Fear (1970) #31 page 2 *Morbius*

Frank Robbins and Vince Colletta's Fear #31 page 2 (Marvel Comics, 1975). Morbius, Marvel's proprietary vampire-character, attacks fellow vampire Martine Bancroft in this stirring sequence from the title's final issue. (The magazine also is known as Adventure into Fear.) Writer Bill Mantlo christened the female vamp in honor of British horror-movie star Martine Beswick and British scare-show character Edmond Bancroft, from Horrors of the Black Museum. Robbins' dizzying panel compositions and eccentric anatomical foreshortenings are enhanced by a bold-stroke job of brush-inking by Colletta, who achieves almost a Jack Kirby-style appearance. Ink over graphite on Bristol board. Image area, 10" x 15". Slight toning. In excellent condition.

Morbius, the Living Vampire, introduced in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (Oct. 1971), became the starring feature with Adventure into Fear #20 (Feb. 1974), and continued through the rest of the run. After a single issue by writer Mike Friedrich and penciler Paul Gulacy, Steve Gerber wrote several issues in which Morbius went on a picaresque interdimensional journey and fought the Caretakers of Arcturus and was advised by the eyeball-headed character I. Doug Moench and Bill Mantlo followed, successively, as the feature's writers. Its round-robin of artists included Gil Kane, P. Craig Russell, Frank Robbins, George Evans, and Don Heck. Back up reprints shortly resumed in issue #20. Morbius would receive his own short-lived comic-book series in the 1990s.