Morbius The Living Vampire

Dr. Michael Morbius was a Nobel Prize-winning biochemist, who had attempted to cure himself of a rare blood disease with an experimental treatment involving vampire bats and electroshock therapy. However, he instead became afflicted with a far worse condition that mimicked the powers and blood-thirst of legendary vampirism. Morbius now had to digest blood in order to survive and had a strong aversion to light.

Morbius first appeared in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (1971), part of the Six-Arms Saga. He was created in large part because Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Stan Lee wanted to launch an indirect challenge on the Comics Code Authority's ban on vampires. Working with writer Roy Thomas and artist Gil Kane, they created Morbius, a living man who is given vampiric abilities via scientific means, and not the supernatural ones prohibited by the Code. Kane was instructed to specifically avoid Gothic fashion elements and design a costume for Morbius that was akin to what any other Marvel supervillain would wear, and he specifically chose the red and blue primary colors which were the staple of characters like Spider-Man and Superman. In part because of the success of Morbius, the Comic Code was liberalized on the subject of vampires[citation needed] and other horror characters several months later, allowing Marvel and other publishers to use vampires such as Count Dracula.


Released on http://ComicPirates.info