Werewolves in Black & White – Part 4

If you missed the last one…

I had one comment on the last portion of this four-part lycan-fest asking about Mike Ploog. This is a natural question just as if you were talking about Gene Colan and Tomb of Dracula. But Mike’s work was for color comics so I haven’t looked at any. He did do one black & white illustration for “Panic by Moonlight” (Monsters Unleashed #6, June 1974), a prose piece by Gerry Conway about The Werewolf by Night. I didn’t include this and another prose tale by Conway because I’m focused on comics per se.

Mike Ploog’s work on four Horror comics are classic 1970s Monster fare. He was the first artist on Werewolf by Night, Ghost Rider, Man-Thing and The Monster of Frankenstein. I was always a fan of his Sword & Sorcery stuff first (Kull, Klarn, movies such as Wizards), and sought him out wherever I could find him. Like Berni Wrightson, Mike’s style is individualistic and distinct, not a copy of a copy of John Buscema or Jack Kirby. Sadly, he didn’t do any long pieces in b&w to include here.

“Within the Dungeons of Count Dracula” (Psycho #24, March 1975) was written by Al Hewetson. This late issue of Psycho was a werewolf extravaganza with three werewolf tales. Dracula makes an offer to his prisoner, Rathskaller. If he can survive a night in the woods, he can go free. The man hides in a tree and avoids a werewolf, but Dracula sics his pet wolves and bats on the man, winning by cheating. Martin Sauri looks like Esteban Maroto in this one.

“Visions of Bloody Death” (Psycho #24, March 1975) was written by Augustine Funnell. This dream-like tale continues from previous a storyline with a werewolf pursuing a witch. He fights a demon then realizes she has fled to England. Paul Puigagut also has a style similar to Maroto, drawing both werewolves and demons well.

“The Cry of the White Wolf” (Psycho #24, March 1975) was written Dave Sim. It was his debut in comics. Who better to write a story set in Canada? I wrote about this strange Northern here.

“Van Helsing’s History of Horror” (The House of Hammer #7, February 1977) was written by Dave Gibbons. It is impossible to cover an entire movie in one page so this is an overview of werewolf films. Peter Cushing gets a great portrait in the topper. Gibbons is one of the UK’s best, coming out of the IPC comics before going on to some of the top US titles.

“The Curse of the Werewolf” (The House of Hammer #10, July 1977) was written by Steve Moore. If you want the whole film, then The House of Hammer #10 delivers the goods with a fifteen pager. And drawn by John Bolton! Another UK superstar, Bolton’s black & white work is a favorite. The few color comics he has done haven’t resonated like his b&w work.

“The Wax Werewolf” (Creepy #97, May 1978) was written by Bob Toomey. This story and the two that follow were a late return for Warren’s Creepy into the werewolf ring. A werewolf attacks and kills a farmer but not before the dead man grabs a hunk of hair. Boisie researches werewolves at the library where his girlfriend Shary works. He takes the hair to a witch named Queenie. For three dollars he has a doll made. When the werewolf comes for Boisie he stabs it with a knife. The wolf is dead. It is also his gal, Shary. Boisie throws the doll into the fire and burns up as well. The two lovers are joined in death. Jose Ortiz does a nice job of characters and makes his werewolf exciting and scary as well.

“Daddy is a Werewolf” (Creepy #127, May 1981) was written by Nick Cuti. We have left the 1970s at last and the 1980s will bring some changes to the werewolf tale. Ben Dunbar is an insurance man who kills a woman when he turns into a werewolf. He escapes the police by returning home in his human form. Ben changes again when he takes the family to the carnival and a scene in the Tunnel of Terror sets him off. A Dr. Winsor Sorrell takes Ben under his wing. He has studied the problems of the Lycanth gland, which helped ancient man to survive. Ben decides to have Sorrell operate on him and cure him. Unfortunately, Sorrell uses scalpels made of steel but coated in sterling silver. Fred Carrillo’s art is serviceable, reminding me of his work from the DC’s horror titles.

“Lycanthropist” (Creepy #131, September 1981) was written by Budd Lewis. A scientist studies werewolves in a remote location. How can a man do this? It helps if he is a robot. And why should the robots help cure lycanthropy? They aren’t. They’re finding a way to devolve humanity back into the sea. Bill Draut’s artwork is both old-fashioned and excitingly new in this tale. Perfect!

“An American Werewolf in Space” (2000 A. D. #252, February 20, 1982) was written by Alan Moore. This short four pager was the first tale of werewolves in the UK weekly. Bayer Lupo is excited. He is being sent into space with two thousand others. And he is a werewolf. How he will feed! Only it turns out he’s not the only lycanthrope on the ship. In fact, all of the astronauts are. Back on Earth, the humans congratulate themselves for sending an entire ship load of werewolves off the planet. The next crew, a bunch of vampires. Moore does a great bit here with naming his characters. Lupo realizes Chaney and Hull are also werewolves. Of course, they are. And the vampire is named Alucard. Paul Neary’s art work is quirky but he draws a great wolf.

“Cry of the Werewolf” (2000 A. D. #322-328, June 25-August 6, 1983) was written by Alan Grant and John Wagner. The last one was just a nibble for an appetizer. Sixty issues later we get a six issue story-line with Judge Dredd and werewolves! Each opening spread was in color but the rest in black & white. As Dredd says, “Things got pretty hairy!” Steve Dillon drew all six pieces and does a great job of making things exciting. What this comic, and several before it, show is Science Fiction creeping into the werewolf tale. The werewolves of the 1980s aren’t restricted to Gothic houses anymore. Science and technology play a role in these stories as much as werewolfery.

Conclusion

That ends our 1960s to 1980s tour of black & white werewolf comics. The trend as the early 1980s arrived was Warren (left alone after Skywald crashed in 1975 and Marvel moved on) did a few last werewolf tales. The majority of Warren’s lycanthropes appeared in the late ’60s and early ’70s, becoming old hat and being left behind for other ideas. The artwork was dominated by the Spanish artists and their ethereal style, perfect for werewolves or anything Gothic. The British comics took over at the end with great work in 2000 AD and Hammer-related magazines.

Unlike vampires with Tomb of Dracula or the monster of Frankenstein, no singular werewolf character took over the field. We got some short runs of characters mostly at Skywald and Marvel, but the werewolf remained uncaged so it could do any kind of story. This isn’t surprising since the same seems true of werewolves in fiction. Guy Endore’s The Werewolf of Paris (1933) was the closest the monster ever got to a defining novel but it was late to the party and didn’t have the hold of Frankenstein or Dracula. Lon Chaney Jr’s Wolf-Man is to be seen here and there but again, not exclusively. Werewolves remain varied and free to tell different stories.