Leigon of Monsters #1 (December – 2011 – Marvel)

Legion of Monsters #1

Legion of Monsters is an old idea that just never seems to really catch on.  Originally it was a group made up of Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Morbius, and Werewolf by Night.  They combat a god that returned to the earth to bring peace and a chance for the Legion to be human again, but because they couldn’t get their shit together they all just stayed monsters.

Fast forward in the Marvel Universe over 30 years and you have a new batch of Legion of Monster’s issues. This time Morbius is the head of a group that you could call the police of Monster Metropolis.  With a team of other monsters, N’Kantu The Living Mummy, Werewolf by Night, Manphibian, and Ellie Bloodstone (the only non-monster of the group).

Being the police of the monsters isn’t the easiest job in the world to start out with, but there is something else going on.  It would seem that something is infecting the minds of the monsters and turning them into wrecking balls of horror that are hell bent on destroying everything.  So the Legion are setting out to figure out how to stop the infection, or magic, or possession or whatever the hell it is that is going on.

This is a quirky little title.  It is fun and the art from Juan Doe is really cool looking.  I’ll be interested in seeing where this goes (in a lot of ways it seems like an excuse to drop a bunch of cameo appearances of other Marvel Horror characters).  Hopeless has a good script going too.

It is hard to not point out that this is just the first of four parts, and while the characters are pretty cool, it would be pretty rough to make this an ongoing title.  There isn’t a whole lot of depth it seems to a police force of the Monster Metropolis.  Every issue would just end up being some kind of silly monster mash (which is what this one even feels like).  It is a lot of fun, but I don’t know that it would hold up over the long haul.

Next Time: Frankenstein Alive, Alive #1

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Morbius: The Living Vampire #3 (November – 1992 – Marvel)

Morbius: The Living Vampire #3

If Morbius is the hero of this title, and he is at odds with Spiderman, what does that make Spiderman?  In my book that makes Spiderman the villain in this issue.  The reality is that all Morbius wants is a bit of Spiderman’s blood, because the last time he drank the blood of the Web Slinger, he was cured for a short time.  The only problem is, Morbius is a little on the creepy/crazy side, so when he approaches the whole thing (in a dark alley meeting set up by dropping a corpse at the feet of Peter Parker) he goes about it the wrong way.

I mean really Morbi, bare fangs and say, “I Want…SOME OF YOUR BLOOD,” in 72 point dripping blood evil font.  I wonder if he wouldn’t have found that sitting down for coffee and discussing the whole situation would have gone better for him.  Instead he finds himself embroiled in fisticuffs with Spidey.

There is more to the situation though.  Morbius is being hunted by another, Stroud has been hunting for Morbius since the last time he slipped through his fingers, and a battle with Spidey is a perfect chance to take him down while he is distracted.  Stroud takes them both out, but is double crossed.  There is yet another player in the game, a Doctor Paine, and now he has Morbius in his hands.

The dynamic of hero and anti-hero is full on brilliant in this one.  Spiderman is flip and silly where Morbius is desperate.  He is driven to madness by his need to be cured of the disease that has taken so much from him.  He almost seems like he doesn’t have the ability to be rational, or to come to Spiderman in a way that is even remotely amicable.  He just needs that blood, he just needs his cure, and he is more than willing to cross the lines of normalized morality to get that blood.  He is a monster trapped in the mind of a much more intelligent man.

These 90’s titles don’t flinch from getting dark and gritty.  This is not the Marvel of Marvel Now, and Morbius is no hero.  Interestingly he is both the villain and the hero of his own book.

Next Time:  Cthulhu Tales #3

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Morbius: The Living Vampire #2 (April – 2013 – Marvel)

Morbius: The Living Vampire #2

I was none to kind to the inaugural issue of this Morbius reboot. I probably won’t be to kind to this one either.   In general this just isn’t the best thing that you could be picking up month to month, but I’m hoping against hope that this will turn into the kind of awesome title that it was when I was a kid.  Last issue was left with a cliffhanger.

Morbius shotgun blast to the chest, laying on the ground in the throes of death, this is going to be the shortest run of a comic book ever.  But he has super healing powers (like we didn’t know that), so he “dies all the time.”  In his ressurection, because if he dies all the time he ressurects all the time too, he meets a young homeless woman who offers to take him in after watching him take a swing at Noah St. Germain, the bad guy.

