It’s almost October, and that means Halloween. For this update, that is a countdown to that holiday, we will be talking a look at another of Marvel Comics’ horror characters that spooked readers in the 1970’s after the comic code ban of monsters was lifted. And this time around I choose to take a look at N’Kantu The Living Mummy, a character who started out in the series “Supernatural Thrillers” and would go onto guest in many other titles in the Marvel Universe. It’s funny as when I was a youngster I always thought that The Living Mummy was a big time Marvel Horror Character and had his own series and was on the same level as Dracula, Werewolf By Night, Man-Thing and Ghost Rider, but as I grew up, I learned this was not true and besides the handful of Supernatural Thrillers issues he was in, he mostly was a background player in books…and to be honest not very often at all. But I don’t care; to me The Living Mummy is a true icon of Marvel Horror and it will be a blast to take a look at him again as I have not read these comics in many years now and I am interested to see if his story arc holds up! So if you guys are ready, let’s travel to Egypt and see what horror N’Kantu has in store for us.
Let’s start this update off right by talking about N’Kantu himself and how he became the Living Mummy! Born in ancient times, N’Kantu was a prince of a Northern African tribe and after going through a test he proves that he is a warrior and that he can rule the tribe when his father passes away. Once her is the Chieftain of his tribe he return to his village after a hunting party to find that all his people have been taken as slaves by Egyptions and when going to get them back he himself is taken as a slave and forced to work harder then all the others as they really wanted to break N’Kantu’s spirit. And when N’Kantu and his people are taken to a pyramid to be executed a revolt happens to save their life, N’Kantu is captured and his punishment is that he is numbed and then is turned into a Mummy complete with draining his blood and placed in a sarcophagus…all this while he was alive! Centuries pass and with the numbing agent wearing off N’Kantu now known as The Living Mummy rises and goes on a rampage through Egypt, but over time his madness wears off and he finds himself going from eternal sleep and becoming a hero of sort. He has teamed with Fantastic Four member The Thing, he has been a member of teams like Legion Of Monsters, Frightful Four and The Howling Commandos and even was rejected by The Grandmaster in competing in the Contest Of Champions. And over the years he has made random appearance even been killed by Deadpool with a fire hose. Let’s hope that one day Marvel Comics gives N’Kantu The Living Mummy one more chance at his own series and brings back the Horror elements to him.
Steve Gerber and Rich Buckler created the Living Mummy for Marvel Comics Horror series called Supernatural Thrillers in 1973 for issue five and would make a total of ten appearances for the series and by issue seven of Supernatural Thrillers he took over as the series main star until the series cancelation. You see the 70’s was a big boom for Marvel Comics to create and showcase monster characters and they had vampires covered with Dracula, werewolves with Jack Russell, zombies with Simon Garth, swamp creature with Man-Thing and even more monsters in the pages of their comics as Horror Comics was big business at the time as the Comic Code was loosing its grip on the industry and they opened up what could be covered in comics. The character was well liked by readers and that’s why he took over the Supernatural Thrillers series and even later appeared alongside The Thing in an issue of Marvel Two In One. Sadly though over the years The Living Mummy has lost traction with readers and Marvel creative and was just used in appearances alongside other monster characters and is never taken as a threat nor even a main star in comics anymore. It’s a shame that Marvel Comics has turned its back on almost all their Marvel Horror characters as Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, Man-Thing, The Golem, IT and so many more are just pushed back to bit parts in series or treated like outdated jokes who are easily beaten and are weak. I hope truly that Marvel one day wakes up and sees that readers like classic monsters and would love new scary issues of them.
Did you readers know that The Living Mummy has also had his fair share of other merchandise? Like did you know that he appeared in the 2017 video game “Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2” that you could play on PS4, Nintendo Switch and X-Box One? He also was featured as a sticker trading card in 1975 as apart of the Marvel Super Heroes Sticker Card Collection. As well was featured in the tabletop game called HeroClix as apart of the Amazing Spider-Man set. While he has not gotten the action figure or statue treatment yet, I am sure in time he may get those honors and who knows maybe he will rise again and even get his own comic series that will also spawn a show or movie…yeah I doubt it as well. Check out the merchandise below to see The Living Mummy in all his plastic, pixel and cardboard glory.
I have always liked The Living Mummy and I first discovered him thanks to the gone but never forgotten Bookie Parlor that was in Kettering, Ohio when I shopped there. Hal, the owner, had all the issues of Supernatural Thrillers in stock and I would grab them all over time. I can remember reading them in my room late at night as well as have great memories of reading them while hiding in a club house that I had in my room, yeah I had a club house in my room when I was younger living in Waynesville. But let’s get to the review part of this Marvel Horror update, and I would like to think my friend Geoff Burkman for getting me better copies of this comic series many years back and I would like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, it’s entertainment value and it’s art and story. So let’s get ready to take a Supernatural Marvel Horror journey with The Living Mummy!
