What follows is a sort of pretext I wrote out for the werewolf comic. It expresses what I think a werewolf is and what they will be like in the comic.

What is the Werewolf?
What is the werewolf? To me the werewolf is the amalgamation of the animal and human Ids, those dark recessive corners of our being that we dare not show in the open. They run the gambit from mindless zombie like killing machines to thought provoking suggestions about the nature of humanity as a whole. I don’t subscribe to the idea that werewolves , regardless of what kind, ear deer, moose, elk, etc. and not humans. If werewolves did exist in any world real of imagined, they would be an apex predator. To say they wouldn’t seems silly because there are already predators in the role of killing these animals already„ having the werewolf fill this niche seems overly redundant. Add to this the long history of mythology behind the werewolf that makes it clear that they feed on humans. The werewolf is after all a monster, not a cute cuddly mascot of nature.

Why isn’t it this? The werewolf is BOTH human and wolf (ie animal/nature) unrestrained by their normal roles. The werewolf represents both the savage chaotic force of grizzly death that nature can present at times as well as the human intellect able to stalk, think, and being supremely cruel to others. To say the werewolf is an ambassador of nature all regal and protector of of the wilds ignores the human side of it’s nature. Just as embracing the human side just makes the monster the a typical slash and hack murder we see in slasher films.

I don’t believe in the solo monster either. Why? Both natures are social, human and wolf so wouldn’t the monster crave social contact as well? That contact I think would be tapping into the common animalistic desires buried deep down. The connection of those same primal Ids. Deeps down we all have our demons, so what if a werewolf came up to you and offered to join the ranks as it were? What would you bring in to such a fold?

This assumes the werewolf would even bother to ask. In more recent literature it has been suggested that the werewolves’ bite, the trigger by which most characters become werewolves, is a metaphor for rape. Think about that for a minute. You are walking along minding your own business and some stranger you never met physically assaults you leaving you injured, bloody and broken in some manner.. If you are lucky you live through the encounter with said werewolf but that life you have lived is forever shattered. You very soon start loosing control. You change. When others find out they treat you differently. You ARE Different. Turning into a monster later on further seals the idea of a loss of control, the metaphor is complete. That is the epitomy of the werewolf, a creature born to spread chaos and destruction in the most primal and perhaps cruelest of manners. A creature completely out of control.

I’ve been working on the idea of a werewolf comic for some time and recently this idea of lack of control appeals to me. What happens to the average person when the gain the werewolves ‘curse’ ? What happens when the flood gates of their animalistic subconscious is unleashed and unchecked by the normal rules of human society? More importantly what of the werewolves themselves? How do they fit into a modern society that seems too trapped in the trappings of technology? Given that every person has a camera, phone, access to 24 hour news, and the internet, I don’t think werewolves would have a secret society as that would quickly be discovered. So no they aren’t keeping themselves secret nor do I think the werewolf would hide. As one werewolf pointed out in the Howling (1980) “Hunting cattle for our feed, where’s the fun in that? Humans are our cattle. Humans are our prey we should feed on them and do what we always done. Screw all this channel your energy crap.” If werewolves were to remain hidden I think they would view it as being chained up, restrained. Maybe just maybe our technology reveals the monster inside all of us, a monster that doesn’t shy away so easily from the spot light, but a monster that has been looking for it all this time….