Celebrate Halloween with the Bronze Age of Marvel Horror: Dracula, Werewolf, Frankenstein, Ghost Rider, and Son of Satan!

Halloween 2010 is finally here!  My favorite holiday...somehow I feel the rest of the year is all downhill from this point.  Thanksgiving, Christmas, bah, not as good in my opinion.  In fact I would like to be put in suspended animation starting on November 1st.  Re-animate my body after January 1st, give me a strong cup of coffee and everything will be just fine.

Here are some classic Marvel horror comic covers from the Bronze Age.  No particular order, just grabbing a pack of Marvels that lurk in the dead of night.



Tomb of Dracula #26 cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer, from 1974.  The story by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan was part 1 of the Chimera storyline, a very good one as I recall.



Werewolf by Night #5 cover by Mike Ploog from 1973.  Jack Russell's sister Lissa is held captive by a madman, who sends the Werewolf out to assassinate someone who lives in a heavily guarded compound.



The Frankenstein Monster #10 cover by John Romita from 1974.  The cover is evocative of the early Frankenstein horror films and could almost be a poster.  In this case, the cover was much better than the interior story, about the Monster meeting "The Last Frankenstein" who brings him over to London.



It's even better to look at the original art by John Romita to the Frankenstein Monster #10 cover.  I found this over on Romitaman's website.



Ghost Rider #2 cover by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott is frightening because you've got big bad SATAN, all red and aflame and eager to snatch up Johnny Blaze's soul.  Given that groovy midriff-bearing outfit, it would be hard to deny Witch-Woman's request to Step Right Up and Shake Hands with SATAN!




John Romita also drew the cover to Marvel Spotlight #13, the second full length story featuring the Son of Satan.  Who else can stop the Big Satan except for his ever rebellious son?  This comic featured the origin story of Daimon Hellstrom, which made me very uncomfortable to think that anyone's Mom would sleep with the Devil.  BTW, you think it is easy to design a costume for the Hellspawn?  That outfit by Romita is sheer genius.

Have a great Halloween 2010!  Were I made the emperor of the world, we would abolish those holidays and make them Halloween part 2 and 3.  Nuff Said!

Update: Comments from my old MT blog...

3 Comments

By Nick Caputo on November 2, 2010 12:35 PM

While the inks on the Frankenstein cover are definitely by John Romita, the pencils are by the one and only Gil Kane.

Nick Caputo

By Andres - traductor jurado ingles on November 20, 2010 11:15 AM

Thanks for sharing!! the comics are great!

By John McNally on December 17, 2010 1:25 AM

Thanks for this Richard. Great memories. Gil Kane did some lovely work on Captain Marvel, they were my favourites.

John

Three Marvel Monster covers by Neal Adams: Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing

I was actually looking at some of the terrific horror covers that Neal Adams drew for the Distinguished Competition, when I came across these early 70s Marvel Monster covers.



Tomb of Dracula #1 launched the King of the Vampires in his own color comic in 1972.  Entirely spooky and would entice you to buy the comic, especially if you were a fan of Hammer horror films.



Adventure into Fear #11 was Man-Thing's second appearance in the title, also in 1972.  This cover plays on a recurring theme by Adams: children playing innocently while a monster approaches them from behind.  In this case, it's the monster (Man-Thing) that is innocent, as the kids draw a Satanic pentagram in the dirt.



Marvel Spotlight #2 was the first appearance of Jack Russell, Werewolf by Night.  But this has to be one of the worst covers that Neal Adams has ever produced.  A series of panels showing the Werewolf changing, and he doesn't resemble the version drawn by Mike Ploog at all.  What the heck, I had to buy this comic anyway!  Nuff Said!

Update: Comments from my old MT blog...

2 Comments

By Mike on October 31, 2010 2:14 PM

I gotta wonder if John Romita inked the Werewolf cover. Look at the people in the background in the last panel. Those look like Romita-drawn folks to me, not Adams.

By Joe Jusko on November 24, 2010 8:18 AM

Those are Tom Palmer inks

Monster Mondays: Werewolf by Night meets Morbius on a Gil Kane Cover

As a big fan of the Marvel Monsters, I couldn't wait to see them meet each other.  In particular, I wanted Morbius to meet Werewolf By Night.

Giant-Size Werewolf By Night #3, published in 1975, featured this titanic event.  Would you believe this Gil Kane cover was the single best thing about this comic?  The interior artwork by Virgil Redondo is so horrible, I can't even bear to crop any scans and show you here.  It's like the artwork for a drab 1950s romance comic (not a Johnny Romita romance book--that would be cool) that some idiot thought was appropriate for a horror story.

Of all the Giant-Size books, the Werewolf drew the short end of the stick on artists.  What a shame--especially after being drawn by Ploog, Kane, and Sutton in the regular monthly series.  Nuff said.

Monster Monday: When One Isn't Enough, You Need A Legion of Monsters!

If you haven't read Dark Reign Punisher The List (by Rick Remender and John Romita Jr), I highly recommend it.  The ending was very surprising to me, and it sets up this next Punisher arc (starting in issue #11) with art by Tony Moore.

Mike McKone's cover to Punisher #12 brings back the Legion of Monsters to aid the Punisher (now FrankenCastle).  Morbius, Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night are all there, along with the Living Mummy, who I haven't seen in decades.  I'm looking forward to this, especially after the terrific job that Moore did recently Ghost Rider. 