I would like to take a moment to thank the writer of Morbius for acknowledging that St. Germain looks like, “An 80’s punk fever dream reject.”  I get that he is a bag guy, and that he is supposed to be the head gangster in charge of the shittiest suburb of New York City ever, but really?  I just don’t get why he had to look like the punk on the bus in Star Trek IV.

Naturally the issue moves towards another fight with Noah St. Germain, when the homeless girl tells Morbius that her friend’s little boy is hanging out with St. Germain.  Morbius goes to get him back, and the gang of thugs and punks tries to attack.  So Morbius goes fangs out on St. Germain, pretty ending the issue in a wash of blood and teeth.

This title just isn’t satisfying at this point.  Part of it is the silliness of the characters.  Part of it is the idea that this is going to just build up into tougher and tougher crime bosses.  Part of it is that all of the supernatural elements have been taken out.  Part of it is that Morbius is literally just some bum in a movie theater.  Part of it is that the art just doesn’t have that dark feel, it feels just like any other super hero book at this point.

A letter in the second issue illustrates this point perfectly, albeit with a very different opinion on the results:  “I really enjoyed the art in this issue.  Elson seems to have done this in such a way that it is dark and moody but, at the same time, is not completely depressing due to the drab environment ”  It is dark and moody, but not too dark and moody, exactly the problem.  I’m not asking for it to be depressing, but it is a title about a man who has to drink blood to survive because of a disease.  It is horrific, it is dark, it is serious business.  As a writer I understand the need for levity to make the dark moments darker, but this is something else.  This is horror lite.  I love the Morbius character and I really want this title to turn around.

Next Time:  R.I.P.D.: City of the Damned #1

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Ghost Rider & Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #2 (September – 1992 – Marvel)

Spirits of Vengeance #2

Taking place between Morbius #1 and Darkhold #1 the second issue of Spirits of Vengeance is a bit of a one off.  Returning to the Quinten Carnival for a bit of a break.  When you are John Blaze you don’t get a break though, and on the way back they pick up a follower.  At the behest of her master, Styge, Steel Wind is on a mission to have her vengeance on Ghost Rider and Blaze.

She is going to look silly while enacting that vengeance too.  Looking like she walked right out of an issue of Youngblood she was clearly a nod to the idea that Image was putting out comics that scared Marvel to death.  At the time those Image titles looked so fresh and cutting edge, and there were some serious missteps in the Marvel Universe where they overcompensated to try and keep up.

Luckily John Blaze saves the shit out of this issue.  A midst a brutally pedestrian monologue from Steel Wind about vengeance and justice and the wrongs done to her and her sister.  Blaze, ever the tough guy biker bashes her up side the head and holds her to the ground with a boot knife.  There is something to be said about how awesome a guy can look in a trench coat with a giant knife standing next to a motorcycle.  This verges on a lot of the same problems that I have with Nightstalkers, but reigns itself in right when I think I’m going to get really irritate with it.

After Steel Wind gets put in her place and Blaze tells us about how much he loves his family (not just wife and kids but the carnival as well).  The Rider (who is in a coma for a lot of the book) tells Blaze that he knows what he needs to do to save Dan Ketch (who is trapped inside the Ghost Rider with mortal wounds), and that next step is finding the Darkhold Redeemers.  The interweaving of story lines was my favorite part of the Midnight Sons in the 90’s and it is still one of the coolest parts of all the books.  The issues stand up just fine on their own, but if you want to read the full scope of it, you have to pick up the other titles.  Pretty great marketing scheme now that I think on it for a little bit, and Marvel got the bulk of my allowance for my middle school years so it worked.

I feel like a lot of the issues of Spirits of Vengeance that are time lined between the other Midnight Sons issues feel like they are just there to tread water.  They are place holders while a bigger story is going on.  Good for fleshing out the back stories and personalities of the main characters.  Bad for becoming a place where stupid villains go to die.  Unfortunately Steel Wind is one of those stupid villains that thankfully is gone, for now.

Next Time:  Witch Doctor Volume 1: Under the Knife

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Morbius: The Living Vampire #1 (October – 1992 – Marvel)

Morbius #2

I’m re-reading these as I review them, and as I read the new issues of the re-boot of this title, and I have to say they are like night and day.  There is a attempt at revealing the seedy dark underbelly of New York in the re-boot of Morbius that is out now, that this comic accomplishes far better.

