(oversized hb; 2019; graphic novel)
Overall review
Caveat: (possible) minor
spoilers in this review. Part 1 of the review is here.
Morbius is a
fun, distinctive (he’s a living vampire!), and overall good read,
although the artwork, between its various illustrators, varies in quality
(mostly it’s good). Its main characters (despite the era-familiar/sexist
damsel-in-distress female players) are mostly consistent and generally
interesting—in this second half of original-run Morbius-featuring issues, the
living vampire is (for the most part) a more consistently humane (relatable)
character, making for better overall writing, between the adult-oriented Fear
and Vampire Tales magazines and kid-friendly mainstream comics. Worth
reading and owning, this sometimes-melodramatic omnibus.
The original run of the
Morbius stories ran from October 1971 and January 1981.
Review, issue by issue
Fear: “Night of the Vampire
Stalker” (#27): While Martine and Morbius hole
in up the supposedly haunted Mason Mansion near Boston, Massachusetts, an
ex-CIA agent and monster hunter (Simon Stroud) looks for Morbius, thinking the
living vampire is responsible for a string of bloodletting.
Fear: “The Doorway Screaming
into Hell!” (#28): Boston, Massachusetts. While
Morbius recovers from the events of the previous Fear issue, Police
Chief Warner (introduced in the previous issue) tells Martine and Simon Stroud
about Letitia Mason, former owner of the Mason Mansion, who told the police
about strange supernatural happenings at her residence. This information
compels Stroud to interview Letitia.
Later, Morbius and Stroud are
thrust into a bizarre realm where furry eyeball, fanged creatures torment
Morbius while they say the name of their master (Helleyes).
Fear: “Through a Helleyes
Darkly” (#29): Escaping an ocean of blood
they were cast into, Morbius and Simon Stroud—still at violent odds—try to
survive bizarre-world oddities like singing, pinching crabs and the
eyeball-covered Helleyes.
Fear: “The Vampires of Mason
Manor!” (#30): Returned to Mason Mansion,
Simon Stroud and Morbius wage war on a mini-army of undead vampires (as opposed
to the science-experiment vampire Morbius is). Stroud and Morbius’s battle
takes them to the Boston Police station, where Martine might be in danger as
well.
Fear: “The
End of a Vampire!” (#31): Martine, now a vampire, fights Morbius and
Simon Stroud, even as the latter two try to give her a shot to cure her
unnatural vampirism.
Vampire Tales: “A Taste of
Crimson Life!” (#10): Painesville,
Pennsylvania (Pop. 93). In a separate-from-Fear
storyline, Morbius takes revenge on this mining town after his kind boardinghouse
landlady (Alicia Twain) is attacked.
Again, it’s worth noting that
many of the Vampire Tales stories are more complex, darker, and for
mature audiences.
Vampire Tales: “Death Kiss”
(#11): With help from a mysterious wealthy woman (Morgana),
Morbius confronts the London-based upper class Brotherhood of Judas, who seek
to fill the political and religious seats of power with bloodsuckers like
themselves. Morbius being who he is, he makes melodramatic declarations at key
moments.
Marvel Preview – The Legion of
Monsters: “The Madman of Mansion Slade” (#8): In
this Hound of the Baskervilles-esque story, Morbius visits Cupar Fife,
Scotland, to see an old scientist friend (Ronson Slade), again to find a cure
for Morbius’s unique vampirism. Ronson is distracted by problems of his own,
though—specifically his “insane” son (Jeremiah), who might have something to do
with recent grisly deaths in the nearby Fenwick Moor.
The events of this relatively
gory, black-and-white read aren’t shocking, but it’s effectively atmospheric, solid.
Marvel Premiere:
“There’s a Mountain on Sunset Boulevard!” (#28): After
a mountain rips through Sunset Boulevard, Jack Russell (moon-transformed, from
the Werewolf By Night comics), Ghost Rider, Morbius, and the Man-Thing find themselves fighting for
or against a golden alien warrior (Starseed), in a conflict that’ll cost them
plenty. Palpable sense of comic book-y heartbreak in this excellent issue.
Marvel Two-in-One: “The Return
of the Living Eraser!” (#15): The Living Eraser, last seen
in Tales to Astonish #49 (where he battled Henry Pym, aka Giant Man, and
the Wasp) returns to Earth to conquer it by making more people vanish into thin
air. Fortunately, Ben Grimm (aka The Thing) and Morbius are there to stop him.
Also, Morbius meets a
green-skinned princess from The Living Eraser’s homeworld—a princess grateful
and attracted to Morbius, who is drawn to her too. This is a curious
development, as there’s no mention of Martine (Morbius’s fiancée), last seen in
the final issue of Fear (#31), and still engaged to the living vampire.