I'll be you dollars to doughnuts that Moore remembers this cover...

The very first (and only?) appearance of the Legion of Monsters in Marvel Premiere #28, 1975.  As a total Marvel Monster freak, I couldn't wait to read this story.  Written by Bill Mantlo and Frank Robbins, you had to admire the lengths that Mantlo went to have Man-Thing transported out of the swamp--it was an ordeal just to get all these horror guys together to fight a menace.  It was a bit of a letdown, but I was always hoping for a return appearance.

Keep on eye on that logo, because it moved around a lot.

Later that year, Marvel published a black and white magazine called Legion of Monsters, with a Neal Adams cover painting.  I had hoped for a team-up, but the magazine contained only solo stories.  I believe most of them were inventory stories left over from the defunct magazines Dracula Lives and Monsters Unleashed.  The editorial indicated that the magazine was an ongoing publication, but issue #2 never appeared.

But Marvel was never one to let a crappy logo go to waste!  The Legion of Monsters title appeared yet again in Marvel Preview #8 in 1976.  You would think with a cover like this, there would be a team-up, right?  Blade and Morbius never crossed paths, they were featured in solo stories only.  More inventory material, this time left over from Vampire Tales.

Let's raise a glass to Tony Moore, who loves Marvel Monsters as much as we do!  Nuff said.

A Mike Ploog Monster Mash for Halloween

What would a Marvel monster version of the Defenders look like?  If Mike Ploog were drawing it, something like this nifty commission done for Leo Chuah on comicartfans.

Ghost Rider, Frankenstein, and Werewolf by Night on a moonlit night.  Greatness!  Nuff said.

Monster Mondays: Mike Ploog October 1975 Calendar piece with Frankenstein, Dracula, Werewolf by Night!

Marvel Comics started producing calendars in 1975.  For the very first calendar (which I've been able to acquire recently, thanks to eBay), they tapped the best artists of that year...including Mike Ploog, who they unleashed in the month of October.

The October illustration featured the trio of monsters that Ploog had drawn in their own comics: Frankenstein, Man-Thing, and Werewolf by Night!  The big bad daddy of all supernatural characters, Dracula, lorded over all of them--Ploog had drawn this character as well, when he teamed up with Jack Russell in Werewolf by Night #15.

The month of October itself is ridden with monster-sized jokes by Marvel staffers. 

Oct. 4th: Man-Thing with the caption: Save the Everglades--Or Else!  That scares me into taking care of the environment.

Oct. 8th-9th:  Son of Satan asks pop for the hell-horse drawn chariot, but sister Santana asked for it first.

Oct. 13-15: Three nights of the full moon with Werewolf by Night.  Jack Russell's eyes go left, middle, right.

Oct. 19th: Jim Starlin's birthday.  Which is today, Happy Birthday Jim!

Oct. 28th-29th: Two creatures called IT!  The first one was featured in Supernatural Thrillers #1, the second one was a hero who appeared briefly in Astonishing Tales.

Oct. 30th: The Halloween party in Rutland Vermont, which was featured by Roy Thomas in both Avengers and Defenders (Marvel Feature #2).  Several comics creators made the trek to this party.  If only we could go back in a time machine! 

Many thanks to Sanctum Sanctorum Comix for providing the scans of the Marvel Calendars!  Nuff said.

Monster Mondays: Greg Land and Marvel Zombies 4 cover

This cover hit me right out of nowhere.  Greg Land doing a terrific rendition of Son of Satan, Man-Thing, Morbius, and Werewolf by Night for…Marvel Zombies?

It turns out that in a world overrun by zombies, these supernatural creatures are the best resistance the planet has to offer.  I’m very interested in reading this one.

I’m beginning to think Greg Land loves the classic Marvel Monsters as much as I do.  Nuff said.

Monster Mondays: Werewolf by Night #1 by Greg Land

Borrowing an idea from Yet Another Comics Blog Monkey day, Mondays around here will be known as Marvel Monster Mondays, featuring a classic (or perhaps goofy) take on monsterdom.  Our inaugural tribute features the February 2007 revival of Werewolf by Night.

I know it has been fashionable to beat up Greg Land for various imaginary crimes.  But man, I'll always love Greg Land for giving us Sojourn, and even better, for giving me this chance to see Jack Russell shine once again.  Mike Carey crafted a pretty decent story about Jack going into a red-state to rescue a young female werewolf from a gang of rednecks.  The artwork inside was just as awesome as the cover.

I liked the story because they did not try to reinvent Jack Russell, or reboot the series with an OC-style version.  In this story Jack Russell has come to terms with lycanthrope and appears to embrace it.  He's one tough, smart-alecky mofo even in human form.  No more whining about the wolf, and Russell's the master of his own transformations.  It really made me wish that Carey/Land would do a Werewolf by Night mini-series, but alas, I am sure there is not much profit in that compared to some of the Ultimate universe stuff these guys are doing.

There's a Legion of Monsters collection available from Amazon, which features Satana, Morbius, Man-Thing, and more.  Each issue had some pretty cool backups; the Werewolf issue had a Frankenstein story by Skottie Young which I found to be very much in the classic style.  Skottie Young seems to get beat up a lot too!  Nuff said.

Link: Werewolf by Night, California Gothic.