If you missed the last one…
Werewolf comics date back to 1936 when Dr. Occult had a three parter called “The Werewolf” (July-September 1936) in More Fun Comics #11-13. This Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster strip is not as famous as Superman but it did start the tradition of ghostbreaker comics. Jack Kirby drew the next werewolf (Gordon Sanders) for “The Vision” in Marvel Mystery Comics #14 (December 1940). So DC and Marvel actually beat Warren Publications by a good thirty years. Best of all, the first werewolf was in black & white!
For glorious black & white is what we are looking at here. There is something creepier in a b&w comic than in one filled with color. Sure, guys like Mike Mignola can do color and still be creepy (and eerie!) but it’s more traditional to do it without color.
“The Circle of Circe” (Nightmare #2, February 1972) was written by Gardner F. Fox. This one is a Sword & Sorcery story based on Greek mythology. The werewolf portion is only one scene and not that important. Circe turns a man into a wolf instead of a pig. Read more about this story and other Fox Sword & Sorcery tales at Skywald here.
“Curse of the Werewolf” (The Monster Times #8, May 1972) was written by Gary Gerani. This two page summary comes from the Hammer film of the same name. The 1961 film was based on Guy Endore’s classic The Werewolf of Paris just like Henry Hull in the 1935 The Werewolf of London was. Oliver Reed played the lycanthrope. The Monster Times was a fan publication that had good comic versions sometimes.
Art by Francisco Cueto
“A Father’s Lament” (Nightmare #7, June 1972) and “Snowbound” (Nightmare #8, August 1972) were two more strange Northerns that Skywald did at this time. I wrote about them here.
“The Werewolf Within” (Nightmare #9, October 1972) was written by Al Hewetson. A group of very unlikable people are in the swamp to hunt alligators when they find an old plantation. A werewolf slowly prowls about as they kill each other, becoming fills with fear and suspicion. Who is the werewolf? The answer proves to be their dog. Hewetson may have been inspired by the same story as the film, The Beast Must Die (1974), where the audience is challenged to figure out who the werewolf is. That tale was James Blish’s “There Shall Be No Darkness” appeared in Thrilling Wonder Stories, April 1950.
“Werewolf, Fact or Fantasy?” (Eerie #44, December 1972) was written by Fred Ott. Warren may not have done any long stories about werewolves for awhile but they liked to keep them in the family with the occasional one-pager.
“The Suicide Werewolf” (Pyscho #10, January 1973) was written by Al Hewetson. A man is tortured in a dungeon but escapes to find himself in modern New York. He is chased by cops until he throws himself in front of train, free of torment at last. A very dream-like tale with little werewolfery in it.
“Change Into Something More Comfortable” (Creepy #58, June 1973) was written by Doug Moench. I was happy to find this black & white comic by Corben. He did plenty of werewolves but most were in color. A werewolf eats a bunch of trick-or-treaters then a gang of thugs and a few others on Halloween before finding a strange house where a party is happening. Inside he expects to eat everyone but finds the people inside are monsters dressed up like humans. Since the werewolf is human most of the time, they decide to eat him.
“On a Stalking Moonlit Night!” (Eerie #48-49, June-July 1973) was written by Al Milgrom. These two issues are the opening episodes in “The Curse of the Werewolf” series that would run in Eerie to #56. The opener begins with our wolfy fellow discovering his wife sleeping with another man. It doesn’t go well for the lovers! Steve Skeates would finish writing the series and Martin Salvador would draw most of it. Rich Buckler and Bill DuBay were the initial artists. DuBay would go on to be one of Warren’s important writers and editors.
“The Man Who Cried Werewolf” (Monsters Unleashed #1, June 1973) was adapted by Gerry Conway from the Robert Bloch story. This was the first volley from Marvel Comics’ new black & white line that included Vampire Tales, Tales of the Zombie, Savage Sword of Conan and Savage Tales. The Horror titles would not outlast the 1970s though Conan would become a staple until 1995. Charles, a writer, brings his wife, Violet, to the Canadian woods. The nervous wife fears she is a werewolf. Charles is having an affair with Lisa, who actually is a werewolf. The jealous paramour turns into a wolf-woman and tries to kill Violet. Charles saves her, and later regrets it, when Violet also turns into a werewolf. Bloch has turned the typical crime story into one of matrimonial and supernatural revenge.
Conclusion
As Werewolves in Black & White progresses, it is evident as the 1970s went on, writers and artists were trying to do something different with werewolves. We still get the Gothic trappings such as creepy mansions and the dark woods but somehow the point of the stories have changed. It is not enough just to have a guy with fuzz on his face. There are still twists in the ends of the stories but something more as well.
The werewolf-fest continues with nine more lycanthropic tales…
