The Astounding Wolf-Man is a comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series launched by Image Comics

Image Comics

Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...

 on May 5, 2007. It ran until its final 25th issue in 2010. The series was created and written by Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics, and Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt...

 with art by Jason Howard. The first issue of The Astounding Wolf-Man was given away for free as part of Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of in Concord, CA brainstormed the event in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer...

. A "director's cut" edition of the first issue was released the same date as the second issue.

The story is that of Gary Hampton, a CEO who is mauled by a werewolf

Werewolf

A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...

 while on a family vacation. The story revolves around Gary's efforts to use his powers for good and to be a superhero, despite having an evil curse.

Plot

The story begins when, while at Willow Creek Camping Ground in Montana, vacationing with his beautiful wife, Rebecca Hampton, and their loving daughter, Chloe Hampton, Gary was mauled one night and left near-dead by what his wife thought was a bear.

Attack & Aftermath

One month later, Gary awoke from a coma he had been in because of the attack, apparently restored from his previously grievous injuries - it is soon found out that Gary has not only survived this attack that would have killed a normal human, but has gained the ability to transform into a werewolf; the same night he regained consciousness, Gary unknowingly transformed into a werewolf and rampaged through town and even went as far as (apparently) killing a man. An oblivious Gary continues with his life, struggling to keep his business working in the aftermath of his highly-publicized attack and near-death. Ultimately, when he, Rebecca and their estate manager and Gary's closest friend, Dunford, check the security cameras - they discover aa transformed Gary. No sooner is this discovered that Gary is confronted by a vampire, Zechariah, who offered his knowledge of werewolves and his help to control his newly discovered powers.

In a matter of three weeks, Gary had nearly full control of his beastly form - he debuts as a superhero during a city fire, and is dubbed and hailed as "Wolf-Man" by the media. Zechariah and Gary also set up his new superhero identity, putting together an outfit with Art, and constructing a secret underground base - Gary's superhero career has officially began.

Tension

Gary quickly rose to prominence among existing superheroes, after he managed to help a group of super heroes called the "Actioneers" fight some form of slime beast (he quickly left, however, because he still felt too new to meet any real heroes). The next night he stayed home and while he was getting intimate with his wife his transformation was triggered but he could not control it, he fled his home, went into town, and he slaughtered Sergeant Superior, one of the heroes he had helped earlier.

Two weeks later we find Gary, looking depressed, sitting inside what appears to be the base that was being built. When Zechariah arrives Gary goes wolf and lunges at him. It's revealed that Zec has not been around for the last two weeks, ever since Gary killed Sergeant Superior. Zec explains everything and tells Gary it was supposed to happen just as severely as it had. Zec reveals that on the first day of every full moon Gary will become a feral werewolf holding only a very little part of his psyche inside that will protect anyone truly close to him. Gary apologizes and explains that he'll start patrolling again soon. When Gary returns home he is a bit unnerving and reinforces to his wife he still loves her and they'll be OK. The next day Gary returns to patrolling where we see the mysterious car in action driven by Zechariah. It manages to fling Gary into the air to catch a villain called Thrill Kill who kidnapped a woman. After Gary chases him across the rooftops, Thrill Kill tries to bargain with him by dropping the girl and forcing Gary to make a choice between defeating him and saving the girl. Gary lunges at him and they both fall off the roof, they battle in midair, and Gary manages to save the girl before they hit the ground. When they land the police try to arrest Gary which the woman defends him against while he exits. When Gary returns, he find the car damaged and Zec being held captive by a group of werewolves who call Gary "Elder Brood". He battles them and they run saying they were not prepared for an "Elder Brood". When Gary regroups with Zec he has many questions that Zec refuses to answer. The next day Gary tells his wife that he was fired and that some of the house keeping and luxuries they have will need to be cutback on. Dunford, Gary's butler, appears and explains that there are men had the door who are basically evicting Gary. Gary apologizes to his wife and says it's all falling apart.

New Home

After the family moved out of their house they moved into Gary's secret underground base. When his daughter arrived he felt it was time to show her his new self. He wolfed out on her and she was shocked and speechless, Dunford helped her to her room while she was in shock. That night Gary and Zec went out again, just as Gary was acknowledging how quiet it was he got a whiff of trouble and the werewolf group from before attacked him. Gary accidentally killed one because he was so aggressive. He explained to the group but they were only concerned in how powerful he was and could become. They started to tell Gary of all the secrets Zec has been keeping and that Gary is on the wrong side. The lead wolf begins attacking Gary demanding him to reveal Zec's location. Gary is beaten to a pulp and then the lead wolf explains that if Gary new the truth he would want to kill Zec as well. Zec shows up to protect Gary. He tells him to revert to human form than change back again. Zec and the lead wolf begin to argue, and after awhile it is revealed that Zec was once their friend until his blood lust drove him to killing an young female werewolf. Gary demands to know if the accusation is true and Zec confirms it but tries to give an excuse. The werewolf group begins telling Gary that Zec only trained him to be a bodyguard from them. Gary begins screaming at Zec asking him if he wanted his blood and saying how much he trusted him. Gary snaps and chops off Zec's head with his claws, seemingly killing him. The lead wolf, revealed to be named Jacobson, attempts to take the head as a trophy, but Gary insisted that, because it was his kill, he should dispatch the body. Jacobson commemorates him and says he has made a powerful ally in him. When the werewolf group leaves, Zec returns in a misted form. It turns out the death was ploy and Gary still believes in Zec despite what he's done and doesn't feel Zec has to prove himself. Zec thanks him for their friendship. The pair part agreeing to meet again tomorrow night.

The next night Gary stops Eruptor from killing people at the offices of The New Tribune, later that day Gary and Rebbecca are talking about what are they going to do the next full moon, meanwhile their daughter is still trying to deal with the fact that her dad is a werewolf. That night Zechariah explains why Jacobson called him "Elder Brood." Gary finds out that he was not attacked by not just any werewolf he was attacked by an elder werewolf. Which are the oldest, and most powerful werewolves alive. Zechariah explains that they don't attack just anyone they choose who they attack. Gary then battles Construct and with the aid of Kid Thor she is defeated and sent to jail. Gary and Zechariah agree to try to find the elder who turned him. The next night Chloe walks into a room where her father is locked up so he cant attack his family or anyone. Rebecca tells Chloe that her father will need to do this every mouth but it will get better. Chloe says "Will it ever get better, what if it keeps getting worse?"

One night while Gary and Zechariah were patrolling the city they noticed Capes, Inc. was under attack and he joined in the fight. Wolf-Man and Zechariah were captured. Wolf-Man was the only hero able to break out of his prison, he aided Invincible and Atom Eve in battle. Even with Zechariah's help all four heroes fell. When backup arrived, all the heroes were freed. After the fight Wolf-Man and Zechariah went back to work.

Shorty after, Wolf-Man joined Brit, Invincible, Tech Jacket, and Donald in an effort to stop The Emperor.

The Ultimate Team & Break-Up

After the family got settled with their new home, Chloe continues with her life. Chloe is at a tennis match against one her rich friends named: Carly. Chloe lost the game to her and goes to congratulate her, but her kindness is met with the disgust for her. Carly doesn't care and is embarrassed just for playing against her. Treating her like she is a different species from her by saying: "Your Kind", all because everyone now knows that her family got kicked out of her house and are poor. Out of anger Chloe strikes down Carly with her tennis racket. Later, the family returns to " Wolf-Man's Lair" and Chloe immediately storms off to her room. Rebbecca goes to talk to her. Rebbecca finds out that Chloe is the laughing stock of her school and is now called the "Homeless girl". Chloe than says "I think I hate him" (Out of anger to her Father [Gary]). Gary is upset and leaves for the night. Gary (Now in Werewolf form) is running across a rooftop with Zechariah trying to talk to him. But Gary is just ignoring him and when Zech asks what's wrong, Gary says: "Blowing off some steam". Jumping off the rooftop Gary lands on a car, and totally destroys the front part of it, that appears to being chased by the cops. The man in the car flies through the front wind-shield and Gary catches him before he hits the ground. The man is a scientist and says: Not cops......Never running from the cops. Running from Him." A giant man appears leaping towards the scientist. Gary tries to protect and stay away from him as long as he can. Rebbecca is shown meeting a man named: Nathan, at a restaurant. She says: Nathan--Please. The Last thing in the world I came here to do is talk about Gary". Mecha-Maid is shown to be near the scene of Garys' fight. She tells the rest of the Auctioneer that she has located their target. Mecha-Maid comments on how the Giant man is a human battery. That he absorbed Kinetic energy to get stronger. Using her advanced technology she found a way to turn him off. The scientist returns with a bunch of men and he's ordering them to get him in the car, quickly. Kinetic finally appears at the scene and immediately attacks Gary, shouting: "MURDERER!". Gary punches her off of him and the rest of the Auctioneers show up. Gary is trying to explain to them on what happened, but none of them will listen. Kinetic orders everyone back so she can have him, all to herself. Not giving Gary a chance to move she continues beating on him until the rest of the Actioneers start second guessing on whats happening. Than Sergeant Superior shows up. But he has become a vampire. Sergeant Superior gets the rest of the team to stop attacking him and he then escapes. He quickly meets Zechariah. Of course Gary is upset that Zechariah never told Gary that he brought Superior back to life and was somewhat upset he brought him back as a vampire. He tells Zechariah he never wants to see him again and wants him to stay out of his life.

