Essential Werewolf By Night Volume 1!

Okay, this is fucking great stuff! I mean, just look at that cover - how can you wrong with this?!?

Alright, let me settle down and actually review the damn thing. The stories themselves aren't Hemingway or anything (not that he's that great, but you know what I mean), but like I mentioned earlier, seeing a werewolf running around is always fun! I think part of the problem with this series is that it never really had a consistent creative team behind it. I think Marv Wolfman (appropriate) was on the book for the longest time, and that was only six issues. But all that being said, it's still great fun - even the worst story in the lot is better than anything they put out these days in comics (and now I'm officially an old man, talking about the good old days)! In this fine tomb, the Werewolf takes on all kinds of creatures and villains, faces off agains Dracula himself, and even has a team-up of sorts with Spider-Man! Like I said, fun stuff!!!

In my opinion, the highlight of the book is the great art, most notably from Mike Ploog. Ploog was great at drawing monsters in the comics (he did a fantastic Frankenstein for Marvel), and his Werewolf by Night series is superb! Luckily, he did the majority of the book, with some fill-in issues by Tom Sutton, who's also great, and Gil Kane, who's a comics legend. I don't mean to sound rude, but the art goes downhill a bit when Don Perlin comes aboard as regular penciler, but as I've already said too many times, it's always fun to see a werewolf running around, even if the art isn't the greatest! But I'm sure Mr. Perlin did his best, so for that, I commend him. And he had tough shoes to fill, coming after Ploog!

So do yourself a favor if you haven't already done so and pick up this fine book! Marvel has done a great job with the Essential line of books, and even though they are all in black and white, you can't go wrong with this many pages of comics for such a cheap price! And don't worry about reading it too fast, because there just happens to be a volume 2 waiting for you when you're done!

I give this one 4 1/2 (out of 5) Ripped out Hearts!