Broken Frontier

"Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make." It’s the Marvel vampires’ turn in the spotlight in this latest Legion of Monsters special.

Two tales of bloodsucking nastiness this time around, starring three characters that all had their own 1970s features back in the day. The headliner is Morbius the Living Vampire who debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #101 before having his own strips in Adventure Into Fear and Vampire Tales. The backup sees fellow Vampire Tales alumnus Lilith take on her father Dracula (whose 70-issue Tomb of Dracula run was the high point of Marvel’s foray into the horror genre).

The opening tale suffers from the same complaint that so many Morbius stories do in that, essentially, it makes little use of what makes the character so unique. Morbius is not actually a vampire. His condition is scientific, and as such his most memorable stories are those that straddle the world of super-heroes and the supernatural, as per the aforementioned Fear run.

Brendan Cahill’s examination of Morbius’ encounter with a group of homeless junkies is a readable enough character piece but there’s little in it that distinguishes its protagonist from any other vampire. This is particularly unfortunate in a series that seemed to have a mission statement to reintroduce these creations to a new audience.

It amused me no end some months back to read so many online comments questioning why Morbius looked so different in his recent Blade appearance when Howard Chaykin had actually given us the most faithful representation of the Living Vampire’s visage in years. Michael Morbius’s fate was all the more chilling in the original stories because of the hideous demeanor of his vampiric metamorphosis. Michael Gaydos’ painted art has a haunting quality that fits the tone of the story but his Living Vampire has none of the sinewy repulsiveness that made Morbius such a memorable anti-hero.

The Dracula backup is far more satisfying. C.B. Cebulski examines the mutual hatred between Dracula and his offspring Lilith in an episode full of manipulative twists and turns. After the deeply disappointing attempt at reviving Marvel’s version of the Lord of the Vampires in the uninspiring Tomb of Dracula miniseries a couple of years back, this is a Dracula far more reminiscent of the Wolfman/Colan heyday. David Finch’s detailed and intricate pencils lend the proceedings a Gothic air in a violent and gripping encounter.

Those who prefer collected editions would be well advised to check out the October Legion of Monsters hardcover containing not only these one-shots but also including reprints of all three 1970s Scarecrow stories (the supernatural version not the super-villain!) and the Morbius/Werewolf/Man-Thing/Ghost Rider team-up from Marvel Premiere #28.

The Legion of Monsters one-shots remind us that the Marvel Universe is full of deliciously macabre corners that deserve to be explored and exploited. I fervently hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of this motley group of ghoulish grotesques.