Tragedy

Gary returns to the base, and Rebecca informs him that his lawyers called with happy news - the embezzlement investigation against Gary has been closed; with him cleared of all charges. The family's assets have now been un-frozen and they can now move back in their home...which Rebecca wants to do so without Gary; explaining she wants to separate for some time. Gary is devastated by this.

Gary leaves the room and talks to Dunford about how he wishes he was never Wolf-Man, and how he thought it would be a good thing to be able to physically do some good after doing so much through charities. He promises Dunford his activities as Wolf-Man will end.

Gary tracks Rebecca down again, and after a short talk - Gary explaining he understands and accepts her request to be away from him for a time, but he will nevertheless try to put all that had happened right and make it up to her, Rebecca then kisses him, accepting his promise and reveals she still hopes things can work out between them.

As Rebecca is attending to her and Chloe's suitcases, Zechariah appears, wanting Rebecca's help in getting Gary to trust him again, so he can help him in his activities. Rebecca, however, is upset over what Gary previously told her and expresses her belief his appearance in Gary's life has been responsible for all the hardships he has suffered. When Zechariah grabs Rebecca's arm to make her listen, Rebecca scratches him across the face when she struggles to get free. Zechariah, momentarily overcome with fury that a human had struck him, back-hands her across the face so hard it breaks Rebecca's neck.

Zechariah begins to panic, guilty over what he did, and tries desperately to revive a fallen Rebecca by piercing her neck with his teeth and feeding on her blood, planning to revive her as a vampire. Gary walks in and charges at him, transforming in a fury and forcing Zechariah to stop - leaving Rebecca to bleed to death on the floor. Zechariah quickly tries to explain that due to feeding on Sergeant Superior's super-human blood he was over-come with the need to feed and lost track of his senses for only a moment. With Gary not wishing to listen, Zechariah vanishes into mist.

Gary runs to Rebecca's dead body - upon finding her lifeless, Gary, cradling her, screams out in agony...and Chloe walks in, seeing her mother dead and Gary, transformed and now covered in blood, is shocked into silence and starts crying. Gary tries to reach out to his daughter, only for Chloe, collapsing in fear, pleadingly whispers for him not to kill her - Chloe, no doubt believing he killed her. Gary, stricken and knowing he cannot convince her otherwise and his old life is over, walks away. Dunford walks in, shocked by the scene, and Gary asks him to watch over Chloe. Gary then leaves; with a shocked Dunford, sobbing Chloe and dead Rebecca behind him.

Later, the Actioneers are found to have been butchered, torn to pieces and killed by Sergeant Superior - they then begin to rise again, now vampires, in Zechariah's home, and Superior address Zechariah, visibly consumed with grief at his actions with Rebecca, as "master".

Fugitive

Days following Rebecca's death, it is now public knowledge Gary, now missing, is Wolf-Man - it is believed Gary to have committed the crime, instead of Zechariah, with the idea that Gary could not properly control his powers, snapped and then brutally murdered his wife, and then nearly killed Chloe before running away. Chloe, believing her father had lost his mind and was now out of control, resulting in her mother's death, plots revenge - after coping with attending her mother's funeral (attended beside Dunford, Gary and Rebecca's parents, Singleton and countless other mourners) by destroying all of her pictures of Gary, Chloe secretly hires Damien Darkblood to track down Zechariah, in an effort to be training and conditioned to kill her father, avenging her mother - all the while, not knowing it was in fact Zechariah who murdered her. Dunford, now Chloe's guardian with Rebecca dead and Gary a fugitive, tries his best to comfort and support Chloe through this time - to no effect.

Gary, meanwhile, has gone on the run - on the road with nothing to his name; gradually he makes his way back to Willow Creek Campground; the place where he was attacked and turned into a werewolf. It is here he discovers "The Elder" - the elder brood werewolf that gave him his powers; and, thirsting for revenge, demands to be trained so he can kill Zechariah (thus explaining his journey to Willow Creek). The Elder begins to train Gary to better use his powers. Meanwhile, Gary is still being hunted by Hunter; an immortal government agent.

Gary continues to run from the authorities; and soon other super-heroes, most notably the Guardians of the Globe, give chase. Invincible, at GDA Director Cecil Stedman's request, also tracks down and finds Gary to attack and capture him, though, after working together to beat Giant, a rampaging giant attacking Willow Creek forest, Invincible, after seeing how upset Gary is over Rebecca's death, realized that Gary was not a killer and didn't kill his wife; however the Guardians of the Globe didn't believe him and they fought them both to capture Gary; who, with help from Invincible, he escaped back to the Elder.

Imprisonment

Gary was finally caught when, even though he was granted partial protection and support from Stedman, who now believed Gary's innocence due to Invincible's actions, he was still unable to overcome his grief for Rebecca and, going alone, visit Rebecca's grave - upon which he breaks down, crying uncontrollably. This lasts until dawn - when his powers are in-active - and Hunter and a team of agents, who were monitoring the site of Rebecca's grave in the hopes Gary would come - confront him at gunpoint. Remembering the martial arts skills he received from the Elder, Gary fights them and tries to escape, but Hunter intercepts and defeats Gary - finishing him by smashing his head against Rebecca's gravestone.

Meanwhile, Dunford finally confronts Chloe about her behaviour - and goes into length about much of a kind and generous man her father is - Chloe, however, doesn't disagree with any of his words, as, by this point, she has come to the belief her actual father is dead, and the identity of Wolf-Man is the "deranged, inhuman beast" he became is what she is angry at and believes killed her mother. Upon hearing of Gary's arrest, Chloe leaves home to continue her training with Zechariah, who provided it so that she can take her revenge on her father. However she still isn't powerful enough to kill him so Zechariah, manipulating her from the beginning and playing along with her belief her father is guilty, has been feeding her his blood; which only gives her temporary powers as, seemingly displaying the regret he has towards what he has done to Gary, he is not willing to turn her into a true vampire, no matter what.

After the long and well-publicized "Hampton Trial", Gary is ultimately found guilty of Rebecca's murder - based entirely on circumstantial evidence (namely that the teeth markings on Rebecca's neck; the wounds that caused her to bleed to death, never matched Gary's in human or wolf form, but the prosecution successfully argued the bite could have occurred in mid-transformation, explaining this discrepancy) and Chloe's testimony, though he avoids the death penalty, as Hunter wished he would receive - Gary is sentenced to life in Stronghold Penitentiary, a super-prison, and is taken there alongside Eruptor, Thrill Kill and Construct (who were recently beaten by the Elder when they searched for Gary in the Elder's forest). After Thrill Kill kills a guard protecting Gary, he is beaten by the enraged guards. Later, Gary is brought to see "The Face" - a powerful criminal inside the prison who has de-facto control of the entire prison through its corrupt warden and guards. The Face confidently demands Gary's immediate loyalty, explaining he has big plans to strike against the country upon escaping from prison, in revenge for his incarceration, and Gary, because of his prior international business success, would surely have access to such means of travel to a safe location to begin his revenge efforts, potentially making him a valuable asset to his plans. Face incentives Gary to accept, pointing out if he did not, things in prison would get so bad for him he would surely die within days, as by this point Gary is despised by the entire world; who see him as yet another supervillain. Gary flatly refuses, deciding to take his chances with the guards.

