Marvel-Verse: Morbius

Marvel-Verse

by Roy Thomas, Ralph Macchio, Kevin Grevioux

Michael Morbius is one of the most tragic figures in all of the Marvel-Verse — transformed by his own hand into a living vampire! Watch him struggle against his bloodsucking impulses in astonishing adventures that blend super heroics with horror! In Spider-Man’s first encounter with Morbius, our hero has his hands full…all six of them! Can Spidey tackle his vampiric new foe, and old enemy the Lizard, while ridding himself of four unwanted extra limbs?! Then, Morbius joins the Thing in a fight to avoid being wiped out by the Living Eraser! Michael is haunted by a ghost from his past — and compelled by a bond of blood! Plus, vampire meets demons in a thriller featuring Spidey and Doctor Strange!

COLLECTING: Amazing Spider-Man (1963) 101-102, Marvel Two-In-One (1974) 15, Morbius: Bond of Blood (2021) 1, material from Spider-Man Family (2007) 5

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Superheroes

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2022

About the author

Roy Thomas was the FIRST Editor-in-Chief at Marvel--After Stan Lee stepped down from the position. Roy is a longtime comic book writer and editor. Thomas has written comics for Archie, Charlton, DC, Heroic Publishing, Marvel, and Topps over the years. Thomas currently edits the fanzine Alter Ego for Twomorrow's Publishing. He was Editor for Marvel comics from 1972-1974. He wrote for several titles at Marvel, such as Avengers, Thor, Invaders, Fantastic Four, X-Men, and notably Conan the Barbarian. Thomas is also known for his championing of Golden Age comic-book heroes — particularly the 1940s superhero team the Justice Society of America — and for lengthy writing stints on Marvel's X-Men and Avengers, and DC Comics' All-Star Squadron, among other titles.

Also a legendary creator. Creations include Wolverine, Carol Danvers, Ghost Rider, Vision, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Valkyrie, Morbius, Doc Samson, and Ultron. Roy has also worked for Archie, Charlton, and DC among others over the years.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this is your introduction to Morbius, you are going to think he's a pretty crappy character (which he is).

Amazing Spider-Man #101-102 by Roy Thomas & Gil Kane
Morbius's first appearance. It's some ham-fisted writing. Also Peter Parker tried to create a serum to remove his powers and instead gave himself 8 arms. It's goofy as hell.

Marvel Two-in-One #15 by Bill Mantlo & Arvell Jones
The Thing crosses paths with Morbius when the Living Eraser attacks them both. He can erase you to another dimension just like he's using an eraser on the page. It makes no sense.

Spider-Man Family #5 by Kevin Grevioux & Clayton Henry
Easily the best art and story in this collection. Spider-Man teams up with Dr. Strange when Morbius steals Strange's magic.

Morbius: Bond of Blood by Ralph Macchio & Tom Reilly
Morbius gets played by Mr. Hyde. Imagine that. He's pretty dumb for being a Nobel Prize winner. This was a one-shot that I don't think has been collected anywhere else.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Marvel-Verse series is a cool idea to introduce readers to unfamiliar characters. I assume that others--like this Morbius volume--reprints the first appearance or origin story and two or three other issues. The editorial choice to include a Spider-Man Family story in which Morbius barely appears may seem odd but consider that both the Amazing Spider-Man issues and the Marvel Two-in-One story here show Morbius as an addict, a man who will betray and kill the people that he loves to feed the monkey on his back. The last two stories show the evolution of the character. Like a recovering alcoholic, Morbius is still struggling with his addiction to blood, but he has reached a point where he will sacrifice himself for people he cares about, like Dr. Hammond and Christos Nikos. I think there are some other stories that might have been more appropriate, like Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man # 38, in which Morbius is apparently cured by a lightning strike; Doctor Strange, Vol. III # 10, wherein Morbius meets the Sorcerer Supreme for the first time, or Amazing Spider-Man # 622, where the relationship between Michael Morbius and Martine is resolved once and for all. Anyway, in spite of this, I liked the collection and will keep it for reference and to reread later (love Gil Kane's art).

[S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting summary of the origins, compulsions, character, and sounds of morbius. Not my normal cup of tea but really interesting to see him ineffective with other held.

[Zac Stojcevski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Firstly a negative - the smaller format high quality gloss pages, made the bonus retro feature difficult to read in some light, but that is a technicality.

The introduction to Morbius via Spider-Man consternation, incoming Lizard Man and we have a parable of loss, reformation and constant journey to discover where we fit in no matter how monstrous life may feel.

The theme is continued with The Thing, The Eraser, and the Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme questioning personal hubris and drives and the ripple effect upon those around us - particularly those closest to us.

[Iain Hawkes · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was...fine, I guess?

The back of the graphic novel calls Morbius one of Marvel's most tragic villains, but I'll be honest, his story here is pretty run of the mill stuff, and what's presented isn't all that great. I will say that the later issues are better than the older ones (better artwork, better dialogue, etc.), but again, fairly rote. Honestly, the best take on Morbius I've seen is in the 90s Spider-Man animated series, so while it's clearly adapting Morbius's initial debut as seen here (Spider-Man 100/101), the cartoon did it better.

Anyway, fine, but bog standard comic stuff. If Morbius is a riff on the Dracula monomyth, it's not all that compelling a one.

[Andrei · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars

First contact with Morbius for me. The book does its job of introducing you to the character, but the man himself didn't really interest me much. He's either reluctantly fighting someone in the Marvel Universe, or moping around about his cruel fate and how he'll never have peace of mind. This works one or two times, but based on this selection of stories, I wouldn't rush to read more of the same.