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Marvel Masterworks #238
MARVEL MASTERWORKS: WEREWOLF BY NIGHT VOL. 1
Born on the night of a full moon, Marvel’s most fearsome horror hero debuts! He may be Jack Russell by day, but when darkness falls, he becomes the Werewolf by Night! Immigrated from Eastern Europe as a small child, 18-year-old Russell finds out the hair-raising secret of a family curse that turns all males into werewolves! Now, he must learn to survive in a world not hospitable to werewolf-kind—and try not to kill anyone in the process! In this first volume, master of the macabre Mike Ploog delivers some of the greatest artwork of his storied career. And these classic tales are looking better than ever because they have been newly restored for the Marvel Masterworks.
COLLECTING: Marvel Spotlight (1971) 2-4, Werewolf by Night (1972) 1-8, Marvel Team-Up (1972) 12
COLLECTING: Marvel Spotlight (1971) 2-4, Werewolf by Night (1972) 1-8, Marvel Team-Up (1972) 12
280 pages, Hardcover
Published September 27, 2022
13 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Gerry Conway
2,062 books89 followersGerard Francis Conway (Gerard F. Conway) is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics' vigilante the Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. At DC Comics, he is known for co-creating the superhero Firestorm and others, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 30, 2023
Goofy, fun silver age stuff. Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog in particular shine together on Marvel Spotlight and the resulting Werewolf by Night series, while fill-in writers and artists are also generally fun.
October 23, 2022
Jack Russell turns eighteen and discovers a horrible family secret. His father lived in Europe and was secretly a warlock with a curse...the curse of lycanthropy! Jack turns into a werewolf when the full moon rises for three nights a month. His father died years ago and his mother remarried....to a cad! The step-dad sold the European castle (which got moved to an island just off southern California) and is abusive to the mom and the kids (Jack has a younger sister named Lissa). Jack's mom dies in a mysterious accident, though Jack (in wolf form) saw the chauffeur messing around under the hood. Jack has plenty of things to deal with: protecting his sister, getting revenge on his step-father, and finding some way to deal with the wolf within.
After an initial three-issue appearance in Marvel Spotlight 2-4, Werewolf by Night got its own comic which continued Jack's adventures. The castle has his father's book of magic, the Darkhold, which Jack gets ahold of but can't read because it's in Latin. He enlists a monk to translated it though things don't turn out well for the monk. Jack wanders about, running into adventures. This collection ends with an issue of Marvel Team-Up where the Werewolf is paired up with Spider-man.
The book has an interesting narrative and style. The story is told mostly from Jack's perspective, with him narrating what's going on, especially when he is in werewolf form. Each of three nights of the full moon are chronicled, along with some daytime stuff to fill in the narrative. The wolf version of Jack can't talk or think but Jack has memories of what happens. The wolf is occasionally influenced by Jack's memories and desires. The wolf's main desire is to hunt in the forest for food. He kills some bad guys but surprisingly few and happily eats none of them. Jack gets out of bad situations through accidents or brute force. Neither Jack nor the wolf are very clever. They have the earnestness that has been part of the werewolf mythology since Lon Chaney's version. The visual style is very much a 1970s horror comic, with dark panels and sinister drawings. The stylistic exception is the Team-Up story, which is dominated by the wisecracking Spider-man. The web-slinger visits San Francisco to get away from Gwen's death and winds up in a whole other adventure, first fighting then allying with the Werewolf. Typical Marvel fare.
Mildly recommended--this is probably more interesting for comic book fans than general readers. I liked it more than the TV show.
After an initial three-issue appearance in Marvel Spotlight 2-4, Werewolf by Night got its own comic which continued Jack's adventures. The castle has his father's book of magic, the Darkhold, which Jack gets ahold of but can't read because it's in Latin. He enlists a monk to translated it though things don't turn out well for the monk. Jack wanders about, running into adventures. This collection ends with an issue of Marvel Team-Up where the Werewolf is paired up with Spider-man.
The book has an interesting narrative and style. The story is told mostly from Jack's perspective, with him narrating what's going on, especially when he is in werewolf form. Each of three nights of the full moon are chronicled, along with some daytime stuff to fill in the narrative. The wolf version of Jack can't talk or think but Jack has memories of what happens. The wolf is occasionally influenced by Jack's memories and desires. The wolf's main desire is to hunt in the forest for food. He kills some bad guys but surprisingly few and happily eats none of them. Jack gets out of bad situations through accidents or brute force. Neither Jack nor the wolf are very clever. They have the earnestness that has been part of the werewolf mythology since Lon Chaney's version. The visual style is very much a 1970s horror comic, with dark panels and sinister drawings. The stylistic exception is the Team-Up story, which is dominated by the wisecracking Spider-man. The web-slinger visits San Francisco to get away from Gwen's death and winds up in a whole other adventure, first fighting then allying with the Werewolf. Typical Marvel fare.
Mildly recommended--this is probably more interesting for comic book fans than general readers. I liked it more than the TV show.
January 25, 2025
This is supposed to be “Peter Parker, but a werewolf instead of Spider-Man” but feels more like early 70’s Swamp Thing, none of the humor of Spider-Man… until Spider-Man shows up!
I won’t be reading any further volumes.
I won’t be reading any further volumes.
August 6, 2025
This is more like it! (Compared to the recent, really poor effort by Michael Giacchino). Classic "B" Movie stuff as our unfortunately named hero faces off against street thugs, an evil hypnotist, a devilish fakir, a mad monk, a criminal circus and a demon-possessed bunny rabbit! Pure 70s joy!
September 25, 2025
les resumo cada issue
1. Jack Rusell está con sus amiguis
2. Jack Rusell es secuesttado 😱
3. El secuestrador está loco y quiere a Jack para hacer locuras de hombre lobo 🥴
4. Jack se transforma en lobo y se escapa 🐺
5. Jack regresa con sus amiguis 😁👍
(en serio así son todas las historias JAJAJA)
1. Jack Rusell está con sus amiguis
2. Jack Rusell es secuesttado 😱
3. El secuestrador está loco y quiere a Jack para hacer locuras de hombre lobo 🥴
4. Jack se transforma en lobo y se escapa 🐺
5. Jack regresa con sus amiguis 😁👍
(en serio así son todas las historias JAJAJA)
December 15, 2022
Werewolves... Kind of a one-track trick, isn't it? Guy turns into a wolf and goes a-hunting. As a result, he's never really the lead in his own story, as he can only react to whatever happens to him. So it's one crazy after another going after Jack Russell, and Jack just trying to get out of whatever problem he's now in. Mike Ploog's artwork is a bit cartoony (though he improves as he goes along). Decent, but not exceptional.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews