Benjamin Franklinstein Lives!
Written by Matthew McElligott and Larry Tuxbury
Illustrated by Matthew McElligott
2010, G.P.Putnam’s Sons
ISBN Hardcover: 0399252290
ISBN Paperback: 0142419354
Victor Godwin’s orderly life is upended when he discovers that Benjamin Franklin never actually died–he was put in suspended animation and hidden away for more than 200 years in Victor’s basement!
After an accident awakens Ben, Victor must not only help him adjust to the modern world but also help him overcome a slight flaw—when Ben runs low on energy, he turns into a rampaging monster desperately hungry for electricity.
All this, while Victor tries to take first place in the school science fair. With one of history’s preeminent scientists helping out, what could possibly go wrong?
“Nerdy Victor is literally blasted out of his compulsively regimented ways when “Frank Benjamin,” waking from 200 years of suspended animation, moves into a nearby apartment. Being a human battery with electricity-conducting bolts embedded in his neck and veins filled with “harmonic fluid,” Ben-er, Frank-has a tendency to run amok when overcharged or devolve into a zombielike state when the juice runs low-conditions that the authors exploit to hilarious effect as they send young Victor scurrying across Philadelphia after his new neighbor and mentor, discovering a secret lab buried beneath their rundown building and rebuilding his elaborate but derivative science-fair volcano into an experimental one so massively destructive that even Victor is left impressed and proud. Frequent technical diagrams and actual patent drawings add a luster of Real Science to the antics, and 18th-century veneer is provided by Poor Richard’s Almanack-style borders and display type.”
Benjamin Franklinstein
Meets the Fright Brothers
Written by Matthew McElligott and Larry Tuxbury
Illustrated by Matthew McElligott
2011, G.P.Putnam’s Sons
ISBN Hardcover: 0399254803
ISBN Paperback: 0142422002
Last month, Benjamin Franklin came back from the dead and moved into Victor Godwin’s downstairs apartment. Since then, life has gotten even weirder. Vampires are stalking Philadelphia, a strange pair of bike shop owners are after Ben, and a shadowy figure known only as the Emperor may be plotting it all.
Together, Ben, Victor and Scott face some baffling questions. Why was Ben really awakened? Who is the Emperor? And are vampires really stalking downtown Philadelphia? The fate of the city—and perhaps the word—hangs in the balance!
“Reanimated in the previous episode after centuries of suspended animation, genial Ben and his two young cohorts—serious minded Victor Godwin and his deceptively idiotic buddy Scott—must swing back into action. Checking out strange doings at the just-opened “Right Cycle Company,” the investigators find two likewise reanimated gents in antique clothing engaged in turning bicycle parts into a huge flying machine designed to finish the job and take over the city at the behest of a shadowy “Emperor.” Enhanced by frequent charts, diagrams, lists and other visual aids, a spirit of rational (if often reckless) scientific inquiry pervades the tale, as Ben and his allies translate coded messages, analyze evidence, get a lesson in meteorology and conduct experiments using both real and science-fictional gear on the way to a literally electrifying climax. The authors have way too much fun taking the opener’s premise and evil conspiracy to the next level. Readers will too. ”
Benjamin Franklinstein
Meets Thomas Deadison
This book is currently out of print and is not available for purchase.
Written by Matthew McElligott and Larry Tuxbury
Illustrated by Matthew McElligott
2012, G.P.Putnam’s Sons
ISBN Hardcover: 0399254811
Benjamin Franklinstein’s most electrifying adventure yet! Victor Godwin and his very old friend, 200-year-old reanimated Benjamin Franklin, are back for more madcap fun. After releasing the Wright Brothers from the clutches of the nefarious Emperor, the pair are working with the dwindling members of the Promethean Underground to try to stop the Emperor altogether. But when new Infinity light bulbs are installed throughout Philadelphia, Ben and Victor realize they are emitting more than just light. Thomas Edison’s scientific genius has been hijacked as well, allowing the Emperor to brainwash just about everyone to do his evil bidding. Zombies, mystery, and mayhem keep the pages turning in this hilariously quirky adventure, and the illustrations and puzzles extend the fun.
“Closing a comical series’ first story arc, America’s two greatest inventors square off in a death match over the Emperor Napoléon’s scheme to conquer the world…with science.
Well, science of a sort. To the electrically preserved Franklin and his modern young cohorts Victor, Scott and Jaime, there’s something fishy about the “Infinity Bulbs” that the strangely familiar “Ed Thomason” is passing out for free. Their suspicions are confirmed by the discovery of a gigantic, almost-complete “harmonic supertransmitter” in the bowels of the Infinity Unlimited factory—a device that, at the command of the megalomaniac Emperor, will turn everyone within reach of an Infinity Bulb into an obedient zombie. Tuxbury and McElligott liberally endow their tale with patent drawings, circuit and other diagrams, and like techno eye candy as well as such general silliness as a wizened Bad Guy who gets around in an ornately decorated bathtub. It spins through melodramatic twists and sudden reversals of fortune to an appropriately explosive climax that puts Ben out of action but (probably) leaves Napoléon at large for future episodes.”
