Morbius #1 *Spoilers*

[B. Kuwanger]

"Pedestrian" is quite right, and I'm not saying that to be negative.

I was torn initially because while I think Joe Keatinge is awesome, I really don't care for Morbius. Here, Morbius eats a garbage sub and gets his ass wrecked by some random juice head. This is Morbius as I saw him, for sure. The tone of voice and the interaction with the homeless man I don't really get, though.

[CromagnonMan]

well i thought ASM 699.1 was boring and pedestrian so that didnt bode well for the actual series. skippable.

[Zagreus]

Yeah, I didn't buy it. I flipped through it at the LCS but it didn't have what I was looking for, sorry to say. The cover had Morbius in his bad ass outfit, inside he was in a hoodie. He looked to be fighting a drug dealer or junkie or something, no hint of the supernatural... I didn't want to read about Morbius in a story of pseudo-vampire urban angst. I wanted weird-marvel strangeness. Don't know what I was looking for necessarily, but this wasn't it.

[chakal]

This book needs a proper horror artist. Marvel forgets that books should differ also visually. Morbius series is no different from Spider-Man, New Avengers, or X-Men. Story, was good, but what we need is something in vein of Ghost rider v2

[Rosebunse]

I Really was hoping that this book would show that morbius isn't a bad character he's just been treated poorly

The thing is, Morbius is sorta a weak character, if only because he hasn't been given the attention many other characters have...

I liked this issue. I've liked Elson since JIM, and seeing him again makes me nostalgic...

Mainly, I feel like I don't really know how to feel. I didn't realize we all had such high hopes for this series until I saw some of the almost angry reviews.

Keatinge, I feel, can make this work. But he needs to know that most of the readers of this book are going to be fans. He needs to make it accessible, but not hold gbe reader's hand through the book.

On another note...this was a funny book, and the pacing made it feel like a much longer read than it other wise would have. I can appreciate that.

[Wellman]

Yeah, I didn't buy it. I flipped through it at the LCS but it didn't have what I was looking for, sorry to say. The cover had Morbius in his bad ass outfit, inside he was in a hoodie. He looked to be fighting a drug dealer or junkie or something, no hint of the supernatural... I didn't want to read about Morbius in a story of pseudo-vampire urban angst. I wanted weird-marvel strangeness. Don't know what I was looking for necessarily, but this wasn't it.

True, when this book was first announced, I was hoping for that as well but early interviews and this first issue seems to point that at least for the first arc, we are not going to be getting that but they are aiming toward Morbius' science background rather then linking him toward any horror or supernatural elements.

[B. Kuwanger]

The thing is, Morbius is sorta a weak character, if only because he hasn't been given the attention many other characters have...

I liked this issue. I've liked Elson since JIM, and seeing him again makes me nostalgic...

Mainly, I feel like I don't really know how to feel. I didn't realize we all had such high hopes for this series until I saw some of the almost angry reviews.

Keatinge, I feel, can make this work. But he needs to know that most of the readers of this book are going to be fans. He needs to make it accessible, but not hold gbe reader's hand through the book.

On another note...this was a funny book, and the pacing made it feel like a much longer read than it other wise would have. I can appreciate that.

All agreed.

I'd imagine a lot of people are let down by the small scale and lack of horror, but it's also probably less traditional than people even expected. We have a guy whose curse is treated like an actual curse, not just some awesome powers that kick his morals into overdrive. He needs the help of relatively helpless strangers to get by and has poor interactions with other members of society. It's a little hard to stay enthused but it'll be something when we see where it's going.

I think Elson was the best choice for art. It's a very clean kind of dark with distinct looking characters. Aside from the massive text spaces (the front page, really?) I'd say the team really works well together.

[Rosebunse]

True, when this book was first announced, I was hoping for that as well but early interviews and this first issue seems to point that at least for the first arc, we are not going to be getting that but they are aiming toward Morbius' science background rather then linking him toward any horror or supernatural elements.

