankenstein miniseries. He is seen fighting against
General Wade Eiling. Frankenstein is armed with a three-foot-long sword, which he claims once belonged to the
Archangel Michael, and a large antique pistol, which he calls his 'steam-gun'. A character called
Young Frankenstein has appeared in
Teen Titans as a member of the team during the "Lost Year" covered by
52. Young Frankenstein is apparently killed by
Black Adam during
World War III, but actually survives. Frankenstein and S.H.A.D.E appear in
Final Crisis #3, also written by Grant Morrison. He again appears two issues later, leading a squad of superheroes against
Darkseid's forces, who are led by
Kalibak. He is also seen in the final issue fighting in humanity's last stand before
Superman gets the Miracle Machine working. Frankenstein is immune to Darkseid's weapon, the
Anti-Life Equation, because he is already dead. Frankenstein confronts
Solomon Grundy in the latter's current limited series, and again during the
Blackest Night. Grundy, having been transformed into a
Black Lantern, rips out Frankenstein's heart. Due to having an extra one in his chest, Frankenstein survives this attack. A version of the character appears in a spinoff of the 2011 alternate-timeline crossover event
Flashpoint (comics). The three-issue series was titled
Flashpoint: Frankenstein & the Creatures of the Unknown. As part of
The New 52 (a 2011 reboot of the DC Comics universe), a new ongoing series
Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. was released, based on the
Seven Soldiers version of Frankenstein. It was initially written by
Jeff Lemire and drawn by Alberto Ponticelli.
Matt Kindt replaced Lemire with issue #10 and stayed with the book until it was cancelled with issue #16. The character later joins the
Justice League Dark. The character appears next in seven issues of both the
New 52 Batman and Robin and the
DC Rebirth Superman, both written by
Peter Tomasi and drawn by
Patrick Gleason. Later in 2018, the
Seven Soldiers briefly reunite in
Sideways, then in 2019
Frankenstein forms a team of fellow monsters to once again stop Melmoth in
Gotham City Monsters. His
DC Rebirth history with the Bride revealed that they had a son that went homicidal and their relationship was strained when Frankenstein was forced to kill it. In the present, Father Time of S.H.A.D.E. reanimated the Spawn of Frankenstein and it was traced to Castle Frankenstein by Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein. As it begged for death, the Bride put her child out of his misery and left S.H.A.D.E. afterwards. ==Powers and abilities==