Gary's stance changes when Dunford comes to visit - and says Chloe is gone; Dunford explains to an outraged Gary that Chloe left after his conviction and, despite the police investigating and private investigators being hired, no-one can find her. Later, Gary is brought back to Face; faced with the choice of either accepting his offer or face the wrath of the guards again. Gary, a broken man, promises Face to do whatever he wants if he helpds him find his daughter. Delighted, Face has Gary's power draining collar removed, to see his powers in action - this proves a mistake, as, due to the Moon Rage suppressed through Gary's arrest, trial and initial imprisonment, Gary transforms uncontrollably and kills many attacking guards. Later, Gary explains this to Face, who had initially thought Gary had tried to betray and kill him. Face begrudgingly accepts his explanation and relations between them are restored.

Unknown to Face, Gary had secretly brought all of Face's plans to Stedman's attention - who arranged to have Gary's collar modified to Gary could secretly access his abilities. Stedman confirms he is still trying to exonerate Gary and locate Chloe; and the two agree for Gary to go along with Face following his escape to better understand and stop his plans.

Attack on Stronghold

Finally, Zechariah, Chloe and the vampire Actioneers attack the prison, hoping to kill Gary. Zechariah goes toe to toe with Wolf-Man; the first time since Rebecca died - with Gary screaming that Zechariah killed his wife. Due to Gary's training with the Elder, he can now better fight Zechariah, and the two have a brutal battle, which is soon joined by the Guardians of the Globe, GDA reinforcements and the prison guards on one side, and escaing supervillains, including Face, on the other. Gary badly handicaps Zechaiah by chewing off one of his arms (after sucking it into his mouth while it was in mist form; a trick, among others, that the Elder taught him). Wolf-Man and Zechariah's fight finally goes Gary's way, and he manages to stake Zechariah to the ground with a broken piece of wood; binding him to the earth itself and leaving him to die with the imminent sunrise. Gary ignores Zechariah's claims the Elder has more malicious intentions for him in the future.

Suddenly a voice screams out to them from the distance - a horrified Gary recognises it - it's Chloe; who leaps into the fray and beats down and holds her father at swordpoint, screaming he has to die for killing her mother. Gary, rather than defend himself, tries to explain what really happened with Rebecca, and finally reveals what Zechariah had done. This news shocks Chloe into silence, and Gary, overriding Zechariah's attempts to make Chloe not listen to him, pours his heart out to Chloe, saying he is still her father and still loves her and Rebecca, and would never harm them. Gary goes to hug her, and Chloe embraces him....and then, still not entirely believing him, stabs him through his chest with her sword.

Return to Grace

Gary calmly takes the sword out of his chest, and tries to give it back to a stunned Chloe; saying he won't fight her, and that if his death will help her, he would offer his life for her to take. Succumbing to his injury, Gary collapses in front of his daughter. After a few moments Chloe, seeing her father apparently dead on the ground, and remembering how much he had tried to make her believe him, finally sees the truh and runs to her father's side; a tearful Chloe apologizes to Gary, saying she thought she had lost both him and her mother, and begs him not to die.

They are both attacked by Thrill Kill and Kursk; Gary, regenerating from his injuries, fights beside Chloe to beat the two, but the Actioneers are still fighting with the prisoners and guards. Gary, following through with his plan to stop Face, parts ways with Chloe - the two now reconciled. Gary, pretending he helped arrange the attack with Mecha-Maid, escapes Stronghold with Face, Eruptor, Construct and a captive Mecha-Maid; who was hurt in the fight.

The fight ends, and Cecil arrested the Actioneers and even found a still living Zec and arrests him. He also takes Chloe with him to keep her safe. Meanwhile Gary and Mecha-Maid are flying with the Face and his people. He asks Gary to use his contacts to go to the next part of his plan. Meanwhile he is being watched by another werewolf.

Conclusion

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics, and Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt...

 ended The Astounding Wolf-Man in 2010 with the story arc 'Legacy'. Although Wolf-Man's own series was concluded and all loose ends tied up, Kirkman pointed out that characters from Wolf-Man's universe would still cross over into his other characters' lives as they inhabit the same universe http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23378 - Wolf-Man himself appeared in the Invincible

Invincible (comics)

Invincible is a superhero in the . Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker, the character first appeared in Tech Jacket #1 , before graduating to his own self-titled regular series in 2003, as a title in Image's then-new superhero line.Invincible is the teenaged son of Omni-Man, an...

 series several times.

Characters

• Gary Hampton aka "Wolf-Man" - the main protagonist of the series; a successful businessman turned superhero following an incident that left him with were-wolf abilities.
• Rebecca Hampton - Gary's beautiful wife. Killed in Issue #7 by Zechariah; who she struck across the face after expressing her disdain for him; Zechariah, momentarily blinded by rage, responded by hitting her across the face and breaking her neck, and then fatally biting her neck, causing Rebecca to bleed to death.
• Chloe Hampton aka "Vampire Girl" - Gary's loving daughter, she is close to both of her parents.
• Dunford - The estate manager, butler and life-long friend to the Hampton family; formerly a businessman whose company was bought out by Gary during his rise in the business world, Dunford was actually offered a position in Hampton Industries, but chose to retire instead. Following his wife's death, Dunford, who was friends with Gary by then, was invited to stay with his family as their estate manager. Dunford is Gary's closest friend and sees him as kind and generous man who has only ever wanted to help people; a belief that leads to him to be the (initially) only one who believes Gary's innocence following Rebecca's death. Dunford is made Chloe's legal guardian during this time, and ultimately is successful in getting her through her grief. Killed in Issue #22 by Jacobsen and the were-wolves following their attack on the Hampton estate. Gary, Chloe, Mecha-Maid and Elise attend his private funeral.
• Maria - The loyal maid to the Hampton family; reluctantly let go following Gary's loss of his company, which forced the family to cut back on luxuries.
• Nathan Singleton - A corporate CEO and head of Singleton Enterprises; Hampton Industries' greatest rival. Singleton himself was a rival to Gary for years, and later embarked upon an affair with a lonely Rebecca - and gained information from her about Gary's company that almost ruined him. Singleton, despite appearing to have taken advantage of his relationship with Rebecca in order to hurt Gary's business, was actually in love with Rebecca, and, even after the two ended their relationship, he was still happy to get back together when Rebecca distanced herself from Gary, during his early days as Wolf-Man, and reached back out to Singleton. Singleton was last seen attending Rebecca's funeral, alongside Chloe, Dunford and Gary and Rebecca's parents.
• Zechariah - A vampire who approached Gary immediately following his discovery of his abilities; Gary posed as a friend and mentor to Gary in his early days as Wolf-Man; teaching him all he knew about were-wolves and how to control his abilities, as well as establishing his Wolf-Man identity. Ultimately, Gary's trust in Zechariah crumbled when he realized how much Zechariah was keeping from him - when Zechariah tried to find and reconcile with Gary; instead he met Rebecca, and a confrontation led him to kill Gary's wife in a brief moment of rage. Zechariah left Gary to take the blame - though was finally caught following his attack on Stronghold Prison, setting the record straight. Zechariah escaped with Mecha-Maid's assistance and, avoiding her trap with Gary, plotted revenge and kidnapped Chloe to turn into a vampire. Zechariah was killed in the final issue, before he could succeed, when the Elder tore Zechariah's heart out of chest and consumed it, killing him and reducing him to a skeleton in seconds - finally ending his evil actions and interference in Gary's life.
• The Actioneers - A team of super-heroes who are killed and revived as vampires by Zechariah to serve him; despite retaining their memories, their instinctive loyalty to Zechariah is overpowering and follow him completely. The team was finally captured following their attack on Stronghold Prison; which they participated in beside Zechariah and Chloe, in order to track down and kill Gary. The team is kept in isolation inside GDA HQ beneath the Pentagon. In the final issue, the team, immediately following Zechariah's death, is restored to normal.
• Pamela aka "Mecha-Maid" - A member of the Actioneers super-hero team; who, being a robot, was instead disassembled and kept captive by Zechariah and the now-vampire Actioneers. Mecha-Maid finally escapes when they departed, alongside Chloe, to attack Stronghold Prison, and Mecha-Maid followed and was caught in the fray, being captured by Face and his team - but was spared at Gary's insistence and later joined him as his super-hero partner (and possible love interest). Mecha-Maid later joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe and, accepting Gary's advice to let her child grow and develop on her own, constructs a robot body for Elise. In the final issue, Mecha-Maid is seen happily reuniting with the restored Actioneers.
• Elise - The artificially-created "daughter" of Mecha-Maid; initially just a hologram, she is much later given a robot body to live independently.
• Agent Hunter - An agent of the Global Defense Agency; who also has the ability to survive all type of injury and completely regenerate from his wounds, regardless of how fatal they are (e.g. decapitation). Hunter is placed in charge of the Wolf-Man investigation and, with his human partner and with the backing of the GDA and Guardians of the Globe, relentlessly track Gary down to arrest him, completely believing Gary murdered Rebecca, despite numerous attempts, on Gary's part, to change his mind. Hunter ultimately succeeded when Gary was caught at Rebecca's grave. Later, however, Hunter found he had been mistaken about Gary all along, and was ordered by Stedman to let go of his investigation after it was shut down. Hunter and Gary, apparently, made amends, and together joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe.
• Director Cecil Stedman - The leader of the Global Defense Agency; Stedman is an enigmatic and very powerful U.S. government figure, who later becomes Gary's strongest ally following Rebecca's death, working tirelessly to aid him and later exonerate him for Zechariah's crime. Stedman later recruits Gary to the expanded Guardians of the Globe, and later gives his blessing to Gary's formation of his own team - The Wolf Corps. He is a main character in the Invincible series; where is history and position is further explored.
• "The Face" - A powerful criminal with two-merged faces and a third laser-blasting eye, who was in de-facto control of Stronghold Prison; formerly the most powerful member of a defunct criminal organisation known as "The Body" - with Face being last to fall and be imprisoned. Face escaped Stronghold with Gary to the UK; and then released Gorgg, who betrayed Face and consumed him. Face was presumed dead, until he was found alive in Gorgg's remains during the salvation operation - immediately asking he be taken back to prison. Gary later confirmed to Construct that Face was sent back to prison as requested.
• Agent Donald Ferguson - An agent of the Global Defense Agency; who is also a robot, and later joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe. He becomes a friend to Gary and Chloe following Gary's exoneration.
• "The Elder" - An elder brood were-wolf and leader of all were-wolves in the world; the Elder was responsible for attacking and giving Gary his were-wolf powers, making him responsible for leaving Gary's old life in ruins, and his wife and best friend dead. In the final issue, the Elder confronts Gary for battle to test his worth - explaining he had chosen Gary to succeed him as Elder of the were-wolves so they may be redeemed and become great once again. After a fierce battle, Gary fatally strikes Elder across his throat and he ultimately collapsed and bled to death - a victorious Gary stood over his body, and the surrounding were-wolves immediately bowed to their new Elder.
• Jacobsen - An influential were-wolf under the Elder's command; Jacobsen first meets Gary while seeking to kill Zechariah to avenge his murder of one of his children - when Gary (apparently) does so, Jacobsen immediately declares he and all behind him will consider Gary an ally and friend to the were-wolves. Much later, Jacobsen and the were-wolves returned to attack the Hampton estate, declaring Gary was marked for death by the Elder; during which Jacobsen killed Dunford. Jacobsen was witness to the Elder and Gary's final battle, where Gary killed the Elder, as he had wished. Jacobsen and the others immediately bowed to their new Elder. Later, Jacobsen and the were-wolves were taken in by Gary and, with Jacobsen's influence, forms the Wolf Corps under Gary's command - Jacobsen, embracing his humanity, deeply expressed regret for his actions at the Elder's command, but Gary, having already forgiven him, stated all issues between them were settled and all were welcome with the were-wolves.
• "Gray Wolf" - A were-wolf, who real name is unknown, who is employed as an agent of the Global Defense Agency; who originally "attacked" Gary, pretending to work for the Elder, but secretly gave him a hidden communicator at Stedman's behest, as apparently Gary saved Gray Wolf's life. Later, following Gary's defeat of Gorgg, exoneration and return as a super-hero, Gray Wolf joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe. After a mission to shut down Impact's former employer, Gray Wolf revealed his identity - he was the rooftop gardener who Gary, in his first night as a werewolf, apparently killed while mindlessly wandering the rooftops; explaining that, as he had terminal cancer, his new werewolf abilities, given to him by Gary who instinctively sensed his sickness, healed him of - and then Gray Wolf, a retired CIA agent, found himself back in the spy game with the GDA, as a super-hero; leaving him happier than he has ever been. This revelation finally gives Gary closure on this incident (as Gray Wolf's believed death had haunted Gary for a long time afterwards). In the final issue, it is implied Gray Wolf is now the Hamptons' new butler and estate manager.

