Crypt of Shadows #1 (2024)

This is the third Halloween annual from Marvel based on the short-lived horror anthology from the 70s. Only this time the Crypt of Shadows, Vol. 3 issue #1 doesn't take place in the Crypt of Shadows. Nor is the anthology hosted by Doctor Strange's deranged brother Victor. This time around, Agatha Harkness, sitting in her intergalactic residence on the planet Amanna, is our hostess and she's spying on several characters of the Marvel Universe.

First up is Agatha's former pupil, the Scarlet Witch. When a magic door appears in her kitchen, Wanda Maximoff finds herself lured into a trap. An innocent nibble on the back of the Man-Thing unleashes a plague into the murky domain of the Sub-Mariner. Finally, the Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell finds himself the latest prey at the hands of Kraven the Hunter. Thankfully old friend, Blade is on hand to make it a fair fight.

First of all, that regular cover. How I wouldn't line up at my favorite LCS to pre-order a supernatural themed title with that lineup. Having Scarlet Witch, Vision, Prince Namor, the Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, Blade and Kraven the Hunter on the same team fighting some kind of magical threat? I'd be all over that series in a heartbeat.

The stories were pretty good. I didn't exactly like that the Scarlet Witch story was a lead up to upcoming events in the pages of her solo book. I understand that specials like these are paid for advertising for fledgling titles. At least it wasn't a cliffhanger that requires me to buy her book.

I also don't quite understand the changes with the host. There wasn't anything wrong with having Victor Strange as the host. Plus if you're going to call it the Crypt of Shadows, then it should at least take place in the Crypt of Shadows.

I do know that some of the changes were done to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For decades, Agatha Harkness has been either this ancient spindly old crone or dead. With a younger Harkness appearing in WandaVision, Marvel has once again changed the looks of a comic book character to reflect the live action version. I'm not too upset with that. Plus with the character's new Disney+ series Agatha All Along debuting now, I understand that Marvel Comics wants to cash in on that connection and is using their Halloween annual book to do it. I don't like it. But I understand the reasoning behind changing a great formula. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Crypt of Shadows #1 (2023)

For the second year in a row, Marvel releases a horror themed one-shot under the legacy banner of Crypt of Shadows. Unlike last year's offering, none of these stories seem to be set around Halloween. Also unlike last year's offering, every story was actually quite good!

Once again Victor Strange, the vampiric brother of Doctor Strange is our host. Trapped in that mirror somewhere in Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum, Victor regales readers with creepy stories set in the Marvel universe while scheming to escape from his shadow realm prison. The main theme of most of these stories are team-ups involving classic 1970s Marvel horror characters.

Deadpool is hired to kill a priestess who seeks to rule both the world and underworld. But he's got to get through N'Kantu, the Living Mummy in order to obtain his bounty. Daredevil is nearly ripped to shreds by the ninja clan known as the Hand. Coming to his aid is the Man-Thing, whose touch results in death in those who know fear. Good thing Matt Murdock is the Man Without Fear. Then the Hulk is assisted by the Werewolf by Night from an all-out assault by Kraven the Hunter. 

The only story to not feature a team-up stars the Scarlet Witch. She fights a demonic force called Bricklayer. It's the villain's first appearance and it's a pretty darn good one. Years ago, this haunted house was destroyed. Only one of the bricks from the possessed domicile lodged itself into the chest of a vagrant. Now the vagrant continues the destroyed home's reign of terror by killing innocents as the super-strong and extremely evil Bricklayer. This was a villain I very much want to see more off and the tagline at the end of the story promises more of the character. Though I expect Bricklayer's legacy to be taken up by a new host body.

Fans are also promised more of Victor Strange in the pages of Doctor Strange. I'm excited for this prospect as well. It might actually persuade me to buy the books new when Marvel finally pits brother against brother once more. 

