Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: marvel, pre-code horror, Werewolf By Night

Marvel's First Werewolf by Night in Marvel Tales #116, Up for Auction

Marvel's original Werewolf by Night story appeared in Marvel Tales #116, cover-dated July 1953 in a Pre-Code Horror classic.

Fandoms like to connect dots.  Wanting to make sense of the fictional worlds that our favorite characters inhabit is often one of the things that helps to define a particular fandom.  Vintage comic book fans — Silver Age Marvel fans in particular — have developed a notion that has come to be called character "prototypes."  A prototype is a usually-obscure character that precedes a more famous or important character and is similar to that character in a noteworthy way. "Prototype" probably isn't quite the right name for the concept.  It's often just a name, a visual look, or a super-power that was recycled for later use — perhaps sometimes knowingly, perhaps not.  Still, prototypes do have their appeal.  It's another little hook into understanding comics history.  While Marvel Tales #116 isn't widely considered a prototype by collectors, perhaps it should be.  It contains a werewolf story called "Werewolf by Night," 19 years before a character of that name became a Marvel horror icon beginning in Marvel Spotlight #2.  There's a Marvel Tales #116 (Atlas, 1953) Condition: FR/GD up for auction in the 2024 June 2-4 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122423 at Heritage Auctions.

There are a few reasons why this issue hasn't yet caught on among most Marvel prototype collectors — all of which serve to make Marvel Tales #116 all the more desirable.  Most Marvel prototype issues have a relatively short gap between the appearance of the prototype and the debut of the "real" character.  In the case of the very popular Strange Tales #97, which contains a prototype for Spider-Man's Aunt May and Uncle Ben, the prototype appeared just two months before the real characters appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15.  Many Marvel prototypes appeared a few years prior to their more famous counterparts at best.  That scenario wasn't possible with Marvel Tales #116, as the Comics Code subsequently banned werewolf characters until the guidelines were relaxed in 1971.  However, Menace #5, the PCH appearance of Bill Everett's Zombie character, was also cover-dated July 1953 — the same month as Marvel Tales #116 — and Marvel explicitly tied that character to his reemergence in the Tales of the Zombie magazine series in 1973.  Werewolf by Night's official debut in Marvel Spotlight #2 also contains an Everett Venus story from 1951, and the covers of both feature a three-panel werewolf transformation sequence.  Overall, it's clear that Roy Thomas was perusing the old PCH material for possibilities during this period, and this raises the possibility that Marvel Tales #116 did indeed inspire the Werewolf by Night of 1972.

Marvel Tales #116 is much more difficult to get than traditional Marvel prototypes.  For example, there are only 51 entries for the issue on the CGC Census, compared to 309 entries for Strange Tales #97.  But there's a good shot to get an affordable copy of Marvel Tales #116 (Atlas, 1953) Condition: FR/GD up for auction in the 2024 June 2-4 Sunday, Monday & Tuesday Comic Books Select Auction #122423 at Heritage Auctions.

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