Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream
Creative Team
writer: ALESSANDRO DI VIRGILIO
illustrator: MANUELA SANTONI
publisher: MAD CAVE STUDIOS
Written by Seth Adrian Romo
Mary Shelley: The Eternal Dream reads like a love letter to the mother of science fiction. With its textured art, intentional design, and use of the color red, this semi-biographical comic gives context to the world that shaped Shelley’s life.
Like all lives, readers found out that Shelley’s was one of coincidences. The people who happened to connect, the meeting of lovers at just the right time, and the tragedy that warped paths.
Written by Author Alessandro di Virgilio, illustrated by Manuela Santoni, and translated from Italian to English by Lucy Lenzi, readers are introduced to the life of Mary Shelley, an educated girl who’s boredom and journey stemmed from educated elite and vocal maternal connections.
This series takes liberties and assumptions of feelings and dreams sprinkled throughout the story, but it’s never done in a way that is farfetched. Instead, readers will find themselves experience a deeply intimate retelling of Mary Shelley’s origins to the fateful night she wrote Frankenstein.
Part of the charm is the narration between various points in Shelley’s life. Additionally, the art is reminiscent of political cartoons that emphasize key aspects of the panel and never worry about filling each scene with immense detail. Visually it aligns with the emphasis that the reader is getting a close story of Mary Shelley, and the illustrations keep this in mind as moments shift from characters talking to rough textured sketches of minimally designed locations.
It’s easy to appreciate how the creators genuinely put love and care into telling Mary’s story—even if it’s not always 100% accurate.
However, readers who are fans of the famous literary figure or even those curious will find themselves enjoying this slice of life story. While it’s filled with love, death, and family drama, it’s also a reminder of the weird ways in which life comes together to bring people to do something special—like the lightning storms that inspired Mary Shelley to write Frankenstein.
