WEREWOLF BY NIGHT 9 PAGE 21 BY TOM SUTTON

YES!

Now let me qualify that statement 😊

I had been after a GOOD Tom Sutton horror page for some time. Why? Because I believe that with Wrightson and Ploog, the man closes the unholy trinity of the Silver and Bronze ages Horror artists. Wrightson was clearly at the top of the mountain with his lush inks and treatment of b&w. Ploog was an exceptional cartoonist and provided some sexiness to his horror. But Sutton was disturbing and could be extremely visually brutal with his approach to horror.

And his mastery of the brush to suit his needs and ambiance was fantastic.

Case in point this fantastic WBN page from well-remembered two issues arc.

In the first panel, our sleepy furry friend is dragged by some ghoulish cultist. I like how relaxed he looks as opposed to how horrible they look. Sutton did a great job at suggesting his weight by having four of them holding him and the fact we just get to see their face under their hood gives them a more spectral look.

Then a very moody little shot of them going into the sewers where they live. Now is a good time to mention that Sutton was also the letterer of this story, allowing him to play and incorporate sound effects into his art such as this “sssscraapppe” which suggest that they are crawling into that hold like slugs.

The third panel offers a very claustrophobic shot of inside the sewers. It’s dirty, it’s foul and perfectly established as such by Sutton. His use of light is also great to establish a dreadful ambiance.

In the fourth, we get a fantastic shot of Wolfy coming to. You can tell by the look on his face how disoriented he is. Also look at those crazy brush lines to perfectly suggest he was lying in dirty water as his fur is all wet. Great choice of angle to subtly suggest that he is in a pit of sort.

This is confirmed in the 5th panel as Sarnak taunts him from above as we get a pitch perfect shot of our werewolf. This is to me how a werewolf should be drawn. Bestial and dangerous. I find his version stay in standard of what Ploog established on the series but again, less sexy, more brutal, dirty. Sutton made great use of his growl to visually bridge the two enemies here.

And then we get a final shot of the werewolf as he discovers what he is fully up against. Sarnak and his ghouls. This may very well be Sarnak’s birth page for those who care (O-M-G !!!, another one?). The source of light coming from below makes for great effect and ambiance. The slimy walls of that pit are also expertly rendered.

Just a fantastic page by a master of the horror genre, often underrated and simply just considered as workhorse where he was a spectacular artist and storyteller.

This could be a done in one case but I certainly would not mind to add other horror examples from his Warren and Charlton production as there were many gems in there.

This is part 7 of my 2026 CAF birthday party.