Werewolves have never been the monster darlings of the media.

Unlike the scads of Vampire and Zombie movies that get made every year, you'd be lucky to find one werewolf flick every few years and when these films do get made the results are often lackluster at best.

But take heart my fur-loving friends. For there is a place where werewolves are starting to take center stage. That being the wonderful world of comic books.

In the last couple years we've had big names enter the illustrated lupine game. In 2007 Robert Kirkman debuted his new title The Astounding Wolf-Man, which centers on a man who is bitten by a werewolf and decides to use his curse for the betterment of mankind by becoming a super hero. Tutored by a Vampire mentor and equipped with the latest in high-tech gadgets, Gary Hampton patrols the night looking for crime to stop, like Batman only with a lot more body hair.

February of this year gave us another comic icon trying his hand at lycanthropy. Joe Kelly has released the first four issues of his hot new book Bad Dog. In it we follow the adventures of two bounty hunters, Wendell and Lou. The first is a crazy, shirtless, wild-man who howls at the moon and the second is a werewolf. Lou really is the voice of reason, he just happens to be a werewolf. In fact Lou is so content with his condition that he sees no need to ever change back into human form. This is a mature book full of dirty jokes and dark humor as we follow our two intrepid protagonists into a bizarre world of bounty hunting and bad behavior.

In more recent news, two new independent comics set in the Wild West are starting to generate a lot of buzz. The first comes from writer Matthew Maxwell and Illustrator Luis Guaragña and is called Strangeways: Murder Moon. The first book in a planned series, Murder Moon centers on an ex Civil War officer who tries to leave the horrors of war behind him only to be attacked by a creature that turns him into something more horrible than he ever imagined. I first heard of Maxwell during an interview he gave for a podcast and was immediately taken with his passion for his craft and his love of the subject matter. This guy is definitely one to watch.

Our last new comic comes from fledging online publisher Zuda. Created by David Gallaher, Steve Ellis and Scott O Brown, High Moon is another period comic set in the 1800's and it uses this backdrop to tell of the hardships and horrors of frontier life. This up and comer just won the prestigious Harvey Award for "Best Online Comics Work". I'd summarize this one in more detail like I did the others, but there's really no need when you can view the whole first volume yourself for free online.

I strongly recommend checking all these titles out if you're a werewolf fan or just a fan of good comics.

We werewolf lovers may not ever get the kind of attention that vamps and zombies receive on the silver screen, but the world of comic books belongs to the wolves.

And besides that silver screen thing sounds kinda dangerous.

Arrrrooooooooo...er, I mean....

-Quoth the Raven

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