Random Happenstance

Hey, I had this scheduled before the Morbius movie announcement, although I'll kinda believe it when I see it. Kinda betting Helleyes won't be in it, though, which is a shame.

Here's something that comes from blogging as long as I have: we saw the previous issue over nine years ago, and the reprint of the next issue about three years ago, so I had to search for a moment to make sure we hadn't hit this issue yet! From 1975, Fear #29, "Through a Helleyes Darkly!" Written by Bill Mantlo, pencils by Don Heck, inks by Bob McLeod. (The cover's full title is Adventure Into Fear with the Man Called Morbius...the Living Vampire, put that in your indicia and smoke it.)

Morbius has just passed through one of the multiple eyes of the creature called Helleyes, and each of its eyes are a doorway to a different other-dimensional hell. Morbius finds himself underwater, in an ocean of blood, which he takes a hearty chug of once he gets ashore a small island. There, his pursuer of the last few issues, ex-CIA agent Simon Stroud, catches up to him and confronts him about the recent, seemingly vampiric murders in Boston. Morbius points out, they may have bigger fish to fry right now; since both are stubborn as hell it turns into a fistfight. Stroud still has his gun, though, and plans on bringing Morbius alive; Morbius wonders how he's going to get them back to earth; and then they're interrupted by singing crabs.

Even so, this issue doesn't have the same level of bizarre imagery the previous one (written by Doug Moench, with artist Frank Robbins) did. Morbius and Stroud fight various manifestations of Helleyes, and each other--mostly each other--until Morbius jumps through the eye on Helleyes's hand, and he and Stroud are back in the basement of Mason Mansion, setting up the next issue. It really feels like Mantlo got this assignment out of the blue, and had to wrap that storyline up quickly. And while I couldn't say if he ever appeared besides this next one, Helleyes would make a brief appearance in Busiek and Larsen's Defenders!