Writer Stephanie Phillips and artist Carlos Magno take Captain America back to his origins — and turn him into a werewolf — in Marvel‘s Capwolf and the Howling Commandos #1.
We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!
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Capwolf and the Howling Commandos #1 Review:
Marvel is taking Captain America back to his origins — and back to his werewolf days with this new title. Set at the beginning of his tenure before everyone, you know, respected him, Cap teams up with his new team to fight some Nazi werewolves. The Howling Commandos already don’t trust this young Steve Rogers… How will turning into a werewolf change that relationship?
Said host Pete LePage, “This is just a fun setup. Stephanie Phillips [is] executing such a clean, cool idea. If you have [a group] called the Howling Commandos, what if Cap turned into a werewolf? Exciting.”
Alex Zalben agreed, specifically shouting out enjoying “the focus on a younger Cap at the beginning of his career when [they] doesn’t trust him, when they think he’s just a circus freak act.”
Naturally, the Howling Commandos’ view of Cap becomes reality when he’s turned into an actual circus freak act, aka a werewolf. “That puts him in a very different position than we’ve seen Captain America in recently,” Zalben continued. “It gives him a little more emotion, a little more weight, a little more stakes in terms of relationship and the circumstances. So I like that quite a bit.”
On the last second twist that isn’t actually a twist because it’s the title of the comic and on the cover, LePage said, “They do a great job of setting things up, leading you right at the end where you want to be, and I can’t wait to the next stage, to see what happens.”
And wrapping up, LePage said, “Amazing art. Amazing action. You see the title and that’s exactly what it is? And It delivers.”
Capwolf and the Howling Commandos #1 Official Synopsis:
When Captain America is transformed into a werewolf on the front lines of World War II, he’ll need the help of the Howling Commandos to take down a band of Nazi cultists who intend to use supernatural forces to turn the tide of battle. But can Cap control the skeptical, jaded Commandos when he can barely control himself?
