Morbius has existed in Marvel Comics since 1971 – shortly after the comic code allowed vampires. While he was initially a villain, he’s since become more of an anti-hero/anti-villain (depending on when you ask). As this issue describes, he’s vampire-ish. This series has a lot of potential to be the most unique of all the Marvel Now titles, and for the most part it’s off to a decent start.
The writing in this issue is a fun introduction to the character. The storytelling is a neat combination of white text over black, internal monologues, flashbacks and montages. As disjointed as that may sound, it flows very nicely. It also does a great job at highlighting Morbius’s internal struggle with his constant lust for violence and blood. The fact that he’s hiding in a part of New York that’s mostly ignored by both law enforcement and superheroes gives this series so much potential. The art is also good, but nothing special.
This issue isn’t without problems though. Morbius is supposed to be a brilliant yet arrogant scientist, yet there are no signs or mentions of that in this issue. He’s only posing as an ordinary homeless man to hide from the world at large. Also for a series billed as offbeat horror, there aren’t any horror elements present in this comic. If your plan is to bring those elements in later, you should at least hint at them in the first issue.
While this is a good issue, it’s not as interesting as I was hoping for. It’s a fun introduction to the character, but he’s less interesting than his recent Amazing Spider-Man appearances. There isn’t much indication as to what direction this series will take, which was also a problem with Thunderbolts 1 – it’s arguably the worst kind of mistake a first issue can make.
Does this series have potential? Sure. Would I recommend it to anyone looking forward to it? Sure. If you weren’t excited about this series though, it’s not worth reading yet. I’ll give this series at least one more issue as with all the Marvel Now books, but it’s not good enough to commit to anything after that yet.
healed1337 
I was very happy with this. I thought it was a really well-written comic. It won’t last long – I figure maybe a year or so – but it’ll be enjoyable while it does. And Keatinge is a writer I expect great things from in the future.
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Also, I actually really liked the art. It’s hard to say exactly what I liked about it. I think it just sorta had a comic book look to it. You know what I mean? At a time when so many comics are trying to look like action movies, it’s nice to have one that’s trying to look like a comic book.
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I agree. The art is appealing to the eye. There’s just not much to say about it.
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Reblogged this on Collecty.net.
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