Frankenstein is an agent with S.H.A.D.E.
First a mention about the organization. The acronym stands for the "Super Human Advanced Defense Executive". It is run by an individual named Father Time who is, not surprising given the name, immortal. He does have to change bodies periodically but instead of it being every year as we traditionally see it, in this universe it is every decade. During the current incarnation where we follow him, his persona is that of a Japanese elementary schoolgirl, complete with ponytails and a class uniform.
We learn from a prologue to the first set of adventures that S.H.A.D.E. has been around for hundreds of years, dedicated to protecting humanity from all manners of dangers which come out at night to feed or subvert. Exactly how old S.H.A.D.E. is remains unknown just as it is not known how old Father Time is. Both numbers would seem to be high.
The current mandate for S.H.A.D.E. is counter-terrorism. Its headquarters is the Ant Farm, an entire city shrunken to just a few inches in size and contained in an indestructible ball. People (or pseudo-people) shrink down to a tiny size to enter. Not surprisingly, the architect of the technology used to teleport in and out, changing size along the way, is Ray Palmer, aka The Atom.
S.H.A.D.E. has always been ahead of the bleeding edge of technology. Frankenstein, on the other hand, is not that impressed with it and prefers a more hands-on approach to fighting the terrors he goes up against.
The history of Frankenstein [in the DC comicbook universe] says that the genius but demented Victor Frankenstein created the Monster in the year 1823. His methods were depraved and inhumane to say the least, using power generated by sacrificing humans to somehow 'harvest' their souls. The Monster, though made of human parts stitched together, was an impressively tall and immensely strong green behemoth. The Doctor immediately set about creating a mate for his Monster but the Monster showed a desire to not be held captive.
The Monster's desire to be left alone caused him to wander westward across Europe and onto South America, a good chunk of that at the bottom of the Atlantic. In the rainforest of the Amazon among a tribe of natives he found a home and a semblance of happiness. At least until the Doctor found him and ruined it. The Monster in turn ruined the Doctor.
That is when S.H.A.D.E. stepped in and Father Time, using the persona of a prim, sophisticated white woman, approached him to become an agent. And from that time, nearly two hundred years ago, the Monster, now going by the name of his crazed 'creator', Frankenstein, has fought as an Agent of S.H.A.D.E. in the shadows to combat evil in whatever form it materializes.
He is used to fighting on his own and far prefers it, except for an occasional mission with his wife, the Bride, who is green hued like he but for reasons I have not discovered was given four arms instead of two. She is also an agent and quite a good one if I understand correctly.
He is also, from the start of the first recorded adventure, put in charge against his preferences of a team of even odder characters. Father Time calls them Division M but they refer to themselves as 'the Creature Commandos'. Each of the four members is totally different from Frankenstein or from each other but equally bizarre. Seems fitting.
Good Line:
- Said by Frankenstein to one of his teammates, "Hand-to-hand combat lesson Number one: kill them before they kill you."