Supernatural Thrillers # 5 ***
Released in 1973 Cover Price .20 Marvel # 5 of 15
In the desert of Egypt near a tank Avram and his girlfriend Davida are sitting talking about war and wishing it would end when they come face to face with The Living Mummy who attacks them and before he kills them the beauty of Divida causes him to walk away. A few days later in Cairo Doctor Skarab has uncovered the tale of N’Kantu a Prince turned slave who killed a Pharaoh and for this was turned into a Mummy and buried alive and allowed the evil Nephrus to rise to power, and he tells this tale to Janice and Ron. Doctor Skarab then tells them he thinks that he is related to Nephrus and that he wants to search the pyramids and find the Mummy of N’Kantu and see if the fluid used to embalm him really has kept him eternal and if his mind is still intact! The Living Mummy of N’Kantu has entered the city now and is on a rampage attacking people with a mission to find Nephrus and heads to the home of Doctor Skarab just as the Doctor and his friends leave to search the street for The Mummy as it’s rampage has been all over the news. Hours pass and when Doctor Skarab returns home The Living Mummy is out cold on the floor and when he wakes up he calls Doctor Skarab the name Nephrus and begs him to help make him human again, as the Doctor and his friends run from the room the Police show up and uses guns and tear gas on The Living Mummy enraging the creature that ends up pulling down an electric poll and by accident touches the wires and The Living Mummy electrifies himself and falls “dead” into the street. In the end Doctor Skarab asks the cops if he can take The Mummy’s body to study and make sure its dead and the cops agree for this to happen.
This was a great read that reminds me of a classic Universal Monsters film from the 40’s mixed with Hammer Horror from the 60’s! The plot has a cursed Mummy who was given eternal life over 3,000 years ago and buried alive as a punishment waking up in the 1970’s and is on a rampage in order to find a man he thinks can help end his pain and life. Doctor Skarab is a man who studies ancient Egyptian culture who thinks that he just might be the relative of an old Priest who made a fluid that have people eternal life as well as wants to find and kill The Living Mummy in order to protect Egypt! While he is a man of history as a reader I also get a very bad vibe from him as I think he is hiding something behind his tales of the past as well as his want to “help” his nation. Ron and Janice are two good young adults who are friends with Doctor Skarab and who are being dragged into his tales and also into the path of a rampaging Mummy. Janice seems to almost have a little compassion for The Mummy and even wants to try and warn him about the danger of electric wires. N’Kantu The Living Mummy was a strong young Prince who was forced into being a slave and then is buried alive after leading a revolt of slaves, and now as a Mummy he is unstable and confused and is attacking anyone in his way as he wants to find a cure for his ever lasting life. While he is a dangerous Mummy he does have a moment or two of reality setting in and it helps save a few human lives. The Living Mummy also can shrug off bullets as well as tear gas, but cannot withstand very high voltage. The Horror elements of this Marvel Horror issue is well done and while The Living Mummy goes on a rampage against mankind it’s not overly violent nor bloody and is a great issue to get young readers into Horror Comics. The story by Steve Gerber is well written and clearly was really inspired by classic Horror Movies. The cover for this issue is amazing and very eye-catching for fans of Horror Comics and the interior art by Rich Buckler is top notch and is so fitting for this style of classic Marvel tales. Lets see what the next issue has in store for us and I have to say that this issue was just as good as I remember it being.
Supernatural Thrillers # 7 **1/2
Released in 1973 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 7 of 15
At the New York Museum late at night a crate is broken apart from the inside and out comes N’Kantu The Living Mummy who rampages through the museum until he escapes into the streets of New York. The Security Guard calls the police as well as his boss Dr. Carroll Harter who shows up with his guest Doctor Skarab who once more tells the story of the legend of The Living Mummy as well as his thoughts of being related to Priest Nephrus from Ancient Egypt, and that the fluid that runs through the body of The Living Mummy is what gives him his eternal life and helped build his strength. Meanwhile in the streets of New York The Living Mummy is wondering around and confused by the modern city and wonders how his homeland is doing and when he hears a female voice calling for help he decides to help in order to get a native to this city on his side. The Living Mummy heads to Central Park and saves a young woman from a gang of punks, but all of them run away in fear and its then that The Living Mummy unwraps his hands and notices that he is in fact a rotting walking corpse! The punks alert the Police who all show up in order to stop the Mummy’s “rampage” and after taking many bullets he escapes into an ally and disappears to the horror of the cops.
