The Howling: Revenge of the Werewolf Queen

by Micky Neilson, Jason Johnson, Milen Paranov

Collected for the first time, The Howling: Revenge of the Werewolf Queen Vol. 1 picks up where the cult-classic 1981 film left off. Three weeks have passed since Chris Halloran revealed on national TV that werewolves walk among us. No one believed him. Now Marsha Quist has returned for revenge--and now there is no colony to hold back her blood lust. This collection includes The Howling: Revenge of the Werewolf Queen Issues 1-4 by New York Times Best-Selling author Mickey Neilson. With art by Jason Johnson.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Werewolves, Fantasy, Sequential Art

96 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2017

About the author

Micky Neilson is a two-time New York Times best-selling author whose graphic novels, Ashbringer (#2 on the list) and Pearl of Pandaria (#3) have both been published in six languages. As one of the first writers at Blizzard Entertainment, he has more than two decades of experience in the cutting edge of the gaming industry. He has self-published three horror novels in his original series The Turning, on Amazon. In 2017 Micky was tapped to write The Howling: Revenge Of The Werewolf Queen, a comic book continuation of the beloved 1981 Joe Dante horror film The Howling. In 2018 Micky completed his first original sci-fi novel, Ridgerunners, and co-wrote the graphic novel The Invisible Empire: Madge Oberholtzer And The Unmasking Of The KKK, as well as the illustrated novel Strange Highways. Most recently Micky wrote the bestselling book The Art Of Spyro: Reignited Trilogy and completed his sci-fi trilogy Skiptracer. Micky lives in beautiful Washington State with his wife and daughter where he enjoys life's essentials: movies, comic books, chocolate and sushi.

Reviews

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this brought back fond memories of the 1981 cult film THE HOWLING, which served as the launchpad for the film career of director Joe Dante (PIRANHA) and helped land him the lucrative gig to produce GREMLINS for Spielberg. I’ve got to look for this one on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Shudder and watch one more time.

In that little gem, which spawned seven sequels (no need to see them, just watch the cool original) television news anchor Karen White is stalked by serial killer Eddie Quist. After a near death experience, Karen is prescribed rest at a remote mountain resort by a psychiatrist. She, along with her co-workers and friends, soon learn that the residents are all werewolves, including Quist and the doctor.

Karen manages to escape, along with cameraman Chris Halloran (who loses his girlfriend to the monsters), and they either kill the werewolves with silver bullets or destroy them in the fire which burns down the resort. Of course, one werewolf escapes destruction, the angry wife of Eddie Quist (Marsha). The movie ends in dramatic fashion, as Karen reveals during a news broadcast that she has been turned, makes the transformation to werewolf on camera, and is shot and killed by a grieving Chris.

It’s a cool movie with some good special effects work by Rob Bottin, but suffered a little at the box office as THE HOLWING came out the same time as AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN PARIS and WOLFEN. (Two other great movies! WOLFEN is an unappreciated hoot.)

I read THE HOWLING: REVENGE OF THE WEREWOLF QUEEN in single issues #1 -4 (Space Goat Publishing, 2017 release and now available as trade paperback) Mickey Neilson, writer. Jason Johnson, artist. Mlilen Parvanov, colorist. Taylor Esposito, letterer. www.spacegoatpublishing.com

The story picks up in the months following the end of the first film (and would have made a great movie sequel) as Chris Halloran awaits his trial for the on-camera murder of Karen White.
He’s not sleeping, plagued by nightmares, and some of his co-workers who also witnessed the transformation of Karen are equally troubled. When one dies in a car crash and another commits suicide, Chris suspects that something is up and begins to investigate.

Meanwhile, the surviving werewolf Marsha, in human guise as a very sultry femme fatale is on the hunt for an arcane relic, leaving a trail of dead bodies in her wake. She’s zeroing in on a final confrontation and reassembling the other survivor wolves. Will Chris expose the threat and garner enough support to succeed in putting these monsters down before his trial begins? Will the colony of werewolves prevail under their new queen? You’ll need to read this to find out.

The story is well-paced, suspenseful and Chris becomes an empathetic character as writer Neilson peels back his mindset to share what he’s thinking and going through. Johnson’s art is expressive, the action scenes are colorful and brutal. There are plenty of decapitations and limb rendering to satisfy gore fans.

I RECOMMEND this to all fans of THE HOWLING film, and lovers of werewolf lore and horror comics. For those others who enjoy a good scary story this is WORTH YOUR CONSIDERATION.

[The Smoog · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m really not sure this story should have taken 4 issues to tell, it’s pretty basic and also very silly. And, like all bad horror films these days, ends up as a pointless waste of time with the monster scoring a TPK. The artwork is okay, which is the only reason I can justify giving it 2 stars.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and nicely illustrated direct sequel to the outstanding film, The Howling. Plenty of flashing fangs and bloody action. Highly recommended.

[Donny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure about this as a sequel to the original Howling. It is better than the sequels that came out.