Werewolves are making a slight comeback across various media as of late. Not that they’ve ever really gone away, they’ve just seemed to be flying under the radar, consigned to mostly lower budget offerings in film, aside from some higher profile, intermittent stabs. 2025’s WOLF MAN is a notable example. In spite of it not really grabbing the attention of the horror-going community, it showed there was still life in a genre that has made little narrative progression when compared to the vampire and zombie genres.
In terms of comic and comic adjacent media, the MCU’s horror special, WEREWOLF BY NIGHT, from 2023, impressed audiences largely due to its purposeful homage to the campy, black and white, drive-in horror films of the 50s and 60s. Just this year, I’ve reviewed two indie werewolf comics; THE LYCAN, written by Mike Carey and HOUNDS OF GOD, written by Sean Meighen. Both of which are great and highly recommended. What these rumblings indicate to me is that we, the horror audience, still crave a dose of those furry little rascals every now and again, and BLOOD OF THE WOLF MAN is here to serve it to you.
Adam Jaeger just wants to fit in, party a little, and definitely not massacre his new classmates in college. When a party ends with everyone brutally murdered and Adam the only survivor, his hazy memory and blood soaked clothing tells him that maybe he’s the problem and probably shouldn’t be trusted to not maim and murder innocent people. Is Adam just in shock from witnessing some kind of savage animal attack or is he becoming The Wolf Man?
BLOOD OF THE WOLF MAN is the latest addition to the expanding line of comics published by Skybound Entertainment, based on the classic Universal monster films. Writer Joshua Williamson (G.I. JOE, Superman) and artist Leomacs (Basketful of Heads, Rogues) deliver a solid first issue that doesn’t seek to capture the classic vibe of the original 1941 Lon Chaney film, The Wolf Man even though it opens with the famous poem featured in the movie.
“Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night may become a wolf when the wolfsbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.”
BLOOD OF THE WOLF MAN appears to take place in the 1970s based on the clothing and hairstyles presented in the book. It remains to be seen if the time period of the story will have any bearing on how everything plays out, so for now, I’m happy to just enjoy the retro aura of it all.
Visually, the art reminds me a bit of Jacob Phillips (That Texas Blood), albeit a little less refined. The few glimpses we get of nature are particularly high in detail and lush. It’s as if the artist wants us to be drawn to it, preparing us for the inevitable moment that our wolf-man runs with abandon into the nighttime forest under the glow of the full moon. I’m assuming that, at some point during the course of this four issue run, we’re going to have at least one of those scenes. I mean, it’s a werewolf story. You gotta have the wolf-man running through the forest, right?
The writing is sound. The issue was paced really well. The dialog flowed naturally. I’m pretty sensitive to stilted or clunky dialog and nothing really stuck out to me as feeling wonky. If anything, it all felt like this story is playing it pretty safe, so far. You’d have to somewhat expect that when you’re dealing with licensed IP and such classic characters like the Universal monsters. If this were a non licensed, creator owned, “indie” book, I’d grade it much harsher in that regard. But, I’m still hopeful that this safeness is just reeling us in for something unexpected down the line. Otherwise, this book should definitely appeal to fans of the classic Universal movies and fans of the werewolf genre in general.
While this issue didn’t really crash down my door like a savage beast, it did give me just enough to want to keep an eye on it, to see if it transforms into the blood dripping, fanged monster it has the potential to be.
