The Astounding Wolf-Man Compendium One

Plot Summary and Credits

When wealthy businessman Gary Hampton is attacked by an ancient werewolf, he inherits the ability to transform at night, using his new powers to fight crime as the superhero Wolf-Man. A vampire named Zachariah takes Gary under his wing, teaching him about the potential and drawbacks of his new powers. When Zachariah’s thirst for blood causes him to kill Gary’s wife Rebecca, Gary is blamed for her murder and goes on the run, leaving his daughter Chloe to vow revenge against him. Gary finds the werewolf elder who turned him and learns to better control his powers, until he is found by the government and sent to prison. He continues to fight crime from behind bars, acting as an informant for Cecil Stedman and the Global Defence Agency, until Chloe and Zachariah come for him. Chloe learns that her father is innocent and helps him fight Zachariah, who escapes while Gary pursues his contacts from prison. After defeating an ancient rock monster, he clears his name and is heralded as a hero once again, promising to bring Zachariah to justice. Their final confrontation is interrupted by the werewolf elder, who kills Zachariah and challenges Gary to a battle to the death to prove himself as a worthy successor. With the elder dead, all the other werewolves now recognise Gary as their leader, and he begins to reshape them into a force to protect the world.

Robert Kirkman (writer), Jason Howard (penciller, chapters 1-10, 11 part two, 12-15; inker, chapters 1-10, 12-25; colourist, chapters 1-10, 25), Ryan Ottley (penciller, chapter 11 part one), Cliff Rathburn (inker, chapter 11), FCO and Ivan Plascencia (colourists, chapters 11-25), Rus Wooton (letterer)

Collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #1-25 and Invincible #57

My Copy

I first became aware of this compendium during a visit to my local comic shop, but had other things on my list that took precedence. The day before I caught the bus home for the holidays, I went back to pick it up, and left with the last one on the shelf.

Before Reading

Wolf-Man had been one of my favourite side characters in Invincible, despite his limited appearances in the series. It almost seemed like we were being teased by how much potential his story had, at least to me, before I found out about his standalone title. Needless to say, when I found said title collected in compendium form, I was more than a little excited to read his story.

After Reading

First off, the title is a little confusing. It’s called ‘Compendium One’, implying that there’s at least one more on the way, but when I looked up how many issues the series ran for I found that everything is covered in this volume. Maybe they’re planning additional stories of the astounding Wolf-Man? If so, I’ll be sure to check them out.

Other than that relatively minor grammatical gripe, I enjoyed this collection. It’s not the most groundbreaking or inventive story I’ve ever read, but it delivers a solid superhero adventure with a character who it’s impossible not to root for. Gary loses everything almost overnight; his wife is dead, his daughter hates him, his company is ruined and the whole world is hunting him; and through it all he never loses sight of his purpose or allows his curse to overcome him. This whole ordeal makes his finishing point as head of the Wolfcorps all the more enjoyable, when he brings together an army of fellow cursed outsiders and helps them become heroes as he did.

One of the things I liked most about this run is that it doesn’t lean on the more famous title that started it. Sure, it has frequent appearances from Cecil, but a Nick-Fury-esque character like him will be present across multiple storylines, so it’s pretty much inevitable that he’d encounter Wolf-Man at some point. There’s a chapter taken directly from the main Invincible run, where the titular hero helps Wolf-Man escape from the government, that doesn’t seem out of place in this collection or keep it from standing on its own. Longtime readers will know that Invincible’s universe is a big one, filled with characters that could by all means be the star of their own series, so there’s plenty of ground to cover that we haven’t seen before.

The biggest problem I have with this comic is how I can’t help but feel as though I’ve seen most of it before. The main storyline is essentially The Shawshank Redemption if Andy was a werewolf, and the background of supernatural lore means that we get a fair idea of what will happen to most of the characters (stabbed with wooden stakes, going insane on the night of the full moon, etc.). This doesn’t take much away from the story, since most of these references are affectionate jabs at their sources, keeping with the spirit of a universe that once gave us a version of Captain Picard giving Superman a ride to battle (its a thing, I swear).

The Astounding Wolf-Man constantly reminds us that it exists in the same universe as Invincible, with all the hallmarks of the mainline series, from a protagonist who’s hardly ever able to catch a break to an engaging supporting cast with corny super-names. With everything that goes on and everything that Wolf-Man and his allies endure, it’s clear that the Invincible universe is a title well earned.

Closing Thoughts

Wolf-Man’s story is a solid, if somewhat derivative, spin-off that doesn’t rely too heavily on its parent title. Although not quite “astounding”, it’s a fun read that gives an interesting side character plenty of space to establish himself beyond his previous role.

Next week I’ll be returning to another misunderstood monster, who declares war on the world to avenge his lost home.