Marvel’s Forgotten Vault of Horror Spoof Lampooned Classic Monsters

Marvel Comics and horror stories have a long and prosperous history with one another. Back when Marvel was still known as Atlas, stories of the weird, the strange, and the horrifying were commonly printed across many anthologies. There’s just something fun and thrilling in reading tales of outlandish science fiction and pulse-quickening horror that other genres of comic book stories can’t quite match.

Throughout the ’70s, Marvel was on a tear with its horror line-ups. Marvel produced new anthologies such as Dead of Night, Chamber of Horror, and Marvel Chillers. However, it also published dedicated horror magazines, like Tales of the Zombie and Vampire Tales, under the Marvel Monster Group imprint. And as if all that monster goodness wasn’t enough, supernatural characters were taking off in big ways across Marvel’s mainline series, too. And then, without applause or aplomb, came Aargh!, a comic series of the dorkiest and most painful order.

Aargh! Was Marvel’s In-House Spoof of the Entire Horror Genre

Creative Teams: Jack Younger, Mike Sekowsky, Marie Severin, Tom Sutton, Don Glut, Alfredo Alcala, Jerry Grandenetti and Mike Esposito

Running for only five issues from 1974 to 1975, Arrgh! was Marvel’s in-house jab at all things spooky and horrifying. Though, unlike their other more grounded and sophisticated takes on the genre, Arrgh! was an absolute buffoonery of a comic. Nothing was sacred or off limits for the series as it lampooned every major movie monster. The comic series took relentless stabs at famous tried and true monsters and even took a few nudges at some of Marvel’s own heroes.

The best way to describe Arrgh! is to liken it to a mix of Mad and Marvel’s horror titles. Familiar faces and plots are drawn in pointedly cartoonish and exaggerated caricatures, gunning more for groan-inducing gags than actual plots and laughs. It’s all tongue-in-cheek, of course, and the idea was to poke fun at a genre that had become a little over-saturated, even by Marvel’s own hand. It is by no means a highbrow read, and even fans of Saturday morning slapstick might find some of its content a little hard to digest well, but Arrgh! still maintains a unique place in Marvel’s history.

Everything From Dracula to Godzilla Got the Arrgh! Treatment

Sometimes Satire is the Best Medicine For Stuffy Monsters

Ultimately, Aargh! spoofed the classic movie monsters. Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, the Wolfman, Godzilla, and the Invisible Man were all prime targets for the series. This is funny, of course, considering how much time and energy Marvel put into producing quality horror content based on these self-same characters (Werewolf by Night and Tomb of Dracula being prime examples of this.)

The stories within Aargh! took these classic horror icons, placed them in satirical situations and generally devolved them into run-of-the-mill schlubs and putzes. Everyone knows Count Dracula, but it’s likely no one’s heard of Count Fangula, a pudgy loser vampire who can’t quite get a break in New York City. Bigfoot is a famous American monster but isn’t often portrayed as a randy, gentle giant with an appreciation for pretty country girls.

A tale of a man who wages a one-man war against the cockroaches that infest his apartment has a decidedly dark ending as he is consumed by a giant-sized bipedal roach that exterminates humans. In another story, clear depictions of people hanging themselves and gunning one another down are shown front and center, which is a huge tonal shift from the sillier fare in other issues. Aargh! couldn’t quite figure out who its target demographic was: monster-obsessed kids who could appreciate the lame humor or jaded adults who got their kicks reading harsh social commentary.

Marvel Took a Chance With Arrgh! For Better or Worse

Some Jokes Worked, Others Didn’t, But No One Can Blame Marvel for Trying

It might seem strange, but as prolific as Marvel was during the ’70s, the publisher was also in the business of taking risks. Superhero comics were doing well, and some of the best content they ever produced came out in the ’70s. Still, for every Spider-Man and Marvel Premiere, there was Aargh! or another horror anthology that reprinted ’60s material. Aargh! was an odd choice as it clashed with the rest of the content Marvel produced at the time. Its art style and tone were more in line with graphic adult-only independent comics of the decade, such as Cocaine Comix and XYZ Comics.

At the end of the day, Arrgh! was Marvel taking a chance. It wasn’t just another superhero comic series, and as the Western and teen drama genres had run their courses through the ’60s, seeing what else they could squeeze out of the horror genre seemed like a solid idea. In some ways, Arrgh! works.

When its jokes land, it can elicit some genuine grins and eye-rolls; when they don’t, it can be admittedly rough on the eyes and more than a little abrasive to read. But in the age before the internet (and even before the omnipresence of ’90s TV culture), comic books were still a viable platform for counterculture and social commentary. The printed page was a vehicle to reach as many different people as possible. While it was certainly not something Marvel ever reproduced, Arrgh! had its own small target demographic.

Arrgh! Will Probably Never Come Back, But Horror Is Still Thriving At Marvel

Big Things Are Always Coming

Today, Marvel still has a wonderful place in its library for horror. Characters like Morbius, Werewolf by Night, and even Moonknight have helped bring spookiness to mainstream Marvel fans. The Marvel Zombies were so popular that they earned two entire universes and were folded into the massive 2015 Secret Wars event. 2019’s Contagion story rang similarly to The Last of Us as Earth’s heroes were forced to contend with a lethal mind-controlling fungi. Horror is as popular as ever in the Marvel universe, and that’s a great thing. Marvel has such a long and colorful history with horror that it would be a shame to see it quietly fizzle out.

It is extremely unlikely that Aargh! will ever see the light of day again. Not only has Marvel grown and evolved tremendously since it was first published, but Arrgh!’s particular brand of humor won’t land well today. Caustic social commentary tinged with more than a few moments of insensitivity isn’t exactly a rib-tickler. Marvel would be hard-pressed to find a viable demographic for that comic these days. Still, Arrgh! took joy in skewering Hollywood’s monster royalty, and not even the Universal elite were saved from the jokes.

Arrgh! might never come back, but bringing back a self-aware satire magazine could work if approached correctly. It might not do well if it only focused on movie monsters, but Marvel has plenty of monsters of its own who could use a few laughs.