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Essential Marvel Horror #2
Essential Marvel Horror, Vol. 2
A voodoo virtuoso. A devil-tainted demi-druid. A half-mad minister. A creature of the crypts, a man-mountain of marble, and a giddy giggling ghoul - these are the horrific heroes who protect the world from forces even more frightening than themselves Demons, zombies, warlocks, and terrorists - all in these nightmarish narratives from the shocking scarefest of the seventies Guest-starring Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, and the Thing Collects Supernatural Thrillers #5 and #7-15 (Living Mummy); Strange Tales #169-173, Tales of the Zombie #6 and #10, and Marvel Team-Up #24 (Brother Voodoo); Haunt of Horror #2-5 and Monsters Unleashed #11 (Gabriel the Devil Hunter); Strange Tales #174 and #176-177, and Marvel Two-In-One #11 (Golem); Marvel Chillers #1-2 and Marvel Two-in-One #33 (Modred the Mystic); and Dead of Night #11, Marvel Spotlight #26, and Marvel Two-In-One #18 (Scarecrow).
616 pages, Paperback
First published November 10, 1977
About the author
Steve Gerber
663 books66 followersSteve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style--intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men,
The Phantom Zone
, and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not.
He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.
In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.
In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'
He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.
In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.
In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 27, 2015
This was an awesome volume. Now, let me say upfront I'm a big fan of Marvel's Supernatural Horror Characters, so my rating may be a bit biased.
This volume collects many scattered stories into one huge volume. Unless you spend a lot of time and money hunting down the individual books you'd have a hard time reading these stories, especially in order. So it's really convenient to get them all in one place.
First up is The Living Mummy. Marvel had their Vampire, Werewolf, Frankenstein, etc so they needed a Mummy, right? Not a bad storyline as an immortal mummy is cursed to walk the Earth forever until some otherwordly evil entities want to use him for evil. I think this character had more potential, but still enjoyable.
Next we had Brother Voodoo, probably the biggest name of the B-Listers included. Voodoo was pretty popular in the 70s, so here's Marvel's Voodoo Guy. Pretty good if you like stories featuring voodoo. Jericho Drumm is possessed by his dead Brother's spirit as well as his own, and he has other powers as well. (He eventually replaced Dr. Strange as Sorcerer Supreme, at least for a while.
My favorite character of the volume was next, Gabriel Devil Hunter. This was Marvel's take on the Exorcist. These stories were too dark for Marvel's color comics, so they were only in the black and white magazines which were aimed at older readers. Very dark stories of demonic possession. It's really on a different level than the other stories in the volume. Really creepy and closer to true "horror' than everything else included.
Then we have The Golem. This was a character I wasn't very familiar with, but the stories were good. It's the classic Golem tale, although he's brought into the real world, and once again an evil force wants to use him for their own plans.
Next was Mordred the Mystic. This one was interesting to me because I read some of the "Darkhold" series from the early 90s which included stories about the Book of the Darkhold, and Mordred was one of the main characters. I didn't know his backstory then, and honestly until now never realized he'd been around so long. The stories were okay. He was an apprentice who rejected Merlin and attempted to use the power of the Book of the Darkhold against him (think the Necronomicon.) The stories weren't great, but since they tied into other things I've read they were interesting.
Finally we have The Scarecrow, who later became known as "Straw Man." A scarecrow lives in a painting which happens to be the gateway to another dimension. He is all that guards our universe from invasion by the evil demon on the other side. I remember hearing about "Straw Man" years ago, and I was always like "Who the hell is Straw Man??" so at least I finally got some background. Not much to the stories, but not bad.
The art varied, but overall was good. The Brother Voodoo stories were Gene Colan art, who I loved on Tomb of Dracula, so that was the high point. The Gabriel stories also had really cool art. The other stories were more typical 70s art, but still good overall.
In closing, if I didn't like the characters so much I will admit the rating may have been a little lower, but this still well worth reading if you enjoy horror comics.