This second issue to feature The Living Mummy has his wondering the streets of New York and finding his mind as well as discovering that he is really a walking corpse with powers. The downside to this issue is that Marvel Comics and writer Steve Gerber decided to downplay the Horror elements and turn The Living Mummy into a confused superhero who just wants to help, understand and get back to his home. It’s odd cause by removing The Living Mummy being a monster changes the whole mood of the character and series. N’Kantu The Living Mummy in this issue finds himself in New York and has gained his mind back as he is unable to speak his enter dialogue is that of a hero and brave man, he also in this issues really starts to put the pieces together that he is a walking undead creature who is living because of what was done to him during his embalming. We also see that bullets don’t hurt him and it also appears that just maybe he has the ability to warp or blend into the background and he vanishes from the alley. Doctor Skarab is also in New York and is only around to once more tell the story of N’Kantu and this is annoying as it eats up many of the page count for this issue. Plus Dr. Carroll Harter as well feels like a waste and is just around to listen to said origin story. While I like the idea that The Living Mummy is gaining his mind back I do not 100% like the fact he is turning into another generic superhero from the 70’s Marvel as I mean they did this same thing to Jack Russell aka The Werewolf By Night. I do like the fact that The Living Mummy is wondering around New York as this means he could run into the likes of Fantastic Four, The Avengers, Spider-Man, Daredevil, Doctor Strange or Luke Cage! The cover for this issue is great and very eye-catching and once more has a classic Horror Movie look to it the interior art this time is done by Val Mayerik and while its good he is not one of my favorite Marvel Comics artists of the 70’s as at times his style leaves out details of characters. Over all this was a fun read and one I enjoyed reading again after all these years, just not a fan of the change in mood for this series and character. Oh and this issue also has a classic reprint horror tale to add to the spooky nature of the series.
Supernatural Thrillers # 8 **
Released in 1974 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 8 of 15
The Living Mummy is floating through a strange dimension as a beam of light has taken him from the ally of New York and has dropped him on an unknown world were he is attacked by monsters that rise from the dirt as well as wind and rain until he is knocked out and wakes up in a castle and meets The Elementals who consist of Hydron who controls water, Magnum that controls land, Hellfire that commands fire and Zephyr that controls the wind and they need the help of The Living Mummy in order to return to Earth to take over and rule and what they need him to do is get a gem that was used against them centuries ago that sent them to this world. They also promise that with the gem they can turn him back into a living man! The Living Mummy wants to so bad return to his life as the Prince N’Kantu and go back to his people, but he rejects the offer as its clear these powerful beings want to enslave the people of Earth and he can not stand by and allow this to happen and declines their order to help and they attack! The Living Mummy holds his own until his mind is affected by Zephyr and she sends him to Egypt to get the gem and return it to them. Back on Earth the Mummy has no control and starts his mission to get the gem, but is able to send a mental message to Doctor Skarab who alerts Janice and Ron that the Mummy is back in Egypt and they must go to him.
This third issue featuring The Living Mummy is a strange one and takes him into another dimension and world that is controlled by a group of would be godly rulers who want to use him in order to return to Earth and enslave mankind and take control, but of course our creature hero rejects this and tries to stop them, but in the end he falls under mind control and is forced to return to Egypt and get a gem that is the only thing that can stop them. In this issue The Living Mummy shows that while he might look like a monster he will never stand with people who want to rule and have slaves and will do what he can to try and stop them. And while he looses the battle he still puts up a massive fight and is quick witted enough to send a mental message to people he thinks can help him stop this madness even with his mind being wrapped by an enemies will. Doctor Skarab who is some how linked to The Living Mummy knows that the creature is back in Egypt and is going to go to him and it makes you really wonder is it to help him or destroy him! The Elementals are godlike beings who have been around for many centuries who want to take over the Earth and also have control of the elements like wind, fire, water and earth and have one weakness a gem stone that can send them packing their bags to another world in a strange dimension. They are pretty powerful but not really all that interesting when it comes to motive and appearance. The plot is ok and I do like the idea of The Living Mummy standing his ground as he does not want any one to become a slave, as he was once one and wants no one else to become one. The downside is much of the plot seems rushed and many big panels fill the story that is already short due to the issue having a classic reprint horror story. I also dislike the fact that New York has a zero payout and like most of Marvel’s horror and strange comics at the time deals with traveling dimensions…like we really don’t need this for this character and his story. The cover is pretty great and once more has a classic Horror Movie look to it and the interior art is good and done by Val Mayerik again. Over all this issue is a little weak but yet still a great read and a fun flashback to reading it all those years back.
Supernatural Thrillers # 9 **1/2
Released in 1974 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 9 of 15
The Living Mummy is in Egypt with his mind filled with murder as he starts to choke the life out of a guard who was protecting the pyramid and after a few moments The Living Mummy breaks the mind hold of Zephyr and lets the guard live and now wants the gem not to give to them but to use to destroy The Elementals who are now super mad and decided that they will let The Mummy grab the gem and then kill him for it. Inside the pyramid the gem is in the hands of mutant The Living Pharaoh who is not happy to see The Living Mummy enter his research area and sends his guards to stop him and they try but fail, and as The Living Mummy gets closer Living Pharaoh uses a trapdoor to capture the Living Mummy and then fills it with water to try and kill the creature, it does not work as The Living Mummy lifts and breaks some stones and the water drains out. The Living Mummy now comes face to face with The Living Pharaoh and they start to fight over the fate of the gem and during the fight a hand grabs the gem and runs off as the two continue to battle. As the gem gets further away the power of The Living Pharaoh fade and breaks down as his powers are gone. The Living Mummy walks out into the desert to follow the footprints of the unknown person who stole the gem as high above on a plane Doctor Skarab with Ron and Janice are arriving back in Egypt.
