"Morbius the Living Vampire" Omnibus by various artists and writers (Part 2 of 2)

 

(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.

"Morbius the Living Vampire" Omnibus by various artists and writers (Part 1 of 2)

 

(oversized hb; 2019; graphic novel)

Overall review

Caveat: (possible) minor spoilers in this review. Part 2 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 though). Its main characters (despite the era-familiar/sexist damsel-in-distress female players) are mostly consistent and generally interesting—bearing in mind that, depending on the title, situations and the writers, Morbius veers sometimes from bloodthirsty maniacal to sympathetic anti-hero. Worth reading and owning, this.

These are the first twenty issues of the forty-one original issue run. 

 

Review, issue by issue

The Amazing Spider-Man: “A Monster Called. . . Morbius!” (#101): While hiding out in Dr. Curtis Connors’s (aka the Lizard) summer house (so Peter Parker/Spider-Man can undo an unsuccessful experiment), Spider-Man is thrust into combat with Morbius the Living Vampire for the first time, a situation that compounds into something worse when another unexpected guest shows up.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man: “Vampire at Large!” (#102): Spider-Man, caught between the Lizard (a transformed Dr. Curtis Connors) and Morbius, tries to fend them off, secure a serum for his additional four spider-arms, and transform Connors back into his human self, while subduing (but not seriously harming) Morbius.

 

Marvel Team-Up featuring Spider-Man and the Human Torch: “The Power to Purge” (#3): Martine (Dr. Michael Morbius’s distressed fiancée) contacts the Fantastic Four, seeking help in locating her transformed, missing fiancé. One of the four, Johnny Blaze (aka the Human Torch), with help from a combative Spider-Man, locates Morbius and tries to subdue the desperate, blood-deprived vampire—who’s also created another bloodsucker (Jefferson, a political radical, brother of the more even-tempered Jacob).

As one might expect, Blaze and Spider-Man’s efforts are thwarted by unforeseen complications.

 

Marvel Team-Up featuring Spider-Man and the X-Men (#4): Morbius kidnaps Hans Jorgensen, his former scientific partner, and kills some people. Spider-Man, suffering from the effects of the Morbius-based cure for his extra four arms (The Amazing Spider-Man #101-102), tries to stop Morbius, but runs afoul of the X-Men while doing so. Especially cram-packed with characters and action, this issue.

 

Vampire Tales: “Morbius” (#1): This black-and-white illustrated magazine chapter-story shows a guilt-tormented Morbius—recently escaped from the X-men—in Los Angeles, looking for his erstwhile love (Martine). After making accidental friends with a “Children of Satan” cultist “or just a carnie” (Carolyn), she takes him to Madame Laera, a no-frills spiritualist, who also tries to help him locate Martine. While with Madame Laera, they’re attacked by a kill-happy demon (Nilrac).

Especially fun Morbius micro-tale chapter, more bloodthirsty and fearsome than its color-cousin/younger audience mainstream run.

 

Giant-Size Superheroes: “Man-Wolf at Midnight” (#1): In another effort to procure a cure for his vampirism, Michael Morbius—less maniacal than usual—takes control of the Man-Wolf (John Jameson’s lycanthropic self) with the Moon-Stone, recovered from the East River in New York.

Morbius’s plan also includes Dr. Harold Ward, a hematologist working on an experimental cure for leukemia, and only Spider-Man can save Ward and possibly, Jameson/Man Wolf. This simple clever, self-contained story is fun, above average in its written and visual execution.

 

Fear: “Morbius the Living Vampire” (#20): The titular bloodsucker is strangely calmed by two men religious faith and science (Rabbi Krause, Reverend Daemond) is again experimented upon to see if Michael Morbius can be cured of his need for blood. Unfortunately, the situation goes awry (as it often does), and Morbius, cognizant of his humane aspects, is forced to stalk a new victim.

 

Fear: “Project: Second Genesis” (#21): After Morbius’s reluctant attack on Tara (a child who is more than she appears to be), the “man-bat” and the girl are drawn to the Caretakers, ancient, science-smart beings who compel Morbius to confront the traitorous, satanic Daemond, his mysterious female companion and a supernatural “jungle cat” (Balkatar). Another cliffhanger finish, with at least one shocking (for Morbius) twist.

This issue, like the previous Fear issue, casts Morbius in a consistent, well-meaning anti-hero light. This shift (also hinted at Marvel Tearm-Up #3 and 4 as well as Vampire Tales #1) is  a promising character- and series-expansive take on Morbius, a sea-change for the character.

 

Fear: “—This Vampire Must Die!” (#22): Morbius’s slashing fisticuffs with Balkatar, the intelligent and English-speaking jungle cat, are interrupted by a summoning by Balkatar’s also-biped/feline king (Gerark). Gerark has a terrible but seemingly necessary mission for Morbius, one that means life or death for Gerark’s subjects inside the mysterious land-prison of “within”—a place Gerark and his people are unable to escape.

