Hey friends,
On this day, fifty years ago, MARVEL SPOTLIGHT # 2 was published. Written by Gerry Conway (from a plot by Roy and Jean Thomas) and penciled by Mike Ploog, the issue introduced Jack Russell, AKA Marvel Comics’ Werewolf by Night.
In addition to having a great alter ego (Jack Russell!), WEREWOLF BY NIGHT is mostly known nowadays for introducing Moon Knight as an antagonist before Mr. Knight was spun off into his own series. During the course of his short-lived comic book series, Werewolf by Night would forsake the restraints of lycanthropy to become something resembling a superhero, even teaming up with Spider-Man and Iron Man. The highlight of this era, of course, is when he teamed up with Man-Thing, Ghost Rider, and Morbius to form the Legion of Monsters.
There have been a few attempts to reboot WEREWOLF BY NIGHT over the years. I’m particularly fond of the WEREWOLF BY NIGHT: IN THE BLOOD series by Duane Swierczynski and Mico Suayan. Most recently, Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas co-wrote a new series that saw a new teenager of Hoppi descent take the lead. This series is rumored to be the inspiration for a new Disney+ Halloween special coming next year.
I love WEREWOLF BY NIGHT. Werewolf stories, in general, tend to have a very definitive end. The werewolf is killed, the full moon sets, the story moves on. Okay, so Larry Talbot may have been drug back out of retirement every few years for Universal’s team-up monster mash films (Lon Chaney Jr. looking more and more rode hard and put away wet with every new appearance) but that was the exception, not the rule. WEREWOLF BY NIGHT promised lycanthropy as a soap opera, and I ate it up.
In 2007, while on a trip down the east coast with my friend Andrew, I dreamed up the kind of story that I would tell if I was ever given a chance to write WEREWOLF BY NIGHT. I kept noodling away at this story over the years, dreaming of some magical opportunity in which Marvel Comics gave me the keys to their character. In 2020, when I saw that Taboo was set to write a new WEREWOLF BY NIGHT series, I immediately responded with a kneejerk, “Oh, sure - give the comic book to the creative genius who helped write ‘Let’s Get It Started in Here.’”
Here’s the truth: Of course Marvel would want to work with Taboo - he’s a globally-known musician with a dedicated following and if he wanted to write a WEREWOLF BY NIGHT series, why wouldn’t Marvel jump at the chance? I, on the other hand, had zero experience writing comics and no dedicated following on a global scale (barely on a local scale). I was dreaming to think Marvel would ever track me down in my obscurity and invite me to write one of their characters.
But, undeterred, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and I wrote WHERE WOLF. The serialized novel turned podcast turned a comic book that I have worked on over the course of 2020 and 2021 is, in fact, my WEREWOLF BY NIGHT fan fiction. The names have been changed to protect me from Disney’s legal teams (not to mention the fact that the story has zero resemblance to any existing Werewolf by Night storyline) but I did it - I wrote my “werewolf as a soap opera” story. I only wish I had given my werewolf character the name German Shepherd.
Here’s the moral to the story: Don’t wait for big corporations to give you permission to create. If you have an idea, create it. If you want to tell stories with characters, tell them. Just don’t use any existing IP because you’ll get sued.
So, anyway, happy fiftieth birthday Werewolf by Night. Here’s to another fifty years of you fretting about whether you’re going to team up with the West Coast Avengers or eat a mugger.
PLAGIARIZING FROM MY LIFE
I had a wild night on Saturday - one of the weirdest experiences of my life. But I don’t want to write about it. Yet. In the past, I would jump at the chance to share every juicy detail about my life - regardless of how interesting others might find it. If I learned anything from writing WHERE WOLF, though, it’s to not give away that shit for free.
I would love to tell you about the stupid, stupid thing I did on Saturday night and the lessons I learned from it, but instead, I’m going to save it and put it into a future comic book or story or screenplay or whatever.
I don’t do that many interesting things so, when I do, I need to save them for something special.
WHAT I WATCHED THIS WEEK
I’m heading to Fantastic Fest on Thursday and won’t be hosting the weekly horror film series I program at the Alamo Drafthouse LaCenterra. Instead, I asked my friend Alan Cerny to guest program a film and he choose LADY IN WHITE. I had never seen the film before so I decided to check it out last night. Wowzas.
What a great cussing movie.
Written and directed by Frank LaLoggia, 1988’s LADY IN WHITE stars Lukas Haas as Frankie, a young boy in early ‘60s upstate New York. He loves writing monster stories and has a huge crush on his teacher. His father adores him, he has zany grandparents and a big brother who, while he can act like a jerk most of the time, has a big heart deep inside. Life is good. Until it’s not. One Halloween night, Frankie is locked into the school coatroom as a prank. Forced to spend the night trapped in this small closet, Frankie witnesses a spectral cameo from a young murdered girl. Worse, her murderer shows up to clear the evidence from his gristly act. Now, Frankie is haunted by the ghost of this girl until he can solve her murder and help put her spirit at rest.
LaLoggia directed one of my favorite weirdo horror films of the ‘80s, FEAR NO EVIL. FEAR NO EVIL is wild, nigh-incomprehensible sleaze. It is WILD to me that LaLoggia followed up that film with LADY IN WHITE, a movie that feels as much like a Norman Rockwall painting as an issue of TALES FROM THE CRYPT.
I loved LADY IN WHITE - it’s haunting, tragic, funny, and never lets its nostalgia overwhelm its story. It feels, in a lot of ways, like Bob Clark’s A CHRISTMAS STORY - to the point where I think I’m going to start referring to it internally as A HALLOWEEN STORY.
If you live in Houston and don’t have anything going on Friday, head to the Alamo LaCenterra to watch LADY IN WHITE on the big screen. Heck, even if you do have plans you should consider changing them. Tickets are available here. I wish I could watch this film with an audience, but I’m glad Alan helped introduce me to this great, great film.
WHAT I READ THIS WEEK
A few quick bites on good reads:
FUZZ: WHEN NATURE BREAKS THE LAW - A new Mary Roach book is always something to celebrate, especially when it’s as entertaining as this. Roach fills her books with tons of fascinating insight into the corners of science not usually explored - and always with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. STIFF, in which Roach explored the different fates that might befall your body should you donate it to science, is one of my all-time favorite reads. From tracking the DNA in cougar scat to the religious complexities in policing thieving monkies in India to scientists’ efforts to genetically modify infertility into a mouse population, Roach’s FUZZ explores the futile ways humanity tries to control nature.
THE WEREWOLD - This novella by Benjamin Percy with illustrations by Francesco Francavilla is ALIENS to CYCLE OF THE WEREWOLF’s ALIEN. Lycanthropy is a pandemic sweeping the nation and, for one sleepy street, trusting neighbors is a luxury that can’t be afforded. Readers will spend a year in the life of a family as this mysterious werewolf epidemic spreads across the country. I loved this werewolf novella so dang much!
THE GLASSY, BURNING FLOOR OF HELL - Another wonderful collection from Brian Evenson, one of my favorite short fiction authors. Evenson’s horror stories conjure universal fears, but they always seem set in a world or reality just slightly left of our own. Evenson writes in such a specific style - like Dashiell Hammett channeling Ray Bradbury. Sharp, purposeful prose and beyond haunting mental imagery make any of Evenson’s collections must-reads and THE GLASSY, BURNING FLOOR OF HELL is as good enough a place to start as any. Read this author!