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.

Marvel Comics Presents #144

Another issue, another round of 'Siege of Darkness' segments. 

The main feature has most of the main players of the story line. Since the enemy, Lilith, is also the fabled mother of vampires, the group known as Midnight Sons are distrustful of one of their allies, Morbius, the Living Vampire! The Midnight Sons are saying that their distrust is due to the revelation in the last issue of a traitor in their midst. But I call BS. 

Blade is part vampire. Yet, his allies haven't turned against him. In a social relevance twist that could only be dreamed up by Marvel, the prejudice is against Morbius because he looks like a vampire! The racism Blade experiences along with the recoil people have against one who looks like Morbius bleeds over into a second segment starring the two.

Meanwhile, Scarlet Witch is still battling a demon within the computer cyber realm that I imagine would one day be called the Internet. And at a school play, the Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell has tracked a group of Lilin. They seek to kill the parents and teachers in attendance while Russell is out for blood. The action unfolds on stage to the awed crowd. This is the best Halloween pageant ever!

Last issue, I thought all of the stories were pretty extraneous to the cross-title plotline. I do not feel that way here. Those first two segments involving Morbius and the traitor are some important pieces of information that readers of regular titles like Doctor Strange and Ghost Rider might be missing out on if they don't read this bi-weekly (or has it gone monthly now?) anthology title. 

As for the extra entries, I don't really see the point of the inclusion of the Scarlet Witch. I've heard of ghosts in the machine but not demons. However, the Werewolf By Night story was sheer gory delight. It didn't move the Midnight Sons story along. But it was magnificent in such a marvelously morbid way.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents # 113

A whole lot is happening in this issue. 

I wanted to mention a couple of issues ago that when Mary Walker transformed into Typhoid Mary, she set Wolverine ablaze. Since he's on the cover of this issue and he's smoldering, I figured it wasn't so much of a spoiler now. Let alone the fact that this issue is nearly 30 years old now. 

Iron Fist joins Ghost Rider in a new multi-parter that begins here. A bunch of bizarre fiends are terrorizing areas of the Big Apple. One is named Vesper and she's literally on fire. The other has a gigantic eyeball on his chest named Mind's Eye. We mostly get a small introduction of the two villains and don't really get the two heroes crossing paths... yet. 

The Bill Foster Giant-Man also has a multi-parter that kicks off in this issue. An expert at security as well as bio-sciences, Foster is pulling double duty at a high clearance research facility for Stane International. Things have been going missing. Very expensive, important stuff! And Stane security has no answer for the disappearances. 

Lastly, the Werewolf by Night returns! Okay, is it really a disappearance if he never actually went away? I loved his single issue tale. Jack Russell comes across a man who's been cursed to become a Wendigo. Len Kaminski (Web of Spider-Man) crafts a beautifully sad morality tale in which Russell laments his unwarranted animal urges in comparison with the man cursed to be a carnivorous beast because he willingly choose to feast on another human. 

A fantastic quartet of stories that I just couldn't put down. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #112

The Werewolf by Night/Ghost Rider story ends. I had to double check that Robert Kirkman didn't have anything to do with this story based on the level of red ink used. It's a bloody closing chapter is what I'm wittily trying to say.

Two new single issue stories appear in this issue. The first stars the Spider-Man villain Hobgoblin, who at this point in his career has been imbued by demonic powers and is known as the Demogoblin. Not really much of a memorable story. Though the real protagonist for this story is a NYPD task force of peacekeepers trained to take on meta human threats. I thought it was really groundbreaking for this group, called Code: Blue, to have a member who is a paraplegic. 

The other story is another Infinity War crossover. It stars Adam Warlock allies Pip and Gamora. Having both been obliterated by Thanos in the war, Pip and Gamora are exploring their new surroundings inside of Adam's Soul gem. It's a beautifully illustrated story by Rita Fagiani. 

And I've just got to talk about this Steve Lightle cover. It's a good thing the artist decided to use a silhouette because there'd be all kinds of bits and stuff hanging out. And there's not much left to the old imagination as Typhoid Mary gives Wolverine the slip and starts enacting revenge on some of the slimeballs who abused her as a youth. It hearkens to the 1980s Linda Blair retribution thriller Savage Streets in which Balir dresses and acts seductively to her friends' tormentors before serving a dish of ice cold revenge. 

Another mixed bag of stuff that was good but not really enough to make me say this issue was great.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars

Marvel Comics Presents #111

Typhoid Mary finally appears in the Wolverine story to some explosive effects. Despite the slowness of how the Ann Nocenti (Daredevil) story is going, this noirish tale has been anything but boring. And the artwork from Steve Lightle (Legion of Super-Heroes), it's some pretty risque stuff. 

The only thing else to talk about that is of note is that the Infinity War crossover story starring Thanos ends in this issue. While I enjoyed the first 3 chapters, I was very disappointed with the ending. It literally goes nowhere. I guess I should have expected this. With this being a tie-in to a larger story arc, why would Marvel want to accomplish anything that would take away from Infinity War? Still, I was disappointed.

Ghost Rider and the Werewolf by Night continue to take on the Braineaters. Danny Rand, the Iron Fist, stars in a single issue story. But both aren't really all that memorable even though Iron Fist takes on some mummies in a desecrated church.

