Marvel Monsters: Where Monsters Dwell

(Marvel, 2005)
™ and © Marvel Characters, Inc.

In the early 1970s Marvel reprinted some of their pre-super-hero inventory in titles like Where Monsters Dwell, Where Creatures Roam and Where Reprints Pay. Okay, that last one is more sarcasm that certainty, but regardless of the bottom-line motivation, these monster stories were compact, twist-ending stories featuring art from the likes of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

Thirty years later, Marvel published four one-shots under the sub-imprint, Marvel Monsters Group. Where Monsters Dwell returned, albeit this time with a more tongue-in-cheek treatment of the genre. For example, would-be-conqueror Bombu returns in a sequel that portrays this fearsome monster with troubles of his own. “The Return of Monstollo” picks up the story of movie producer Charles Hudson, whose animatronic gorilla frightened away an alien invasion ten years ago. Additionally a straight reprint of a “classic” Kirby monster story, “I Was Trapped by Titano” rounds out the issue.

— George Haberberger

From the Comics Buyer’s Guide:

Keith Giffen, Peter David, and Jeff Pander have written three excellent stories that recall the Marvel Age of Monsters. The irreverent, monster-gone-mad vignettes remind the reader why horror and monster comics were fun. Giffen captures the essence of a bumbling Bombu in a single question: “What do you mean one call?” Peter David, in “The Return of Monstrollo,” writes a tale that sings of cynicism and bright lights. Jeff Pander and Manoo hearken back to They Walk among Us with a twist.

Gotta love the Kirby-esque style the artists adopted for this book. Keith Giffen and Arnold Pander mimic the angular, bigger-than-life panels Kirby loved to do. Russel Braun and Jimmy Palmiotti bring it down a notch in their entry, and their alien, as in the story, lives among us.

Reprinting “I Was Trapped by Titano” is a nice touch. It provides a great reference and clinic for the modern writers and artists. (By the way, they pass with flying colors.)

Want a fun comic? Pick up Where Monsters Dwell at your local interplanetary gateway newsstand.

— Tim Lasiuta

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Notes

Writer

Artist

#1

December, 2005
Cover Price: $3.99
10 copies available from $1.53

Keith Giffen, Peter David, Jeff Parker

Keith Giffen, Arnold Pander, Russell Braun