mortiz-justine-in prisonJUSTINE MORITZ

Real Name: Justine Moritz

Identity/Class: Human;
    citizen of Switzerland;
    18th century and possibly early 19th century A.D.

Occupation: Nanny

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Caroline Frankenstein, William Frankenstein;
    formerly Alphonse Frankenstein, Victor Frankenstein, Elizabeth Lavenza

Enemies: Frankenstein's monster;
    she was framed for the murder of William, and Alphonse apparently came to believe this; Elizabeth didn't seem to believe it;
    Victor knew she was innocent, but he let her die to escape condemnation himself

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Unrevealed;
    she died in Geneva, Switzerland and may have been born there as well

First Appearance: Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818);
    (Marvel) (The Monster of) Frankenstein
#1 (January, 1973)

Powers/Abilities: Justine had no superhuman powers or special abilities.

    She was experienced as a nanny and described as a "girl of merit."

Height: Unrevealed (she was not noted to be exceptionally short nor tall, so likely 5'2" to 5'6")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 115 to 130 lbs.)
Eyes: Unrevealed (apparently dark
Hair: Brown

History:moritz-justine-frankenstein-hanging
(
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS) - Alphonse Frankenstein took Justine Moritz as a ward, and she served as young William's nanny.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS) <Approximately 3 years and 6 months after Victor started college> - Victor created the creature that would become known as the Frankenstein monster, but he viewed its appearance and behavior as monstrous. Victor concluded that the creature must be destroyed, and he rejected it before fleeing into the rainy night and collapsing from exhaustion.

    Victor was eventually found by his father's friend Henry Clerval, who brought the delirious Victor to his hotel room; hovering on the brink of death for many weeks, Victor was cared for by Clerval until eventually reviving.

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus) – The monster traveled to the village of the Frankenstein’s home using details from a combination of Victor's journal and geography lessons gleaned from books he had used to learn to read. There, the monster chanced upon William, who was at first frightened, and the monster held William’s wrist to calm him. When the boy screamed his full name and that he had powerful parents, this sparked the monster into...

(Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus / (The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS / (The Monster of) Frankenstein#2 (fb) - BTS) - ...killing William to spite Victor. The monster then took William's locket/pendant and placed it into the dress of the sleeping Justine, incriminating her as the murderer.

(
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS) - Elizabeth sent Henry Clerval a letter, informing him of William having been murdered and Justine having been charged with the murder.

(
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS) - "Many weeks" later, Victor revived. Clerval  informed Victor about the information in Elizabeth's letter.

((The Monster of) Frankenstein#1 (fb) - BTS) - Victor accompanied Clerval back to the Frankenstein family home, although all along he wondered about the monster, correctly suspecting that it had murdered William and framed Justine.

    Both Elizabeth and Alphonse could not have believed Justine to be guilty, but Alphonse noted how Justine had been found clutching William's pendant, a few feet from where William had been murdered. Victor argued that perhaps the killer had placed the pendant in Justine's grasp, and as Alphonse replied that the courts had dismissed the possibility, Victor apparently observed the monster's face just outside of his window. Victor rushed out but found the monster missing and considered that the tracks indicated that he had gotten away.

    Learning that Justine was to be hanged the next day, Victor traveled to the prison in hopes of freeing her. However, upon seeing her having accepted her fate and realizing that tell his story would condemn himself as some kind of lunatic, he left her to her fate.

    The next day, Justine was hanged. Witnessing this, Victor wondered whether he himself was actually to blame for the deaths of Justine and William.

Comments: Created by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
    adapted by Gary Friedrich and Mike Ploog.


According to the Mary Shelly Wiki:

Justine Moritz became a servant for the Frankenstein family at a young age, and became quite close to the family, particularly Elizabeth. Justine, described as a “girl of merit” (Shelley, 57), embodies goodness of character and serves as a companion for Elizabeth despite their class differences.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Justine Moritz
should be distinguished from:


images: (without ads)
(The Monster of) Frankenstein#1, pg. 15, panel 2 (Justine in prison cell);
          panel 3 (shadowing of Justine hanging cast over Victor)


Appearances:
Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus (1818) - Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (writer)
(The Monster of) Frankenstein
#1 (January, 1973) - Gary Friedrich (writer), Mike Ploog (artist), Roy Thomas (editor)

First posted: 11/10/2024
Last updated: 11/10/2024

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™  and � 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at:
http://www.marvel.com

Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

Back to Characters