My Rating
“The Invisible Man”
Mrs. Hall hesitated to rent a room to the odd-looking stranger, but tourist season had yet to begin, and any money coming into the Coach and Horses Inn would be a blessing. Still, something about the man immediately bothered her. Why was he dressed so queerly? Heavy bandages covered every inch of exposed flesh, while dark goggles concealed his eyes. Was the stranger some horribly disfigured war veteran? Jenny might have felt sorry for him if not for his demanding and condescending nature.
The following morning, Mr. Hall and his workers reluctantly retrieved the stranger’s luggage from the village train station. Their new guest had demanded his equipment and journals the previous evening, but a fierce snowstorm made the journey impossible. When George Hall’s porters finally reached the station, they discovered no ordinary grips or traveling cases. Instead, three enormous wooden crates awaited them. Blast the man and his accouterments! Two hours after the crates arrived, the stranger could be heard throwing everyone out of his room in a rage. He demanded solitude, and nothing less would satisfy him.
A month passed with very little contact between the mysterious guest and his hosts. The Halls occasionally spotted him in the hallways or at mealtimes, but even those encounters became increasingly rare. At first, the stranger paid his room fees on time. Then the payments stopped altogether. George and Jenny Hall soon found themselves arguing over what to do. George wanted to evict the man, but Jenny had grown frightened of him. One evening, while delivering supper to his room, she caught a glimpse beneath his goggles.
“George, the man had no eyes!” Jenny bellowed.
And she didn’t tell her husband everything. The stranger’s hands were missing as well…
Who is the weird hotel guest dressed from head to toe in medical bandages? What secrets does George Hall discover while snooping through the stranger’s journals? Is a ghost really haunting the local vicar? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
What an interesting adaptation of H.G. Wells’ original story. It always amazes me how much comic book writers can trim from a novel and still produce a fully functioning storyline. Marvel manages to squeeze Wells’ tale into comic-book form without stripping away the mystery surrounding Griffin or the creepy atmosphere of the English countryside. Overall, this issue offers a fun trip back to the Victorian age of horror and science fiction.
H.G. Wells was one of the kings of science fiction during the late nineteenth century, and The Invisible Man remains one of his most recognizable creations. Unfortunately, Griffin wouldn’t enjoy the same longevity in the Marvel Universe as Dracula or Frankenstein’s Monster. His death certainly put a damper on any sequel possibilities! Still, Thomas Marvel survived with Griffin’s journals, so Marvel certainly had an opening if the character had proven popular enough. Considering some of the ways comic-book characters have returned from the grave over the decades, invisibility serum seems like one of the easier excuses for bringing someone back.
An unrelated character using the Invisible Man name eventually appeared decades later in Deadpool, but as far as I can tell, Marvel never seriously attempted to turn Wells’ Griffin into a recurring horror character. That’s a shame. Had the Invisible Man caught on with readers the way Dracula, Frankenstein, Morbius, or the Living Mummy did, I’m sure Marvel would have found some wonderfully ridiculous way to keep Griffin running around the Marvel Universe.
I’m giving Supernatural Thrillers #2 four out of five stars. If you love classic horror literature or grew up watching the Universal Studios monster movies, this issue deserves a place in your collection. Better yet, copies remain fairly reasonable because most Bronze Age Marvel horror collectors seem to chase the Living Mummy, Dracula, Morbius, and similar books first. That makes this forgotten little adaptation a fun book to hunt down without destroying your wallet.
Good hunting if you decide to buy!