The Living Mummy in this issue is able to break the mind control that was pushing him to find the gem and kill and also is able to do battle with the mutant The Living Pharaoh as well as an unknown thief has stolen the gem from them both and has rushed into the desert. The Living Mummy once more shows how strong he is not only in power but also in mind and spirit as he is able to break the hold a powerful being had on his mind and proves that once more while a monster he still tries to do good as he does not want to take a human life. He also shows that besides bullets not hurting him you cannot drown him either. Doctor Skarab who has a link with The Mummy does not play a factor in this issue as we only see him as he is about to land, to be honest The Elementals as well just are around and start the issue off being mad about the mind control not working and then just watch the events unfold. Seeing the X-Men villain The Living Pharaoh was a nice touch and while he tries his best to bring down The Living Mummy his powers are weak and he does not get the job done and in facts just breaks down in sorrow when he has no more powers to use. The real question that is on readers minds is who is the man who stole the powerful gem and then ran away into the desert, as who ever it was did not seem afraid to enter an area that had a Mutant and a Mummy fighting over it. The Horror Element slightly returns in this issue as we start with The Living Mummy chocking a man and also we see him shrug off attacks my man, great classic movie monster stuff. The cover is solid and eye-catching but does not fit fully for a Horror Comic and the interior art is once more done by Val Mayerik and is good. Another good issue in the series and helps had more power to The Living Mummy and shows that he is way stronger then us readers thought. Lets see what happens in the next issue and if we find out who this gem thief is!
Supernatural Thrillers # 10 **1/2
Released in 1974 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 10 of 15
The Mummy is wandering the desert fallowing the tracks of the gem thief and remembers back to the time when his ill father sent him on a quest to kill a lion to prove that he could be the chief of the tribe and he did so and made his father proud. Meanwhile The Elementals are yelling at Zephyr about her failed mind control of The Mummy, and she decides to prove them wrong and use a bunch of her energy to return to Earth and try to get The Mummy under her control again. Meanwhile as The Living Mummy continues his search for the gem we find out that a man named ASP and his friend Old Dan are the ones who stole it and have a plane of selling it to Doctor Skarab and then stealing it back to him and continue the scheme of selling and stealing it on as many fools as they can trick. The Living Mummy hears a loud boom and watches as a tank is chasing and shooting at a female solider named Racha Meyer and once the tank runs out of shells they open fire on her with a machine gun, but luck is on her side when The Living Mummy stands in front of her and takes the bullets as she is able to throw a grenade and blow up the tank and killing her attackers. Racha thanks The Mummy for saving her life and while he does not understand the words he understands the respect and nods at her before walking off deeper into the desert.
This fifth tale of The Living Mummy has him tracking the stolen gem that holds a way to defeat his enemies as well as return him back to human and best for him he is able to get the respect of a human that sees that while he looks like a monster he is not a cold blooded undead creature. The Living Mummy in this issue has lots on his mind as he remembers the times with his father, the quest that proved his worth of leading his tribe as well as the thoughts of being human once more, and let us not forget that he shows that he understands danger when he saves the life of an out gunned female solider and helps her bring down her attackers. And the female Soldier known as Racha Meyer at first is scared of The Mummy, but soon learns to trust and respect him when he shows her that he is a protector and not the killer he appears to be. The Gem thief is a man named ASP and with him is a friend named Old Dan and they don’t do much besides share an idea to rip off as many people as they can with the gem. The Elementals are around and Zephyr goes to earth to right her wrong of not getting The Mummy under her control, I really wished that The Elementals would be phased out as they are kind of dragging the story and series down as their story arch is boring. The cover is pretty cool and has The Living Mummy taking fire from a tank and the interior art is done by Val Mayerik again and is good like before. Over all a good issue that shows The Living Mummy finally getting the respect of at least one human, so with that lets see if he finds ASP and gets the gem from him!
Supernatural Thrillers # 11 **1/2
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 11 of 15
ASP and Old Dan are now back in the city of Cairo when The Living Mummy finds them and busts into their home and before he can attack them and get the gem back he is set on fire and as he burns his two thieving targets makes a run for it. As the fire burns out The Living Mummy lies hurt in the streets, just as Zephyr returns to Earth and notices the state of the area as its filled with the poor and sleazy people and while moving deeper into the city she finds and heals The Living Mummy of his burned wounds. Meanwhile ASP and Old Dan have found Doctor Skarab and sell him the gem, and Doctor Skarab wants to find The Living Mummy and give him the gem to try to right the wrongs that his ancestor did to him those many centuries ago. As ASP and Old Dan return to their shelter they are greeted by The Living Mummy and Zephyr who demands that they give them the gem and once they find out its sold they threaten to kill Old Dan unless ASP gets it to them and the thief agrees to get it back and along with The Living Mummy they head to Doctor Skarab. Once inside The Living Mummy and Doctor Skarab talk and know that the gem is the only way to stop the world from being ruled by The Elementals and then as they are walking back to ASP’s home they inform him that Zephyr is also on the side of good but before they get to her they find that she and Old Dan are now the prisoners of the rest of The Elementals!