The plot of this issue find Morbius trying to get his shit together after the death of the woman he loved (at his own hands), and a whole lot of drama that came with the entrance of the Spirits of Vengeance into his life.  The one thing that is holding him together is his choice to only prey on the corrupt.  Even with all the moral ambiguity that comes with being not just a vigilante, but a vigilante that lusts after human blood, the decision to only kill those who “deserve” it give Morbius a purpose that allows him to focus on his other problem, a cure.

To that end he returns to the home of his only remaining friend, Jacob.  When Morbius tells him of his new plan to use his need to feed only on the wicked, Jacob accepts the idea and sets out to do whatever he can to help Morbius.

Meanwhile forces are alining against Morbius.  The corpses that he is leaving behind get the attention of the police, one of whom places a call to a mysterious man in South America, who immediately gets a plane back to the States.  Not to mention that Spider-Man already has Morbius on his radar.  Thought that feeling is mutual.  Morbius wants to meet with Spidey again, because once that radio active blood of his alleviated the symptoms of his disease for a while.

Writer Len Kaminski knows his way around the vigilante story.  Having written for other horror titles like Lady Death, Hellstrom, and Scare Tactics, he knows his way around the horror genre too.  The internal debate that Morbius is constantly having concerning the physical action that he needs to take to remain alive gets a chance to be aired outside of the inner monologue.  The introduction of Jacob gives Morbius a Devil’s Advocate that has enough of a callous demeanor to him that it seems to push Morbius further towards that vigilante mindset.

Ron Wagner provides a dark canvas to tell that story on.  All of the characters seem jagged and textured to the point that they just ooze humanity and darkness.  The black borders to all of the pages gives it an even darker feel, like there might be something lurking on the edge of the pages.  The art in this is done just right, and the menial thug that Morbius feeds on this issue doesn’t look like he fell out of Mad Max, so that is a bonus.

It is hard for me to divorce nostalgia from this review, but I have to say that even without the veneer of, “I loved this as a kid,” this is a really solid title.  There is a palpable sense of desperation in Morbius about what he is going to have to do to stay alive.  There is a disconnectedness from Jacob that is a touch disturbing, as far as voices of reason go he isn’t the best and seems very enabling of Morbius.  It will be interesting to see as the title goes on if it maintains this sense of darkness and urgency as traditional super heroes are introduced into the fray.  I for one am excited to re-read on!

Next Time:  Baltimore: The Plague Ships TPB

Rise of the Midnight Sons (TPB – 2000 – Marvel)

Rise of the Midnight Sons TPB

Collecting Ghost Rider #28 & #31, Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance #1, Darkhold #1, Morbius #1, and Nightstalkers #1.

When I was 12 I desperately wanted this collection.  I would pick up my copy of Wizard every month and see how much my poly-bagged collectors issues of the Rise of the Midnight Sons series was up to.  Because like most everyone else in the 90’s there was a brief moment when I thought all of those first issue collectors editions would be worth thousands of dollars soon, and I would be able to buy all the comics that I ever wanted ever when I traded them in.  In the mean time I wanted to have this collection so I could read the books that were trapped in those collectors poly-bags over and over again.  What better way to do that than with a collection in book form that would never be worth as much as my single issues would ever be.

I never got it, because it was twenty dollars, and while my middle school allowance would cover a couple of books that were $2.50 a week, I didn’t have the financial wherewithal to just save up for a month to pick it up.  I had to have the books that were on the stands that week.  If I waited to pick up the graphic novel, how would I ever keep up with the current titles.  Oh the mind of a 12 year old geek!

Now I’m an adult, and there is ebay, and this little gem allowed me to pick up all those old poly-bagged comics and this guy so that I could reread the titles, without taking them out of their precious bags.  (though the giant poster that they all make is a huge temptation to open them).  I have to tell you, having these in a collection isn’t a let down at all.  These comics are just as fun as I remember them being.

