With Halloween upon us again, monsters are popping up everywhere, from your neighbor’s front lawn to the cereal shelf of your local supermarket. Monsters are a cornerstone of horror storytelling, but not all of them should be feared. In the pages of Marvel and DC Comics, often times these monsters can be the heroes.
There are the obvious monstrous superheroes of The Incredible Hulk or The Thing, but those characters are more overtly superhero coded. With this article being released around Halloween, I want to spotlight the more surface-level horrific characters who deep inside are truly heroic.
Swamp Thing
Starting with a longtime favorite of mine: Swamp Thing. Originally debuting in House of Secrets #92 and created by the legendary Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson, Swamp Thing is exactly as the name implies: a human-shaped pile of muck, plants, and mud that calls a swamp his home. Further expanding upon the foundation his original creators built, iconic comics writer Alan Moore would imbue this creature with a soul and existential crisis.
Moore introduced the idea that instead of a man being turned into a monster, perhaps this is instead a monster who believes he’s man. Over the decades, Swmap Thing has struggled with his true nature but always stands as a moral crusader for the denizens of his swampy surroundings.
Blade
A more classical monster hero is Blade, Marvel Comics’ much beloved vampire slayer. Appropriately, his first appearance was battling the iconic vampire count in Tomb of Dracula #10, created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan.
Blade immediately captured the reader's attention with a central conflict: he has devoted his life to ridding the Earth of vampires (or “suckheads” as he calls them) while being half vampire himself. Blade’s mother was bitten by a vampire while pregnant with him; this imbues him with all the strengths of a vampire but none of the weaknesses. Dubbed “The Day Walker” by his undead prey, Blade has spent over five decades protecting the human race on comics pages and the big screen.
Werewolf by Night
The werewolf has always had a relatable tragedy to its origin; they are normal people who are cursed to become wolves. The struggle between man and beast is at the center of Marvel Comics’ Werewolf by Night.
First showing up on comic stands in the pages of Marvel Spotlight #2 from Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog. Jack Russell is forced to reckon with a werewolf curse placed on his family many generations ago. This monstrous ability throws him into a world of magic and horror, frequently forcing him to engage with other Marvel supernatural characters like Moon Knight and Morbius. Werewolf by Nighy recently appeared in a Halloween special made by Marvel Studios and appeared on Disney+ in 2022.
Scarlet Witch
Not all monsters look terrifying on the surface; some seem quite normal. This is often the case with witches, and no comic book witch can match the power of Wanda Maximoff, AKA The Scarlet Witch.
Film and TV viewers know the character well thanks to the onscreen portrayal of her by Elizabeth Olsen in the Avengers films. However, Wanda actually made her comic book debut in 1964’s X-Men #4 alongside her father, Magneto, and brother, Quicksilver. The Scarlet Witch would go on to become one of the most fascinating characters in Marvel Comics. Balancing her immense ability to alter reality with a fragile mental state has bounced her between hero and villain. Ultimately Wanda ends up on the side of good most of the time and even had a recent stint as Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme.
Hopefully, this run down of the spookier heroes in the comic book world will open your mind to viewing monsters through a different lens. One of the most exciting aspects of superhero stories is the layers these characters have been given over decades of stories. What may seem like a threat in one issue can become the savior of humanity in the next. Monster characters constantly ask audiences to dig beneath what is on the surface.
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