Comic Series Review #6: Morbius: The Living Vampire, Vol. 2 (2013)
With Sony’s Morbius film (starring Jared Leto) set to release early next year, and hopefully not become delayed again, I figured now was just as good a time as any to take a look at this short-lived series — starring an underrated character! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy!
Dracula, Edward Cullen, Bill Compton , Vladimir Tod — the list could go on forever. The truth is that people have an obsession with vampires, especially ones that take the form of attractive young Caucasian males. If you were a teenager in the late-2000’s and early-2010’s, then you know what I mean (especially if you were a part of Team Jacob or Team Edward). Dr. Michael Morbius doesn’t quite fit that description, nor does he fit the description of a “traditional” vampire.
Born in Greece, Morbius suffers from a rare blood disease that gave him unattractive, vampire-like features — which were only enhanced after he tried to self-cure himself using vampire bat DNA and electrotherapy. This “pseudo-vampirism” disease gave Morbius superhuman abilities such as extreme strength, flight, regeneration etc. — alongside vampiric traits such as pale skin and fanged canine teeth. However, the biggest permanent effect is Morbius’ never-ending lust for blood — which he needs to stay alive. What sets him apart from stereotypical vampires in other media is that he is not dead, and has functioning bodily organs. Victims of Morbius’ bite either become “living vampires” themselves or die, depending on the severity. This condition has brought him into conflict with several heroes, but most notably Spider-Man. Despite his villainous background, this series takes a different approach and paints Morbius an anti-hero — breaking him free of his usual loner, isolationist state of mind.
Taking place after the events of Amazing Spider-Man #699.1, the story sees Morbius on the run in New York City. He decides to lay low in Brownsville — a rowdy, run-down neighborhood of Brooklyn. His true identity remains hidden since locals just assume him to be another meth head. After a few days of remaining undetected, he runs into trouble with a local gang run by Noah St. Germain — a criminal bigshot who kept Brownsville “in check” (and, based off his mohawk, also still thinks the year is 1985). Noah is then killed by Morbius after the former took his own nephew without the mother’s consent, knowing that she disapproved of his gang lifestyle.
Noah’s death creates an imbalance of power within Brownsville’s criminal underground, with multiple factions trying to claim power. Innocent people living in the area have no one to protect them as police presence is minimal and superheroes refuse to go anywhere near the neighborhood. Morbius holes up with a local homeless artist named Becky, who’s “home” is inside of an abondoned movie theatre. With the gang war becoming out of hand, Morbius is forced to either look away or take advantage of a second chance to prove he’s not just a heartless, blood-sucking monster. He chooses the latter after being pleaded to do so by Becky, only to find that he is a pawn within a grander scheme orchestrated by The Rose (Phillip Hayes) — and his own father, Makarioa Morbius. In an attempt to seek answers and hopefully cure his “vampirism” condition, Morbius leaves Brownsville for Horizon Labs (in Manhattan) — but not before coming into conflict with Otto Octavius’ Spider-Man (who starred in the Superior Spider-Man series). The two come to terms and decide to team up in stopping Rose from destroying Brownsville and rebuilding it in his image — which is why he used Morbius to clear out the criminal elements within the neighborhood. They needed him to be a martyr for Brownsville.
While at Horizon Labs, Morbius and Spider-Man (as well as Max Modell) are ambushed by Nikoleta Harrow — an assassin hired by Rose to subdue and “embarrass” Morbius. Harrow and her oversized, metallic glove-like fists make quick work of the three, in which she then raids Horizon Labs’ compound before meeting back up with Rose. The two then discuss raiding A.I.M.’s laboratories in order to get everything they need for creating “something explosive” — which is revealed to be a scaled-down version of the Ultimate Nullifier (which is what Rose plans to destroy Brownsville with). After their beatdown, Morbius and Spider-Man regain their consciousness and hunt down Nikoleta and Rose — only for Morbius to once again engage Nikoleta directly. The two are then teleported to the abandoned movie theatre, which is then engulfed in a blinding explosion as Rose, from the distance, pulls the trigger on his finished Ultimate Nullifier. The theatre is left in ruins, but Morbius and Nikoleta survive. Nikoleta is teleported away by Rose, but not before telling Morbius about Rose’s plan to obliterate all of Brownsville. Following this, Morbius prompts Becky to evacuate Brownsville with the help of the Midnight Sons — a team of supernatural characters, founded by Ghost Rider, that Morbius’ belongs to. The Midnight Sons and Becky help the fleeing Brownsville residents find refuge within the underground tunnels that lead to the Monster Metropolis.
Back up top, Morbius finally confronts Rose and is “killed” after taking a direct hit from the Ultimate Nullifier. Thought to be dead, Morbius’ body is left behind as Rose flees the scene furious that Brownsville was abandoned instead of in a state of chaos and unrest. Becky goes back for him only to find that there is no body. Rose heads back to his base of operations on North Brother Island to inform Makarioa about the progess of their plan, in which Makarioa tells Rose and his assistant, Chondra, that they are now on their own. Morbius, having not been killed by the knockoff Ultimate Nullifier, emerges outside of the hidout and makes quick work of some of Rose’s guards before confronting the man one last time. Rose tells Chondra she is “free to go”, as he had anticipated Morbius’ arrival. After telling Rose that he is nothing more than just another overglorified pawn, Morbius savegely bites into his neck — ending his life. Makarioa, hearing the commotion over the phone, informs Morbius that the plan still succeeded as he already has contractors ready to rebuild Brownsville and that “property values will skyrocket”. The conversation ends with Makarioa asking Morbius what he plans to do now that Brownsville believes their beloved hero “sacrificed” himself — giving the community a “reinvigorated spirit”.
