Michael Morbius is a Nobel Prize-winning Biochemist as well as a living vampire in the Marvel Universe. Introduced as an enemy of Spider-Man in The Amazing Spider-Man #101 (October 1971), Morbius became a tragic antihero.
After years of experimentation to eliminate his rare blood disease, he thought he had found a cure, but the side effects changed him dramatically. Now, he has enhanced senses, an aversion to light, and an insatiable thirst for blood. He is not dead. He is a kind of Dhampir, not really a vampire or a mortal human.
Created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, Morbius is more of a scientific creature than a supernatural one—like the lizard. After a few encounters with Spider-Man, he became the star of his own feature in Marvel’s bimonthly for a while, then he went on to make guest appearances here and there for a long time. He made a comeback during the 1990s. During the next two decades, Morbius joined teams, appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man, and sometimes in his own miniseries. Now, he is the star of a movie!
Morbius Reading Order:
The way Morbius found his place in the Marvel Universe could have created difficulties for those who wants to read about his adventures during the 1970s, but the movie led Marvel to offer new collected editions of those stories.
- Morbius the Living Vampire Omnibus
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #101-102; Marvel Team-Up (1972) #3-4; Fear (1970) #20-31; Giant-Size Werewolf (1974) #4; Giant-Size Super-Heroes (1974) #1; Marvel Premiere (1972) #28; Marvel Two-In-One (1974) #15; Spectacular Spider-Man (1976)# 6-8, 38; Savage She-Hulk (1980) #9-12; Vampire Tales (1973) #1-5, 7-8, 10-11; Marvel Preview (1975) #8.
The same, but in the Epic Collection:
- Morbius Epic Collection: The Living Vampire
Collects Amazing Spider-Man #101–102, Marvel Team-Up #3–4, Fear #20-26, Giant-Size Super-Heroes (1974) #1, and material from Vampire Tales (1973) #1-8, Giant-Size Werewolf #4. - Morbius Epic Collection: The End of a Living Vampire
Collects Fear #27-31, Marvel Premiere #28, Marvel Two-in-One #15, Spectacular Spider-Man #6-8, 38, Savage She-Hulk #9-12, and material from Vampire Tales #9-11, Super Annual #1; Marvel Preview #8.
Morbius’s Guest Appearances during the 1980s
First, with Dr. Otto Octavius (Doctor Octopus), Bruce Banner (the Hulk), and Walter Langkowski (Sasquatch), Dr Michael Morbius is one of the experts called with Sue Richards’s pregnancy problems in:
- Fantastic Four #266-268
Collected in Fantastic Four By John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2
Then, Morbius was working on a cure for Jack Russell’s transformations into the Werewolf by Night in
- West Coast Avengers #5-6
Collected in Avengers West Coast Epic Collection: How the West was Won
After that, Morbius made some cameos again in Fantastic Four (#315-317), before entering the world of Doctor Strange. First in:
- Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #10-11
Collected in Doctor Strange Epic Collection: Triumph and Torment
Then, the important story of that period, as part of The Vampiric Verses storyline (#14-18, 20) in which Morbius teams up with Doctor Strange and Brother Voodoo to fight vampires.
- Doctor Strange Epic Collection: The Vampiric Verses
Collects Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988) #14-33; Ghost Rider (1990) #12.
As the 1990s began, Morbius must face Spider-Man again in the 2-part Sub-City storylines:
- Spider-Man (1990) #13-14
Collects Spider-Man by Todd McFarlane: The Complete Collection
Rise of Midnight Sons!
Former Ghost Rider Blaze joins Ketch, his successor, and fellow Sons including Morbius (obviously!), Blade, the Nightstalkers, and the Darkhold Redeemers in the fight against Lilith, Mother of Demons, and her horrifying progeny!
- Spirits of Vengeance Rise of Midnight Sons
Collects Ghost Rider (1990) #28 And #31, Ghost Rider/Blaze: Spirits Of Vengeance #1-6, Morbius: The Living Vampire (1992) #1, Darkhold: Pages From The Book Of Sins #1, Nightstalkers #1, Web Of Spider-Man (1985) #95-96 And Material From Midnight Sons Unlimited #1.
With this crossover event, the new Morbius: The Living Vampire ongoing series was launched. It lasted for 35 issues that are not collected yet. Some issues can still be found here and there because of crossovers like:
- Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #52/Morbius: The Living Vampire #9/Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme #53
Collected in Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme Omnibus: Vol. 2
Morbius became an ally to Spider-Man to find the Symbiote Carnage during the famous Maximum Carnage storyline.
