A villain that is worth learning about.
Most Marvel fans may not know the name of Morbius but by this time next year, plenty of people will be digging around comic stores for old issues.
Part of our reason for selecting this villain was because of the movie that was scheduled for July. Also because we had some exposure to him back in the day. However for the sake of this discussion, we are focusing on the version from the comics.
Brief History
Dr. Michael Morbius was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. He first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 in October 1971. This former award winning biochemist was imbued with pseudo vampire abilities as a result of a failed biochemical experiment to correct a rare blood disorder.
Originally he was meant to be one of the horror based villains for Spider-Man. Eventually the character shifted over the years to a more gritty antihero and earned a spot in the hearts of comic readers.
His most intriguing story line was Spider Island. Here we got to see him working behind the scenes to prepare a cure for the spider-powers viruses while trying to create a cure for himself. When you tie this in with what took place with the Lizard, aka Dr. Connor, it was a griping read from start to finish.
Positives
Some people did not like how they made Michael a pseudo vampire. He has some of their strength and accelerated healing, but does not have weaknesses to garlic, holy waters, crosses, etc. We thought this was a good take on the characters. It made sure there was a decent amount of difference between the classic character.
Negatives
When it comes to what happens when he bites his victims is an area of contention. Majority of the times, the victim suffers a nasty bite that does some damage but does not turn them into the pseudo vampire. There have been several instances where he has turned his victim into one. The problem is they never give a real reason why or why it doesn’t happen.
Best Hero
Over the years, we saw the Living Vampire take on different heroes from the Marvel universe, but we found the Spider-man storylines were the most intriguing ones. Then during Maximum Carnage crossover series, the two form an uneasy alliance. That brought it to a new level.
Overall
Michael was an interesting character who never saw his real potential during a good portion of the character’s years. Perhaps we will see a resurgence when the new Marvel movie is released and a new generation of fans take hold. We would love to see more of the approach as an antihero but either way would work.