 

Fear: “Alone Against Arcticus” (#23): In a land bordering the “within”, Morbius meets the denizens of Arcturus, a mix of cyborgs, a mutated super-race, and occasional humans—all of whom were subjugated by Gerark the wild-cat king and his ilk long ago, and all of whom seek to free themselves.

 

Fear: “Return to Terror!” (#24): Lord I (eye-faced, telepathic “potentate of Arcturus”) and Morbius return to our terrestrial realm where, surreptitiously espied by the Caretakers, the living vampire tangles with a bewildered Blade the Vampire Slayer.

 

Vampire Tales: “The Blood Sacrifice of Amanda Saint” (#2): In the more adult-oriented Vampire Tales chapter-tale, Morbius confronts another satanic cult, that of Demon-Fire, led by high priestess Poison Lark and her monstrous lieutenant (Katabolik), so that Morbius might save the virginal Amanda Saint from their “Triad of Solomon” sacrifice that would leave Saint dead. Cliffhanger finish to this fun, fast-moving (if stock-Morbius) microtale.

 

Vampire Tales: “Demon-Fire” (#3): Morbius interrupts Poison Lark (Amanda Saint’s murderous sister Catherine) and Katabolik’s mausoleum sacrifice of Amanda Saint to the spider demon Arachne, while “sweet, silly Justin”—Amanda’s love interest—reveals hidden depths. Also mentioned by Poison Lark: “the arcane text of Lemegeton”.

 

Vampire Tales: “Lighthouse of the Possessed” (#4): Amanda Saint and Morbius, having dismembered the San Francisco-based cult of Demon-Fire, head to Lovecraftian eerie Malevolence, Maine, to find Amanda’s mother and father, the former of whom (like Catherine/Poison Lark) joined Demon-Fire’s cult.

Shortly after their arrival in Malevolence, Morbius and Amanda are attacked by its citizens, most of whom are possessed by a skeletal-clawed hell fiend (Bloodtide), summoned by Amanda’s mother. At least one Scooby-Doo-esque end-twist makes this Vampire Tale especially fun.

 

Vampire Tales: “Blood Tide” (#5): Morbius and Amanda Saint continue to fend off attacks by the Bloodtide-possessed citizens of Malevolence, Maine—this time with help from locals Brock Killbride (a naïve political optimist) and the more cynical Arlene Randolph, while Monte Harris, a shady political consultant for Mayor Duke Mannery, skulks around the eerie town. Then Bloodtide shows up! Mayhem ensues.

Multi-POV storytelling issue highlights this issue, cutting between the story’s core characters.

 

Vampire Tales: “Where is Gallows Bend” (#7): In Gallows Bend, Nevada, Amanda Saint and Morbius, continue looking for Saint’s long-disappeared father. More minions of the Demonfire cult—notably Death-Flame—torture Morbius and Amanda with hallucinatory horrors in the Old West-style town. Appropriately melodramatic, crazy story with jarring POV shifts, something that highlights the rest of the Demonfire storyline.

 

Vampire Tales: “High Midnight” (#8): Howie Rivers (owner of the Old West town Gallows Bend, Nevada), his caretaker (Sagebrush Robbins), Morbius and Amanda Saint face off against Apocalypse and his hench-creatures (griffins, Reaper, Phineas T. Coroner, others) in the mostly satisfying conclusion to Morbius’s Demonfire story arc.

Like the previous six Vampire Tales entries, the characters and atmosphere are laid on thick, the writing’s locquacious  and for “mature audiences”, and there’s multiple POVs throughout (this time these POVs effectively gel).

Amanda Saint, self-aware heroine, gets short-shrifted in the Demonfire arc, often little more than a damsel in distress (especially by today’s standards) despite her intelligence and willingness to fight villainy.

 

Fear: “And What of a Vampire’s Blood. . .?” (#25): Picking up from Fear #24, separate from the Vampire Tales storyline: Caught between the 10,000-year-old Caretakers and the demon-priest Daemond, whose long war threatens all, Morbius and the psychically powerful girl-child Tara confront Daemond anew—a conflict Daemond seems likely to win.

 

Fear: “A Stillborn Genesis!” (#26): Character-based twists abound as the war between Daemond and the Caretakers comes to a head. Fun, wild wrap-up to the Caretakers/Daemond storyline.

 

Werewolf By Night: “Giant-Size Werewolf” (#4) – “A Meeting of Blood”: Michael Morbius (“the living vampire”) is reunited with his amnesiac fiancée, Martine, who may lead him to more than love, when a wolf-mode Jack Russell crosses their path and attacks them, possibly undoing Morbius and Martine’s shot at a sweet new life.