The Werewolf by Night (also known as the Werewolf) is the name of two werewolves appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first incarnation of Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell, first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #2 (February 1972). The second incarnation, Jake Gomez, first appeared in Werewolf by Night #1 (October 2020).
The Jack Russell incarnation of Werewolf by Night appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe feature Werewolf by Night TV special, portrayed by Gael García Bernal.
Publication history
Prior to the formation of the Comics Code Authority in 1954, Marvel's predecessor Atlas Comics published a five-page short story titled "Werewolf by Night!" in Marvel Tales #116 (July 1953). With the relaxation of the Comics Code Authority's rules in 1971, it became possible for the first time to publish code-approved comic books with werewolves. The Jack Russell version of Werewolf by Night first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #2 (February 1972) and was based on an idea by Roy Thomas. The series name was suggested by Stan Lee and the initial creative team was Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog, who worked from a plot by Roy and Jeanie Thomas for the first issue. Readers have often pointed out that the lead character's name, Jack Russell, is also a breed of dog. Conway has said that while he cannot remember how he came up with the name, it is unlikely that he was making this canine reference consciously, since he did not own a dog and never lived with one growing up.
After the test run in Marvel Spotlight #2-4, the character graduated to his own eponymous series in September 1972. Conway described working on the series as "a lot of fun" because the horror genre made a refreshing change from the superhero stories that had been the staple of mainstream comics for years. Werewolf by Night was published for 43 issues and ran through March 1977. During the series' run, the editorship could not resist the opportunity to assign one of their most popular writers, Marv Wolfman, to write some stories for the series with a playful note: "At last -- WEREWOLF -- written by a WOLFMAN."
Issue #32 (August 1975) contains the first appearance of the Moon Knight. Jack Russell co-starred with Tigra in Giant-Size Creatures #1 (July 1974), which was the first appearance of Greer Grant Nelson as Tigra instead of as the Cat. That series was retitled Giant-Size Werewolf with its second issue. Jack Russell was dormant for most of the 1980s. The character's appearance was radically revamped in Moon Knight #29 (March 1983). He guest-starred in various issues of Spider-Woman, West Coast Avengers, and Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme. The Werewolf by Night was later revived in the pages of Marvel Comics Presents, where he appeared irregularly from 1991 to 1993. He made regular appearances as a supporting cast member in the pages of Morbius: The Living Vampire from 1993 to 1995. A letters page in an issue of Morbius mentioned that a Werewolf by Night miniseries by Len Kaminski and James Fry was in the works, but the miniseries was never published. Werewolf by Night vol. 2 ran for six issues in 1998. The series was written by Paul Jenkins and penciled by Leonardo Manco. After the book's cancellation, the story was continued in the pages of Strange Tales, which also featured the Man-Thing. That volume of Strange Tales was canceled after only two issues due to poor sales. In early 2007, Marvel published a one-shot entitled Legion of Monsters: Werewolf by Night, with art by Greg Land. In January 2009, Jack Russell was featured in the four-issue limited series Dead of Night Featuring Werewolf by Night, from Marvel's mature readers MAX imprint. The series was written by Duane Swierczynski, with art by Mico Suayan. He was featured as a member of Morbius' Midnight Sons in Marvel Zombies 4 in 2009.
A second Werewolf by Night first appeared in the third volume of Werewolf by Night and was created by Taboo of the Black-Eyed Peas, Benjamin Jackendoff, and Scot Eaton.