This volume collects many scattered stories into one huge volume. Unless you spend a lot of time and money hunting down the individual books you'd have a hard time reading these stories, especially in order. So it's really convenient to get them all in one place.
First up is The Living Mummy. Marvel had their Vampire, Werewolf, Frankenstein, etc so they needed a Mummy, right? Not a bad storyline as an immortal mummy is cursed to walk the Earth forever until some otherwordly evil entities want to use him for evil. I think this character had more potential, but still enjoyable.
Next we had Brother Voodoo, probably the biggest name of the B-Listers included. Voodoo was pretty popular in the 70s, so here's Marvel's Voodoo Guy. Pretty good if you like stories featuring voodoo. Jericho Drumm is possessed by his dead Brother's spirit as well as his own, and he has other powers as well. (He eventually replaced Dr. Strange as Sorcerer Supreme, at least for a while.
My favorite character of the volume was next, Gabriel Devil Hunter. This was Marvel's take on the Exorcist. These stories were too dark for Marvel's color comics, so they were only in the black and white magazines which were aimed at older readers. Very dark stories of demonic possession. It's really on a different level than the other stories in the volume. Really creepy and closer to true "horror' than everything else included.
Then we have The Golem. This was a character I wasn't very familiar with, but the stories were good. It's the classic Golem tale, although he's brought into the real world, and once again an evil force wants to use him for their own plans.
Next was Mordred the Mystic. This one was interesting to me because I read some of the "Darkhold" series from the early 90s which included stories about the Book of the Darkhold, and Mordred was one of the main characters. I didn't know his backstory then, and honestly until now never realized he'd been around so long. The stories were okay. He was an apprentice who rejected Merlin and attempted to use the power of the Book of the Darkhold against him (think the Necronomicon.) The stories weren't great, but since they tied into other things I've read they were interesting.
Finally we have The Scarecrow, who later became known as "Straw Man." A scarecrow lives in a painting which happens to be the gateway to another dimension. He is all that guards our universe from invasion by the evil demon on the other side. I remember hearing about "Straw Man" years ago, and I was always like "Who the hell is Straw Man??" so at least I finally got some background. Not much to the stories, but not bad.
The art varied, but overall was good. The Brother Voodoo stories were Gene Colan art, who I loved on Tomb of Dracula, so that was the high point. The Gabriel stories also had really cool art. The other stories were more typical 70s art, but still good overall.
In closing, if I didn't like the characters so much I will admit the rating may have been a little lower, but this still well worth reading if you enjoy horror comics.
April 25, 2014
Another volume of Marvel Essentials trying to capture some short lived horror Marvel series from the 1970s. Despite this being the second go round of cherry picking multiple characters, this volume ends up a lot better than Son of Satan and Satana in Vol. 1.
The Series:
LIVING MUMMY
Highlights: There's a lot to choose from here. Steve Gerber does what he always does so well, take a character and gives them a handicap to play against the flaws/prejudices of outside society. N'Kantu/Living Mummy is a doozy, because he was already an ancient Egyptian slave, then he became a giant mummy running around New York/modern Egypt. The character earns the reader's respect because he has an impossible burden, being a mummy from ancient times who can't speak, it makes it dramatic. Also solid action/drama, great art work from Rich Buckler (wish it was more than one issue) and Val Mayerik.
Lowlights: Tony Isabella, a writer seemingly mostly used for writing pinch-hit spots for better writers or writing issues like "retelling the origins of the Defenders", mostly does a decent job of shepherding Steve Gerber's idea to an abrupt conclusion. But I do not get what the character of "the Asp" is supposed to be. He shows up along the way, him and his friend Olddan are jewel thieves. It's supposed to be a secondary angle on the story of the Living Mummy trying to find a valuable jewel to make him human again, like "Will they steal his only hope?" But the characters are kind of duds, they go along with fighting the evil villains that Mummy faces with no issues. Bleh.
