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Strange Tales Starring Werewolf / Man-Thing            Comics Lot & Variant
Includes Strange Tales Starring Werewolf / Man-Thing (1998) Variant Issue #2B with cover art by Neal Adams.  Awesome!! 
Featuring information-filled gatefold covers in both issues.  Awesome!!

Jack Russell’s ancestor Grigori first brought the curse of lycanthropy to the family when he was bitten by a werewolf in 1795. When Jack Russell reached the age of eighteen, he became afflicted with the ancestral curse and turned into a werewolf thereafter on the three nights of the full moon. Since then, his life has revolved around his many attempts to rid himself of the tragic condition of lycanthropy. Now that he has finally gained control over his wolf persona, Jack must become a part of society. He must deal with life returning to normal, and fitting into the world about him. Only on those three nights, when the moon is full, does Jack have to lock himself away from society… that when he comes Werewolf By Night.

Once he was a man… a chemist named Ted Sallis, until a top-secret experiment went awry… and he changed. The serum that was to have made him a super-soldier intermingled with mystic forces in the shadow-haunted swamp to transform him into a mindless, shambling mockery of a man. Now, forces beyond human ken have appointed him the guardian of the Nexus of All Realities, a magical gateway centered in the swamp where he dwells. An empath, the creature responds to human emotions; negative emotions cause him pain, and fear the most pain of all. And whatever knows fear burns at his searing touch!

In late 1998, Marvel released a new rendition of one of its most famous titles. The new version of Strange Tales started off with a giant-sized anthology starring Werewolf by Night and Marvel’s muck monster, the Man-Thing. The title is anchored by solo stories of the two headliners, with a third (generally horror) story filling out each issue.

Strange Tales Starring Werewolf / Man-Thing (1998) Marvel Comics Lot & Variant contains:

Strange Tales Starring Werewolf / Man-Thing #1
Editors: Pete Franco, Lysa Kraiger, Mark Bernardo, Joe Andreani & Glenn Greenberg
Cover by: Arthur Suydam

“Man-Thing: Destroyer of Worlds”   22 pages
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Liam Sharp
Colorist: Christie Sheele
Letterer: Jon Babcock

Ellen Brandt finds herself and the Man-Thing (who is exhibiting a harsh, abrasive personality) on a distant planet as they continue their quest for the missing fragments of the Nexus of All Realities. Before long, they are met by the Silver Surfer who has come sensing that the actions of these two would destroy the planet. The spirit voice speaking through the Man-Thing orders the Surfer to leave, but Ellen asks him to show her why he thinks what they do will harm the world. The Surfer pulls her onto his board to show her, and the Man-Thing sprouts wings to follow them.

Back on Earth, Jack and Gwyneth Burke have reached Citrusville, Florida, where they enlist the aid of Sheriff Bobby Fillmore in the search for their abducted son, Job.

On the alien world, the Silver Surfer shows Ellen a crystal tower which sprang up from the ground when the Nexus fragment she and the Man-Thing seek was flung to this planet. With the rise of the crystal city, a delicate etherial form of life also emerged, which now populates the tower. Ellen finds herself utterly moved by the beauty of the city’s inhabitants, and agrees with the Surfer that they mustn’t disturb the fragment.

The voice from the Man-Thing, however, demands that they take the fragment, and he encases Ellen in a cocoon of energy, while he confronts the Surfer. They do battle and resultant shock waves begin to damage the tower as terror spread across the populace. The cocoon cracks freeing Ellen, and she makes a decision: to save the multiverse, she takes the fragment from its moorings.

To the Surfer’s horror, the tower collapses, leaving a single crystal shard in his hand. The aggressive spirit that acted through the Man-Thing weeps as well, having released Ellen to do what he in truth could not bring himself to do.

Back on Earth, the search by Sheriff Fillmore and the Burkes brings them face-to-face with Mr. Termineus and Job, who now acts as Termineus’ apprentice.

