Werewolf by Night #32

A monster book needs a hunter

Werewolf by Night existed because of a rule change. When the Comics Code Authority relaxed its rules in 1971, code-approved comics could carry werewolves for the first time. Jack Russell, a young man cursed to turn into a wolf, debuted in Marvel Spotlight #2 in February 1972, created by Roy Thomas, Jean Thomas, Gerry Conway and Mike Ploog, and graduated to his own series that September.

By 1975 the book was being written by Doug Moench, and the editors wanted a costumed character in it. "So Doug and I created Moon Knight," the artist Don Perlin recalled. Perlin wanted the costume to be just black and white, so it would stand out on a color page, and he gave the character a silver baton for fighting werewolves, because Moon Knight had been hired to track down and kill one.

Werewolf by Night #32 went on sale on May 27, 1975, with an August cover date. It cost 25 cents and ran 36 pages. Gil Kane drew the cover, a midnight-blue scene of Moon Knight squaring off against the werewolf, with the line "You haven't a chance against Moon Knight, monster."

Moench and Perlin

Doug Moench was born in Chicago on February 23, 1948. His first story for Marvel appeared in Chamber of Chills #7 in November 1973, and the next year he became the de facto lead writer of Marvel's black-and-white magazines. He went on to write Master of Kung Fu and, after leaving Marvel in 1982 over disagreements with editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, a long run on Batman at DC.

Don Perlin was born in New York City on August 27, 1929. He was about to interview for a paste-up job at another company when Roy Thomas called him with comics work. He became best known for Werewolf by Night, Moon Knight, The Defenders and Ghost Rider. Perlin died on May 14, 2024, at 94.

Sources differ on the inker. The issue's indexers credit Howie Perlin with the interior inks and Al Milgrom with the cover inks, while one encyclopedia lists Perlin and Milgrom as the artists of the story. Len Wein was the credited editor.

The Committee's mercenary

In the story, a criminal organization called the Committee hires a mercenary, Marc Spector, to capture Jack Russell in his werewolf form. Moench and Perlin gave the hunter moon symbols and silver weapons, a metal poisonous to werewolves, to make him a fitting antagonist. The issue gives Moon Knight's origin and introduces him as the werewolf's enemy.

The two-part story continued in #33, in which Moon Knight realizes Russell is a victim rather than a monster and decides to help him. Editors Marv Wolfman and Len Wein liked the character enough to give him solo stories in Marvel Spotlight #28 and #29 in 1976, and later writers explained his work for the Committee as an undercover mission.

Werewolf by Night itself ran 43 issues, through March 1977. Moon Knight outlasted it. He got his first ongoing series in 1980 from Moench and the artist Bill Sienkiewicz, whose Neal Adams-influenced art helped readers see the character as Marvel's answer to Batman.

Why a 9.8 is hard

Werewolf by Night #32 is not rare as a comic. By September 2022 the grading census had recorded 4,930 U.S. copies and 209 U.K. price variants. What is rare is a near-perfect one: the dark blue cover shows wear and creasing easily, and only 19 copies shared the top grade of CGC 9.8, with none higher. An earlier count, in early 2019, had put the figure at 18 of about 2,250 graded.

A CGC 9.8 sold at auction in March 2020 for $31,200. A 9.8 with white pages that also carried an outside eye-appeal sticker, the only one of its kind, was offered in an online auction that closed February 28, 2019, and one CGC 9.8 of that description is reported to have sold for $50,000.

Prices climbed with the arrival of Moon Knight on screen. On March 18, 2022, a CGC 9.8 with off-white pages sold in an online auction for $70,500; the listing noted that another 9.8 had recently brought $80,000 and a 9.6 $25,200. Later reports put a 2023 sale of a 9.8 at about $42,000, during a broader slump in Bronze Age prices.

From villain to series star

Oscar Isaac played Marc Spector in the 2022 Disney+ series Moon Knight; the character is a vigilante with multiple personalities. Marvel released a Moon Knight anthology, Black, White and Blood, alongside it in April 2022. That October, Disney+ aired a Werewolf by Night special, though Moon Knight was not expected to appear in it.

Moon Knight has long been regarded as a cult favorite among comics readers. The issue that made him also keeps a small piece of trivia: Gerry Conway, co-creator of the werewolf Jack Russell, has denied naming him after the dog breed on purpose.

The numbers

Cover price

25 cents

Pages

36; lead story 18

Print run

Not documented in the sources consulted

Census, early 2019

About 2,250 graded; 18 at CGC 9.8

Census, September 20, 2022

4,930 U.S. copies, 209 U.K. price variants; 19 at CGC 9.8, none higher

Frequency

Monthly

Timeline

1. 1971

   The Comics Code Authority relaxes its rules, allowing werewolves in code-approved comics.

2. Feb 1972

   Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night, debuts in Marvel Spotlight #2.

3. Sep 1972

   Werewolf by Night gets its own series.

4. May 27, 1975

   Werewolf by Night #32 goes on sale, introducing Moon Knight.

5. 1976

   Moon Knight stars in Marvel Spotlight #28 and #29.

6. Mar 1977

   Werewolf by Night ends with #43.

7. 1980

   Moon Knight gets his first ongoing series, by Moench and Bill Sienkiewicz.

8. Feb 28, 2019

   An online auction closes for the only CGC 9.8 with an outside 'exceptional' eye-appeal sticker.

9. Mar 2020

   A CGC 9.8 sells at auction for $31,200.

10. Mar 18, 2022

    A CGC 9.8 sells in an online auction for $70,500.

11. 2022

    Oscar Isaac stars in the Disney+ series Moon Knight.

12. Sep 20, 2022

    The census records 4,930 U.S. copies and 209 U.K. variants, with 19 at CGC 9.8.

13. May 14, 2024

    Don Perlin dies at 94.

The world in 1975

• Apr 30, 1975

  Saigon falls, ending the Vietnam War.

• May 1975

  The unemployment rate peaks at 9.0 percent.

• May 15, 1975

  U.S. forces retake the merchant ship Mayaguez from Cambodian forces.

• May 30, 1975

  Distance runner Steve Prefontaine dies in a car accident.

• Jun 20, 1975

  Jaws opens in 409 theaters across the United States.

• Jul 17, 1975

  An American Apollo and a Soviet Soyuz dock in orbit.

• Jul 25, 1975

  A Chorus Line debuts on Broadway.

• Jul 30, 1975

  Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing in Detroit.

Price record

A realized auction price is what a buyer actually paid on the date shown, including the buyer's premium where the sale reported it. It is the strongest kind of reference price, and it is a record of one sale of one object on one day, not a promise of what the next example will bring.

By reference price, Werewolf by Night #32 is number 44 of 100 in the comics entries of the FLOAT 100. 92 of those 100 rest on a realized sale; the rest carry an asking price or a guide value, and each page says which. Rank within the FLOAT 100 itself (66 here) is editorial: how much an object defines its field, not price alone.

Did you know

• Moon Knight was created as a villain, a mercenary hired to hunt the werewolf.
• Don Perlin made the costume black and white so it would stand out on a color page.
• Moon Knight's silver weapons were chosen because silver is poisonous to werewolves.
• Werewolves were barred from code-approved comics until the rules were relaxed in 1971.
• Gerry Conway has denied naming the werewolf Jack Russell after the dog breed on purpose.
• By 2022 nearly 5,000 U.S. copies had been graded, but only 19 reached CGC 9.8.