Ok the plot has truly thickened now as we learn now that The Living Mummy is not the only one working on trying to save the world as with the gem and the story he now has ASP, Doctor Skarab and even Zephyr on his side as they know that if The Elementals take control the world will be in a bad place as they will control it with egos and an iron fist! The Living Mummy is hurt very badly with fire as his bandages and decided dead skin is scorched, but like before his will is strong and he even fights back the pain to try and do the right thing and that’s to help the world even if so many of mankind fears and hates him. Doctor Skarab turns out to be a good person as he really wants to help The Living Mummy, as he knows the monster is not evil and that he feels that he owes him something for what his relative did to him in the past. ASP as well as Old Dan and thieves and conmen they as well seem to understand that now the stakes are super high if the gem falls into the wrong hands. The Elementals have all returned to Earth and want the gem in order to rule, all but Zephyr who now seems to understand that what they want to do is wrong, or maybe she has fallen in love with The Mummy only the next issue will answer that for us. The stakes finally feel big now as the fate of the world is on the line and crazy enough the path falls into the hands of a Mummy, a Doctor, a Thief and a Wind Goddess! But I also still want to stress I am not a fan of The Elementals and almost wish that The Living Pharaoh would have been the main bad guy as he is way more interesting of a character. Cover is great and has The Living Mummy on fire and the interior art is good and done by Val Mayerik. Over all another good issue that is truly starting to build The Living Mummy as a superhero, so let’s see what happens in the next issue.
Supernatural Thrillers # 12 **1/2
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 12 of 15
The Elementals are mad and Hellfire tells them that if they do not hand over the gem now they will kill Old Dan and Zephyr and will attack them to get it! ASP has heard enough and wants to save his friend and leaps into action and beats up Hellfire as The Living Mummy also starts his attack, but our heroes are forced to retreat when ASP is being zapped by Hydron who is draining all the water from his body and the Cairo Police have showed up and is using gas in order to break up the fight. Janice and Ron has also showed up and gets The Living Mummy and Doctor Skarab to safety as they try and figure out how to use the gem. Meanwhile The Elementals make short work of the police and decide to rehydrate ASP as they plan on using him as a hostage to get the gem the want. The Elementals place a massive force field around Cairo and madness runs through the streets as people start turning on each other and many start to serve The Elementals in their quest for the gem. The Living Mummy and Ron hit the streets, as they need to get to the collage and find some old scrolls that might be able to tell them how to use the gem and watch as Hellstorm kills a massive amount of students with his fire powers burning them alive! Ron and The Living Mummy make it inside and grab some scrolls only to have them burnt up after a student uses a flame thrower on them, as the student runs away The Mummy is burnt as are the hands of Ron and the secrets of the scrolls are gone forever and as is possibly the hope to save mankind.
All Hell has broken loose now in Cairo cause The Elementals have arrived and not only killed most of the cities police department but has also surrounded it with a massive force field causing temperatures to rise and madness to run wild in the streets. And finally I feel that The Elementals are true dangers to mankind as they have zero issues with killing humans and now are starting to showcase their full powers. And its clear that Hellfire is the worst of them as he takes the lives of so many college kids by burning them alive! The Living Mummy does what he can but while he is strong and almost un-killable he is out powered by he enemy, but he has made new friends with Ron, Janice and Doctor Skarab all who stand with him in this battle. Doctor Skarab also this far has shown that he is not a nut job crazy man and is really just trying to do what he can to help as he has a link with The Mummy. The city of Cairo has also turned mad in a matter of minutes as madness is running wild in the streets and everyone is using weapons against each other, crazy it seems like almost everyone has guns! I do like that The Living Mummy saved the life of Ron when a crazy man opened fire on them, and its now clear that the two have a friendship. Plus again I like that this story with the cheesy The Elementals is finally getting interesting and the stakes finally feel big! And we have to also talk about the collage kid who for some reason has a massive flamethrower and blasts The Mummy and Ron with it burning the scrolls and then runs off into the streets like a madman, he is a true idiot as he has doomed the world with his fire attack. The cover for this issue is good but reminds me more of something you would see for a Doctor Strange comic and the interior art is good and done by Val Mayerik still. Over all a good issue that has stripped away the Horror and is clearly a full fledge superhero comics series now, lets see what the next issue has in store for us.
