ARBOGAST von FRANKENSTEIN
Real Name: Arbogast von Frankenstein
Identity/Class: Human (10th century A.D.);
citizen of East Francia
Occupation: Lord/master of Castle Frankenstein
Group Membership: Von Frankensteins;
Affiliations: Presumably numerable servants, etc.
Enemies: Numerous knights he slew in jousts
Known Relatives: Frank von Frankenstein, Georg von Frankenstein, Hans von Frankenstein (descendants; see comments)
Aliases: None revealed
Base of Operations: Castle Frankenstein, on the northern edge of the Magnet mountain on the banks of the river Rhine, in the territory of Hesse/Hessengau
First Appearance: Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (January, 1992)
Powers/Abilities: Arbogast von Frankenstein was a savage warrior, highly skilled at jousting, and renown for competing in and winning deadly jousts against noble knights.
Height: Unrevealed
(Arbogast is not clearly shown in reference to anyone, but given that
he rode a horse and could could consistently unseat other knights, it
would seem likely that he was at least at the average height for that
time, 5'8", and quite possibly several inches taller)
Weight: Unrevealed (from the sole image, it is not possible to
accurately identify his height or weight, but I would ballpark him as
150 lbs. at 5'8" or 200 lbs. at 6' tall)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed
History:
(Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (fb)) - In the year 948 A.D., a savage warrior
named Arbogast von Frankenstein
Comments: Created by Jean-Marc Lofficier, Roy & Dan Thomas, and Geof Isherwood.
The von Frankenstein family sold their castle to the state in 1662. In 1732, Konrad Dippel received the title to Castle Frankenstein, founding a new dynasty of von Frankensteins. Thus, most von Frankensteins -- including. to the best of my knowledge, Alphonse Frankenstein, Anna von Frankenstein, Basil von Frankenstein, Elizabeth von Frankenstein, Ernst von Frankenstein, Jason von Frankenstein, Konrad von Frankenstein, Lenore von Frankenstein, Ludwig von Frankenstein, Maximilian von Frankenstein, Veronica von Frankenstein, Victor von Frankenstein, Victoria von Frankenstein, and William von Frankenstein -- are not blood relatives of Arbogast.
Castle Frankenstein is described in (Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 as "On the banks of the River Rhine, in nthe state of Hesse, near Darmstadt, in the nation-state known as Germany, a grim medieval fortress perches on the forest-shrouded nother edge of Magnet Mountain."
The Arbogast Von Frankenstein story is based on a French comic (Michel Vaillant -
Les Chevaliers de Konigsfeld).
--Jean-Marc Lofficier
Michel
Vaillant is a popular comics series created in 1957 by Jean Graton which ran in
the weekly magazine Tintin for decades. The hero is a race car driver.
Volume
12n entitled Les Chevaliers de Königsfeld (1967) [The Knights of
Konigsfeld] has Michel and his team take part in an international racing
competition in Konisgsfeld, Germany. All the pilots are then kidnapped one by
one. The culprit turns out to be a meek-looking wine merchant who is in reality
the last descendant of the Konigsfeld family. A long time ago, the Lord of
Konigsfeld, a Teutonic Knight, challenged eight foreign knights to a joust, and
lost to every one of them. Somehow, his descendant (who is a little mad) is
trying to avenge the family honor by kidnapping the foreign race car drivers
whom he sees as modern knights. His knowledge of the secret passages and
tunnels beneath the Castle helps him further his plots, until he is exposed by
Michel, who rescues his fellow drivers.
The
Knights of Konigsfeld is a beautiful, atmospheric, moody
story that sometimes verges on the fantastic, very different from the usual Michel
Vaillant story. The tragic tale of that lone Teutonic Knight who is
defeated in a joust, repeatedly, and loses his family honor (told in a brief
flashback in the MV book) struck me as a beautiful, operatic story that could
serve as a model for the similarly tragic character of Arbogast Von
Frankenstein.
JM
Arbogast von Frankenstein originally was covered within the von Frankensteins profile, first posted 01/06/2002. The von Frankensteins profile attempted to be all-encompassing, but it is limited in terms of breadth and depth. Hopefully profiling each of the von Frankensteins individually will allow superior coverage...and this is the first of the profiles with that goal.
Thanks to Loki for helping pin down Arbogast's citizenship.
Arbogast's profile was completed 09/12/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Arbogast von Frankenstein should be distinguished from:
Appearances:
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme#37 (January, 1992) - Jean-Marc Lofficier,
Roy & Dan Thomas (writers), Geof Isherwood (artist), Mike Rockwitz
(editor)
First posted: 09/22/2021
Last updated: 09/21/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel Copyright info
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