Collected editions

The series is being collected into trade paperbacks

Trade paperback (comics)

In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

:

• Volume 1 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #1-7, 96 pages, January 2008, ISBN 1582408629)
• Volume 2 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #8-12 and Invincible #57, 160 pages, April 2009, ISBN 1607060078)
• Volume 3 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #13-18, 166 pages, February 2010, ISBN 1607061112)
• Volume 4 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #19-25, 160 pages, January 2011, ISBN 1607062496)

The Astounding Wolf-Man is a comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series launched by Image Comics

Image Comics

Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...

 on May 5, 2007. It ran until its final 25th issue in 2010. The series was created and written by Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics, and Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt...

 with art by Jason Howard. The first issue of The Astounding Wolf-Man was given away for free as part of Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of in Concord, CA brainstormed the event in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer...

. A "director's cut" edition of the first issue was released the same date as the second issue.

The story is that of Gary Hampton, a CEO who is mauled by a werewolf

Werewolf

A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...

 while on a family vacation. The story revolves around Gary's efforts to use his powers for good and to be a superhero, despite having an evil curse.

Plot

The story begins when, while at Willow Creek Camping Ground in Montana, vacationing with his beautiful wife, Rebecca Hampton, and their loving daughter, Chloe Hampton, Gary was mauled one night and left near-dead by what his wife thought was a bear.

Attack & Aftermath

One month later, Gary awoke from a coma he had been in because of the attack, apparently restored from his previously grievous injuries - it is soon found out that Gary has not only survived this attack that would have killed a normal human, but has gained the ability to transform into a werewolf; the same night he regained consciousness, Gary unknowingly transformed into a werewolf and rampaged through town and even went as far as (apparently) killing a man. An oblivious Gary continues with his life, struggling to keep his business working in the aftermath of his highly-publicized attack and near-death. Ultimately, when he, Rebecca and their estate manager and Gary's closest friend, Dunford, check the security cameras - they discover aa transformed Gary. No sooner is this discovered that Gary is confronted by a vampire, Zechariah, who offered his knowledge of werewolves and his help to control his newly discovered powers.

In a matter of three weeks, Gary had nearly full control of his beastly form - he debuts as a superhero during a city fire, and is dubbed and hailed as "Wolf-Man" by the media. Zechariah and Gary also set up his new superhero identity, putting together an outfit with Art, and constructing a secret underground base - Gary's superhero career has officially began.

Tension

Gary quickly rose to prominence among existing superheroes, after he managed to help a group of super heroes called the "Actioneers" fight some form of slime beast (he quickly left, however, because he still felt too new to meet any real heroes). The next night he stayed home and while he was getting intimate with his wife his transformation was triggered but he could not control it, he fled his home, went into town, and he slaughtered Sergeant Superior, one of the heroes he had helped earlier.

Two weeks later we find Gary, looking depressed, sitting inside what appears to be the base that was being built. When Zechariah arrives Gary goes wolf and lunges at him. It's revealed that Zec has not been around for the last two weeks, ever since Gary killed Sergeant Superior. Zec explains everything and tells Gary it was supposed to happen just as severely as it had. Zec reveals that on the first day of every full moon Gary will become a feral werewolf holding only a very little part of his psyche inside that will protect anyone truly close to him. Gary apologizes and explains that he'll start patrolling again soon. When Gary returns home he is a bit unnerving and reinforces to his wife he still loves her and they'll be OK. The next day Gary returns to patrolling where we see the mysterious car in action driven by Zechariah. It manages to fling Gary into the air to catch a villain called Thrill Kill who kidnapped a woman. After Gary chases him across the rooftops, Thrill Kill tries to bargain with him by dropping the girl and forcing Gary to make a choice between defeating him and saving the girl. Gary lunges at him and they both fall off the roof, they battle in midair, and Gary manages to save the girl before they hit the ground. When they land the police try to arrest Gary which the woman defends him against while he exits. When Gary returns, he find the car damaged and Zec being held captive by a group of werewolves who call Gary "Elder Brood". He battles them and they run saying they were not prepared for an "Elder Brood". When Gary regroups with Zec he has many questions that Zec refuses to answer. The next day Gary tells his wife that he was fired and that some of the house keeping and luxuries they have will need to be cutback on. Dunford, Gary's butler, appears and explains that there are men had the door who are basically evicting Gary. Gary apologizes to his wife and says it's all falling apart.