BROTHER VOODOO
Highlights: Again, very solid character. They had a lot of strong ideas to build the character, so the serialization of his story, as written mostly by Len Wein, was strong. Lots of details in the character, like he has voodoo magic, he has a twin brother, lots of tricks to employ. The Marvel Team-Up with Spider-Man was solid, showed how solid a character he is. Good action.
Lowlights: Aside from the shortness of his run (like of all these characters), I didn't dig Gene Colan's artwork. Very popular with Marvel, especially in the horror scene, he draws formless lines and creates a shadowy aura to everything, it didn't seem to match the superhero tendencies of Bro Voodoo.
GABRIEL, THE DEVIL-HUNTER
Highlights: Not saying it's the best genre Marvel ever did, but this is maybe the best they ever did at managing horror comics w/ adventure tactics. Gabriel is dripping with so much backstory and social commentary-ish, it's easy to get into his personality. He's a man whose wife died, he's an ex-priest, he survived a possession by losing his eye, his sidekick lady is his wife reborn. So by the time the demon shows up, already knowing the character gives you a rich template of things that are going on. It's a pretty fun read, the stories are a little shorter than a full time mag's (he was always in the back of things like "Monsters Unleashed" and "Haunt of Horror"), so the tempo is artificially boosted quite excellently.
Lowlights: The art work was not helping. It seems sloppy, makes the villains less frightening or whatever. Also, the girl character is mostly big breasted eye candy (with all due respect of course, i mean, there's nothing wrong with that), not really a clear part of the story. And the characters could've used more serialized behavior less "this one guy is possessed, like the last guy"
GOLEM
HIghlights: Great artwork, a good mix of likable human protagonists and a big burly mysterious hero type. A solid action motif of a statue that technically can't communicate that is actually saving everyone all the time, it's good. The tie-in with Marvel Two-In-One and the Thing is abrupt, but it gets a lot of emotions out of the story. Golem is probably the most endearing of the horror heroes (aside from Man-Thing, star of his own essential)
Lowlights: while the Two-In-One was a good issue, it shoves a lot of Golem info across the page really fast, and ruins the character seemingly for all time.
MODRED THE MYSTIC
Highlights: the ties to Arthurian legend are intriguing, and the Two-In-One cameo with the Thing has a lot of big action and stuff.
Lowlights: the entire series is muddled in poorly developed or overdone plot details. His two-issue run in Marvel Chillers magazine retells his long winded origin story the same way, making it so long winded with so little plot progression. Also, the female archaeologist who co-finds him looks like Modred's girlfriend, and the male archaeologist/husband hates Modred, but there's no plot progression, zilch romantic implications, nothing. Even the Marvel Two-In-One is a solid action story (I love Two-In-One), but it gets muddled in thought bubbles and speeches about how human Spider-Woman is. So much talking for an allegedly powerful magician. Get him on the field co-creator Marv Wolfman!
SCARECROW
Highlights: Another very strong story. I like the intellectual cynicism/playfulness of an art dealer, his reporter friend, the art dealer's girlfriend, it's mild, but they don't seem so cookie cutter "I hate monsters" or "I'm being killed by a monster" or "I'm a monster". In other words, the dialogue by Scott Edelman actually seems like real/smart people saying it. The scarecrow is awesome as a character, he has a lot of varying powers to play through, so even though he beats up demons and baddies with almost no difficulty, the presentation is magical. The Marvel Two-In-One w/the Thing was really cool, it matched the Thing being borderline afraid/doubtful of the Scarecrow's existence with some omipresent imagery of the Scarecrow. It seems like Scott Edelman got burned on his seemingly most prominent idea, and his "humorous article" in Dead of Night #11, while not super funny with its forced one-liners, makes him seem like a compassionate struggling writer.
Lowlights: Nitpicking. The art isn't bad in Dead of Night and Marvel Spotlight, it could've been better. Also, really, give the guy more issues, please!!!