“Werewolf by Night: Love Is Colder Than Death – Part 2”   22 pages
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Leonardo Manco
Colorist: Marianna Manco
Letterer: Jon Babcock

In the sewers of New York, Jack Russell reverts to human with the rising sun. In the cell in which he imprisons himself when he becomes the Werewolf, he finds the door open, and the mutilated corpse of a vagrant beside him, and he fears the worst. In her parlor, the psychic Mariana feels Jack’s anguish.

Later that day, Jack phones his girlfriend Roxanna to beg out of a family commitment so he can lay low for a few days. Meanwhile, Len Mico and Phil Jones, the two NYPD detectives investigating serial killings on the East Side with Mariana’s aid, suffer through the mocking and laughter of their colleagues, until they are called away to a new crime scene on the docks. There, they get a lead from a homeless woman who tells them she heard howling about the time of the murder.

Elsewhere, in their underground lair, the vampire coven led by Brother Steven feed on new victims. Steven’s acolyte, Emil, expresses his concerns about their recent reckless behavior, but Steven assures him all is well. He continues to boast of his plot against Jack Russell, who at this time is huddled in his tub, struggling with images of a murder he fears he may have committed.

That night, Smedley, the mysterious little man who has insinuated himself into Jack’s life, awaits him on a street corner. Jack arrives in his wolf form, his skin covered with scabs, and he accosts Smedley, demanding to know why this is happening to him. Smedley warns Jack he’s not fully accepted the Werewolf. Frustrated, Jack runs off into the night, howling in anguish.

“Tomb for Two”   8 pages
Writer: Glenn Herdling
Artist: Mark Pajarillo
Inker: Jonathan Sibal
Colorist: Joe Andreani
Letterer: Jim Novak

Two men, Papa Nebo and Narcisse, argue over recent events while, unbeknownst to them, the Zombie that was once Simon Garth approaches. Narcisse had paid Nebo to create a love potion that would bind Angelina, long the object of Narcisse’s desire, to him. Narcisse describes how he’d loved her since they were children, but when she returned from college with her best friend Donna Garth and announced she was engaged to a man she met at school, he decided to take drastic measures. Papa Nebo, however, took matters further: he drugged Angelina with an elixir that zombified her, making her a mindless slave to Narcisse. Unfortunately for all concerned, her family, thinking her dead, had her entombed, and now Narcisse wants to break her out of her mausoleum.

At this point, the Zombie bursts in through a window, knocks Narcisse unconscious, and kills Papa Nebo. When Narcisse comes to, he finds himself entombed with Angelina who swears her devotion for all eternity. Outside, Donna stands with the Zombie that was her father and is now under her command, as she ruefully curses Narcisse for destroying her best friend.
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Strange Tales Starring Werewolf / Man-Thing #2
Editors: Pete Franco, Lysa Kraiger, Mark Bernardo, Joe Andreani & Jaye Gardner
Cover by: Neal Adams

“Man-Thing: The End Of All Things! – The Book Of Job {Part 1}”   22 pages
Writer: J.M. DeMatteis
Artist: Liam Sharp
Colorist: Christie Sheele
Letterer: Jon Babcock

In the swamp that is also the Nexus of All Realities, those directly or indirectly involved in the quest to repair the shattered Nexus have gathered: the Man-Thing, through whom speaks the ancient K’ad-Mon, Ellen Sallis, Sheriff Bobby Fillmore, Jack and Gwyneth Burke, their adopted son and Ellen’s biological son, Job, and the mysterious Mr. Termineus. Gwyneth runs toward Job but stops short when Ellen firmly states Job is her son. Fillmore begins shooting at the Man-Thing, who reaches out to touch the Sheriff’s face. But instead of burning, Fillmore has an epiphany and, now understanding that these events are bigger than him, he turns to leave.

As Gwyneth approaches Job, he causes her to begin to fade away, but K’ad-Mon orders the boy to stop, then confronts Termineus. Ellen interrupts, demanding to know how Job fits into this madness, and she embraces the boy. However, he flashes a sinister grin at his adoptive parents, then snatches the Nexus fragments Ellen wears as a necklace. Now he demands answers. In response, K’ad-Mon brings forth the psyche of Ted Sallis, Job’s biological father, from the form of the Man-Thing. He then materializes a mystic tome called the Book of Life, which begins to speak.

