Frankenstein meets Pygmalion in MADAME FRANKENSTEIN by Jamie S. Rich (12 Reasons Why I Love Her, You Have Killed Me) and Megan Levens, a graphic novel set in the dying days of the Jazz Age, coming in February from Image Comics.

In 1932, Vincent Krall, an impoverished medical student, sets out to create his perfect woman by reanimating the corpse of the woman he loved but could not possess. But in this dark tale of obsession, Vincent finds that a man cannot master life and death, and a woman is not so easily controlled.

MADAME FRANKENSTEIN began as a drawing in artist Levens’ sketchbook. After she met Rich, the two began trading ideas, and the idea became a fully-fleshed story. Rich is known for his romantic graphic novels, but MADAME FRANKENSTEIN is far from a love story, as the creators explained in an interview with Newsarama.

“Though we certainly are hoping readers will root for Gail to get her freedom, the story is more of a tragedy,” Rich said. “There are no heroes in a traditional sense. Rather, it’s a tale of several people whose lives are hopelessly entangled, and the bad things this relationship causes.”

“Vincent believes he has a chance to create a woman who is completely within his control, reprogrammed and taught to think and behave how he thinks she should,” added Levens, whose evocative art captures the emotional subtleties of her and Rich’s characters and the story’s mounting dread in striking black-and-white. “As an artist I was very conscious and deliberate about showing, through the characters’ expressions and body language when they interact, that their relationship is based on her fear and his desire for control.”

A graphic novel combining the horror of classic gothic fiction with the glittering tragedy of The Great Gatsby, MADAME FRANKENSTEIN will be in comic book stores on February 25 and in bookstores on March 10. It is available now for pre-order.