Review — ‘Universal Monsters: Blood Of The Wolf Man’ #1 Could Use More Wolf Man

The only thing worse than being a homicidal Wolf Man is not knowing if you’re a homicidal Wolf Man.

That’s the conundrum facing young Adam Jaeger in Universal Monsters: Blood of the Wolf Man #1. The introverted painting student finally goes to a party with his fellow college students, only to have most of the festival goers horribly mauled during a full moon.

Adam has memories of killing the students, but he’s still not quite sure he did it. His overbearing father tries to convince him that it wasn’t Adam, but is dad hiding something worse?

Writer Joshua Williamson keeps the mystery going throughout this first of four issues. It seems obvious that Adam is the killer, but we’re left with enough doubt to come back next month for some answers (or more likely, more questions). It will be interesting to see how Williamson keeps up his momentum in future chapters.

Artist Leomacs, along with colorist Pip Martin, capture the 1970’s vibe with big hair and some awkward wardrobe choices. Occasionally, though, Leomacs’ work feels unfinished, as if he needed to spend more time inking his pencils.

What is missing most from this limited series’ premiere, though, is the monster himself. We get a glimpse of Wolfie in a mirror (a major theme in this issue — who are we really?) but that’s it. While Leomacs has plenty of the Wolf Man’s carnage to depict — and he does it well for the most part — we came for the main monster!

Image Comic’s Universal Monsters series has largely been a creative success, with many outstanding first issues. This one, though, doesn’t live up to its sister series — at least not yet.

Universal Monsters: Blood of the Wolf Man #1 will be available Wednesday in comic book stores and on digital platforms from Image Comics.