Supernatural Thrillers # 13 **1/2
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 13 of 15
Days have passed and Ron and The Living Mummy where out to get food to bring back to their hideout when they are attacked by a group of men who are following the orders of The Elementals to bring these rebels in so that this war and dome can end and their rule can begin. As some of the men start shooting The Mummy another gets ready to blast him with a flamethrower and Ron is forced to pick up a gun and fire, the shot hits the gas tank and the man explodes and Ron has taken his first life in order to save his undead friend. Once back at the hideout they watch TV and see all the madness that The Elementals are causing, they listen as governments and superhero teams like The Avengers are on call but not being used yet and when they show ASP, Old Dan and Zephyr being held captive with reports of their executions coming up Ron as heard enough and grabs a rife and declares that he is going to save their friends as waiting on the gem is not working! Ron and The Living Mummy go to the location that their friends are being held prisoners and watch as Hydron torments people of the city, and our heroes attack knocking around those who follow The Elementals and as Hydron tries to drain the water and fluid from The Living Mummy’s body Ron is able to shoot and wound the Water God making his loose his grip on the prisoners setting them free. Zephyr uses her wind powers to push away the mob that has attacked Ron and The Mummy just as Hydron wakes up and makes it rain so hard that a great flood is in the making! But Zephyr uses her wind powers to push back the rain and then carries our heroes away like a breeze. The heroes land at the hideout only to find that Janice, The Gem and Doctor Skarab are gone!
The war in the streets of Cairo have turned even more deadly as innocent lives are being taking not only by the followers of but The Elementals themselves! While Hellfire sets ablaze to those who stand against them the equally evil Hydron is using is powers of water to dehydrate and drown those who cross his path! This twisted wannabe god even uses his powers against an old farmer and his son looking for water to use on their crops, and he kills the son in front of his father’s eyes! Hydron can be injured and by the looks of it could be killed by a gun shot if it in a deadly place. Ron who takes a mans life at the start of this issue has been pushed too much and goes after the bad guys with force by the end using a gun to mow down those who wish to enslave. Zephyr shows that she is just as powerful as her fellow Elementals and uses her wind powers to make a fool of Hydron. She is a great ally for The Living Mummy in his fight to save the world. Old Dan, ASP, Janice and Doctor Skarab are around and do what they can, well all but Doctor Skarab who has the gem and has failed to figure out the secret of using it. The Living Mummy is a true hero at this point as he has risked his undead life to save others and it’s clear that he has now a true friendship with the humans that are fighting alongside him. And again the Horror elements are gone from this issue as its pure classic 70’s Marvel Superhero story telling, and besides the fact the lead hero is a Mummy the scares are just not happening. The cover is ok for this issue but has zero to do with out story and the interior art by Mayerik is good. Over all a good issue that furthers our war to save the world and a issue that flushed out a personality and character for Ron.
Supernatural Thrillers # 14 **1/2
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 14 of 15
The Living Mummy stands in the empty room and remembers back to the day when he was the living N’Kantu and watched as his own tribe was taken as slaves and he himself tried to save them only to be our powered and taken as one as well. It’s then that ASP finds a note written by Doctor Skarab that alerts them that he is going to the lab with Janice in order to try to do an experiment on the gem and with that The Living Mummy and Zephyr head to the lab to bring the pair back as Ron, ASP and Old Dan are left behind to keep their hideout safe. In the lab nothing Doctor Skarab is doing is working on the gem and he lashes out and starts speaking that he just don’t care anymore about the gem and the war and is quickly put back on track by Janice who speaks of friendships and doing the right thing. Meanwhile Zephyr herself is speaking of wishing at times she did not take the side of mankind and if not for the fact she is drawn to The Living Mummy she might have went through with ruling the world with the others. Back at the lab the gem lights up and rushes Doctor Skarab with what power is needed and informs him that he is the key to using the gem and this causes him to pass out just as The Living Mummy and Zephyr get there. Meanwhile ASP, Old Dan and Ron decide to head to the lab as well to check on their friends and this was a bad idea as they are attacked by crazed men! Meanwhile at the lab more crazed men attack and very quickly Zephyr and Living Mummy make quick work of them. As Doctor Skarab, Janice, Zephyr and the Living Mummy leave the lab they are meet by The Elementals who want the gem and want to end this war once and for all!