5/5 (wish it could be higher) for seeing real experimentation in both horror and Marvel fields. Any of these characters (ok, not Modred) would be a joy to read in any mag anytime
The Series:
LIVING MUMMY
Highlights: There's a lot to choose from here. Steve Gerber does what he always does so well, take a character and gives them a handicap to play against the flaws/prejudices of outside society. N'Kantu/Living Mummy is a doozy, because he was already an ancient Egyptian slave, then he became a giant mummy running around New York/modern Egypt. The character earns the reader's respect because he has an impossible burden, being a mummy from ancient times who can't speak, it makes it dramatic. Also solid action/drama, great art work from Rich Buckler (wish it was more than one issue) and Val Mayerik.
Lowlights: Tony Isabella, a writer seemingly mostly used for writing pinch-hit spots for better writers or writing issues like "retelling the origins of the Defenders", mostly does a decent job of shepherding Steve Gerber's idea to an abrupt conclusion. But I do not get what the character of "the Asp" is supposed to be. He shows up along the way, him and his friend Olddan are jewel thieves. It's supposed to be a secondary angle on the story of the Living Mummy trying to find a valuable jewel to make him human again, like "Will they steal his only hope?" But the characters are kind of duds, they go along with fighting the evil villains that Mummy faces with no issues. Bleh.
BROTHER VOODOO
Highlights: Again, very solid character. They had a lot of strong ideas to build the character, so the serialization of his story, as written mostly by Len Wein, was strong. Lots of details in the character, like he has voodoo magic, he has a twin brother, lots of tricks to employ. The Marvel Team-Up with Spider-Man was solid, showed how solid a character he is. Good action.
Lowlights: Aside from the shortness of his run (like of all these characters), I didn't dig Gene Colan's artwork. Very popular with Marvel, especially in the horror scene, he draws formless lines and creates a shadowy aura to everything, it didn't seem to match the superhero tendencies of Bro Voodoo.
GABRIEL, THE DEVIL-HUNTER
Highlights: Not saying it's the best genre Marvel ever did, but this is maybe the best they ever did at managing horror comics w/ adventure tactics. Gabriel is dripping with so much backstory and social commentary-ish, it's easy to get into his personality. He's a man whose wife died, he's an ex-priest, he survived a possession by losing his eye, his sidekick lady is his wife reborn. So by the time the demon shows up, already knowing the character gives you a rich template of things that are going on. It's a pretty fun read, the stories are a little shorter than a full time mag's (he was always in the back of things like "Monsters Unleashed" and "Haunt of Horror"), so the tempo is artificially boosted quite excellently.
Lowlights: The art work was not helping. It seems sloppy, makes the villains less frightening or whatever. Also, the girl character is mostly big breasted eye candy (with all due respect of course, i mean, there's nothing wrong with that), not really a clear part of the story. And the characters could've used more serialized behavior less "this one guy is possessed, like the last guy"
GOLEM
HIghlights: Great artwork, a good mix of likable human protagonists and a big burly mysterious hero type. A solid action motif of a statue that technically can't communicate that is actually saving everyone all the time, it's good. The tie-in with Marvel Two-In-One and the Thing is abrupt, but it gets a lot of emotions out of the story. Golem is probably the most endearing of the horror heroes (aside from Man-Thing, star of his own essential)
Lowlights: while the Two-In-One was a good issue, it shoves a lot of Golem info across the page really fast, and ruins the character seemingly for all time.
MODRED THE MYSTIC
Highlights: the ties to Arthurian legend are intriguing, and the Two-In-One cameo with the Thing has a lot of big action and stuff.
Lowlights: the entire series is muddled in poorly developed or overdone plot details. His two-issue run in Marvel Chillers magazine retells his long winded origin story the same way, making it so long winded with so little plot progression. Also, the female archaeologist who co-finds him looks like Modred's girlfriend, and the male archaeologist/husband hates Modred, but there's no plot progression, zilch romantic implications, nothing. Even the Marvel Two-In-One is a solid action story (I love Two-In-One), but it gets muddled in thought bubbles and speeches about how human Spider-Woman is. So much talking for an allegedly powerful magician. Get him on the field co-creator Marv Wolfman!