The entire saga begins with Ghost Rider #28.  John Blaze is following around the newly minted Ghost Rider, Dan Ketch as he goes on a vengeance spree.  He is collecting common criminals and piling their inert Penance Stared out bodies in a crypt in a cemetery.  The cops are catching on to the action in the cemetery and soon Blaze and the Ghost rider find themselves trapped.  Enter The Caretaker another enigmatic motorcycle riding man who shows them a back way out of the crypt.  They escape, but stranger and more important things are afoot, as Lilith mother of demons has returned to the Earth, and her Lillin including her child Blackout are out to help her conquer the world.

Spirits of Vengeance #1 continues the tale, Blaze and Ghosty are still on the run from the cops, making their way back to the carnival that Blaze runs with his family.  Blaze isn’t sure why Ghost Rider is going so mad with rage until the Rider shares the vision of Lilith that he has had with Blaze.  The rush back to the carnival intensifies.  Meanwhile Lilith is reborn and her children gather to her in the Antarctic, including the teleporter Pilgrim.  Soon Blaze and Ghost Rider are back in the carnival and Lilith is is “getting the band back together,” by soliciting the help of Creed, and evil priest that can shoot his limbs from his body.  A showdown at the carnival is imminent, and the title doesn’t disappoint.  The Lillin and the carnies battle it out, with Blaze and The Rider coming out on top.

With Lilith on retreat, Blaze and The Ghost Rider go in search of other creatures that are a part of Ghost Rider’s vision of Lilith.  Thinking that all who were revealed to him will be enemies.  Enter Michael Morbius in Morbius #1.  Ghost Rider and Blaze arrive looking for him, ready to destroy him, not realizing that though he suffers from an insatiable lust for blood, it is tempered by his humanity.  He is a vampire through infection, and longs for nothing but to be free from his disease.  With that in mind he solicits help from another doctor friend who has helped him develop a serum that keeps him normal.  Everything is fine until one of Lilith’s children sneaks in and adds a little bit of demon blood to the serum.  Morbius goes mad and Blaze and Ghosty think they are going to have to put him down.  Instead Morbius gets control of himself, and vows to Ghost Rider to only feed on the blood of the corrupt.  Problem solved, time for Blaze and Ghost Rider to move on.

I feel obligated to point out here the vast superiority that this comic has to the current Marvel Now Morbius title.  Everything about it is better.  The art is darker, the plot is thicker, Morbius is way more serious about healing himself, and taking out some baddies on the way to recovery.  I’m still going to read the new Morbius title, but revisiting this one just reminds me of how far the new one falls short.

Darkhold #1 introduces us to a new villain.  The Darkhold, a book full of the most evil of spells, and the hideous little dwarf that is handing pages of it out to unsuspecting citizens.  Meanwhile a cabal of evil men called The Darkholders is busy trying to enable the dwarf to spread his vile darkness.  Blaze and the Ghost Rider come to put an end to the latest creature that The Darkhold has release, just in time for Lilith and her brood to fight against them as well.  Also arrives Vicki Montesi, daughter of one of the men sworn to keep the Darkhold in check, Sam Buchanan an agent from Interpol that has no belief in the mystical but has been charge with protecting Vicki and Louise Hastings an occultist that is driven to fight the Darkholders as well.  Soon the Darkholders, teamed up with Lilith go on the attack but with the aid of Ghost Rider and John Blaze they are able to thwart not only the two cults, but also the worm creature that threatens to consume all of humanity.  Lilith is on the run again.

The Nightstalkers are also a team, and their vow is to literally purge the earth of all supernatural creatures.  That includes Ghost Rider.   So when Ghosty comes knocking on the door of Blade, Frank Drake and Hannibal King, they are ready for a fight.  The same basic misunderstanding that happens between Blaze and the Rider with Morbius occurs here.  Soon though the Spirits of Vengeance and the Nightstalkers are Teaming up to defeat a common enemy, Lilith and her children.  There is one exception though, aside from teaming up to defeat Lilith the Nightstalkers make it clear that Ghost Rider is not safe with them.  There is no tentative agreement, only their desire to see all supernatural creatures eradicated from the Earth.

Which brings us to Ghost Rider #31, the Midnight Sons have all met.  The lines have been drawn and the time for the Midnight Sons to confront Lilith has come.  Pilgrim draws all the players to Antarctica and the battle begins, drawing to the logical conclusion.  Semi-good triumphs over ultimate evil.

