There have been many comic book adaptations of the Frankenstein monster story created by Mary Shelley in her 1818 novel Frankenstein. Writer-artist Dick Briefer presented two loose adaptations of the story in the Prize Comics series Prize Comics and Frankenstein from 1940 to 1954. The first version represents what comics historians call American comic books' first ongoing horror feature.

Briefer's better-known version of the Frankenstein monster, however, developed upon the monster's return from the war, in Frankenstein #1 (undated, 1945), appearing roughly concurrently with the eight-page story "Enter Frances Stein" in Prize Comics # 53 (June 1945), which followed "possibly the last 'first version' story of Frankenstein" in Prize Comics # 52 (April 1945)

Like many returning veterans, Frankenstein settled into small-town life, becoming a genial neighbor who "began having delightful adventures with Dracula, the Wolfman and other horrific creatures. The only two times he was featured on the Prize Comics cover (both in 1947), he was referred to as 'The Merry Monster'". Briefer, with his trademark "loose and smooth ink and brush skills" began telling stories that would "straddle some amorphous line between pure children's humor and adventure and an adult sensibility about the world".

Author Dan Nadel, who included Briefer in his book Art Out of Time: Unknown Comics Visionaries 1900-1969 (Harry N. Abrams, 2006, described Briefer as

...one of the few guys in the 1940s who had that loose, gestural art style that's funny. The drawing is inherently funny. Which is really unusual for humor comics of the time ... [in that] it's tight drawing. It's self-contained and beautiful. But Briefer is all over the place. When he does these swooping pratfalls that Frankenstein takes, the lines actually reflect the gag. It's nice. [...] And they're funny as comics. They read well and are beautifully drawn; they're full of unforgettable images, like the wizard eating Frankenstein on a hot dog. You'll never forget it, for better or for worse.

Briefer's humorous Frankenstein ran through Prize Comics #68 (March 1948), and his humorous Frankenstein ran through issue #17 (Feb. 1949). Three years later, Briefer (1915–1980) revived the series with his original, horrific Frankenstein from #18-33 (March 1952 - Nov. 1954).