SCARECROW
Highlights: Another very strong story. I like the intellectual cynicism/playfulness of an art dealer, his reporter friend, the art dealer's girlfriend, it's mild, but they don't seem so cookie cutter "I hate monsters" or "I'm being killed by a monster" or "I'm a monster". In other words, the dialogue by Scott Edelman actually seems like real/smart people saying it. The scarecrow is awesome as a character, he has a lot of varying powers to play through, so even though he beats up demons and baddies with almost no difficulty, the presentation is magical. The Marvel Two-In-One w/the Thing was really cool, it matched the Thing being borderline afraid/doubtful of the Scarecrow's existence with some omipresent imagery of the Scarecrow. It seems like Scott Edelman got burned on his seemingly most prominent idea, and his "humorous article" in Dead of Night #11, while not super funny with its forced one-liners, makes him seem like a compassionate struggling writer.
Lowlights: Nitpicking. The art isn't bad in Dead of Night and Marvel Spotlight, it could've been better. Also, really, give the guy more issues, please!!!
5/5 (wish it could be higher) for seeing real experimentation in both horror and Marvel fields. Any of these characters (ok, not Modred) would be a joy to read in any mag anytime
January 5, 2021
Very nice collection of some of Marvel's lesser know supernatural characters. I was a big fan of several of these as a kid and was disappointed when Marvel went away from the horror/supernatural comics and these characters never got their own series. Recommended
July 26, 2021
Wanted this entirely for the Val Mayerick art on The Living Mummy, which I remembered fondly. I enjoyed the Brother Voodoo stories that I hadn't read before. All I knew is that Fred Hembeck used him(Brother Voodoo) as a punchline in Marvel Age.
February 10, 2024
Antietament to the quality of marvel horror comics from the 70s…
Essential Marvel Horror volume 2 is a collection of the early appearances of several notable marvel horror characters. I’ll go over their place in the larger MCU.
As for the stories themselves, they focus on the early appearances of five significant characters (who later important carriers): The Living Mummy, Brother Voodoo, The Golem, Modred the Mystic, Gabriel the Demon Hunter, and the Scarecrow.
Outside of a few crossover issues in team up books with the Thing and Spiderman, they all exist within their own pocket of the Marvel universe where horror happens daily,
Bs wrother Voodoo is easily the most important of these who has had a resurgence in popularity in the last 15 years, briefly becoming sorcerer supreme and even joining the avengers. He’s come a long way since his time as a low level hougon.
The rest barely scratch the surface of the appearances of Jericho Drumm.
The Living Mummy was a far more interesting figure than his handful of appearances in the last twenty years (either with the legion of monsters, howling commandos, or another monster team) would imply. Despite his appearance, he’s a hero who tries to adapt to the world despite many around him being horrified.
Modred the Mystic the mystic is one of my favorites from this group. Despite likely being more known as an avengers/scarlet witch villain, he’s an Arthurian era sorcerer transported to the present day (and no relation to Arthur’s familyy despite his name). I loved his major role in the Darkhold series, and it’s a shame he’s pretty much disappeared since then. He still has a lot of potential as a mystic anti-hero.
Gabriel the Demon Hunter had crude exorcist adventures that are pretty decent. His only notable role was as a minor antagonist in the Daimon Hellstorm comic from the 90s, that dark occult comic that foreshadowed other later comics and characters.
The Golem is…a golem. Unfortunately marvel has a lot of Golem characters…but a team up with the Thing is a clever use due to their shared Jewish heritages.
