Customer Reviews

Legion of Monsters (Marvel Comics)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I still believe Marvel can do no wrong...this graphic novel proves me correct. Great visual, storyline, and character development.

I used to collect all of Marvel's 1970s monster titles - "Man-Thing," the early issues of "Monster Of Frankenstein", "Werewolf By Night" and "Tomb Of Dracula" were obviously the best of the lot, but I also delved pretty far down the line, and read the Zombie, the Living Mummy, Morbius and the rest. So, even though I knew it wouldn't be great, I was totally down with (and up for) this collection of reboots and updates... Sure enough, it isn't the greatest comicbook collection ever, but there are some fun, stylish episodes featuring various old favorites.

The best stories were probably the all-too-brief showdown between Dracula and his daughter Lilith and the weird, yet hilarious episode with the Zombie. The Morbius chapter was good, too, although I am dismayed to find him looking so much like Nick Cave...

In general, all the new stories were pretty fun, although I best enjoyed the ones that were true updates and not mere pantomimes of the old formulas (the Frankenstein and Man-Thing stories were a little slow-going...) What was really startling -- illuminating, actually -- were the vintage 1970s reprints that filled the back of the book, which were amazingly awful: a loooooooong, book-length team up with Ghost Rider, Man-Thing and the Werewolf, with utterly wretched artwork by Frank Robbins, and an even worse story featuring the Scarecrow, who may have been the lamest Marvel monster ever. (Omigawd: did I really buy this stuff when I was a kid?? I wish I'd invested in a few extra copies of Spiderman 129 instead...) I guess there were a couple of ways they could have gone on this one: they could have either reprinted a few really good, really classy classics, something with art by Mike Ploog, Val Mayerick or Gray Morrow, y'know, and shown how good the genre actually could be... Or, you could search out the worst, cheesiest, silliest, funniest crap you can find, stuff that would never be reprinted otherwise, and go for the Frank Robbins kitsch factor. Either way is okay, I guess. If you're an old-school monster fan, this might be worth your time so you can get caught up with a few old friends. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

Great collection. If you like the marvel monsters from the seventies I would recommend this collection. The art is great for most of the stories which are also good all though a little short. If only Marvel could get it together and make this an ongoing series. That would be horrifingly great.

This is a compilation of stories that were enjoyable to read (or re-read). If you are a fan of theses characters it's well worth the purchase.

One of the most awesome collection of newly written stories on some of Marvel's most famous monsters!!A must have for Marvel Monster lovers!In the book is an incredible section on all the characters that make up the Marvel Horror series,very insitefull,very informative,and easier that trying to find and buy all of the expensive orginal copies of where these great Marvel Monsters came from!Great for newer fans,and a must have for all of us older collectors who enjoyed all of these characters in the prime of the monster movement!Enjoy,fellow monster lovers!!