New Home

After the family moved out of their house they moved into Gary's secret underground base. When his daughter arrived he felt it was time to show her his new self. He wolfed out on her and she was shocked and speechless, Dunford helped her to her room while she was in shock. That night Gary and Zec went out again, just as Gary was acknowledging how quiet it was he got a whiff of trouble and the werewolf group from before attacked him. Gary accidentally killed one because he was so aggressive. He explained to the group but they were only concerned in how powerful he was and could become. They started to tell Gary of all the secrets Zec has been keeping and that Gary is on the wrong side. The lead wolf begins attacking Gary demanding him to reveal Zec's location. Gary is beaten to a pulp and then the lead wolf explains that if Gary new the truth he would want to kill Zec as well. Zec shows up to protect Gary. He tells him to revert to human form than change back again. Zec and the lead wolf begin to argue, and after awhile it is revealed that Zec was once their friend until his blood lust drove him to killing an young female werewolf. Gary demands to know if the accusation is true and Zec confirms it but tries to give an excuse. The werewolf group begins telling Gary that Zec only trained him to be a bodyguard from them. Gary begins screaming at Zec asking him if he wanted his blood and saying how much he trusted him. Gary snaps and chops off Zec's head with his claws, seemingly killing him. The lead wolf, revealed to be named Jacobson, attempts to take the head as a trophy, but Gary insisted that, because it was his kill, he should dispatch the body. Jacobson commemorates him and says he has made a powerful ally in him. When the werewolf group leaves, Zec returns in a misted form. It turns out the death was ploy and Gary still believes in Zec despite what he's done and doesn't feel Zec has to prove himself. Zec thanks him for their friendship. The pair part agreeing to meet again tomorrow night.

The next night Gary stops Eruptor from killing people at the offices of The New Tribune, later that day Gary and Rebbecca are talking about what are they going to do the next full moon, meanwhile their daughter is still trying to deal with the fact that her dad is a werewolf. That night Zechariah explains why Jacobson called him "Elder Brood." Gary finds out that he was not attacked by not just any werewolf he was attacked by an elder werewolf. Which are the oldest, and most powerful werewolves alive. Zechariah explains that they don't attack just anyone they choose who they attack. Gary then battles Construct and with the aid of Kid Thor she is defeated and sent to jail. Gary and Zechariah agree to try to find the elder who turned him. The next night Chloe walks into a room where her father is locked up so he cant attack his family or anyone. Rebecca tells Chloe that her father will need to do this every mouth but it will get better. Chloe says "Will it ever get better, what if it keeps getting worse?"

One night while Gary and Zechariah were patrolling the city they noticed Capes, Inc. was under attack and he joined in the fight. Wolf-Man and Zechariah were captured. Wolf-Man was the only hero able to break out of his prison, he aided Invincible and Atom Eve in battle. Even with Zechariah's help all four heroes fell. When backup arrived, all the heroes were freed. After the fight Wolf-Man and Zechariah went back to work.

Shorty after, Wolf-Man joined Brit, Invincible, Tech Jacket, and Donald in an effort to stop The Emperor.

The Ultimate Team & Break-Up

After the family got settled with their new home, Chloe continues with her life. Chloe is at a tennis match against one her rich friends named: Carly. Chloe lost the game to her and goes to congratulate her, but her kindness is met with the disgust for her. Carly doesn't care and is embarrassed just for playing against her. Treating her like she is a different species from her by saying: "Your Kind", all because everyone now knows that her family got kicked out of her house and are poor. Out of anger Chloe strikes down Carly with her tennis racket. Later, the family returns to " Wolf-Man's Lair" and Chloe immediately storms off to her room. Rebbecca goes to talk to her. Rebbecca finds out that Chloe is the laughing stock of her school and is now called the "Homeless girl". Chloe than says "I think I hate him" (Out of anger to her Father [Gary]). Gary is upset and leaves for the night. Gary (Now in Werewolf form) is running across a rooftop with Zechariah trying to talk to him. But Gary is just ignoring him and when Zech asks what's wrong, Gary says: "Blowing off some steam". Jumping off the rooftop Gary lands on a car, and totally destroys the front part of it, that appears to being chased by the cops. The man in the car flies through the front wind-shield and Gary catches him before he hits the ground. The man is a scientist and says: Not cops......Never running from the cops. Running from Him." A giant man appears leaping towards the scientist. Gary tries to protect and stay away from him as long as he can. Rebbecca is shown meeting a man named: Nathan, at a restaurant. She says: Nathan--Please. The Last thing in the world I came here to do is talk about Gary". Mecha-Maid is shown to be near the scene of Garys' fight. She tells the rest of the Auctioneer that she has located their target. Mecha-Maid comments on how the Giant man is a human battery. That he absorbed Kinetic energy to get stronger. Using her advanced technology she found a way to turn him off. The scientist returns with a bunch of men and he's ordering them to get him in the car, quickly. Kinetic finally appears at the scene and immediately attacks Gary, shouting: "MURDERER!". Gary punches her off of him and the rest of the Auctioneers show up. Gary is trying to explain to them on what happened, but none of them will listen. Kinetic orders everyone back so she can have him, all to herself. Not giving Gary a chance to move she continues beating on him until the rest of the Actioneers start second guessing on whats happening. Than Sergeant Superior shows up. But he has become a vampire. Sergeant Superior gets the rest of the team to stop attacking him and he then escapes. He quickly meets Zechariah. Of course Gary is upset that Zechariah never told Gary that he brought Superior back to life and was somewhat upset he brought him back as a vampire. He tells Zechariah he never wants to see him again and wants him to stay out of his life.

Tragedy

Gary returns to the base, and Rebecca informs him that his lawyers called with happy news - the embezzlement investigation against Gary has been closed; with him cleared of all charges. The family's assets have now been un-frozen and they can now move back in their home...which Rebecca wants to do so without Gary; explaining she wants to separate for some time. Gary is devastated by this.

Gary leaves the room and talks to Dunford about how he wishes he was never Wolf-Man, and how he thought it would be a good thing to be able to physically do some good after doing so much through charities. He promises Dunford his activities as Wolf-Man will end.

Gary tracks Rebecca down again, and after a short talk - Gary explaining he understands and accepts her request to be away from him for a time, but he will nevertheless try to put all that had happened right and make it up to her, Rebecca then kisses him, accepting his promise and reveals she still hopes things can work out between them.

As Rebecca is attending to her and Chloe's suitcases, Zechariah appears, wanting Rebecca's help in getting Gary to trust him again, so he can help him in his activities. Rebecca, however, is upset over what Gary previously told her and expresses her belief his appearance in Gary's life has been responsible for all the hardships he has suffered. When Zechariah grabs Rebecca's arm to make her listen, Rebecca scratches him across the face when she struggles to get free. Zechariah, momentarily overcome with fury that a human had struck him, back-hands her across the face so hard it breaks Rebecca's neck.

Zechariah begins to panic, guilty over what he did, and tries desperately to revive a fallen Rebecca by piercing her neck with his teeth and feeding on her blood, planning to revive her as a vampire. Gary walks in and charges at him, transforming in a fury and forcing Zechariah to stop - leaving Rebecca to bleed to death on the floor. Zechariah quickly tries to explain that due to feeding on Sergeant Superior's super-human blood he was over-come with the need to feed and lost track of his senses for only a moment. With Gary not wishing to listen, Zechariah vanishes into mist.

Gary runs to Rebecca's dead body - upon finding her lifeless, Gary, cradling her, screams out in agony...and Chloe walks in, seeing her mother dead and Gary, transformed and now covered in blood, is shocked into silence and starts crying. Gary tries to reach out to his daughter, only for Chloe, collapsing in fear, pleadingly whispers for him not to kill her - Chloe, no doubt believing he killed her. Gary, stricken and knowing he cannot convince her otherwise and his old life is over, walks away. Dunford walks in, shocked by the scene, and Gary asks him to watch over Chloe. Gary then leaves; with a shocked Dunford, sobbing Chloe and dead Rebecca behind him.

Later, the Actioneers are found to have been butchered, torn to pieces and killed by Sergeant Superior - they then begin to rise again, now vampires, in Zechariah's home, and Superior address Zechariah, visibly consumed with grief at his actions with Rebecca, as "master".

