The Astounding Wolf-Man #1

written by Robert Kirkman
art by Jason Howard

If The Astounding Wolf-Man has something new to offer the werewolf genre, it isn't in this issue.  Kirkman's CEO-turned-werewolf is as conventional as they come.  The incident triggering his supernatural shift is unseen and, at least here, mostly unknown—a "bear attack" on a family camping trip in Montana, you know, where the werewolves live.  His transformations are also mostly unseen—muscle spasms and profuse sweating.  His full-moon romps are as uneventful as they are conventional—rooftop frolicking and rabbit hunting.  As a monster and would-be superhero—the direction suggested by the series title—I suppose it's important to keep the Gary-wolf from truly incriminating and compromising himself, but it makes for little suspense and low stakes.

As a human character Gary Hampton is a little more interesting.  Although he mostly embodies the frazzled-financially-imperiled-businessman stereotype, with his conference calls to Asia and his corporate woes despite living comfortably in a large estate with a family maid, his relationship with his teenage daughter is earnest and believable.  [Notably, the one surprising moment in The Astounding Wolf-Man's first issue comes on the tennis court with Chloe, when despite his newly acquired wolf blood, Gary fails miserably in keeping pace with his daughter in the match.]  He may be a besieged businessman, whose company is flagging and whose month-long absence has cost his corporate prospects significantly, but he still prioritizes his time with her.  Similarly, his banter with his wife seems sincere and affectionate.

Gary Hampton's affability is, in fact, the issue's most refreshing detail.  Unlike his angst-ridden wolfish predecessors, Gary is humorously upbeat, a character trait that seems to carry over into his wolf personality, whose adventures seem driven more by a sense of fun and frivolity than by an aggressiveness.  This twist, more than any other, sparks a little potential in the series, a window of opportunity to eschew the more conventional werewolf tales of inevitable tragedy for something else.

If Kirkman's wolf-man is a little underwhelming, Jason Howard's is not.  There's no individual detail that's all that impressive, nor are the edges of Howard's monster all that complicated.  However, the impression the Gary-wolf, a kind of wolf/gorilla hybrid, imposes is substantial.

[July 2007, digital]