Legion
of Monsters: Morbius
Title:
Half Life: A Morbius Tale
Writer: Brendan Cahill
Artist: Michael Gaydos
Plot:
Morbius, The Living Vampire, is determined to die. He’s tried
before, but people always stop him or bring him back. To keep this
from happening, he has gone to a crack house in
Matthew asks Morbius to turn her, anything to save her life. Morbius
tries to resist, but the blood and the bat are too much for him. But
when he turns her, she’s been gone for too long. He knew she had
when he did it, but he wanted the blood too much. Now a mindless
zombie, Roxie kills Franz and Matthew outright. She tries to kill
Gillie, but a newly revitalized living vampire won’t have it. He
feels Gillie’s kindness has helped him hold onto his humanity,
even after feeding. In the end, he destroys his new creation but
Gillie is afraid of him. He leaves, still talking to the bat and
once again with new blood in his veins.
Likes:
- Where to start? Well, what better place to start than the cover? Even though Greg Land draws Roxie’s dead body with a smile on her face on the cover (porn reference much?), the rest of it is spectacular. The man has really proved with these covers that he should be drawing monsters. His Morbius is inhuman and terrifying, but classic. And the atmosphere of the misty graveyard is absolutely perfect.
- If the cover is spectacular, the interior art is (and this is a lofty statement from me) the best art Morbius has ever had. Michael Gaydos does all the art here, from pencils to colors, and his style is much evolved from last I saw him working on Jessica Jones. The coloring really makes it all. There’s a water color feel to the whole thing that makes it very airy, very supernatural. Most importantly, he captures the humanity of Morbius; the sadness in his eyes is palpable. And his Roxie is truly beautiful. I have no problem calling this one of the best pieces of comic art I’ve seen recently.
- A costume update! While I love Morbius’ classic look (which can be found on the cover), it doesn’t really look convincing in a modern setting. Here, Morbius is given a black leather jacket with a red liner that hangs open on him with no shirt, and dark blue pants. It’s plain, all things considered, but it flows. And most importantly, the black coat and his pale grey skin lend a black and white movie look to the panels depicting just Morbius.
- Ok, enough about how it looked. Brendan Cahill is someone I’d never heard of before, but I’d faithfully buy a Morbius ongoing by him if he could keep this up. He gets to the heart of the character, mixes in his desires and the natural tragedy of his life, and goes to town with a timeless story. It’s very hard to get a satisfying story into such a low page count, but Cahill hits all the emotional beats and tells a solid story for a character that hasn’t had one since the mid-nineties.
-
And finally, Morbius’ dialogue.
Cahill boldly tosses aside the rigid style of speech Morbius is
known for (which usually works out to being cheesy) and has his
narration sound natural. The feel of the character is there, but his
style of dialogue has been brought into the modern era, which is
really what makes the whole story work.
Dislikes:
-
I just have one, and it’s honestly a
nitpicky thing. I just felt the need to find something so I didn’t look too biased. Morbius makes a reference
to needing to be worried about his soul after drinking blood. A big
deal was made after Morbius was resurrected from the Midnight
Massacre that his soul did not come back with him. Morbius has no
soul to worry about; it’s one of the later tragic aspects of the
character. But as I said, it’s just a nitpick in a fantastic
story.
Rating:
5 fangs out of 5. An excellent story told from the heart
complimented by superb art on a character that sorely needs both.
Cahill crafts a masterful tale, enhanced by the sad, supernatural
art of Gaydos. A full package that leaves this fan of the living
vampire wanting for nothing…except more.
Reviewed
by: Morbius