Fugitive

Days following Rebecca's death, it is now public knowledge Gary, now missing, is Wolf-Man - it is believed Gary to have committed the crime, instead of Zechariah, with the idea that Gary could not properly control his powers, snapped and then brutally murdered his wife, and then nearly killed Chloe before running away. Chloe, believing her father had lost his mind and was now out of control, resulting in her mother's death, plots revenge - after coping with attending her mother's funeral (attended beside Dunford, Gary and Rebecca's parents, Singleton and countless other mourners) by destroying all of her pictures of Gary, Chloe secretly hires Damien Darkblood to track down Zechariah, in an effort to be training and conditioned to kill her father, avenging her mother - all the while, not knowing it was in fact Zechariah who murdered her. Dunford, now Chloe's guardian with Rebecca dead and Gary a fugitive, tries his best to comfort and support Chloe through this time - to no effect.

Gary, meanwhile, has gone on the run - on the road with nothing to his name; gradually he makes his way back to Willow Creek Campground; the place where he was attacked and turned into a werewolf. It is here he discovers "The Elder" - the elder brood werewolf that gave him his powers; and, thirsting for revenge, demands to be trained so he can kill Zechariah (thus explaining his journey to Willow Creek). The Elder begins to train Gary to better use his powers. Meanwhile, Gary is still being hunted by Hunter; an immortal government agent.

Gary continues to run from the authorities; and soon other super-heroes, most notably the Guardians of the Globe, give chase. Invincible, at GDA Director Cecil Stedman's request, also tracks down and finds Gary to attack and capture him, though, after working together to beat Giant, a rampaging giant attacking Willow Creek forest, Invincible, after seeing how upset Gary is over Rebecca's death, realized that Gary was not a killer and didn't kill his wife; however the Guardians of the Globe didn't believe him and they fought them both to capture Gary; who, with help from Invincible, he escaped back to the Elder.

Imprisonment

Gary was finally caught when, even though he was granted partial protection and support from Stedman, who now believed Gary's innocence due to Invincible's actions, he was still unable to overcome his grief for Rebecca and, going alone, visit Rebecca's grave - upon which he breaks down, crying uncontrollably. This lasts until dawn - when his powers are in-active - and Hunter and a team of agents, who were monitoring the site of Rebecca's grave in the hopes Gary would come - confront him at gunpoint. Remembering the martial arts skills he received from the Elder, Gary fights them and tries to escape, but Hunter intercepts and defeats Gary - finishing him by smashing his head against Rebecca's gravestone.

Meanwhile, Dunford finally confronts Chloe about her behaviour - and goes into length about much of a kind and generous man her father is - Chloe, however, doesn't disagree with any of his words, as, by this point, she has come to the belief her actual father is dead, and the identity of Wolf-Man is the "deranged, inhuman beast" he became is what she is angry at and believes killed her mother. Upon hearing of Gary's arrest, Chloe leaves home to continue her training with Zechariah, who provided it so that she can take her revenge on her father. However she still isn't powerful enough to kill him so Zechariah, manipulating her from the beginning and playing along with her belief her father is guilty, has been feeding her his blood; which only gives her temporary powers as, seemingly displaying the regret he has towards what he has done to Gary, he is not willing to turn her into a true vampire, no matter what.

After the long and well-publicized "Hampton Trial", Gary is ultimately found guilty of Rebecca's murder - based entirely on circumstantial evidence (namely that the teeth markings on Rebecca's neck; the wounds that caused her to bleed to death, never matched Gary's in human or wolf form, but the prosecution successfully argued the bite could have occurred in mid-transformation, explaining this discrepancy) and Chloe's testimony, though he avoids the death penalty, as Hunter wished he would receive - Gary is sentenced to life in Stronghold Penitentiary, a super-prison, and is taken there alongside Eruptor, Thrill Kill and Construct (who were recently beaten by the Elder when they searched for Gary in the Elder's forest). After Thrill Kill kills a guard protecting Gary, he is beaten by the enraged guards. Later, Gary is brought to see "The Face" - a powerful criminal inside the prison who has de-facto control of the entire prison through its corrupt warden and guards. The Face confidently demands Gary's immediate loyalty, explaining he has big plans to strike against the country upon escaping from prison, in revenge for his incarceration, and Gary, because of his prior international business success, would surely have access to such means of travel to a safe location to begin his revenge efforts, potentially making him a valuable asset to his plans. Face incentives Gary to accept, pointing out if he did not, things in prison would get so bad for him he would surely die within days, as by this point Gary is despised by the entire world; who see him as yet another supervillain. Gary flatly refuses, deciding to take his chances with the guards.

Gary's stance changes when Dunford comes to visit - and says Chloe is gone; Dunford explains to an outraged Gary that Chloe left after his conviction and, despite the police investigating and private investigators being hired, no-one can find her. Later, Gary is brought back to Face; faced with the choice of either accepting his offer or face the wrath of the guards again. Gary, a broken man, promises Face to do whatever he wants if he helpds him find his daughter. Delighted, Face has Gary's power draining collar removed, to see his powers in action - this proves a mistake, as, due to the Moon Rage suppressed through Gary's arrest, trial and initial imprisonment, Gary transforms uncontrollably and kills many attacking guards. Later, Gary explains this to Face, who had initially thought Gary had tried to betray and kill him. Face begrudgingly accepts his explanation and relations between them are restored.

Unknown to Face, Gary had secretly brought all of Face's plans to Stedman's attention - who arranged to have Gary's collar modified to Gary could secretly access his abilities. Stedman confirms he is still trying to exonerate Gary and locate Chloe; and the two agree for Gary to go along with Face following his escape to better understand and stop his plans.

Attack on Stronghold

Finally, Zechariah, Chloe and the vampire Actioneers attack the prison, hoping to kill Gary. Zechariah goes toe to toe with Wolf-Man; the first time since Rebecca died - with Gary screaming that Zechariah killed his wife. Due to Gary's training with the Elder, he can now better fight Zechariah, and the two have a brutal battle, which is soon joined by the Guardians of the Globe, GDA reinforcements and the prison guards on one side, and escaing supervillains, including Face, on the other. Gary badly handicaps Zechaiah by chewing off one of his arms (after sucking it into his mouth while it was in mist form; a trick, among others, that the Elder taught him). Wolf-Man and Zechariah's fight finally goes Gary's way, and he manages to stake Zechariah to the ground with a broken piece of wood; binding him to the earth itself and leaving him to die with the imminent sunrise. Gary ignores Zechariah's claims the Elder has more malicious intentions for him in the future.

Suddenly a voice screams out to them from the distance - a horrified Gary recognises it - it's Chloe; who leaps into the fray and beats down and holds her father at swordpoint, screaming he has to die for killing her mother. Gary, rather than defend himself, tries to explain what really happened with Rebecca, and finally reveals what Zechariah had done. This news shocks Chloe into silence, and Gary, overriding Zechariah's attempts to make Chloe not listen to him, pours his heart out to Chloe, saying he is still her father and still loves her and Rebecca, and would never harm them. Gary goes to hug her, and Chloe embraces him....and then, still not entirely believing him, stabs him through his chest with her sword.

Return to Grace

Gary calmly takes the sword out of his chest, and tries to give it back to a stunned Chloe; saying he won't fight her, and that if his death will help her, he would offer his life for her to take. Succumbing to his injury, Gary collapses in front of his daughter. After a few moments Chloe, seeing her father apparently dead on the ground, and remembering how much he had tried to make her believe him, finally sees the truh and runs to her father's side; a tearful Chloe apologizes to Gary, saying she thought she had lost both him and her mother, and begs him not to die.

They are both attacked by Thrill Kill and Kursk; Gary, regenerating from his injuries, fights beside Chloe to beat the two, but the Actioneers are still fighting with the prisoners and guards. Gary, following through with his plan to stop Face, parts ways with Chloe - the two now reconciled. Gary, pretending he helped arrange the attack with Mecha-Maid, escapes Stronghold with Face, Eruptor, Construct and a captive Mecha-Maid; who was hurt in the fight.

The fight ends, and Cecil arrested the Actioneers and even found a still living Zec and arrests him. He also takes Chloe with him to keep her safe. Meanwhile Gary and Mecha-Maid are flying with the Face and his people. He asks Gary to use his contacts to go to the next part of his plan. Meanwhile he is being watched by another werewolf.