To be fair, Keatinge did sorta say in some interviews that a more Sci-fi feel is what they were going for, so as to make the book stand out. Horror is such a big deal in comics that sometimes it feels science fiction gets out to the wayside.

And I was thinking, why is Morbius getting beat up by these street thugs? He hasn't eaten in days, and you know they weren't feeding him too well in the Raft either, if only keep him from being at full strength. On top of this, he doesn't want to get noticed for killing some more well known street thug.

[Mikey Brown]

It was decent. I like Keatinge's stuff so I'm gonna stick with it. I think issue 2 will be a bit better. I do like the artwork, it gives it less a horror vibe, which I'm fine with. I'd rather see other parts of Morbius explored than the normal horror stuff.

[pepper]

This book needs a proper horror artist. Marvel forgets that books should differ also visually. Morbius series is no different from Spider-Man, New Avengers, or X-Men. Story, was good, but what we need is something in vein of Ghost rider v2

I'd have preferred a dirtier/painted look but it doesn't look like they're doing horror. The art we have now, suits the writing.

[Maestro]

I struggle to understand why Morbius have been given a series, much less an ongoing...

[dbcb314]

I thought 699.1 was the official "intro" issue and that #1 would have substance.

And I was wrong. Another #1 that is essentially a waste and pure set up.

I don't know if I have enough interest in Morbius to bother to pick up ANOTHER issue of his just to see if this is going to be worth reading or not.

Meh

[Onyenkwere]

I found it much better than DC's I, Vampire.

DC's I'Vampire is totally superior to this new Morbius book but I'm not suprised that there are mixed feelings towards Morbius's current incarnation.

The book just came across as being too generic in my humble opinion.

The innapropriate artwork added to my personal displeasure as well.

[Regino]

I picked this up with high hopes because I enjoy Keatinge on Glory. But this isn't good. I can't find one redeeming quality about it. The dialogue is very simple. Comic book fans are not all elementary school kids. It felt heavily edited because it was that plain and vanilla. If I could compare the tone to another writer, it would be Gage. Also, I felt like this should've been a free issue. It spent a third of the issue just introducing his powers in action sequences. Highly unnecessary and a waste of space. I have a DD comic from the 1970s that does this at the end of the issue in about 4 pages. No need for a third of the issue devoted to something that most people could figure out as the story progresses. And it is rarely a good idea to use flashbacks. It takes a truly deft storyteller to make flashbacks seem anything other than hokey. And Keatinge does not pull it off. To top it off, the jumping around from now to flashbacks to his youth, to the recent past, back to the present is a mess. Just poor storytelling. It's jumbled and not a clean story. Even more galling, is the tone of the book. We're not getting a gritty, urban Vampire story. What we get, instead, is more akin to a teen novel. If anyone remembers the ill-fated Punisher run in the 2000s before Ennis took over, this is what it feels like. Just an empty shell of a story. Particularly when comparing to I, Vampire and the masterful job Fialkov and Sorrentino are doing, this book is a supreme letdown.

Getting to the art, it looks more like a Saturday morning cartoon than a grim, vampire book. It's bright, flashy and crisp. I'm sorry, but vampires are dark and scary. To fill this books with such sharp pencils makes it even worse. Overall, I would say 1 out of 10 and I'm definetly not picking up the next issue.

[Captain Craig]

It may eventually, but my opinion as of the first issue it doesn't really establish a lot. While it doesn't detract from the character and there are some personality cues but nothing that grabs me as being something people will say wow over. It will probably read better as a trade but the first issue not impressive but literally acts as a serviceable intro to the character.

A thought that occured to me as well.
While everything the past 10+yrs at Marvel/DC is clearly written for the trade some titles still read well in monthly form while others the decompression shows. As in here with Morbius #1. I'm waffling on "am I going to support it monthly" or trade wait. I feel that regardless the title will be most likely lucky to see 15-18 issues if it's lucky given Marvel's track record. Twelve issues is more likely to happen. I'll decide next month.