The Scarecrow, also known as the Straw Man, is a powerful Fear Lord and sort of hero with a complicated story. He’s still out there bringing terror to the wicked and fighting evil in his own way. He should not be mistaken for the Ghost Rider/Caltain America villain…
Essential Marvel Horror volume 2 is a collection of the early appearances of several notable marvel horror characters. I’ll go over their place in the larger MCU.
As for the stories themselves, they focus on the early appearances of five significant characters (who later important carriers): The Living Mummy, Brother Voodoo, The Golem, Modred the Mystic, Gabriel the Demon Hunter, and the Scarecrow.
Outside of a few crossover issues in team up books with the Thing and Spiderman, they all exist within their own pocket of the Marvel universe where horror happens daily,
Bs wrother Voodoo is easily the most important of these who has had a resurgence in popularity in the last 15 years, briefly becoming sorcerer supreme and even joining the avengers. He’s come a long way since his time as a low level hougon.
The rest barely scratch the surface of the appearances of Jericho Drumm.
The Living Mummy was a far more interesting figure than his handful of appearances in the last twenty years (either with the legion of monsters, howling commandos, or another monster team) would imply. Despite his appearance, he’s a hero who tries to adapt to the world despite many around him being horrified.
Modred the Mystic the mystic is one of my favorites from this group. Despite likely being more known as an avengers/scarlet witch villain, he’s an Arthurian era sorcerer transported to the present day (and no relation to Arthur’s familyy despite his name). I loved his major role in the Darkhold series, and it’s a shame he’s pretty much disappeared since then. He still has a lot of potential as a mystic anti-hero.
Gabriel the Demon Hunter had crude exorcist adventures that are pretty decent. His only notable role was as a minor antagonist in the Daimon Hellstorm comic from the 90s, that dark occult comic that foreshadowed other later comics and characters.
The Golem is…a golem. Unfortunately marvel has a lot of Golem characters…but a team up with the Thing is a clever use due to their shared Jewish heritages.
The Scarecrow, also known as the Straw Man, is a powerful Fear Lord and sort of hero with a complicated story. He’s still out there bringing terror to the wicked and fighting evil in his own way. He should not be mistaken for the Ghost Rider/Caltain America villain…
May 9, 2026
I adore 70s Marvel horror & Brother Voodoo is one of my favorites, so the blaxplotation horror strips, Brother Voodoo & N'Kantu the Living Mummy, were unsurprisingly my favorite although as other reviewers have noted the Isabella issues of N'Kantu don't live up to the Gerber originals. Straw Man was new to me & quite a fun & weird idea for a strip. Gabriel the Devil Hunter is interesting for being much more adult & *Exorcist*-derivative than even Son of Satan, but I prefer Gerber's Son of Satan to Gabriel's Nick Fury, Exorcist of ANGST shtick. The Golem strip is forgettable & the Modred strip best forgotten, but it is deeply hilarious that the plots of the Straw Man, Golem, & Modred strips were all wrapped in the Thing team-up book. Quite glad to reread Brother Voodoo & finally got around to reading N'Kantu & Straw Man.
December 9, 2018
Nicely eclectic assortment of some of the more obscure Marvel Horror characters: The Living Mummy, Brother Voodoo, Gabriel the Devil Hunter, the Golem, Modred the Mystic, and the Scarecrow. These guys didn't have the staying power of Tomb of Dracula or Werewolf By Night.
