For the first time ever, the complete ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN is collected in one volume!
When Gary Hampton is mauled and left for dead, his life takes a drastic turn! When the moon is full, he transforms into a beast of the night -- a werewolf! But this curse will not be used for evil. Witness the birth of the world's most unlikely new superhero -- The Astounding Wolf-Man!
Collects ASTOUNDING WOLF-MAN #1-25 and INVINCIBLE #57.
Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead, Invincible for Image Comics, as well as Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt. He is one of the five partners of Image Comics, and the only one of the five who was not one of the original co-founders of that publisher.
Robert Kirkman's first comic books were self-published under his own Funk-o-Tron label. Along with childhood friend Tony Moore, Kirkman created Battle Pope which was published in late 2001. Battle Pope ran for over 2 years along with other Funk-o-Tron published books such as InkPunks and Double Take.
In July of 2002, Robert's first work for another company began, with a 4-part SuperPatriot series for Image, along with Battle Pope backup story artist Cory Walker. Robert's creator-owned projects followed shortly thereafter, including Tech Jacket, Invincible and Walking Dead.
One night Kirkman went to party hard. After 20 bottles of vodka he arrived home and started writing on a napkin. He puked, cleaned himself with the napkin and passed out on the floor. And that's how this story was written and why there's sometimes you feel like there's a hole on the plot.
One moment you are "wow this is a really interesting idea" and two pages later "dafuq man, you're not even trying".
A lot of tropes on a story about genericwhitedude doing genericwhitedudethings (R) and crying because the world is really unfair to him while he's never the one paying for his errors because he's fucking immortal.
Still, Kirkman on a lazy day is better than most writers, so totally recommended.
Just too damn cheesy for me. Written solely by Kirkman, this book has the feel of a round robin, where different writers try to trap the author of the next chapter into a corner with a series of over-the-top shock endings. Also, I could just not connect to the billionaire protagonist, feeling a little bit of mean-spirited glee every time his life fell a bit more to pieces. By the end, I was so worn down I wasn't so much reading as just turning pages.
The Astounding Wolf-Man Complete Collection collects issues 1-25 of the series as well as Invincible 57. The book is written by Robert Kirkman with art by Jason Howard.
The Astounding Wolf-Man tells the story of billionaire CEO Gary Hampton who is attacked and seriously injured while on a camping trip with his family. During the next full moon while still recovering in the hospital, Gary transforms into a werewolf with enhanced strength, speed, and toughness. The next morning all of Gary's injuries have been healed. With the help of a new found vampire ally, Gary uses his money and werewolf abilities to fight crime at night as the Astounding Wolf-Man.
This is a fast paced superhero/supernatural tale of revenge that fits into Kirkman's shared superhero universe with Invincible, Brit, TechJacket, and Capes. It's a fun book but has some serious moments. I think the series would have benefitted by being longer and focusing on developing the characters a bit more. Some events are rushed through and don't have the emotional impact that they deserve. With some more backstory we would care more about theses characters. The book has a cartoony artstyle that gets better as the series goes on. I would recommend this book for fans of the Invincible universe as well as werewolf and vampire fans. While not outright horror, it has some interesting changes to supernatural lore.
The Complete Collection comes in a nice sturdy hard bound cover. The pages are thick and glossy which really showcases the art and makes the colors pop. What I really enjoy about a lot of Kirkman's books is that there is a ton of bonus content in the back of the book such as how characters developed and changed during the creation of the story. You get a lot Howard's character designs and Kirkman's notes on how he envisioned the characters to look like. You also get a lot of cover sketches and progressions as well as some variant covers, promotional art, and commissions.
But Astounding Wolfman, like Invincible, is all Kirkman. Invincible is his hero book, The Walking Dead, Compendium 1 is his zombie book, and Astounding Wolfman is, unshockingly, his werewolf book. Except it's not *just* a werewolf book, it's a "what if Batman became a werewolf who was mentored by a morally ambiguous vampire?" werewolf book.
