Mr. Monster Mash!

The early 80's saw a burst of creativity when a generation of young and eager creators (and some not so young but still eager) had the chance to showcase their talents with the development of a new marketplace for comic books. The Independent market in new christened "comic shops" saw a batch of new publishers keen to find purchase there and hungry for talent to create product to make that possible, and on terms the talent couldn't resist. Lots of nifty new superhero types hit the stands such as Megaton Man, Flaming Carrot and Nexus. Alongside those would appear Michael T. Gilbert's Mr. Monster.

Mr. Monster began as a project for Pacific Comics, the little company that spearheaded the Indy market with titles such as Captain Victory by Jack Kirby and Starslayer by Mike Grell.

They were looking for material for Vanguard Illustrated, an anthology comic with a science fiction and fantasy twist that catered to up and coming talent. The first chapter of Mr. Monster debuted there, part of a three-part story about a "Reluctant Werewolf". But before the story could be continued Vanguard Illustrated was cancelled and Pacific Comics was defunct, among the first wave of victims in the new marketplace.

Gilbert's Mr. Monster has one of the more fascinating origins in comics lore. Mr. Monster was not so much"created" but "recreated" by Gilbert using an obscure Golden Age character who had only a few appearances, and only one in the distinctive costume above as drawn by Fred Kelly. This particular comic fell into the mitts of a young Michael Gilbert and he wondered what such a hero might really be all about. He twisted and reconfigured the character substantially and he became a burly monster hunter with a surly attitude toward his fellow men.

The complete story of the "reluctant werewolf" was showcased in Mr. Monster #1 from Eclipse Comics and the character was well and truly launched. A delightful Dave Stevens cover adorned the second issue,  which featured a story about an odd and innocent little fellow named "Hemo-Boy".

The third issue under a Stephen Bissette cover had Mr. Monster battle garbage made sentient and so even more dangerous to one and all than normal. This story was written by Alan Moore and drawn by Gilbert.

The fourth issue showcased a wonderful teaming as Gilbert used the talents of Jon Bonivert's unique art stylings to draw literally a distinction between two different universes in the story. It's a crafty and a well-crafted story for sure.

The first wave of Mr. Monster stories ends with an anthology of short stories in the fifth issue in which Mr. Monster fights a plague, a ghost and invaders from Mars. Wonderful fun all, and more evidence that no Mr. Monster story would ever be quite like the last one or the next one either. 

These first five issues were collected in Mr. Monster's Forbidden Book of Knowledge Volume One. Sadly no second volume came around to collect the next five Eclipse issues though collections of the latter days of Mr.Monster from Dark Horse do exist, though for a pretty penny these days. This is a hero desperately in need of a showcase, a chance to prove that wicked can be funny, very funny indeed. 

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Wraith To The Finish!

The Wraith is Michael T. Gilbert's 70's reinvention of the classic Eisner The Spirit. According to Gilbert he was casting about for work in those halcyon days when comics seemed to about to expel the last gasp just any minute and found work with Mike Friedrich's little Star*Reach outfit. Specifically in a short-lived comic dubbed Quack which hoped to reap some of the glamour stirred up by the out-of-nowhere ascendancy of Marvel's Howard the Duck. Suddenly the superhero was displaced and funny animals were on...if only briefly. 

Looking for inspiration, Gilbert was a fan of The Spirit and thought a funny animal version might just work. He produced seven stories featuring The Wraith, one each for the six issues of Quack and another for his later comic Strange Brew published by Aardvark-Vanaheim. And as far as I know that's all of the Wraith there is.

The Wraith begin as a slight homage to the classic Eisner hero and little else, saving a lady of the evening from her employers. Other stories have him battling mad scientists and even falling in love on an isolated island. The stories are in continuity, so despite their frolicsome nature what happens is remembered. That adds quite a bit to stories which by design are often quite slender, the whole perhaps greater than the sum of the parts. The one cover appearance for "The Reality Ray" really shows how offbeat and creative Gilbert was in trying to make the stories click.

The tome I read featured very detailed text pages by Gilbert about how The Wraith came to be and how his misadventures often reflected Gilbert's own personal life at the time. We also get a nifty explanation of some of the techniques Gilbert used. We are seeing an artist grow in real time with these stories and this background info helps to make sense of the style and thematic changes.

But Gilbert seemed all too ready to leave The Wraith, suggesting he'd done all he could do and it was time for other projects (such as his most famous creation Mr.Monster --more tomorrow on that). I doubt he thinks that still today and I wonder if and when we'll ever see another Wraith tale. I'd be interested.

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