I got a coverless copy of this one at a toy show, and the Werewolf was front and center; but the plot seems more fitting for a Conan book: from 1973, Werewolf by Night #8, "The Lurker Behind the Door!" Written by Len Wein, pencils by Werner Roth, inks by Paul Reinman.
Having escaped from his captivity at a circus, the Werewolf meanders through the California forests until he bumps into a pair of hunters. Glanced by a bullet, he takes a fall off a cliff, but wakes up as Jack Russell not much the worse for wear. Still, with one more night of full moon that month, Jack decides it might be safer to sit tight for the time being, rather than ask his friends to pick him up just in time for him to wolf out. Finding a cave, Jack meets a rather friendly bunny rabbit; but then hears something moaning in the cave. Exploring, with the bunny tagging along, he then finds an old, padlocked door; breaking it open, he discovers...nothing. Just outside the door, though, he then sees a skeleton and a diary; both belonging to a warlock, who died trying to contain a demon he had summoned, Krogg.
Jack's not overly impressed with the tale, though, since there was nothing behind the door, and falls asleep, only to wake up when the moon rises. The Werewolf starts to hunt, but is himself being hunted, by the released Krogg! Krogg was grateful for being set free, and in his gratitude wanted to kill his liberator quickly and painlessly. The Werewolf probably doesn't follow much of that conversation, but isn't one to go down easily. Krogg goes on, though: he was "an elemental force" that needed a body, and while he wanted Jack's, the wolf already called dibs there, so he had to take the bunny and change it to more fit him. Killing the hunters from the night before, Krogg is back up to full strength, and chases the Werewolf back into the cave. Still, a poorly-aimed fireball brings the cave down on Krogg, as the Werewolf walks off into the night, not noticing a possibly-sinister bunny escape the cave as well...
Looking it up, Krogg has yet to appear again, so he could still be roaming around as a bunny. If there's any forest in California left for him, that is. Still, Krogg mentions being imprisoned for centuries...in California? The warlock looked like a white guy, and the diary was in English. Not where I'd expect to find a mysterious door, then.
Not bad art here by Roth. Not a big fan of his X-Men work after he took over from Kirby, but here it seems to work out nicely.
ReplyDeleteAs for Krogg, if he didn't change back from a bunny, then yeah, his ass gotten eaten a long time ago. Otherwise he's still roaming all across California. He'd best stay away from Northern California thought with those fires and all uif he doesn't want to get trapped again for a couple more centuries, ha ha.