Morbius #2
Recap
Morbius the Living Vampire pulls a Hank McCoy, in seeking to cure the vampiric disease that traps him in continuous bloodlust he's exacerbated his mutation! Ever the scientist he takes no time to rest on his laurels but before he can begin work on a real cure he's set upon by The Melter and a female vampire hunter named Elizabeth, one who seeks revenge for the death of her brother Emil.
With all that on his plate you'd think he's had enough but let's not forget his newest transformation includes a "rotting" cellular degeneration that might kill Morbius before his enemies can. Oh and one last thing, the untimely arrival of his frenemy The Amazing Spider-Man who's ready to crack some skulls.
Review
Ayala reinforces the firm grasp on what makes Morbius work shown in the first issue. Yeah Morbius is still a bit more…morose is a good word than your average Marvel monster but his misgivings about his condition don’t become whining about it. The fine line between brooding and moping is expertly danced by Vita Ayala and it never takes away from the sense of danger Morbius brings. He may bemoan being a vampire but not one page downplays his lethal nature.
The inclusion of Melter is a nice touch because it helps frame the sense of what the “other guys” are like in Marvel. Yeah Morbius and Melter aren’t the mainstays of the universe but Melter is no slouch, he’s gave Iron Man a run for his money on a few occasions and was along for the most successful siege of a superhero HQ in Avengers vs Masters of Evil way back when. Morbius as well has definitely laid a serious hurting on some “bigger names” before including Spider-Man himself so yeah they might not be the first names that spring to mind but they aren’t chumps either.
The other thing Ayala does well is introducing this new vampire hunter with ties to Morbius’s past. The fact she comes equipped and proves herself cunning as well as physically capable makes for an excellent enemy on top of her revenge motivation. All in all just a solid horror comic that still has the right dash of super people shenanigans mixed in especially when everyone’s favorite wall crawler shows up!
Final Thoughts
Morbius #2 is a solid reminder of the horror comics Marvel used to do so well but now does too rarely. It's not only the start of a great Morbius run but also sheds hope that we can see the glory days of Tomb of Dracula or Werewolf By Night yet again some day.
Morbius #2: She Blinded Me With Science
- Writing - 8.5/108.5/10
- Storyline - 8/108/10
- Art - 9/109/10
- Color - 9/109/10
- Cover Art - 9/109/10