Amazing Spider-Man #699.1
Writer: Joe Keatinge with Dan Slott
Art: Valentine Delandro with Marco Checchetto, Antonio Fabela [Color Art]
Amazing Spider-Man #699.1 isn’t so much a Spider-Man comic as it is a preview for the upcoming Morbius The Living Vampire solo series.
Morbius has been a long-running sometimes-villain, sometimes-ally of Spider-Man since his debut in 1971’s Amazing Spider-Man #101. Recently, he relapsed into his old bloodlusting ways and found himself in the Marvel Universe’s maximum security supervillain prison, The Raft. This issue picks up during the prison break from issue #699, and has Morbius reflecting on his childhood and (you guessed it!) origin during his escape.
The new details added by Keatinge are a nice touch to the character and do more to flesh him out while giving newer readers a recap of who he is and how he became “The Living Vampire.” It makes sense that Marvel would give him his own solo book right now given the current popularity of vampires, even if Morbius isn’t technically a vampire in the classical sense. Then again, the “vampires” that are popular right now aren’t real vampires, either, so there’s that.
Either way, I enjoyed this issue more than I thought I would and am actually intrigued by the idea of this series now. Definitely worth a read for fans and anyone interested in the premise.
Rating: 9/10
