In 2007 Marvel published four one-shots, each under a “Legion of Monsters” banner and each double-sized and containing two standalone stories. The books all bore the #1, but were one-shots under the same banner, so I’m collectively posting them here. They came out pretty randomly over the course of the year.
Of course the quality varies greatly across all four issues, depending on the creators (mostly) and the character focus.
The first one was Man-Thing in a well-written horror story by Charlie Huston and drawn by the great Klaus Janson. A group of rich people throw a party and serve Man-Thing as the main course.
I wonder if that’s vegetarian? (Oh, and of course he kills all of them.). Great, twisty tale that satisfies the Man-Thing itch. Grade: B+
The second story was another Garth the Zombie tale by Ted McKeever. In it, Garth seems to get hurt feelings when a street hood calls him names.
I always dig Ted’s work. I give the second story a C+.
Next issue offered Morbius by Brendan Cahill and painted by Michael Gaydos. Pretty standard tale, but easy on the eyes, for sure. Grade: C.
The second story was Dracula and Lilith by CB Cebulski and David Finch. I’m a fan of Finch, but his clear, super-close-up style is not right for horror. Grade: C.
For the third one-shot, Satana Hellstrom got title billing in a story by Robin Furth and Kalman Adrasofszky. Satana is raised by an amateur occultist and the two negotiate over souls and freedom and, of course, Satana’s reading of the contract prevails. Grade: C.
Story #2 featured Living Mummy being revived to collect souls for Anubis. Not sure he really needed an origin story, but the tale offers the relatively rare occasion of Jonathan Hickman doing both script and art. Grade: C.
And, finally, Werewolf by Night by Greg Land and Mike Carey and then Frankenstein by Skottie Young. Both of these are pretty standards stories, but they’re done well. And really, can Frankenstein look any better than this:
Answer: No. No he can’t. Grades: C+.
Overall: C+ for the collection. Fun reads for Halloween.
English (US) · 