It's not great. The pacing feels off, the characters are all surface and only there to move the plot along, and while the plot isn't all werewolf cliche, it does seem to be a jumble of other cliches stuck on a werewolf/vampire/superhero frame. This, at times, is fun. At other times, excruciating.
I do regret the detour from my Invincible reading, even though Wolfman does have more of an impact on the Invincible story than most of the other books.
I recommend it for people who wish Elseworld Batman stories were twenty-four issues long and written by Robert Kirkman, werewolf enthusiasts, lonely butlers who always wanted custody of their employers' kids, people who really really hate vampires, fans of Elseworld Justice League comics where the Justice League were all vampires, and Invincible completists.
The story starts out somewhat predictably as the main character is mauled, by what they thought was a bear, while on a camping trip. He is in very serious condition in the hospital and then makes a miraculous recovery. Only to later find as he tries to get back to his life that something has changed.
This book by Robert Kirkman (author of the The Walking Dead) has some interesting and unexpected twists and turns. Overall I enjoyed the read and appreciated the book's price-point, a bit cheaper than one would have expected from Marvel or DC. The story takes place in Kirkman's super-hero world featured in his book Invincible. There is some cross-over with some characters from that universe.
The Astounding Wolf-Man Writen by Robert Kirkman and drawn by Jason Howard.
I love me some Werewolf stories, but it took me some issues to get into this one ! It might be getting used to Howards artwork or the resemblance with many many superhero comics, but thats the point ! Ended up loving this one, like everything Kirkman writes.
Gary Hampton a wealthy but likable dude is mauled and left for Dead. When the moon is full, you know whats up. But Gary gets to he more then just a Werewolf, he gets to be superhero Werewolf (at least 10 times cooler am i right?! He gets trained by a sinister Vampire, something is up with that, but you will find out later. Also a alpha Werewolf and a wolfpack. This is just Kirkman firing on all cylinders. So much things happen, so many twists and turns! I love the prison arc, i am always a sucker for those, and a certain Invincible person comes along for a couple issues, fuck yeah. This is a very cool fast paced take full with all the familiar horror and superhero tropes, but in a good way. A lovely read.
Pretty disappointing read. I went through this 650+ page comic, and honestly, I'm not sure I can say much about the protagonist's personality traits. A lot goes down, but there’s nothing really unique about them that pushes the story forward. There are a bunch of twists and turns that can be surprising, but when I’m not that into the characters, they just don’t land. It kind of made me want to pick up Invincible instead since it's in the same universe.
The Astounding Wolf-Man Complete Collection!!! Ever since I encountered this lycan hero in Invincible, I’ve been quite intrigued with the character. A mythical/folkloric character fighting amongst modern day superheroes! I mean, this is the same universe where there’s a guy who changes into a radical environmentalist dinosaur, when he gets bored. Anyway, thankfully Robert Kirkman decided to expand the Invincible Universe and create spin-off of other characters, including this one. Gary Hampton is your typical successful business man, quite rich, likes going on vacation with the family. On one such vacation, he gets mauled by what seems like a bear. He gets hospitalized for several weeks where he miraculously pulls through. Little did he know, that that attack is no mere encounter with the forest wildlife, it was done by a werewolf! Now, during full moons, he turn into the Astounding Wolf-Man! He must now learn to control his gifts, like turning even without the full moon. Guided by the mysterious vampire, Zechariah, Gary becomes the hero that the city doesn’t want, but deserves.
Robert Kirkman played the classic style with this character and it flows really well. It might seem simple, but the essential elements are still there. Logic, drama, action, mystery, and a bit of fun. The art of Jason Howard compliments the story really well too, with his colorful yet simplistic approach. His lines are quite angular, but I really thing Wolf-Man looks really cool, unlike other werewolves I’ve seen on comics or movies. Overall a great work!
I’m usually easily impressed with comic books and graphic novels, but holy fuck.