Conclusion

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics, and Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt...

 ended The Astounding Wolf-Man in 2010 with the story arc 'Legacy'. Although Wolf-Man's own series was concluded and all loose ends tied up, Kirkman pointed out that characters from Wolf-Man's universe would still cross over into his other characters' lives as they inhabit the same universe http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23378 - Wolf-Man himself appeared in the Invincible

Invincible (comics)

Invincible is a superhero in the . Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker, the character first appeared in Tech Jacket #1 , before graduating to his own self-titled regular series in 2003, as a title in Image's then-new superhero line.Invincible is the teenaged son of Omni-Man, an...

 series several times.

Characters

• Gary Hampton aka "Wolf-Man" - the main protagonist of the series; a successful businessman turned superhero following an incident that left him with were-wolf abilities.
• Rebecca Hampton - Gary's beautiful wife. Killed in Issue #7 by Zechariah; who she struck across the face after expressing her disdain for him; Zechariah, momentarily blinded by rage, responded by hitting her across the face and breaking her neck, and then fatally biting her neck, causing Rebecca to bleed to death.
• Chloe Hampton aka "Vampire Girl" - Gary's loving daughter, she is close to both of her parents.
• Dunford - The estate manager, butler and life-long friend to the Hampton family; formerly a businessman whose company was bought out by Gary during his rise in the business world, Dunford was actually offered a position in Hampton Industries, but chose to retire instead. Following his wife's death, Dunford, who was friends with Gary by then, was invited to stay with his family as their estate manager. Dunford is Gary's closest friend and sees him as kind and generous man who has only ever wanted to help people; a belief that leads to him to be the (initially) only one who believes Gary's innocence following Rebecca's death. Dunford is made Chloe's legal guardian during this time, and ultimately is successful in getting her through her grief. Killed in Issue #22 by Jacobsen and the were-wolves following their attack on the Hampton estate. Gary, Chloe, Mecha-Maid and Elise attend his private funeral.
• Maria - The loyal maid to the Hampton family; reluctantly let go following Gary's loss of his company, which forced the family to cut back on luxuries.
• Nathan Singleton - A corporate CEO and head of Singleton Enterprises; Hampton Industries' greatest rival. Singleton himself was a rival to Gary for years, and later embarked upon an affair with a lonely Rebecca - and gained information from her about Gary's company that almost ruined him. Singleton, despite appearing to have taken advantage of his relationship with Rebecca in order to hurt Gary's business, was actually in love with Rebecca, and, even after the two ended their relationship, he was still happy to get back together when Rebecca distanced herself from Gary, during his early days as Wolf-Man, and reached back out to Singleton. Singleton was last seen attending Rebecca's funeral, alongside Chloe, Dunford and Gary and Rebecca's parents.
• Zechariah - A vampire who approached Gary immediately following his discovery of his abilities; Gary posed as a friend and mentor to Gary in his early days as Wolf-Man; teaching him all he knew about were-wolves and how to control his abilities, as well as establishing his Wolf-Man identity. Ultimately, Gary's trust in Zechariah crumbled when he realized how much Zechariah was keeping from him - when Zechariah tried to find and reconcile with Gary; instead he met Rebecca, and a confrontation led him to kill Gary's wife in a brief moment of rage. Zechariah left Gary to take the blame - though was finally caught following his attack on Stronghold Prison, setting the record straight. Zechariah escaped with Mecha-Maid's assistance and, avoiding her trap with Gary, plotted revenge and kidnapped Chloe to turn into a vampire. Zechariah was killed in the final issue, before he could succeed, when the Elder tore Zechariah's heart out of chest and consumed it, killing him and reducing him to a skeleton in seconds - finally ending his evil actions and interference in Gary's life.
• The Actioneers - A team of super-heroes who are killed and revived as vampires by Zechariah to serve him; despite retaining their memories, their instinctive loyalty to Zechariah is overpowering and follow him completely. The team was finally captured following their attack on Stronghold Prison; which they participated in beside Zechariah and Chloe, in order to track down and kill Gary. The team is kept in isolation inside GDA HQ beneath the Pentagon. In the final issue, the team, immediately following Zechariah's death, is restored to normal.
• Pamela aka "Mecha-Maid" - A member of the Actioneers super-hero team; who, being a robot, was instead disassembled and kept captive by Zechariah and the now-vampire Actioneers. Mecha-Maid finally escapes when they departed, alongside Chloe, to attack Stronghold Prison, and Mecha-Maid followed and was caught in the fray, being captured by Face and his team - but was spared at Gary's insistence and later joined him as his super-hero partner (and possible love interest). Mecha-Maid later joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe and, accepting Gary's advice to let her child grow and develop on her own, constructs a robot body for Elise. In the final issue, Mecha-Maid is seen happily reuniting with the restored Actioneers.
• Elise - The artificially-created "daughter" of Mecha-Maid; initially just a hologram, she is much later given a robot body to live independently.
• Agent Hunter - An agent of the Global Defense Agency; who also has the ability to survive all type of injury and completely regenerate from his wounds, regardless of how fatal they are (e.g. decapitation). Hunter is placed in charge of the Wolf-Man investigation and, with his human partner and with the backing of the GDA and Guardians of the Globe, relentlessly track Gary down to arrest him, completely believing Gary murdered Rebecca, despite numerous attempts, on Gary's part, to change his mind. Hunter ultimately succeeded when Gary was caught at Rebecca's grave. Later, however, Hunter found he had been mistaken about Gary all along, and was ordered by Stedman to let go of his investigation after it was shut down. Hunter and Gary, apparently, made amends, and together joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe.
• Director Cecil Stedman - The leader of the Global Defense Agency; Stedman is an enigmatic and very powerful U.S. government figure, who later becomes Gary's strongest ally following Rebecca's death, working tirelessly to aid him and later exonerate him for Zechariah's crime. Stedman later recruits Gary to the expanded Guardians of the Globe, and later gives his blessing to Gary's formation of his own team - The Wolf Corps. He is a main character in the Invincible series; where is history and position is further explored.
• "The Face" - A powerful criminal with two-merged faces and a third laser-blasting eye, who was in de-facto control of Stronghold Prison; formerly the most powerful member of a defunct criminal organisation known as "The Body" - with Face being last to fall and be imprisoned. Face escaped Stronghold with Gary to the UK; and then released Gorgg, who betrayed Face and consumed him. Face was presumed dead, until he was found alive in Gorgg's remains during the salvation operation - immediately asking he be taken back to prison. Gary later confirmed to Construct that Face was sent back to prison as requested.
• Agent Donald Ferguson - An agent of the Global Defense Agency; who is also a robot, and later joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe. He becomes a friend to Gary and Chloe following Gary's exoneration.
• "The Elder" - An elder brood were-wolf and leader of all were-wolves in the world; the Elder was responsible for attacking and giving Gary his were-wolf powers, making him responsible for leaving Gary's old life in ruins, and his wife and best friend dead. In the final issue, the Elder confronts Gary for battle to test his worth - explaining he had chosen Gary to succeed him as Elder of the were-wolves so they may be redeemed and become great once again. After a fierce battle, Gary fatally strikes Elder across his throat and he ultimately collapsed and bled to death - a victorious Gary stood over his body, and the surrounding were-wolves immediately bowed to their new Elder.
• Jacobsen - An influential were-wolf under the Elder's command; Jacobsen first meets Gary while seeking to kill Zechariah to avenge his murder of one of his children - when Gary (apparently) does so, Jacobsen immediately declares he and all behind him will consider Gary an ally and friend to the were-wolves. Much later, Jacobsen and the were-wolves returned to attack the Hampton estate, declaring Gary was marked for death by the Elder; during which Jacobsen killed Dunford. Jacobsen was witness to the Elder and Gary's final battle, where Gary killed the Elder, as he had wished. Jacobsen and the others immediately bowed to their new Elder. Later, Jacobsen and the were-wolves were taken in by Gary and, with Jacobsen's influence, forms the Wolf Corps under Gary's command - Jacobsen, embracing his humanity, deeply expressed regret for his actions at the Elder's command, but Gary, having already forgiven him, stated all issues between them were settled and all were welcome with the were-wolves.
• "Gray Wolf" - A were-wolf, who real name is unknown, who is employed as an agent of the Global Defense Agency; who originally "attacked" Gary, pretending to work for the Elder, but secretly gave him a hidden communicator at Stedman's behest, as apparently Gary saved Gray Wolf's life. Later, following Gary's defeat of Gorgg, exoneration and return as a super-hero, Gray Wolf joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe. After a mission to shut down Impact's former employer, Gray Wolf revealed his identity - he was the rooftop gardener who Gary, in his first night as a werewolf, apparently killed while mindlessly wandering the rooftops; explaining that, as he had terminal cancer, his new werewolf abilities, given to him by Gary who instinctively sensed his sickness, healed him of - and then Gray Wolf, a retired CIA agent, found himself back in the spy game with the GDA, as a super-hero; leaving him happier than he has ever been. This revelation finally gives Gary closure on this incident (as Gray Wolf's believed death had haunted Gary for a long time afterwards). In the final issue, it is implied Gray Wolf is now the Hamptons' new butler and estate manager.

