Amazon has the various collections of Briefer's Frankenstein work listed as different editions of the same book but they are not and each is a very different collection. Indeed one can not review each collection separately due to this mix-up. So below are to be found details on each one.
IDW's The Chilling Archive of Horror Comics: Dick Briefer's Frankenstein gives the best overview Briefer's humorous and horrific takes on the Monster, with selections of both. All selections are in color printed on flat comic paper; it is like reading something from the spinner rack at the local 5 & 10. Features: Amply-illustrated multi-page introduction by Craig Yoe. (Each volume of The Chilling Archive of Horror Comics is top-notch and is highly recommended.)
Dark Horse's Frankenstein: The Mad Science of Dick Briefer is a collection of the complete first seven issues Briefer's humorous take on the Monster. All stories are in color printed on flat paper but not comic paper; it is like reading a well done trade paperback. Features: One-page forward by John Arcudi. (This is a very nice collection and is recommended. It is interesting to note that Craig Yoe, the driving force behind IDW's The Chilling Archive of Horror Comics, is given a special thanks in this collection and thus to this reader that shows that this has some of the "B sides" of Briefer's humorous Monster work that Yoe could not fit in the IDW collection.)
Idea Man Production's The Monster of Frankenstein: Dick Breifer's 1950s Horror Comic Epic is a collection of Briefer's 1949-1952 all-horror take on the Monster. All stories are printed in black and white. Features: Three-page introduction by David Jacobs and Afterwords by E.J. Robinson and Alicia Jo Rabins. (This is a great collection of Briefer's horrific take on the Monster. The black and white printing akin to something from an old Warren Creepy and does not take away from the stories. But, after seeing the color reprints in the other two collections, it is a bit of a let down. It is a soft cover too which, again, when compared to the other hard cover collections, it is a bit of a let down.)
Each of the three books has its pros and cons. In an absolutely perfect world, IDW's The Chilling Archive of Horror Comics would have devoted two volumes on Briefer's Frankenstein, one volume dedicated to the humorous like Dark Horse's but with a longer Yoe illustrated introduction on the humorous and one volume dedicated to the horrific like Idea Man Productions but with a longer Yoe illustrated introduction on the horrific. The world not being perfect a reader can choose scholarly, strictly humor, strictly horror, or, like this reader, splurge on all three.
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