September 23, 2023
Essentials have come a long way, baby. Six years ago, they looked mostly like black and white photocopied comics. Spider-Man would have washed out weblines, linework would be obliterated, missing word balloons, etc. Nowadays, the linework is fine, the paper is a little brighter and the ink is darker. Now, if we could only get numbered pages like DC's Showcase phonebooks... On to the review: The Living Mummy was really good. With Steve Gerber and Tony Isabella writing and the vastly underrated Val Mayerik's artwork, how could it not be? Brother Voodoo has the righteous team of Len Wein and Gene Colan on guard. Can we please get this stuff in color and in hardcover, Marvel? At least the Scarecrow stuff has been collected in hardcover and in color in the Legion of Monsters from a couple of years ago. The B&W magazine stuff is my favorite, especially Gabriel, the Devil-Hunter by Doug Moench and the amazing Sonny Trinidad. Golem, Modred the Mystic, and the Scarecrow all suffer from the same problem: Half-baked ideas with no more than an initial appearance's thought as to how future stories would play out. They try, but like many Marvel Horror/Hero characters of the Bronze Age, there are many changes along the way. They try to make all of them seem way too important. Unfortunately, the premise of these characters don't make enough sense to back up the initial idea. Worse still is the way that Marvel would pull the plug on a character without warning, cancelling titles without a heads up, whathaveyou. Imagine kids trying to find the next issue of these title, going from spinner rack to spinner rack in vain. There were no comic shops or Internet back then, people!
March 3, 2009
A wonderful collection of all the monster characters that marvel tried in the 70's that never got their own series. It's like reading a bunch of old monster movies.
There's:
The Living Mummy: a cursed mummy awakened in modern Cairo who at first goes on a rampadge and then battles to save the city from a quartet of super natural beings. Good art and supporting cast.
Brother Voodoo: the blaxplotation version of Doctor Strange actually comes across as pretty cool and badass in these moody tales set in Haiti and New Orleans. Great art that captures the creepy atmosphere of the stories.
Golem: the ancient living statue from Hebrew folklore returns to battle an evil wizard. Cool monster, weak writing.
Gabriel the exorcist: a cursed priest who now makes it his mission to save victims of demonic possession. Really overly dramatic and trying too hard. He does have a hot babe sidekick though.
Modred the mystic: apprentice to Merlin is put under a spell and sleeps until the 1970s. Cool character, really weak writing.
Scarecrow: Guardian spirit/demon who guards the portal between our world and the demon realm. Hinted that he may be using some member of the cast as a host. Great design on the Scarecrow and a great creepy pulp feel to the stories.
If you liked the old 'Nightstalker' show or Universal monster movies, this is the book for you.
All great characters with tons of potential. Shame more wasn't done with them.
There's:
The Living Mummy: a cursed mummy awakened in modern Cairo who at first goes on a rampadge and then battles to save the city from a quartet of super natural beings. Good art and supporting cast.
Brother Voodoo: the blaxplotation version of Doctor Strange actually comes across as pretty cool and badass in these moody tales set in Haiti and New Orleans. Great art that captures the creepy atmosphere of the stories.
Golem: the ancient living statue from Hebrew folklore returns to battle an evil wizard. Cool monster, weak writing.
Gabriel the exorcist: a cursed priest who now makes it his mission to save victims of demonic possession. Really overly dramatic and trying too hard. He does have a hot babe sidekick though.
Modred the mystic: apprentice to Merlin is put under a spell and sleeps until the 1970s. Cool character, really weak writing.
Scarecrow: Guardian spirit/demon who guards the portal between our world and the demon realm. Hinted that he may be using some member of the cast as a host. Great design on the Scarecrow and a great creepy pulp feel to the stories.
If you liked the old 'Nightstalker' show or Universal monster movies, this is the book for you.
All great characters with tons of potential. Shame more wasn't done with them.
October 12, 2016
Although I enjoy this companion volume to Essential Marvel Horror vol. 1, I do not find all the central stories and/or characters compelling. Vol. 1 contained Ghost Rider, Hellstrom, and Satana, and each one of their stories contained detail and suspended a level of interest that built upon one another. They coexisted. Although technically these stories (Vol. 2's) also coexist within the same universe, characters like Brother Voodoo and the Living Mummy appear almost to live within an isolated bubble. Yes, there are crossover issues, but beyond that, these characters do not necessarily appear to be part of the larger Marvel universe within their standalone stories. Gabriel the Devil Hunter and the Scarecrow I find to be the most compelling. Mordred the Mystic, I cared for the least, and the Golem scored closer to Brother Voodoo. This anthology is still interesting, but it feels as if Marvel knew when they were publishing this that Vol. 2 would be the B team, and as a result, much of the symbolism and deeper philosophical inquiry is down to a minimum. I would certainly recommend certain sections of this book for any comic aficionado, but I think this will primarily interest anyone wishing to investigate the return of horror comics in the 1970s.