- Amazing Spider-Man Epic Collection: Maximum Carnage
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #378-380, Web of Spider-Man (1985) #101-103, Spider-Man (1990) #35-37, Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #201-203, Spider-Man/Punisher/Sabretooth: Designer Genes (1993) one-shot, material from Spider-Man Unlimited (1993) #1-2.
The Siege of Darkness crossover event is not yet collected (it includes 31 issues from multiple series including Morbius: The Living Vampire, Nightstalkers, Ghost Rider and Blaze: Spirits of Vengeance, Doctor Strange: Sorcerer Supreme). In it, Morbius is possessed by a demon known as Bloodthirst Him and his alter ego started working with Lilith against Caretaker, Ghost Rider, John Blaze, Vicci Montesi, Sam Bucanion, Vengeance, and Doctor Strange.
After that, Morbius had to deal with another Symbiote in:
- Venom: The Enemy Within
Collects Venom: The Enemy Within #1-3, but also Venom: Funeral Pyre #1-3, Venom: The Madness #1-3, Incredible Hulk & Venom #1.
With his own ongoing series behind him, Morbius went back to Spider-Man for a short storyline – Spider-Man (1990) #77-80 (not collected yet) – appeared in the new Blade series (Blade (1998) #2-3), and in Peter Parker, Spider-Man (1999) #8 before disappearing for a while.
Morbius resurfaced in 2004 in The Spectacular Spider-Man #14 (collected in The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 3: Here There Be Monsters), then two years later in back-up stories, like in Amazing Fantasy (2004) #17 or in Spider-Man Family #5 (this one is collected in Marvel-Verse: Morbius). In 2007, Morbius was the star of his own one-shot Legion of Monsters: Morbius (collected in Legion of Monsters).
Most notably, Michael Morbius found his way to the Marvel Zombies Universe:
- Marvel Zombies 3
Collects Marvel Zombies 3 #1-4 - Marvel Zombies 4
Collects Marvel Zombies 4 #1-4
In the regular Marvel Universe, during the Dark Reign era (reading order here), Morbius gave a new life to Frank Castle, transforming him into Franken-Castle. This storyline led Morbius to the Legion of Monsters miniseries.
- Punisher: Franken-Castle
Collects Dark Reign: The List – Punisher, Punisher #11-16, Franken-Castle #17-21, Dark Wolverine #88-89. - Legion of Monsters
Collects Legion of Monsters (2011) #1-4.
After this, Morbius got back in Spider-Man’s World when he developed a cure for Curt “The Lizard” Connors’s condition, hoping to save himself at the same time. Things didn’t go as planned.
- Spider-Man: Lizard – No Turning Back
Collects Amazing Spider-Man #688-691 & Untold Tales of Spider-Man #9.
Not long after, another encounter with Spider-Man led Morbius to his new series (in 2013). Only 13 issues this time, though.
- Morbius: The Living Vampire: The Man Called Morbius
Collects Amazing Spider-Man #699.1 & Morbius: The Living Vampire #1-9.
Once again, Morbius’s presence became limited to small guest appearances for a while, some Deadpool shenanigans, but also in Domino (#7-8) or Avengers (2018) #12. Most notably, he joined the Lethal Protectors during the Absolute Carnage crossover event.
- Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors
Collects Absolute Carnage: Lethal Protectors #1-3, Absolute Carnage: Avengers #1, stinger pages from Invaders #7, Avengers #22, Fantastic Four #11, Venom #15.
In 2020, with the announcement of the Morbius movie, Marvel launched a new miniseries: Morbius is the Living Vampire…but is he more? For years, Nobel Prize-winning biologist Dr. Michael Morbius has been struggling to find a cure for his unique case of vampirism. Now, for the first time in longer than he can remember, his salvation may be tantalizingly within reach! But the path to regaining his humanity is littered with dangers…and worse!
- Morbius Vol. 1: Old Wounds
Collects Morbius (2019) #1-5. - Morbius: Bond of Blood (2021) #1
Collected in Marvel-Verse: Morbius
Morbius encounters again Spider-Man and even bites him in the Amazing Spider-Man Beyond arc, a time when Ben Reilly was Spidey. For more information see our Amazing Spider-Man Beyond reading order.
- Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #77-78
Collected in Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond Vol. 1 - Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #90, 92, 92.BEY
Collected in Amazing Spider-Man: Beyond Vol. 4
Morbius also stars in the very short story “Skin Crawl” which was part of the anthology Crypt of Shadow.
Did we forget an important issue? Did we make a mistake? Let us know in the comments!
Last Updated on April 15, 2023.