Marvel are resurrecting one of their oldest horror icons just in time for Halloween 2020 with Werewolf By Night - written by Jimmy Gomez and Benjamin Jackendoff, with art by Scot Eaton - but this isn't just a new series, and Werewolf By Night promises to be a revamping of the identity, powers, and mythos of the long-lived lycanthrope, hopefully giving a historically ill-treated character new life.
Werewolf By Night first appeared in Marvel Tales #116 in 1953, published by Atlas Comics (the predecessor to Marvel.) While the character was popular, a moral panic erupted soon after, concerned with the content of comics and antisocial messaging which children might be absorbing from the pulp medium. The Comics Code Authority followed soon after, specifically targeting both crime and horror comics, and directly banning the depiction of vampire and werewolf characters. Some writers found creative ways around the ban (X-Men enemy Sauron became a were-pterodactyl rather than a vampire), but Werewolf By Night was so specifically tied to his horror roots that he had no recourse other than to slink into the shadows and bide his time.
As attitudes shifted and the CCA was defanged and abandoned, horror characters were once again on the menu, but tastes had shifted. The Comics Code Authority had helped cement the modern superhero narrative as the default form of comic storytelling, breaking the back of previously popular genres that now struggled to find an audience.
Thankfully, Werewolf By Night was durable, brought back again for Marvel Spotlight in 1972, which led to an impressive 43-issue series that was fully enmeshed in the world of Marvel superheroes, even introducing Moon Knight to the Marvel Universe. Though Werewolf By Night reappeared in short series in the '80s, '90s, and 2000s, the character has struggled since to find a place in a world where changing into a werewolf isn't really that remarkable. In a comics universe where a man can turn into the Incredible Hulk, where Wolverine can heal from any wound, and where you could be consumed by one of the many alien symbiotes crawling around New York, Jack Russel (a groan-inducingly punny name for the canine hero) just hasn't had enough going on to fully catch reader attention. Comics quickly became so malleable in genre that turning into a werewolf was something that happened to superheroes (such as Captain America in his infamous "Capwolf" story from 1992) rather than being seen as a compelling power on its own, and Jack was relegated to more general horror comics, often playing the straight man on teams including Morbius or the Man-Thing; the least remarkable being even on a team of horror staples.
Of course, an idea is only as good as you make it, and the start of the '20s has seen Werewolf By Night return yet again for another shot at catching the imagination of Marvel readers. The new Werewolf By Night isn't just an attempt to put Marvel's werewolf character in some stories worth telling (though his rumored appearance in the MCU Moon Knight show is likely making such a priority), but rather a complete reimagining of the character's history and abilities that takes a new character - so far only named as Jake - and confronts him with a host of modern issues.
The new Werewolf By Night is a hulking creature clearly designed with a horror angle in mind - perhaps inspired by the recent success of The Immortal Hulk, which proved reader appetite for good horror comics is alive and kicking - and Gomez has expressed a desire to approach the character through the lens of his own Native heritage. Tied into the events of Outlawed, it's likely Jake will be a young hero struggling with a truly monstrous other self, and it will be interesting to see what direction Marvel chooses for this new take on the Werewolf By Night, and whether this forgotten property can truly rise again to find a permanent home in the Marvel Universe.