(I originally read these comics in mid November 2016)
After escaping from super-prison the Raft in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man # 699.1, occasional, mostly reluctant Spider-Man antagonist Morbius the Living Vampire settles in the slum area of Brownsville, New York. He soon crosses punk gang leader Noah St. Germain who has mysterious backing, gets blasted in the chest with a shotgun, recovers (obviously) and befriends a street urchin. From here, Morby is gradually established as Brownsville's protector.
I was halfway through reading this series when it dawned on me I didn't care about the story or the cast. And I'm a Morbius fan. The real Morbius, that is. Though he's still prone to the occasional bout of throat-ripping, make no mistake this is a watered-down, prettified version of the character. (He even lacks the pug nose that Gil Kane originally endowed him with, no doubt so he could draw up-the-nostrils shots from any angle.) The comic as a whole is bland, choosing to depict Michael as a hoodie-wearing bum and playing down any horror aspects. His fellow slum residents (mostly noble minority types, of course) are also far too accepting of a chalk-white, red-eyed bloodsucker amongst them for it to remain credible. Things take a super-heroic turn halfway through with the reveal of St. Germain's benefactor (SPOILER: It's the Rose. Or a Rose, whatever...) and a two-issue guest spot from the Superior Spider-Man. It's around this time Morbius gets an updated costume, no doubt another low sales-inspired concession to traditional, super-hero storytelling. It's too little too late, though, and the series was prematurely truncated after the ninth issue. Writer Joe Keatinge at least gets to wrap everything up neatly and even allows a little ray of hope to penetrate the roiling, black sky of our tortured protagonist's life, but I wouldn't be tempted to seek out more of his work based on this. However the art, mostly by Richard Elson, is very attractive. It's just a shame he never got to illustrate the Morbius I know, ie, the one presented on the first issue cover to (blood)sucker in the horror freaks.
Morbius the Living Vampire lacks bite. ...Yeah, I said it.
As an extra, here's Ed McGuinness' variant cover for Morbius the Living Vampire #1.
Amazing Spider-Man (1963) # 699.1 and Morbius the Living Vampire (2013) # 1-9 are collected in:
Softcover:
Morbius the Living Vampire (2013) # 1 is collected in:
Hardcover:
