It must be nearing Halloween season, as Marvel published a Werewolf by Night one-shot out this week. Derek Landy and Fran Galan team up on the special while teaming up with Werewolf by Night and Elsa Bloodstone. Something nefarious is going on in an old castle in Europe, and both are trying to solve their monster problem.
This one-shot has a lot of entertainment value and good character work. I wasn’t aware these two heroes had a relationship once, which Landy plays up quite well. Even though Bloodstone is a monster hunter, it doesn’t get in the way of her hots for a fully furry werewolf. The two are well-written via captions with internal monologues that set them apart before they even run into each other. These captions play well off each other when they do meet, and there’s some truly great captioning going on in this issue.
The introduction of Elsa is also fantastic. Maybe it’s aided by Werewolf by Night always being cast in black and white, but her entrance pops. On a small jet, we soon learn she’s well aware vampires lured her on board. She took them up on the offer of a free flight to her destination. Dead vampires are just a bonus. It’s totally badass, and her exit from the plane is also well done.
Elsa’s opening scene is worth the price of admission.
Credit: Marvel
Galan’s use of color is exceptional. The blend of black and white and a bright Bloodstone suits the character and the vibe the story is going for. Like a B-movie black and white classic, Galan capitalizes on the cool rain effects and dark brooding mood black and white offers. Monsters also look great, with a tentacled beast giving the heroes some trouble later in the issue. Closing out the book, there’s some beautiful use of color to create a happy ending of a sort. I did get lost in the black-and-white scenes here and there, but it’s mostly exceptional.
A problem does arise when the heroes eventually confront the main villain. While everything before this sped along nicely with good action and character work, everything slows down to a crawl at this point. There’s a lot of talking that isn’t really necessary. A convenient exit from the villain allows even more talking. It’s nice to see the heroes work together and use their wits, but it feels overly long. If the issue were maybe five or eight pages less, this sequence would have played out better.
If you’re looking for a fun comic to add to your buy pile to get into the Halloween mood, consider Werewolf By Night #1. Visually creative, the ex-dating heroes blend well as they take on a demonic threat in an old drafty castle. What more could you want with two heroes who fight monsters?
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