Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Marvel Comics, Review | Tagged: benjamin jackendoff, marvel, Marvel Comics, taboo, Werewolf By Night

Werewolf By Night #1 Review: Can Taboo of the Black Eyed Peas Write?

There is a new Werewolf  By Night series from Marvel by quite an interesting creative team. Let's dive in.

The credits in Werewolf By Night were a little confusing. The series was announced as being written by Taboo of the Black Eyed Pease and Benjamin Jackendoff. The cover credits both of them… but then, the inside front cover credits a "B. Earl" along with Taboo rather than Jackendoff. Whether this was a shift in the creative team or a last-minute change in pen name that didn't get reflected on the cover credits is unknown. Anyway!

Werewolf By Night is a strange but interesting debut. It feels like a Marvel comic from the mid-2000s, both in the dialogue and the art. That isn't a bad thing at all, and that was a good era, but the writing especially makes it feel like it had been made between the times that Brian K. Vaughan was working on Mystique and Bendis was scripting Spider-Woman. Aside from that, what works about Werewolf By Night is the sheer amount of scenes used to build the core characters. Comics these days have a tendency to spend too long in scenes, making for breezy issues that end quickly, focusing on page turns and splashes more than building character. Here, Werewolf By Night sees Taboo and B. Earl deliver a series of quick scenes that focus on the characters' family and work lives as much as the supernatural bits. The structure is great in that way, and it would be great if there were more comics with pacing like this. The only scene that feels rushed is the takedown of the villain "The Pathmind," who is able to use mind control to fire at Redwolf and JJ one second, only to be taken down by a net the next with no real explanation as to how he was defeated.

The interiors from artist Scot Eaton, inker Scott Hanna, colorist Miroslav Mrva, and letterer VC's Joe Sabino are well done, with the colors adding a nice, unique texture to the confident linework. Overall, it's a good-looking book that feels more superhero than horror, but it has the potential to draw in fans of both.

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