The Spectacular Spider-Man:
“Cry Mayhem—Cry Morbius!” (#7): Morbius,
under the control of The Empathoid, kidnaps Glory Grant (Peter Parker’s
co-worker and friend), compelling Spider-Man to rescue her—sans the ability to
shoot webbing.
The Spectacular Spider-Man: “.
. . And Only One Will Survive!” (#8): The
Empathoid, a bodiless parasite, attaches himself to Spider-Man, with surprising
results. Meanwhile, Flash Thompson (a returned-home Vietnam vet) gets a rude
shock when he tries to rescue Shan-Shan, a woman he loved during the war, from
a seemingly cruel man.
The Spectacular Spider-Man:
“Curse of the Living Vampire!” (#38): A
stressed-out Peter Parker attends a big party hosted by one of Peter’s fellow college students (Chip
Martin, who manifests alarming powers), and more importantly, a party crashed
by a blood-thirst-crazed Morbius, headed for a big life-change.
The Savage She-Hulk: “The
Power of the Word” (#9): Jen Walters,
struggling more than usual to control her She-Hulk rage-transformations, infiltrates
a Los Angeles-based cult run by The Word (an assertive ex-editor of
dictionaries) and his jealous, superhuman-strength daughter (Ultima).
Jen tries to help Randolph
Harrison, a young ex-hippie, escape from the cult, at her clients’ request
(Randolph’s parents).
Meanwhile, Jen’s friend (Zapper,
crushing on her) consults Michael Morbius, humanized after being struck by
lightning in The Spectacular Spider-Man (#38), about Jen’s bloodwork, possibly
the source of her rage/She-Hulk health issues.
The Savage She-Hulk: “The War—of
the Word!” (#10): Jen, addled by her
life-threatening, mysterious bloodborne illness, is railroaded by The Word into
an immediate, day-after-last-issue’s-events legal trial, for which she is
ill-prepared. Later, She-Hulk fights a violently jealous superhuman Ultima, The
Word’s daughter, who mistakenly thinks Jen is trying to steal a brainwashed
Chip Harrison from her.
Dr. Michael Morbius is
mentioned but not shown in this issue.
Bearing in mind that this is a
children’s mainstream comic book (not a lot of nuance in this genre) and The Word
has strong manipulation/persuasion power (he gets an immediate, per his behest,
legal trial), this issue might read as too comic book-y, unrealistic in writing/editorial
and real-world ways. (Younger readers probably wouldn’t notice, but reading it
as an adult, with writing/editing experience, I couldn’t help noticing this.)
The Savage She-Hulk: “In the
Shadow of Death!” (#11):
Post-court debacle (see previous issue), a seriously ill
She-Hulk is arrested by and imprisoned by LAPD, where her alter-ego’s father (Sheriff
Morris Walters, unaware of Jen’s dual nature) rails at She-Hulk.
Meanwhile, at a UCLA “neuro-radiology
center”, a pre-legal trial Dr. Michael Morbius creates a cure for himself and
She-Hulk while students protest the former vampire’s presence. They’re not the
only ones angry at Morbius—he’s stalked by a vengeance-seeking father of one of
Morbius’s “dozens of” victims. Worsening these situations, can Morbius resist
the urge to drink the small beaker of serum that can save She-Hulk’s exponentially
declining life (and turn him fully human)?
This especially exciting,
rings-realistic (within its genre) issue is excellent, a great entry in the She-Hulk
series, a well-written turning point for its titular character.
The Savage She-Hulk: “Reason
and Rage” (#12): Jen Walters, recovered from
her life-threatening sickness, defends Michael Morbius, in serious need of the “stabilization
serum” of the one he made for Jen, in legal court even as many around her
revile her and her “mass murderer” client.
Post-trial, the parents of one
of Morbius’s “dozens of” victims (Helen LeClerc, his attack/her death not shown
in the series), go Paul Kersey/Death Wish (1974) after Gemini (an
identity-cognizant/dual-natured android)** accidentally gets pulled into Angela
and Thomas LeClerc’s retribution-seeking. During this tripartite deliberation/conflict,
Jen struggles to learn how to transform into She-Hulk (something that was
impulse-instant prior to her drinking the serum; now that it takes conscious
effort, it’s a challenge).
[** = Created by Scorpio, a foe
of The Defenders (The Defenders, issues #48—50), he was later “almost
deactivated” by Nick Fury, agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Scorpio recounts this in She-Hulk #12, continuing with “But it wasn’t that easy.
. . I was alive! The good guy all put in a kind word for me. . . I was finally
released on my own recognizance.”)]
#
This issue is a satisfying wrap-up to the original-run, almost-forty-issue Morbius storyline, one that
doesn’t white-wash the living vampire and his unchronicled fate (he is suitably
but humanely punished for his actions and hubris)—and it’s as close to a
realistic happy ending as one might get, and one that rings true, character-
and otherwise.