Marvel managed to make a Halloween special that was relevant and yet not preachy. Comics can tackle tricky subjects while still being fun. Finally, after several years of feeling like I was being targeted by the House of Ideas, it seems that the publisher finally understands that fans want to be entertained, not talked down too. If I wanted to spend my hard earned cash being made to feel like the source of all humanities problems, I'd enroll in an ethics course in college. When I buy comic books, I want to enjoy it and I actually enjoyed this horror comic.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Crypt of Shadows #1

I've gotta hand it to Marvel. I really thought that they skipped producing a horror special just in time for Halloween once again. However, I was wrong. Crypt of Shadows is based on Marvel's Infinite Comics (in other words, web comic) of the same name. But for an established fan of horror comics, the title goes back even further with Crypt of Shadows being one of Marvel's first horror anthologies to come after the loosened restrictions on stories about monsters by the Comics Code Authority. 

I don't recall that the original series from 1973-75 had a host. But the third volume of the title does! The host is Victor Strange, younger brother of Doctor Strange who is trapped in a pocket universe inside a mirror down in the Crypt of Shadows section of the Sanctum Sanctorum. Victor hosts 5 stories in total with 3 of them definitely set during Halloween. 

• Bloodline, the Daughter of Blade, inspects reports of a vampire terrorizing the streets of Atlanta only to find a pair of ghost hunters with unsavory intentions.
• Morbius, the Living Vampire, is tormented by a swarm of demonic bugs that only he can see and hear.
• Young Werewolf by Night, Jake Gomez, is invited to what is supposed to be the hottest Halloween Party in the Big Apple. Only when he arrives, Jake learns that he's the only guest on scene. But he's not the only werewolf!
• Elsa Bloodstone and Johnny Storm trudge through the sewers of New York seeking a horrible monster made up of a mutated Spider-Man Man-Spider monster! Yes- Spidey has multiple arms and 8 eyes once again!
• The Laura Kinney Wolverine and Man-Thing do endless battle in the Infinite Swamp. In a twist I don't think anyone saw coming, Man-Thing's pheromones meet Laura go full berserker mode and her rage makes Man-Thing keep producing more natural chemicals keeping the two brawlers battling through all time.

I'm not as up-to-date on modern Marvel as I am on current DC Comics. I did not know that the vampire hunter Blade had a daughter named Bloodline. I also was not aware that Jack Russell had been replaced by teenager Jake Gomez. I have no complaints about either. I just wasn't familiar with these two.

I felt that the Morbius story was the creepiest. That ending which was inspired by such films as the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers really got under my skin. The Wolverine and Man-Thing battle was also very good. Though a couple of the pages had intentionally blurry artwork and with the psychedelic palette and unpanelled artwork, the beginning was a little vertigo inducing. 

With 3 of the 5 stories being set during Halloween and host Victor Strange mentioning that it's All Hallow's Eve at the beginning of this one-shot, I'm going to declare that this is indeed a Halloween special. But I am also going to say that I feel cheated by Marvel. 

Victor Strange tells viewers to follow his adventures over at Marvel Unlimited for exclusive digital content. I know that Marvel has been releasing holiday specials annually through the Infinite Comics Imprint. But they've also been doing Halloween stuff too? Unfair! Really, Unfair!

I know Marvel wants to release their stuff digitally as a way of covering costs. But come on- release this stuff as a floppie as well! I will buy it. I know others that are print only and they are devoted to holiday specials! House of Ideas, at least consider releasing your holiday books as a trade or hardcover!

Sadly, the digital only stuff is the new nature of the beast. It's like how TV and film have gone to streaming only. It's just that companies like Disney/Marvel and Warner/DC have got to understand that a large chunk of their customer base are die hard devotees to traditional mediums and both have got to continue to market to those customers if they want to stay out of the red ink!

A good Halloween horror anthology. Only it could have been better had Marvel dug deep into its digital archives. Those stories seem more enjoyable and fun- and more TRADITIONAL TOO!- and that's the kind of stuff a reader like myself wants. Make the material that captures the spirit of vintage Marvel available in print and take the more legacy related stuff like Bloodline and Jake Gomez and have their stuff be digital as that's where the younger readers are going to get their comics. I think if Marvel would switch things around to have the more modern edgy stuff being online and the stuff that recalls the days of Stan Lee, Roy Thomas and Jim Shooter go into print, they'd see a rise in sales.

