Back Issues: Morbius — it’s a living (vampire)
This image released by Sony Pictures shows Jared Leto in a scene from “Morbius.” (AP Photo)
This image released by Sony Pictures shows Jared Leto in a scene from “Morbius.” (AP Photo)
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Headlining his own movie in theaters today, Morbius the Living Vampire has been both ally and enemy to Spider-Man -- though he was originally the guy the wall-crawler sought when he didn't need a hand.
Well, four additional hands.
In "Amazing Spider-Man" #100, Spidey ingested a formula that was supposed to eliminate his spider powers. Instead, he sprouted the extra arms, making him more arachnid-esque than ever. In issue 101, he faced off against Dr. Michael Morbius, a man whose quest to cure his rare blood disorder resulted in him mutating into a pseudo-vampire. Fortunately, his blood also held the key to curing Spider-Man of his additional appendages because comic book science.
According to Brian Cronin's "Was Superman a Spy?" book about the truth behind comic book rumors and legends, editor Stan Lee and writer Roy Thomas opted to make the character a "living" vampire so he might one day be turned into a hero. Some believed the addition of the adjective was meant to circumvent the Comics Code Authority's prohibition against using vampires, but the removal of that rule actually prompted Morbius' introduction in the first place.
Spider-Man and Morbius would face off again in the pages of "Marvel Team-Up" before the sort-of vampire took the spotlight in titles like "Vampire Tales" and "Adventure into Fear," tangling with even more monstrous foes than himself, as well as clashing with Marvel's foremost vampire hunter, Blade. Facing Spider-Man once again, he was seemingly cured of his vampiric affliction by a bolt of lighting in a 1980 issue.
But he relapsed in 1989 in time to clash with Doctor Strange in an issue of the sorcerer's solo series. Although born of science, Morbius would start to move in more mystical circles, eventually getting his own title as part of the supernatural set of "Midnight Sons" books alongside Strange, Ghost Rider and the Nightstalkers in the early '90s. That series lasted three years and 32 issues before Morbius faded into the Marvel background again.
Later, he would become a team player as part of A.R.M.O.R. (the Alternate Reality Monitoring and Operational Response agency), where he worked alongside characters like Machine Man and Howard the Duck protecting this neck of the Marvel Multiverse from dimensions overrun by super zombies.
Next he teamed with fellow monster antiheroes Werewolf by Night, Man-Thing, the Living Mummy and Manphibian as the Legion of Monsters, building an underground city as a sanctuary for their kind. They found the Punisher shortly after he'd been dismembered by Wolverine's villainous son Daken, and Morbius mad scientisted him back together while the vigilante (real name Frank Castle) had his book retitled "Franken-Castle." He eventually recovered.
Marvel has brought Morbius back on his own from time to time, exploring his past and continuing his quest to finally cure himself, most recently in 2019, before the movie's planned 2020 release was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. If the movie gains traction, it's likely a Morbius title will rise again.
Evan Bevins can be reached at ebevins@newsandsentinel.com.
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Recommended Reading
* "Morbius Epic Collection: The Living Vampire" -- Reprints the earliest appearances of Morbius, battling and teaming up with various superheroes and taking on supernatural threats on his own.
* "Morbius: The Living Vampire: The Man Called Morbius" -- After escaping from the superhuman prison known as the Raft, Morbius tries to stay under the radar by hiding out in a place called Brownsville. He winds up becoming the town's reluctant champion.
* "Morbius: Old Wounds" -- The latest take on Morbius finds the living vampire close to a cure for his condition, but the medicine might be worse than the disease.