Thursday 6 February 2014

Werewolf by Night comics I have owned.

Has there ever been a worse name for a comic book protagonist than Jack Russell? It's like whoever came up with it was determined to hobble the comic's credibility from the moment you opened it.

But Werewolf by Night is a curious case. As with Superman, my memory has always been of not finding his adventures overly gripping but, as with Superman, that didn't stop me buying his comic whenever I stumbled across it.

So, let's see just what issues I had - and if I can recall anything whatsoever about what happened inside any of them...

Werewolf by Night #13, Taboo

All I remember of the contents of this one is that Jack Russell might have been in a dungeon, in chains and there may have been a man in a fez involved.

Sadly, that man was neither Tommy Cooper nor Matt Smith.

Either way, it doesn't matter. What matters is it had a great cover by the redoubtable Mike Ploog.
Werewolf by Night #15, Dracula
It's the clash we all wanted to see! Dracula vs the Werewolf!

What I know about it is the story concluded in Drac's own mag.

Or did it start in Drac's mag and end in this one? Either way, I had both issues, so it doesn't matter.

My main memory of this is sitting in the raised restaurant of Sheffield's indoor Sheaf Market, reading it while eating a sausage with the plastic knives and forks they used to give you.

Sheaf Market was a magical place. Not only did it have a comic stall, and a raised restaurant from which you could look down at all the shoppers below but it had birds living in the girders that held the ceiling up. Granted, the birds weren't supposed to be there but clearly no one had ever told them that.
Werewolf by Night #20


I have absolutely no recollection at all of what happened inside this comic. But I do know I always loved that Gil Kane and John Romita cover. To be honest, every time I see it, I just want to start tearing iron bars from the wall.

If only I had any iron bars on the wall.
Werewolf by Night #28

Dr Glitternight does sound like the name of a terrible late 1970s pub rock band but who cares? Just dig that cover and marvel at the work Kane had to put into drawing each of those flying beasties.

It's good to see Conan's Cowering Blonde was getting lots of work and found her way onto this cover too.
Werewolf by Night #31

I don't want to give the impression that this post's been a total wash-out but I've no memory of what happens in this one either.

But I think we can conclude from all this that the main appeal of Werewolf by Night for me had more to do with the covers than with the actual contents.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Do they have Jack Russell dogs in America? I've no idea whether his name is meant to be a joke or just a coincidence that he's called that.A proper werewolf would be an utterly terrifying creature but Marvel's version was basically just a furry superhero.

Steve W. said...

Coln, as far as I can make out from Googling, Jack Russell's are very popular dogs in America, so it seems his name was indeed meant as a joke.

Steve W. said...

My last comment should of course have been addressed to Colin, not, "Coln," as no one called Coln had previously commented on the post, and possibly never will.

Unknown said...

The only decent werewolf story I ve read was one in Batman (255 I think) all down to Neal Adams amazing artwork - suppose trying to make a blood thirsty animal a hero is difficult but as Colin states this turned out a furry superhero - saying that there was a version of Werewolf in Marvels insane (but good)" Franken - Castle" that was well done where they gave up on him being in anyway fierce (he was a silly teenager almost like a puppy dog ) with great art by Tony Moore - McS

Anonymous said...
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Kid said...

Hi Steve, just doing my 'nosey'. What happened to the old blogeroo? It was off our screens for a while there.

Steve W. said...

Hi, Kid and Colin. Nice to know you're still with me.

Kid, what happened was I had an automatic site map generator installed on the site to create an index page for it. I've had it on the site for years - and on my other blogs - and there's never been a problem with it.

But, a few days ago, for some reason, it set off Google's malware detector which then blocked the blog as a precaution.

So, I contacted Google about it and they've unblocked the blog, meaning I can once more inflict my clueless recollections on the world, with impunity.

Anonymous said...

Glad you're back, Steve! This goofy neighborhood ain't the same without ya.
I'm only sorry I haven't read any Werewolf by Night comics mentioned here, otherwise I'd make a smartass comment. In future, please make your posts about comics I've actually read!

Steve W. said...

Hi, MLP, thanks for missing me. I shall definitely endeavour in future to only talk about comics that you've read.