This issue is bringing this story to an end as we now know that The Elementals are done playing games and just want to kill our heroes and get the gem and they each have a score to settle with The Living Mummy as well as Zephyr. And speaking of The Living Mummy and Zephyr its clear that they are starting to fall in love with each other and while she is starting to second guess turning good she has no full doubts due to her connection with The Mummy and wanting to turn him back to a human once more. And really it also seems that The Living Mummy is ready to end this war and wants to smash him some Elementals brains! Doctor Skarab finally has cracked the code of the gem and made himself useful and he better do so in the next issue cause the final fight is now! Poor Ron is all mixed up as his mind is a mess as he fells bad for killing a man, but also apart of him wants to kill more of The Elementals followers as he is sick and tired of these scumbags hunting them and killing innocent people. Janice is keeping it together for her love for Ron and her respect for Doctor Skarab as the three have been friends for so long. ASP and Old Dan are around and make the silly plan to go with Ron to get to the lab and we are left with a cliffhanger if the three win the fight or if they meet their end at the hands of the mob. And again this issue has no Horror elements and this time it seems like they add a little war comic into the superhero mix. The cover is good and showcases The Living Mummy on a rampage and the interior art by Mayerik is good like before and almost seems a little better then past issues. Over all this is a great issue to build up the final issue in this series and the end of the first Living Mummy story arch as well as his first and only series. So with that lets see how this ends and if the Living Mummy will get his flesh back and if he can save the world.
Supernatural Thrillers # 15 **1/2
Released in 1975 Cover Price .25 Marvel # 15 of 15
The Elementals go on the attack and Hellfire uses his flames against our heroes as Doctor Skarab tries his best to clear his mind and use the gem but its hard as they are being beaten around by The Elementals powers! Finally Doctor Skarab is able to use the gem and the blast from it goes wild and causes the fire from the sky to fall on them and if not for The Living Mummy they would have burned alive, and with that Zephyr uses her wind powers and buys the heroes a little more time. As Doctor Skarab is about to use the gem again it’s stolen from him by Hydron and The Elementals think they have won, but things are about to get real bad for them as its now clear that the power is Doctor Skarab himself as he unleashes his powers on them and even takes the city of Cairo into another dimension. And with this new dimension Doctor Skarab brings Ron, Old Dan and ASP to them and The Living Mummy learns that they now all have the powers of The Elementals and as he and Zephyr hold them off the others join hands and with their powers send The Elementals flying into long forgotten places and the war is over as Cairo returns back to normal and the force field is gone. With the gem drained our heroes meet up for one last time as ASP, Old Dan and Zephyr leave The Living Mummy stays with Doctor Skarab, Ron and Janice and to no ones surprise ASP has stolen the gem to sell it.
The final issue has our group of heroes having to work together against the would be world rulers and the battles take place in our dimension and others with the heroes coming out on top thanks to the gem given them the same powers to make the battle field very even. The Elementals are very cocky and while the are super strong with powers that are deadly, but because they have such massive egos they are very open for defeat and they do get beat when they are matched with their own powers. And it feels so good watching them loose the war and be flung out into a new dimension with fear on their faces. ASP and Old Dan do what they can to fight for the worlds freedom but in the end ASP is shown to be a total scumbag as he steals the gem to try and sell to make quick money, you almost wish he would get his in the end. Zephyr who is an Elemental for some reason decides to go with the thieves and not stay with The Living Mummy who she throughout the series acted like she was building a bond with, very odd payout for her. Ron and Janice really don’t have a payout besides they survive the war and end up still together. Doctor Skarab turns out to be a hero and while he fumbles and falls ass backwards into using the gem that ends up saving the day, he is a hero of sorts and not because he knows how to use the powers he was given. While Doctor Skarab had a pay off it was a little weak and slightly silly that he himself was the power. The Living Mummy is really the hero as he just never stopped and took a beating and always did what he could to protect people as well as is the one who really figures out that the power of The Elementals is now something they can all use, and the poor guy also gets stuck being The Living Mummy and looses his chance of being human again and even his lady leaves him to go with a sleazy thief! While The Living Mummy is a create, a monster even but most important he is 100% a hero and knows right from wrong and wants to always protect the weak and innocent. The comic started off as a Horror Comic and as issues kept going the Horror elements faded and it became a normal superhero story complete with dimension traveling that was a big deal in comics from Marvel in the 70’s. While I liked the over all story I do wish they would have kept it as a Horror Comic series and not mudded the ink too much with making it a standard superhero fare. The cover for this issue is pretty eye catching and well done and this time around the interior art is done by Tom Sutton and is good stuff. Over all this comic series is just as I remember it and while The Living Mummy is not the most iconic of the Marvel Horror Monsters he is one that you should give a chance to and give it a read. Checkout the artwork below to see they styles used in this series.
But we are not done with The Living Mummy just yet as I would like to also cover his appearance in Marvel Two-In-One when he teamed up with The Thing from the Fantastic Four! So if you are ready, let’s take one more comic adventure with The Living Mummy!