As a whole this series stands the test of time.  It is dark and bold.  The evil is really evil and the good guys aren’t really a whole lot better.  The art is strong and the writing isn’t nearly as cheesy as this kind of horror vigilante super hero stuff can be (seriously check out some of the Punisher stuff from the 90’s the writing in them is so weak it is nearly painful).  For me it is hard to go wrong with these titles, I’m sure as I dig into the subsequent issues of them I will regret saying that but for now they are great.  If you haven’t dug into this branch of the Marvel Universe, it is worth a little trip to visit the Midnight Sons.

Next time: Revival #1

Morbius the Living Vampire #1 (January – 2013 – Marvel)

Morbius The Living Vampire #1

I’m not sure that I really get the point or Marvel Now.  Right now it just kind of seems like an excuse to dump a bunch of first issues of titles that have been around forever onto the market.  Sure they are “re-booting” a lot of the titles in an effort to make them more hip and with it, but I don’t know that a lot of the titles out there really need that.  Do we really need like four Avengers titles?  Or a reboot of the very well fleshed out Wolverine saga?  Or a hip new version of the Michael Morbius story?  Probably not.

As a devotee of the Midnight Sons titles of the 90’s this title coincided almost perfectly with me getting back into comics so seeing issue #1 I bit, pardon the pun.  It was a bit of a let down.  The Morbius of this new Marvel Now title seems a little silly.  After climbing out of a river Morbius runs away from the law to a suburb of New York called Brownsville, on the advice of a homeless man who suggests that as a prison escapee there may just be to many super heroes in New York for Morbius’ taste.  “For the most part, super heroes never even heard of Brownsville,” the homeless many says.

“Sounds Perfect,” is Morbius’ reply.

Things in Brownsville are fine, if a little seedy and dirty until Morbius steps in to help a young lady against some local thugs.  Soon he finds himself on the wrong side of a mohawked and heavily pierced gang leader who could have walked out of any shitty 80’s post apocalyptic sci-fi schlock.   Soon Morbius is on the run and gunned down leaving the first issue with a cliff hanger that kind of makes me wish this was a one shot.

There is a lot that I don’t like about this comic.  Characterization is weak, nameless homeless guy, standard sci-fi gang thug, and Morbius himself comes across as childish (unlike the scientist that he is supposed to be).  The writing is pedestrian, and I think it does a  really poor job of representing a long standing and interesting side character in the Marvel Universe.  Even the “sciency” things Morbius says about the physical (rather than mystical) nature of his affliction seem forced and silly. I’m sure I will be picking up forthcoming issues, just in the hopes of a turn around in the title, but the guy at the comic book shop put it best when he talked about his title, “When I first met you I thought to myself, ‘You seem smart, why are you reading that?'”

Richard Elson’s art on the hand I like.  He has a really clean and precise style that reminds me a lot of cartoons or illustration.  It doesn’t really hint at the darkness that is could, and because it is so precise Brownsville doesn’t seem as grimy as they say it is.  I like the style, I just don’t know that it fits the story that could be told with the Morbius character.

Here’s hoping that the title ages with grace and beauty instead of getting stupider as it goes.

Next Time:  Cthulhu Tales #1

Ghost Rider: Team Up (TPB – 2007 – Marvel)

Ghost Rider: Team Up

Collecting:  Marvel Team-Up #91, Marvel Two-in-One #80, Marvel Premier #28, Avengers #214, Ghost Rider #27 & #50

The Ghost Rider title is near and dear to my heart.  In the 90’s when the Spirits of Vengeance title was starting, I was starting to read comics regularly, and all of the Midnight Sons titles really got me going.  I would trundle my way up to the grocery store (before I even knew there was such a thing as comic book shops) and pick up the new issues every week.  Typically spending my whole allowance on it.

The progression of Ghost Rider’s character from the 70’s into the 90’s when I picked it up is pretty drastic.  Here the John Blaze version of Ghost Rider isn’t beholden to the Satanic powers inside of him (not clearly stated as possession by the demon Zarathos), he has a better grasp on how to control the spirit inside of him.  In this collection there is a remarkably self possessed John Blaze as he fights along side some of Marvel’s best and brightest.