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #110

It took 2 chapters. But Logan finally meets Mary Walker. This story really feels like the noir films Body Heat or Double Indemnity. Mary tells Logan that she's got memory gaps but knows that she's been abused. Logan is falling for her and thinks that her past is somehow tied in with the serial killer from chapter 1. 

I haven't been much of a fan of the Wolverine stories as they all feel like really bad action movies. But this one has got a sexual tension and a mystery angle to it that is really making me a fan.

I forgot to mention this last issue, but Marvel has finally decided that it's time to stop having Sam Keith do both of the covers to this flip book anthology. Last issue introduced Marvel Swimsuit Special artist Steve Lightle to the mix. Lightle has been tasked with the Wolverine covers based on his pencils in the Wolverine/Bloody Mary story. Lightle's covers are a breath of fresh air, though I must say that I think Keith's cover is the better offering of this issue. 

Oh, and Nightcrawler returns. He's only been gone 2 issues. But I don't mind his return in this 8-page single issue story. It's a murder mystery based on the legend of Jack the Ripper. I loved the ending. Maybe it's because I figured out who the killer was. Maybe it's because Nightcrawler is one of my favorite superheroes of all-time. Maybe it's both. It's a real good story.

The Werewolf by Night/Ghost Rider story and the Thanos epic are both continuing to impress me as well. Both segments don't really have a lot of action to them. But they are interesting and unique enough to keep my attention.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #109

This was a great issue!

A new Wolverine team-up starts. This one co-stars Typhoid Mary. Though the Daredevil enemy doesn't really appear in the opening chapter, it's got an intriguing premise with Logan on the trail of a serial killer who has a history with Mary. I can't wait to see where this one goes...

The Young Gods story comes to a close. The Gerry Conway/Eric Fein story still seems like a second rate Eternals story. But the Tom Sutton artwork is stunning. 

I'm really enjoying the Werewolf by Night/Ghost Rider adventure. It follows up from a MCP story from a couple of years back. As wild as that story was involving a bunch of in-breed werewolf cannibals that also happen to be members of a biker gang. This sequel starring that same pack is just as wild and maybe a little bit S&M.

I think all the more revealing and explicit artwork and story-lines are because Marvel (at this time) is edging away from the Comics Code. I think they're trying to figure out how far they can go before finally splitting away from the CCA. That way, the House of Ideas doesn't just go completely wild and end up in yet another comics scare level of trouble based on the content. 

Wrapping things up is the latest chapter of the Thanos story. Death has for some reason been avoiding the Mad Titan. Not one to be stood up, Thanos takes on Death's legions of followers to finally win an audience with his true love.

As I've said before, I am not really a Jim Starlin fan. He's too cosmic for my tastes. But this second volley wasn't that bad. And I am actually looking forward to see what happens next. Plus, it doesn't hurt to have amazing artwork from Spider-Man's Shawn McManus!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #108

The curtain finals closes on the Wolverine/Nightcrawler tale. Part 1 started off really well. Then things just went in circles. It was like a Scooby-Doo mystery without any clues. This final part was actually exciting. There are humans attacking mutants and mutants attacking humans. The real question is 'Who's the real monster here?' 

Really loved the poignant ending. But why does Nightcrawler have to be the Charlie Brown of the X-Men? I love Nightcrawler. I know I say this kind of thing a lot. But he really is in my 10 top list of favorite comic book characters. Yet nothing seems to go right for Kurt Wagner. And when something good actually happens to the character, it just feels so out of place. 

The Ghost Rider/Werewolf by Night story is awesome. It's so unusual and I love unusual.

Thanos stars in a new multi-parter. It's a tie-in to one of the Infinity Gauntlet sequels. I think. Heck, it might just be an extension of the Infinity Gauntlet itself. I wasn't really sure. Sorry, but I haven't read all those books yet and to be honest, I'm not really big on Jim Starlin.

Only 1 chapter left in the Young Gods story. It too, finally is starting to get really good. And I am not just talking about the artwork from Tom Sutton that I have been a fan of since the beginning.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #107

A new multi-parter begins in this issue. Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night teams with Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch, in a tale that has a lot of promise. The Braineaters, a biker gang of carnivorous werewolves return. We last saw the Braineaters in issues #55-59 of MCP. In that story, Jack Russell was by himself against this gang of maniacs as well as having to also take on a demented Catholic priest who thought it was his God ordained duty to kill all creatures of the night. Here, the Werewolf by Night has the Spirit of Vengeance on his side and it looks like only the Braineaters are involved in this story. 

The one-shot story stars the Native American superhero Red Wolf. This story involves the corrupt oil and tech company Roxxon and the drilling on indigenous lands. At first you think this story is going to be nothing but a social relevance story about the evils of big oil and the rights of Native people. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this. I was just surprised how by page 2 or 3 of this 8-pager, the story turned into a whodunit? Okay, more like a Who's-gonna-do-it? 

Threats have been made to both members of the Roxxon board of directors and some of the Native American activists. It's up to Red Wolf, who is working security at an Roxxon gala, to figure out who the gunman or gunmen are! This was a great mystery story in which superpowers were an afterthought. I loved this Batman level detective story!

Crap, Crap, Crap. Both the Wolverine/Nightcrawler and Young Gods story keep on chugging along. When will either mercifully end? 

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.