I would say it starts off slow, but by the time it gets interesting it’s just under halfway through its 25 issues. Then one single interesting thing happens and that’s all that’s good about this series. After that one interesting thing, it just becomes a glaring tropey plot hole that’s so fucking annoying which builds itself up to this confrontation that’s bullshittedly resolved with barely any conflict. Then the series beats around the bush extremely boringly for several issues before we get to the conclusive arc, which I feel no attachment to any character in any way at all in this series so I did not give a shit. On top of all of this, every single important character in this series is stupid as rocks.
Also, there’s cuckoldry in this. Does Robert Kirkman have a cuck fetish? Of the several Kirkman works I’ve read, we are at three series’s he wrote now where the male MC’s relationship with his gf/wife has a man getting in the way of their relationship for no reason. The Walking Dead, Invincible, and now this. Am I missing any? But especially this series is at its worst. The series straight up is written like “blah blah blah blah oh yeah she’s taking side dick on the side blah blah blah blah” the fuck? Why?
Additionally, the art is… alright. It’s good looking but it’s nothing impressive or stylistically shining.
Fun! But flatter than I would've liked and expected. Especially toward the back half. Too many problems and developments are swept away and resolved to where it feels unsatisfactory by the end. Still, seeing it unfold is enjoyable enough, and the art is pretty freaking great throughout. There's lots of fun ideas and bits and bobs. I still feel like it was a lot of flying by the seat of your pants esque plotting, which is annoying when it keeps building to some overarching plot that is resolved as easily as anything else. The main character, they realized I think, is way too unflawed of a guy to be terribly interesting. Mostly supposed to be a companion piece to Invincible, methinks. Give it a try though! Thanks to Comic Drake for the suggestion.
The entire series in one volume – quite good stuff
This volume at 668 pages takes a while to get through and it's worth the time spent. It deals with a man bitten by a wolf, becoming a werewolf and then a superhero. Tragedy besets him at various stages as he discovers more about what he can do, what is expected of him and he attempts to clear his name of a crime that the world thinks that he has committed.
Plotwise, there are not many surprises if you're a fond reader of the superhero comic genre but it's well-told and interesting enough with reasonably clear illustrations and incorporating the Robert Kirkman comic universe (Invincible etc..). Worth a look.
Creator owned comics is something I’d love to support - however this one just has too much going on.
The premises - a good man turned wolf man turned superhero but there is a secret awaiting... is good. But it’s like the author isn’t sure what he wants for this story when he mixes it up with capes and supervillains , the CIA and some aim isn’t baddies maybe goddies-who-knows.
The Supernaturals have ok character build but all the capes have very little substance. But too much going on cross over to Kirkmans other series just muddies the picture.
So 2.5 for readable and enjoyable at times and good artwork.
Continuing my invincible spin-off reading with this book, definitely the best spin-off I’ve read so far! You see Wolf man in invincible (those issues are included in here) and see later wolf corps dealing with crises that happen in invincibles story. Thought the story you see in invincible was interesting so always wanted to read this and I’m glad I did.
This shows his origin story as well as the struggles he goes through up until the formation of the wolf corps which leads on to the invincible universe but in itself this is a brilliant one and done story. It slowed down about 3/4 in but the first half was easily a 5 star and it finished strong too, would highly recommend.
The colors are so good. Unlike Invincible, there are really nice backgrounds. The story is a constant soap opera, but that works with a werewolf story! Could've gone a little deeper but if you see it as a soap opera, it totally works.
Wow! Kirkmans writing impresses me EVERY TIME! Everything he has done is amazing! Invincible, walking dead, this, and so much more! Definitely a favorite!
Life is a funny thing. You just never know. You can think that you have everything all sewn up nice and neat and then something happens and your life is forever changed. Something like...I dunno, being attacked by a werewolf and becoming one yourself.
The Astounding Wolf-Man, while having a supporting cast and recurring antagonists, is about Gary Hampton and his rise, fall, and redemption. I really enjoyed this ultraviolent, fast-paced, action-packed superhero comic for the 21st century.