My Rating
“Destroyer Of Worlds”
The Florida Everglades — 1998. Something has damaged the secret location known as the Nexus of All Realities. The swamplands surrounding the portal quickly decay as the powerful energy vortex sends shockwaves across parallel universes. Even worse, the monster who protects the gateway has vanished.
The Man-Thing and his estranged wife, Ellen Sallis, hurtle across the cosmos in search of a stone rumored to possess enough power to repair the damage. A magical staff wielded by Ellen tells them the Nexus Fragment is nearby. Unfortunately, only a cosmic entity who once heralded the world-eater Galactus knows its true location.
Will the Silver Surfer hear the call of the Nexus guardian before zero hour arrives? Have the staff’s mystic powers corrupted the Man-Thing’s mind? Can the Power Cosmic stop the destruction of the paradise hidden within a crystal city?
“Love Is Colder Than Death — Part 02”
Jack Russell awakens to the sounds of automobiles passing high above his head. The pungent stench of cold water flowing through the New York sewer system jolts him back to consciousness. Beside him floats his acquaintance Lumpy, face down in a pool of blood and muck. Something has shredded the homeless man from head to toe. How could Jack have done this? An exorcism supposedly removed the wolf demon from his body.
Elsewhere, at police headquarters, detectives Phil and Lenny endure a verbal smackdown from fellow detective O’Reilly. Word has spread about the pair visiting a local fortune teller named Mariana, who gave them a dire reading. O’Reilly attracts a large crowd of fellow officers as his mock séance escalates into an unbearable round of ball-busting.
As Phil wades into verbal combat near the detectives’ desks, dispatch patches through a call. Someone has discovered another murder in the Lower East Side sewer system. A Con Ed worker stumbled across the grisly scene earlier that morning. The laughter immediately dies as Phil and Lenny race for the door. It looks like Mariana’s “visions” might have been legitimate after all.
Is Jack Russell responsible for the deaths beneath the streets of New York City? Why has a cell of cyber-vampires turned against its leader? Can Phil and Lenny sweet-talk the homeless population into revealing the whereabouts of a known associate called Lumpy?
“A Tomb For Two”
The smile on Papa Nebo’s face intimidates young Narcisse. No, it looks downright sinister. All Narcisse wanted was a simple love potion to win back his childhood sweetheart. What he doesn’t know is that the Voodoo priest has plans of his own. Papa Nebo wants Angelina Beliard as his personal slave.
St. Louis Cemetery — 3:10 a.m. The corpse of Simon Garth is on the move. No one carries him through the cemetery. The undead man walks on his own. A golden medallion glints in the moonlight as it swings across his decaying chest. Simon once lived as any other man, but a Haitian Voodoo curse now binds his soul. Someone has summoned the Zombie through a powerful call he cannot ignore.
The command is simple: Kill.
Revenge awaits, and someone intends to collect an old debt.
Who should you fear more in the Voodoo arts, Papa Nebo or Donna Garth? How does a simple love potion turn into a deadly poison? When will Simon Garth finally escape his necromantic servitude? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
Last year I read Marvel’s six-issue Werewolf By Night series from 1998, and I came away a little disappointed when Marvel canceled it so quickly. From my research, the “Strange Tales” label represented Marvel’s attempt to launch a new line of comics aimed at a more mature horror audience. Did Marvel executives pull the plug after losing faith in the adult-themed stories and amplified gore? I’m not 100% sure. All I can say is these books were definitely not your father’s Werewolf By Night.
I figured Marvel had abandoned the storylines and tossed them aside to make room for the latest Wolverine craze. Then, about two months ago, my local comic book shop turned me on to Strange Tales Volume 04. These two books offer a small continuation of the Jack Russell storyline Marvel left for dead earlier that year. I bought them solely for Werewolf By Night, but Man-Thing is cool, so bonus!
Where Does It Begin?
I have no idea where the broken Nexus storyline begins, but what Marvel gives us here is pretty interesting. I’m not a huge fan of some late-’90s artwork, and Man-Thing provides a perfect example. I’m glad the whole airbrushed art style disappeared along with the Grunge era. To be fair, when I originally criticized Werewolf By Night Volume 02 on the Comic Book Geeks website, I didn’t care for the dark colors and tones in those books either. Everything looked a little too muddy for me. In issue #1 of Strange Tales Volume 04, the artwork at least looks somewhat cleaner.
The coloring remains my biggest complaint. Other than that, Marvel packed this book with top-notch production values and plenty of entertainment. From the foldout introduction at the front to the final page of the Zombie storyline, I never felt cheated on content. Three separate horror stories give Man-Thing, Werewolf By Night, and Simon Garth room to do their thing without overstaying their welcome.
I’m giving Strange Tales Volume 04 #1 four out of five stars. The artwork and coloring don’t always work for me, but the amount of material packed between these covers more than makes up for those shortcomings. Most importantly, I’m just glad to see Jack Russell back in action on any level. After Marvel pulled the plug on his series earlier that year, I’ll gladly take another trip into the sewers of New York with the Werewolf By Night.