What have you got to lose, Marvel and Disney? It's worth a shot to appropriately market to the correct demographics!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Crypt of Shadows One-Shot (Marvel 80th Anniversary Special)

I've said it many a time on this blog; the 70s were my favorite time period for Marvel Comics. Around 1970, when the Comics Code adjusted to allow certain monsters back into comics, such as vampires and werewolves, Stan Lee jumped at the opportunity! One of the first Marvel Horror titles of the new era was Crypt of Shadows. This anthology series was mostly a book of reprints. But the covers were amazing and the stories themselves were fantastic!

In honor of Marvel's 80th anniversary, the House of Ideas is releasing a number of one-shot specials revitalizing some long-forgotten publications. I'll purchase a few of these new, right off the shelf. For the most part, when these books hit the bargain bin, I'll surely snag them up then. But with Crypt of Shadows being a favorite of mine, there was no way I was going to wait for a copy!

Jennifer Blood's Al Ewing pens the three stories that comprise this one-shot. Told in the Rashomon style with a twist, there's not much I want to reveal about this story as it would spoil the epic surprise ending. All I will say is that this book is about a man, with a terrifying fear of dogs, who sees a therapist for a radical new treatment. 

Now some of you might be thinking that for me to say that there's a shocking turn of events. But an anthology horror series wouldn't be an anthology horror series if each story didn't finish with some sort of bolt from the blue!

While I really enjoyed these stories, I had to re-read some sections. The book is great but it's also quite complex. That's not a bad thing either. However, I wish I could say the same about the artwork.

The variant covers by Kyle Hotz, Young Guns and John Tyler Christopher were all phenomenal. But the artwork by a trio of artists, including Garry Brown (Babyteeth) were of varying quality. I mention only Brown as his art was the best. It's not Kirby/Romita/Ditko quality but it's good. But it's all downhill from there. 

What's wrong with the overall art? Mostly, it's the level of detail. There isn't any. I'm used to artists who like to pepper panels with creative set pieces and minute details. But for some reason, Marvel's next generation of artists refuse to add anything to the background. I just refuse to believe that nobody in the Marvel Universe has some posters or photos of family and friends on their living room walls!

Marvel has decided to reflect on it's past during the whole of 2019. I think that's a great idea. It's been working for DC very well. This one-shot horror special was a beautifully gory return to Marvel's roots. The House of Ideas has a fantastic line-up of talented writers and storytellers. Now if only Marvel's bullpen could be staffed with amazing artists once more. 

Maybe that will be the focus of anniversary #81...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Crypt of Shadows #10

If you were to just to look at the cover, you would think that the title story was about a poor sap running afoul of some death cult. In order to win his freedom, he must find an enchanted item placed inside a bottomless cloak.

Instead the title story is about a vagabond who is caught shoplifting. But the police are stymied when they can't find his stolen goods. Turns out that the coat he found has a special pocket that connects to another dimension.

What's so scary about that? Then again, what do you expect from a story published right after the comics scare?! It's not that the story was bad. It's just compared to the frightening scene on the cover, the story we get is extremely tame. Not to mention unexpected.

Among collectors of horror comics, this mid-seventies anthology series from Marvel is a cult favorite. It only ran for 21 issues and was comprised entirely of reprints. That alone is why the series was so short lived and yet reflected upon so fondly.

Crypt of Shadows wasn't what 1970s fans were expecting in an era that was opening to meatier horror stories after nearly 20 years of oppressive rules by the Comics Code. However, as these issues contain do contain a number of tales from when Marvel was Timely Comics as well as some very early Marvel stuff. For some fans of the modern era, finding these books are the only way that can get those nearly impossible to locate (and often pricey) stories as these comics are occasionally peppered in bargain bins.

A good issue that is proof of the adage: never judge a book by its cover!

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.