Also do not be mislead by the Goodreads attributed author. If you want to read Steve Gerber, you need Vol. 1. I did not see him at all within this volume's pages.
Also do not be mislead by the Goodreads attributed author. If you want to read Steve Gerber, you need Vol. 1. I did not see him at all within this volume's pages.
November 22, 2009
Reprints Supernatural Thrillers #5, 7-15, Strange Tales #169-174, 176-177, Tales of the Zombie #2, 6, 10, Marvel Team-Up #24, Haunt of Horror #2-5, Monsters Unleashed #11, Marvel Two-In-One #11, 18, 33, Marvel Chillers #1-2, Dead of Night #11, and Marvel Spotlight #26. The Living Mummy, Brother Voodoo, Gabriel the Devil-Hunter, the Golem, Modred the Mystic, and the Scarecrow fight the darkness in the Marvel Universe. The second collection of Essential Marvel Horror is more fun than the first collection (probably due to the oddball collection of "heroes"). The characters all somewhat work but due to the short runs of their comics seem incomplete. Living Mummy has the longest run but an Elemental story bogs it down. Gabriel's relationship with the Desadia character was starting to develop and the Scarecrow really never gets off the ground with a complex background. Modred's collection is very short and the Golem runs his course. Brother Voodoo has had the most success of the group though for years he was considered a joke.
November 23, 2012
Molto buona la parte di LIVING MUMMY coi disegni di Val Mayerink, buona la parte di BROTHER VOODOO specie quando disegnato da Gene Colan. Meno buono GOLEM e quasi insignificante, nelle sue prime apparizioni, MODRED. Inquietante GABRIEL l'esorcista cacciatore di demoni, e SCARECROW. Tante storie degli anni 70 Marvel, alcune mai giunte in Italia. Ne valeva davvero la pena.
Trovo che il bianco e nero, soprattutto quando antecedente alle colorazioni elettroniche degli anni 90 e quando in mano a ottimi disegnatori e inchiostratori, renda davvero bene.
In questo Colan e Mayerink, veri maestri, sono stati spesso peggiorati da colorazioni pesanti o non proprio adatte, all'epoca.
Trovo che il bianco e nero, soprattutto quando antecedente alle colorazioni elettroniche degli anni 90 e quando in mano a ottimi disegnatori e inchiostratori, renda davvero bene.
In questo Colan e Mayerink, veri maestri, sono stati spesso peggiorati da colorazioni pesanti o non proprio adatte, all'epoca.
June 6, 2013
This is a very mixed bag of monsters, including a mummy, a voodoo master, a golem and an old-time sorcerer. The stories about the mummy and the golem tend to fall into the same mold as Marvel's Frankenstein stories or The Hulk - following a powerful but confused being through various vicissitudes. Brother Voodoo's stories are filled with cliches, but exciting. The stories about Modred the Mystic are the least coherent and effective. The art varies, but is frequently by the great Gene Colan. A fun bit of B- and sometimes C-grade horrific storytelling from mighty Marvel in its heyday.
October 9, 2011
This Marvel Essentials volume is hardly "essential" but is a great read. All of the seventies adventures of several Marvel "horror" stars are reprinted, including Brother Voodoo, the Living Mummy, the Golem, and the Scarecrow. The Thing of the Fantastic Four also appears in a few stories, as Marvel Two-in-One was used to finish a couple of low-selling storylines.
March 10, 2010
I love these goofy Marvel Essentials full of 1970's stuff. All the old Haunt of Horror reprints are terrific, all sketchy and weird. I especially liked the Gabriel the Devil Hunter stuff.
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