Marvel Two-In-One # 95 **1/2
Released in 1983 Cover Price .60 Marvel # 95 of 100
The Thing and his girlfriend Alicia Masters get a package in the mail that has an Egyptian helmet inside and it takes ahold of Alicia and makes her the Bride Of Nephrus and she gets powers and even attacks The Thing throwing him through the air when he tries to get her to take the helmet off. She disappears as The Thing tries his best to shake off the attack and then rushes to the Museum in order to get information on Nephrus and Egyptian history and meets the really rude Lillian Templeworth who informs him that a man named Gamal Hassan stole that helmet and choose Alicia to wear the hat because she is blind and an artist and needs her to find a gem that could bring the end of the world if he gets his hands on it! At the New York dock Alicia Masters summons a ship that appears and takes her to Egypt, while The Thing and Lillian as well start to make their way to Egypt. The Living Mummy is in the desert remembering back to his past and wondering how long his undead life will last and watches as Alicia and Gamal arrive in the desert at some ruins. The Thing and Lillian make it to Egypt and as they try to blend in and buy camels they are attacked by a group Gamal supporters who believe in his quest to bring Nephrus back and The Thing makes quick work of them. Meanwhile Alicia under the trance goes into the ruins in order to find the jewel as Gamal notices and tries to fend off The Living Mummy who has made his way to the site, but all goes wrong when the jewel is found and Gamal uses it and becomes Nephrus!! The newly brought back Nephrus goes on the attack and uses his magic on The Living Mummy and The Thing when he and Lillian show up at the ruins. As our heroes are being thrown around and beaten down Lillian quickly breaks the mind hold of Alicia and she uses the power of the helmet to attack Nephrus and allow The Thing to grab the jewel and without the jewel Gamal who is now the living Nephrus turns to dust ending the madman’s rampage and also ending the only hope of The Living Mummy returning back to human and find peace, the issue ends as The Thing, Alicia and Lillian watch as The Mummy walks off into the desert.
Marvel Two-In-One just like Marvel Team-Up are fantastic fun reads as they always have The Thing for Two-In-One and Spider-Man in Team-Up paring with another superhero to fight crime and bring down a super villain or two. This is a pretty fun team-up as it pairs The Living Mummy and The Thing having to team up against a great evil, but the downside is that they barely even acknowledge each other as they fight for their lives. The plot has The Thing having to travel to Egypt in order to save his girlfriend who has been brainwashed by a crazed man who wants to bring back a dead priest in order to get power and while in Egypt this also gets the attention of The Living Mummy who wants to get revenge on the returning Priest who turned him into the walking corpse. The Thing in this issue is very high strung as he is pissed that his ladylove got a gift that was an Egyptian Hat that was a curse and caused her to beat him up and travel to Egypt to find a jewel to bring back a dead Priest…so yeah I can see why he is so high strung! I enjoy Marvel Two-In-One comics as seeing The Thing of the Fantastic Four team with so many random heroes over the 100 plus issue run is very entertaining. Alicia Masters the poor blind artist girlfriend of The Thing in this issues goes from being a mind controlled pawn to find a jewel to a free woman who uses the power of her gifted cursed hat to bring down the issues main villain. And we should also say that Lillian Templeworth while a prude museum worker also helps big time bring down the villain as she is the one that breaks the mind control of Alicia as well as who pushes her to use the powers of the hat! The ego driven Gamal Hassan who was fired from the museum is oddly really into bringing the Priest Nephrus back to life and is willing to give his own life to brining him back by allowing him to live inside his body, but while Nephrus does return without the jewel around he crumbles to dust ending his rebirth as well as the life of Gamal. The Living Mummy in this issue is alone with no friends and is trying to find the relief of death and as always he is cheated from being cured or killed and barely even notices The Thing as while the pair get beat up together they do not work together in order to defeat the evil Nephrus. The cover for this issue is really cool and has The Thing and The Living Mummy being attacked by giant snakes and the interior art by Alan Kupperberg is great and captures the feeling of both The Thing and The Living Mummy. While I wish that The Mummy and The Thing teamed up more and that the two misunderstood monsters would have become friends its still a fun read that allowed fans one more chance to have an adventure with The Living Mummy before the modern comics era arrived and took the fun out of comics. Check out the artwork below to see the style of Alan used in this issue.
The Living Mummy is a fun Marvel Horror character that should be given more respect by them and they should make a mini series about him and go back to his Horror roots and deliver a spooky read featuring a Mummy! One thing that I should also say about The Living Mummy and his Supernatural Thrillers run is that every issue is filled with flashbacks of events that we have covered so many times and it almost seems like they did so as filler as it was before the Jim Shooter years as editor in chief who forced the rule of explaining the heroes origin in every issue. Silly I know but the reason they did it was because they looked at each issue could be the first issue a reader could have discovered and that way they would not be lost about how the superhero is the way he or she is. But while The Living Mummy will never get his time to shine in this modern Marvel world as they have moved past many of their lower tier Horror Characters and sadly they will forever be left in supporting roles in issues as well as be treated as jokes and punching bags for the likes of Deadpool, but he and all the others will forever get the respect here on Rotten Ink. For the next update we will be walking away from the world of Marvel Horror and will be stepping into the squared circle as I share my Top 60 Luchadors! So until next time read a Marvel Horror Comic or three, watch a Mummy film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. Really I can not wait to share my list of favorite Luchadors with you friends and readers so will see you real soon for the countdown.
Rotten Ink 