Starting out with a Marvel Premier that features The Legion of Monsters, a kind of monster super group that has reared its head up a couple of times since.  Consisting of Ghost Rider, Morbius, Man Thing and Werewolf by Night they are featured in a pretty disjointed story that involves a volcano erupting in the middle of Los Angeles at the behest of Starseed.  Starseed is a misunderstood god like creature that wants only to bring peace and healing to the Earth.

Because of his mode of arrival the Legion of Monsters turns on him.  Not willing to hear his story they attack and destroy, but not before Starseed reveals that he could cure them each of their affliction (which is the most confusing to Man Thing).  So they end up eliminating their potential savior in typical anti-hero fashion.  No wonder Legion of Monsters didn’t really catch on as a title.  The stand alone is really pretty silly.

Not quite as silly as the next issue Ghost Rider #27 features a duke out between Ghost Rider and Manticore (a throw away villain if ever there was one), but with the aide of Hawkeye and Two-Gun Kid.  Clearly trying to tie in some kind of cowboy and indian theme to the outlaw biker image of Ghost Rider.  All three heroes lament their solitude and loneliness despite having to work together to defeat a common foe.  It just proves that throwing a semi big hero name into a different semi beg hero title doesn’t work that great.

Marvel Team-Up #91 pulls the typical Team Up tactic of having two heroes fight each other before they align against the evil that plagues the both.  This Team Up features Spider Man attending a circus side show that features Ghost Rider as a flaming man.  Ghost Rider is under the influence of the evil Moon Dark the Magician.  He is on a quest to steal souls to help convince Satan to give him eternal life.  Moon Dark has control of Ghost Rider and forces the two heroes to go head to head, until the secret ring that holds Ghost Rider’s soul is broken, releasing him from the spell.  Ass kicking on the part of Spidey and the Rider commences.  The quips and attitude of the Web Slinger make him a perfect team up character, and in this issue of the collection it shows.  The interplay between villains and heroes is spot on for a really fun, one shot.

Issue #50 of Ghost Rider comes next and it is hands down the best in this collection.  The Rider travels back to the old west where he teams up with Night Rider (a wild west prototype of the Ghost Rider).  Fighting the manifest spirit of Manitou the two face down bandits and ancient Native American spirits.  It is a romp and a great stand alone issue (though it obviously connects to the issues of Ghost Rider that surround it) that has all the tropes of a wild west showdown and the kind of supernatural shenanigans that Ghost Rider fans (old and new) expect.  This is my favorite issue in the collection.

Marvel Two-in-One #80 is tale about monsters and coming to terms with being a monster.  Featuring The Thing in one of his many Two-In-One appearances both heroes spend time coming to terms with the separation that being a creature of frighting visage causes.  It is pretty standard fare for both Ghost Rider and the Thing.  Contrary to typical team up style comics there is is no common foe for The Thing to fight with Ghost Rider to defeat.  Instead the issue has Thing fighting Ghost Rider to bring John Blaze back to the fore.  Ben Grimm appeals to the humanity within the inhuman, other wise The Spirit of Vengeance is hell bent on rendering two young joy riders  obsolete via the penance stare.  In the end Blaze’s humanity wins out and the Ghost Rider is brought back under control.  Leaving Blaze to ride off into the sunset lamenting his solitude and The Thing to return to The Baxter Building to appreciate that at least he has someone to go home too.

The final issue in the collection, Avengers #214, is the most modern in the collection.  Dealing with many of the same issues that the previous issue in the collection dealt with.  Coinciding with Yellowjacket’s removal from the Avengers, it tells how poorly things can go when those who are overwhelmed don’t ask for help.  The chaos that spiral out of Yellowjacket’s screw ups are mirrored by John Blaze losing control of Ghost Rider and attacking one of the Avengers.  As all of the Avenger’s pile up on Ghost Rider we learn that the cult of heroism isn’t all it is cracked up to be, and that in the long run, no many how much your rage and depression are out of control you have a choice.  As well as having a bit of an Ayn Randian nod to laws and regulations being less powerful than self.

The collection is a great look at the Ghost Rider of the past, but over all is about half good.  The reality is that there is only so much that you can do to advance ideas in one off team up style comics.  There is a standard format that is hard to break out from and as a consequence really limits the format.  I love Ghost Rider though, so reading some old issues in full color is great (a part of me with the Essential collections were in color too).  Decent collection but nothing overwhelming.

Next Time:  Crawling Sky #1