Wednesday, April 7, 2010

And so...Morbius!


And so…Morbius!
I have great fondness for the Living Vampire (fantastic sobriquet). Some of my earliest memories involve the rather meager collection of comics and horror magazines my older brother owned. He is six years older than I and everyday, after he went to school, I would sneak into his room and attack the stack of comics and magazines on the bookshelf behind his door.
And, usually, staring up at me with its garishly fantastic four-color cover would be Adventure into Fear, number 28.
There was something fascinating to me about the one-eyed creatures and this particular comic. My lifelong obsession with vampires and the undead began slightly earlier when I discovered an issue of the wonderful Famous Monsters’ mag sporting a suitably bloodthirsty Christopher Lee on the cover. I was also an early reader, so a living vampire (who happened to look not coincidentally a little like Spider-Man and a lot like a superhero) garnered my undivided attention.
I literally read and re-read the comic so many times the cover disintegrated. I eventually taped the whole thing back together. By that time, my brother conceded it a lost cause and gave up stealing it back from me.
Morbius pops up every now and then, sometimes as a villain and sometimes as a hero (or anti-hero, if you prefer). And I try and pick up every appearance. If you want more info on Morbius, the Living Vampire here is his wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morbius_the_Living_Vampire