One year later, Becky is no longer homeless and is doing well as an artist. Morbius shows up outside of one of her art exhibitions and tells her that he is enjoying the one thing he never tried. What is that one thing? Living.
Confused about the plot? Me too. While I really enjoyed the series’ take on Morbius’ character, it felt like his growth into an anti-hero was somewhat rushed. The short run of the series is partially to blame for this, but more in-depth events could have been chosen for his transformation. For example, Morbius’ only real connection to Brownsville was that it was a place for low-lifes — which is why he chose to hide out there. Despite being the closest thing he has to a home, what real reason did he have to care for the neighborhood? His only reason for protecting the area after Noah’s death was for personal gain — since he wanted to prove himself as more than a heartless monster. Also, Noah was the one who harrassed Morbius first — so it’s not like Morbius was actively looking for a fight. He only got involved because it was personal. The same thing applies to Nikoleta and Rose since Morbius only got involved because it became personal after she ambushed him, Max Modell and Otto’s Spider-Man. How can one truly be heroic if what they are doing is self-driven and for self-gain? Oh, and Morbius still doesn’t even know that his own father, Makarioa, is behind all of this.
The story also contained some forgettable and uninteresting characters, which is why it is hard to relate to them. Becky refers to herself as Morbius’ “sidekick” but only occassionally appears, while Nikoleta is supposed to be Rose’s hired muscle AND brains — but disappears prior to the conclusion of everything. Was her deal with Rose complete? If so, is that why they parted way? Surely she would have been there when Morbius infiltrated Rose’s hideout near the end. Either way, Nikoleta’s sudden introduction leaves a lot more to be desired for the reader. She doesn’t give you someone to actually hate as a villain, nor is she really all that interesting because of her cliche persona — a money-hungry mercenary with no backstory who will still kick your butt with passion despite having no personal beef with you. Her character felt more like a convenient addition to fill the “overpowered henchman/henchwoman” void — kind of like how businesses will only sometimes fill positions just to reach their quotas. We are left with so many more questions than answers. What are the purpose behind her giant, metallic gloves? How is she, a nobody, able to easily pummel Spider-Man? How was she able to survive the blast from the Ultimate Nullifier, as well as the collapse of the abandoned movie theatre? Does she style her hair after AFI’s Davey Havok? Moving back to Becky for a second, how is she “homeless” but still making enough money to buy the electronic equipment she uses to assist Morbius? Surely her tech-savvy skills could land her an I.T. job somewhere rather than her just being a babysitter (which is revealed early on in the series).
On the artistic side of things, Richard Elson did the pencilling for issues #1-5 as well as for #8-9 while Valentine De Landro takes over for issues #6–7. This actually plays out really well as issues#1–5 focus heavily on rough street elements within Brownsville — such as Noah’s criminal empire and the eventual gang war within the neighborhood. Because of this, the color choice is more gritty with darker blue, gray and red tones comprising the basic color palette. The artwork is slightly more detailed with the gore as opposed to later on in the series. This can be seen when Morbius first bites Noah and in the ensuing bloodbath that follows next. The aesthetic that was established in the first five issues made the series feel dark, and it was a bonus that Elson’s style is fairly detailed and allows the reader to actually see the facial expressions of the characters — adding more life and emotion into their dialogue.
Issues #6 and onward is where things pickup and become more superhero-ish, and also more bland (in my opinion). This is where Nikoleta makes her first-ever appearance, and where Superior Spider-Man makes his debut in this series. The coloring becomes occasionally lighter when the scene takes place in more upscale locations — such as Rose’s hideout on North Brother Island. However, the feeling of grittiness is still there. De Landro draws the characters with less detail and more shadows on their faces, which feels just a little awkward. What was the point of overemphasizing the shadows? There was nothing overtly mysterious or dark, so why? I’m sure that this is just De Landro’s style, but it doesn’t feel very fitting for Morbius’ character.
The only thing that caught my eye with the artwork is Gabriele Dell’Otto’s amazing cover for Issue #1! One of my personal all-time favorites!
This series definitely has it’s quirks and unique aspects. I really do appreciate what Marvel tried to do with Morbius’ character, but I don’t think it really turned out how they wanted it to. By the end, Morbius doesn’t really feel like a changed man or a redeemed character — but he atleast finds out more about who he is and tries to actually live his life rather than just seek answers. While the series was not great, it also wasn’t terrible — just more of a middle-of-the-pack ‘meh’. However, don’t listen to the opinion of some recent college-graduate on the internet (we think we know better than everyone else anyways). I encourage you to check out the series for yourself and form your own thoughts and opinions, and just remember to have fun reading!
To read the previous story in this series, please click here! To read the next entry, please click here!