In mythic terms, the book relates the origins of the multiverse: the Deity created the universes which were populated by “Fallen Stars”, beings who embodied various thoughts and concepts, and who each had a specific role to fulfill (Termineus is one of these Fallen Stars). The Deity also created a staff through which the world would evolve. In order to fully experience the worlds he/she had created, the Deity inhabited all living things beginning with the first woman, who birthed the first man, K’ad-Mon. Her purpose was to bring wisdom, K’ad-Mon’s (and his descendants’) was to maintain the dream of reality. But as mankind became more technologically advanced, he turned is back upon the dream, until at last, Sallis’ ignorance of his true purpose allowed the Nexus to shatter.

Termineus contends that reality is beyond repair, and its end should be hastened. Then Sorrow and Eric Simon Payne, two more Fallen Stars, appear, exclaiming that reality can be righted.

“Werewolf by Night: Love Is Colder Than Death – Part 3”   22 pages
Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Leonardo Manco
Colorist: Marianna Manco
Letterer: Jon Babcock

While Jack Russell, in his Werewolf form, roams the sewers of New York, NYPD detectives Len Mico and Phil Jones continue to search for leads in a series of grisly murders. On the docks near the underground cell in which Jack cages himself during the full moon, they follow a wide trail of blood to a sewer grate. Nearby lies the smashed cart that had been used by Lump, the crippled denizen of the docks whom Jack befriended, but who has now vanished.

Len and Phil then visit Father Vincent Adobe, whose congregation includes the local homeless. Knowing Jack works in the sewers (but unaware of his friend’s dual nature), the priest recommends they ask Jack if he knows anything. They then go to the apartment of Jack’s girlfriend, Roxanna, but she doesn’t know his whereabouts.

Within the sewers, fearing that he may have killed an innocent, the feverish Jack has a vision of his father, Gregor Russoff. Unseen by the Werewolf, Brother Steven, the leader of a vampire coven, stands nearby. Continuing his plot against Jack, he speaks through the apparition, telling Jack killing is a good thing.

Later, Len and Phil have assembled a SWAT team to enter the sewers. The detectives instruct the squad to shoot first, ask questions later. When the team breaks into Jack’s cell, chaos erupts as the officers are attacked by unseen foes. Soon, Len and Phil reach the cell, finding Brother Steven standing over the lifeless forms.

Some time later, Jack, still as the Werewolf, visits his friend Father Adobe.

“A Funeral In The Woods”   10 pages
Writer: John Kuramoto
Artist: Paul Lee
Colorist: Brian Horton
Letterer: Comicraft

Long ago in Imperial China, an arrogant, greedy magistrate severely taxes his subjects in order to finance a journey to the capital to which he’d been summoned. Those who cannot pay are conscripted to carry supplies or the royal sedan on the trip.

At an inn where he dines, the magistrate is warned by the locals not to travel after dark, as the woods are haunted by the ghost of an official like himself. He dismisses the tale and soon resumes his journey.

That night, the magistrate’s party are held up by a funeral procession at a crossroads, so he orders his men to continue through the procession. His men do so, but then from the coffin rises the corpse of the dead official, who kills or drives off the magistrate’s men. Knowing he can be seen by his breath, the Magistate holds his mouth and nose at the ghost approaches.

Includes Strange Tales Starring Werewolf / Man-Thing (1998) Variant Issue #2B with cover art by Neal Adams.  Awesome!! 
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Comics lot contains: Strange Tales Starring Werewolf / Man-Thing (1998) Issues #1-2 & Variant #2B.  Marvel Comics

Comics are bagged & boarded and will be carefully / securely packaged then shipped via USPS Priority Mail to ensure that it arrives to you perfectly and quickly.

All First Printings
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publication Date: 1998
Format per comic: FC, 64 pages, Comic, 10.25″ x 6.65″
UPC: 759606046775

Collectible Entertainment note: Comics #1,2 & Variant #2B are in Fine to Very Fine condition.  Nice Set!  Please See Scans!!  A must have for any serious Werewolf by Night and/or Man-Thing collector / enthusiast.  A fun & entertaining read.  Recommended.

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