Review — The Mystery Deepens In “Universal Monsters: Blood Of The Wolf Man’ #2
by Tom Smithyman
Overview
After an action- and gore-packed last issue, the pace slows down a bit here to deep the mystery of whether our main character is actually a bloodthirsty werewolf. Don’t look for answers just yet, but there are clues aplenty.
Overall
9/10Is Adam Jaeger a werewolf or just an innocent victim?
That’s the central mystery in Universal Monsters: Blood of the Wolf Man. The second issue drops more tantalizing clues but refuses to answer the question. That’s OK. We don’t want the story spoiled only halfway through the limited series.
Instead, writer Joshua Williamson just teases us — constantly. Why does Adam dream of being chased by wolves? What’s the story of his brother’s death? Were wolves involved in that? Why is his dad acting so weird and overly protective? And what’s with his dead mom? Was she a lycanthrope herself?
Williamson knows exactly what he’s doing here. He’s already pulled us in with an action-packed first issue. Now he’s adding intrigue to the story.
If there’s a drawback, it’s that this issue suffers from lots of talk without much action. We saw plenty of bloodshed and fur last time, as a college party was decimated by…Adam? A wolfpack? Something else? This time, though, it’s more of a detective story, as Adam tries to piece together what happened, what exactly he is or isn’t, and why he threw up an eyeball at the end of the first issue. You know, normal teenage stuff.
That leaves artist Leomacs without too much fun stuff to do here, save for a few flashbacks. Still, his scenes of a younger Adam being chased by ferocious wolves are literally the stuff of nightmares. But slightly more variety in the storytelling techniques would make this issue even stronger.
Still, anyone who is still reading the series after first issue will find plenty to sink their canine teeth into here. Let’s just hope for a little more action next time.
Universal Monsters: Blood of the Wolf Man #2 — written by Joshua Williamson, illustrated by Leomacs, colored by Pip Martin, and lettered by D.C. Hopkins — is available in local comic book stories and digital platforms from Image Comics.
