Legion of Monsters (Marvel Comics) [Hardcover]

Charlie Huston (Author), Mike Carey (Author), Skottie Young (Author), Brendan Cahill (Author), C. B. Cebulski (Author), Klaus Janson (Author), Ted McKeever (Author), Greg Land (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 2007

High-octane horror one-shots! First, Werewolf by Night returns to the Marvel Universe! This shocking story by X-Men's Mike Carey and Ultimate Power's Greg Land (in the comic he's waited his whole life to draw!) is a powerful, brutally terrifying tale that will redefine Jacob Russel forever! And as if that wasn't enough - join writer/artist Skottie Young in a no-holds-barred look at the afterlife of the Monster of Frankenstein! Next, Moon Knight and Ultimates Annual writer Charlie Huston navigates Man-Thing into a creepy tale of the worst kind of dinner invitation... Plus the brilliant Ted McKeever brings his expressionistic storytelling to Simon Garth - the original Marvel Zombie! And finally, Brendan Cahill and Michael Gaydos (Alias) take Morbius the Living Vampire through the deepest depths of terrifying addictions in a devastating fully painted horror tale... and C.B. Cebulski is joined by superstar David Finch (New Avengers, Moon Knight) to present an untold tale of the king of vampires - Dracula - and his beautiful daughter, Lilith! Terror has never looked as good as these frightening fables! Collects Legion of Monsters: Werewolf by Night, Legion of Monsters: Morbius, Legion of Monsters: Man-Thing, Legion of Monsters: Satana.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (November 7, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785127542
• ISBN-13: 978-0785127543
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,177,400 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great artwork, not much else, January 15, 2008

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Legion of Monsters (Marvel Comics) (Hardcover)

Marvel relaunches their Legion of Monsters line with this handsome hardcover collection, collecting one-shot stories and tales of Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, Morbius, Satana, Lilith, The Zombie, The Monster of Frankenstein, The Living Mummy, and Dracula to boot. Problem is, while there's some great artwork to be found here, most of the stories come off as flat. Mike Carey's (Hellblazer, X-Men) tale of Werewolf by Night is one of these, even though it features the superb artwork of Greg Land. Skottie Young's take on Monster of Frankenstein is quite good though, and even though his artwork may be an acquired taste, it more than suits the story. Moon Knight writer Charlie Huston and frequent Frank Miller partner Klaus Janson bring us a solid Man-Thing story, while Ted McKeever writes and illustrates an enjoyable take on The Zombie Simon Garth. Robin Furth's tale of Satana isn't all that interesting, and the artwork from Kalman Andrasofszky isn't anything to write home about either, and resembles a poor man's Joshua Middleton. Jonathan Hickman's Living Mummy tale is interesting in terms of story, delivery, and artwork; the Morbius tale by Brandon Cahill and Alias artist Michael Gaydos is disappointing, and the Lilith and Dracula story features great artwork from David Finch (New Avengers) and an average and short story from C.B. Cebulski. There are additional, older tales (I refuse to call them classic because trust me, they're far from it) included as well, including the first Legion of Monsters story by Bill Mantlo, which features a lame team-up between Ghost Rider, Morbius, Man-Thing, and Werewolf by Night. There are also older tales of the Monster of Frankenstein by Doug Moench and Manphibian by legendary Tomb of Dracula writer Marv Wolfman (both of which are quite good), and three tales of the Scarecrow (no, not the Batman villain) which are quite boring. The 2005 Horror edition of the Offical Handbook of the Marvel Universe is included as well, even though it doesn't feel complete in its character listing. Anyway you slice it, Legion of Monsters is a mixed bag to be sure, but the good still outweighs the bad here. Whether or not it is worth picking up however is entirely up to you.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Badly written and mostly pointless, January 25, 2008

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K. Hart "RPG editor, horror fan" (Dumont, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Legion of Monsters (Marvel Comics) (Hardcover)

I was also a fan of most of Marvel's monster characters, so it was a disappointment to see the shabby treatment they got in these stories. Yes, the art in the Werewolf and Lilith stories is very good ... but in all of these stories, nothing really happens. The only remotely clever treatment was in the Man-Thing story, but the adversaries in that were written so over-the-top that it was hard to appreciate the tale. The Satana story pulled in a couple of plot items from the "Hellstorm: Prince of Lies" series, but it was flat, and the art (as a previous poster said) was nothing to write home about.

Most disappointing of all was the Morbius story. Not only did the art look like it was painted in one night, but I can't help but wonder if the writer has actually read any of Morbius' history. He's treated like a supernatural vampire here, not a scientific one, and isn't that the point of Morbius? Here, he's just another angst-heavy member of the undead. Lazy writing.

If I were you, I'd simply download the individual gorgeous Greg Land covers and give this collection a skip.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Marvel Reboots its Monster Line-Up, With Mixed Results, September 8, 2008

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Andrew Shaffer "Author, Blogger" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Legion of Monsters (Marvel Comics) (Hardcover)

With an all-star cast of writers (Mike Carey, Charlie Huston, Robin Furth, et al) and artists (David Finch, Greg Land, et al), I had high hopes for Marvel's relaunch of its monster series. While the artwork is gorgeous throughout, the stories are just average and inconsequential.

The Morbius tale is the highlight here, although it feels like another vampire story that Morbius's name was tacked onto after the fact. The Man-Thing and Zombie stories are worth reading, but the Santana, Werewolf-by-Night, and Lilith ones are filler. And the "classic" tales? Skip them completely. Overall, though, this is a good introduction to Marvel's line-up of horror comic characters for the uninitiated, but it still feels like a half-hearted attempt that failed.