Saturday, June 13, 2009

Mad Doctors: Dr. Jack Griffin

The Invisible Man
What would you do if you were invisible? ;)

Claude Rains, Griffin in "The Invisible Man" (1933), is the best example of a mad scientist. When we first meet Jack Griffin, he is already the victim of his own experiments: invisible and wanting an antidote. Unlike the H.G. Wells book upon which the movie is based,his descent into megalomania is an overlooked side effect of monocaine,the drug he has used to make himself unseen.

There is a rather nice continuity error for those collectors of trivia out there. Although the Invisible Man is naked so he can be completely invisible,the footprints left by him in the snow at the end of the film show the shape of a pair of shoes.
Another trivia: Dr Griffin has no first name in the HG Wells' novel.

Extra points to who guess what that diagram in the illo is for ;)

Well, the week is over but, as mentioned, I might do another Mad Doctor week sometime soon. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did :)

Cheers,
Francesco

All images © 2009 Francesco Francavilla.
Mad Doctors & Pulp Sunday created by, ™ and © 2009 Francesco Francavilla

6 comments:

Chad Carter said...

Need I say it? The best for last. One of the truly original character designs ever, so much so for it's basic simplicity. One of my all-time favorites of the classic monster-men of the 1940s. An inspired climax to Mad Doctors Week and one of the best of your portraits so far, FF. Sweet sweet nectar!

Unknown said...

this rocks as always

Craig Zablo said...

Whoa. This is my favorite so far!

Francesco Francavilla said...

Chad: Thank you :D This is also the fastest: i did it this morning in two hours but I wanted to keep it simple since it was about invisibility :) I am happy to read you enjoyed the whole run and this in particular :)
Slavi: and as always you are very kind. Thank you :)
Craig: Thanks, glad you dig it :)

Cheers,
Francesco

Dennis said...

Great series of illustrations. You should also consider doing a series on the Euro supervillains: Doctor Mabuse, Fantomas, Diabolik, and Kilink (aka Satanik and Sadistik). Also Judex, a French silent movie serial hero precursor to The Shadow.

Allen's Brain said...

Ironically, the pic seems to have disappeared.
Love the rest of the series, though.