Collected editions

The series is being collected into trade paperbacks

Trade paperback (comics)

In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

:

• Volume 1 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #1-7, 96 pages, January 2008, ISBN 1582408629)
• Volume 2 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #8-12 and Invincible #57, 160 pages, April 2009, ISBN 1607060078)
• Volume 3 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #13-18, 166 pages, February 2010, ISBN 1607061112)
• Volume 4 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #19-25, 160 pages, January 2011, ISBN 1607062496)

The Astounding Wolf-Man is a comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 series launched by Image Comics

Image Comics

Image Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...

 on May 5, 2007. It ran until its final 25th issue in 2010. The series was created and written by Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics, and Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt...

 with art by Jason Howard. The first issue of The Astounding Wolf-Man was given away for free as part of Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day

Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic book stores. Retailer Joe Field of in Concord, CA brainstormed the event in his "Big Picture" column in the August 2001 issue of Comics & Games Retailer...

. A "director's cut" edition of the first issue was released the same date as the second issue.

The story is that of Gary Hampton, a CEO who is mauled by a werewolf

Werewolf

A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...

 while on a family vacation. The story revolves around Gary's efforts to use his powers for good and to be a superhero, despite having an evil curse.

Plot

The story begins when, while at Willow Creek Camping Ground in Montana, vacationing with his beautiful wife, Rebecca Hampton, and their loving daughter, Chloe Hampton, Gary was mauled one night and left near-dead by what his wife thought was a bear.

Attack & Aftermath

One month later, Gary awoke from a coma he had been in because of the attack, apparently restored from his previously grievous injuries - it is soon found out that Gary has not only survived this attack that would have killed a normal human, but has gained the ability to transform into a werewolf; the same night he regained consciousness, Gary unknowingly transformed into a werewolf and rampaged through town and even went as far as (apparently) killing a man. An oblivious Gary continues with his life, struggling to keep his business working in the aftermath of his highly-publicized attack and near-death. Ultimately, when he, Rebecca and their estate manager and Gary's closest friend, Dunford, check the security cameras - they discover aa transformed Gary. No sooner is this discovered that Gary is confronted by a vampire, Zechariah, who offered his knowledge of werewolves and his help to control his newly discovered powers.

In a matter of three weeks, Gary had nearly full control of his beastly form - he debuts as a superhero during a city fire, and is dubbed and hailed as "Wolf-Man" by the media. Zechariah and Gary also set up his new superhero identity, putting together an outfit with Art, and constructing a secret underground base - Gary's superhero career has officially began.

Tension

Gary quickly rose to prominence among existing superheroes, after he managed to help a group of super heroes called the "Actioneers" fight some form of slime beast (he quickly left, however, because he still felt too new to meet any real heroes). The next night he stayed home and while he was getting intimate with his wife his transformation was triggered but he could not control it, he fled his home, went into town, and he slaughtered Sergeant Superior, one of the heroes he had helped earlier.

Two weeks later we find Gary, looking depressed, sitting inside what appears to be the base that was being built. When Zechariah arrives Gary goes wolf and lunges at him. It's revealed that Zec has not been around for the last two weeks, ever since Gary killed Sergeant Superior. Zec explains everything and tells Gary it was supposed to happen just as severely as it had. Zec reveals that on the first day of every full moon Gary will become a feral werewolf holding only a very little part of his psyche inside that will protect anyone truly close to him. Gary apologizes and explains that he'll start patrolling again soon. When Gary returns home he is a bit unnerving and reinforces to his wife he still loves her and they'll be OK. The next day Gary returns to patrolling where we see the mysterious car in action driven by Zechariah. It manages to fling Gary into the air to catch a villain called Thrill Kill who kidnapped a woman. After Gary chases him across the rooftops, Thrill Kill tries to bargain with him by dropping the girl and forcing Gary to make a choice between defeating him and saving the girl. Gary lunges at him and they both fall off the roof, they battle in midair, and Gary manages to save the girl before they hit the ground. When they land the police try to arrest Gary which the woman defends him against while he exits. When Gary returns, he find the car damaged and Zec being held captive by a group of werewolves who call Gary "Elder Brood". He battles them and they run saying they were not prepared for an "Elder Brood". When Gary regroups with Zec he has many questions that Zec refuses to answer. The next day Gary tells his wife that he was fired and that some of the house keeping and luxuries they have will need to be cutback on. Dunford, Gary's butler, appears and explains that there are men had the door who are basically evicting Gary. Gary apologizes to his wife and says it's all falling apart.

New Home

After the family moved out of their house they moved into Gary's secret underground base. When his daughter arrived he felt it was time to show her his new self. He wolfed out on her and she was shocked and speechless, Dunford helped her to her room while she was in shock. That night Gary and Zec went out again, just as Gary was acknowledging how quiet it was he got a whiff of trouble and the werewolf group from before attacked him. Gary accidentally killed one because he was so aggressive. He explained to the group but they were only concerned in how powerful he was and could become. They started to tell Gary of all the secrets Zec has been keeping and that Gary is on the wrong side. The lead wolf begins attacking Gary demanding him to reveal Zec's location. Gary is beaten to a pulp and then the lead wolf explains that if Gary new the truth he would want to kill Zec as well. Zec shows up to protect Gary. He tells him to revert to human form than change back again. Zec and the lead wolf begin to argue, and after awhile it is revealed that Zec was once their friend until his blood lust drove him to killing an young female werewolf. Gary demands to know if the accusation is true and Zec confirms it but tries to give an excuse. The werewolf group begins telling Gary that Zec only trained him to be a bodyguard from them. Gary begins screaming at Zec asking him if he wanted his blood and saying how much he trusted him. Gary snaps and chops off Zec's head with his claws, seemingly killing him. The lead wolf, revealed to be named Jacobson, attempts to take the head as a trophy, but Gary insisted that, because it was his kill, he should dispatch the body. Jacobson commemorates him and says he has made a powerful ally in him. When the werewolf group leaves, Zec returns in a misted form. It turns out the death was ploy and Gary still believes in Zec despite what he's done and doesn't feel Zec has to prove himself. Zec thanks him for their friendship. The pair part agreeing to meet again tomorrow night.

The next night Gary stops Eruptor from killing people at the offices of The New Tribune, later that day Gary and Rebbecca are talking about what are they going to do the next full moon, meanwhile their daughter is still trying to deal with the fact that her dad is a werewolf. That night Zechariah explains why Jacobson called him "Elder Brood." Gary finds out that he was not attacked by not just any werewolf he was attacked by an elder werewolf. Which are the oldest, and most powerful werewolves alive. Zechariah explains that they don't attack just anyone they choose who they attack. Gary then battles Construct and with the aid of Kid Thor she is defeated and sent to jail. Gary and Zechariah agree to try to find the elder who turned him. The next night Chloe walks into a room where her father is locked up so he cant attack his family or anyone. Rebecca tells Chloe that her father will need to do this every mouth but it will get better. Chloe says "Will it ever get better, what if it keeps getting worse?"

One night while Gary and Zechariah were patrolling the city they noticed Capes, Inc. was under attack and he joined in the fight. Wolf-Man and Zechariah were captured. Wolf-Man was the only hero able to break out of his prison, he aided Invincible and Atom Eve in battle. Even with Zechariah's help all four heroes fell. When backup arrived, all the heroes were freed. After the fight Wolf-Man and Zechariah went back to work.

Shorty after, Wolf-Man joined Brit, Invincible, Tech Jacket, and Donald in an effort to stop The Emperor.

The Ultimate Team & Break-Up

After the family got settled with their new home, Chloe continues with her life. Chloe is at a tennis match against one her rich friends named: Carly. Chloe lost the game to her and goes to congratulate her, but her kindness is met with the disgust for her. Carly doesn't care and is embarrassed just for playing against her. Treating her like she is a different species from her by saying: "Your Kind", all because everyone now knows that her family got kicked out of her house and are poor. Out of anger Chloe strikes down Carly with her tennis racket. Later, the family returns to " Wolf-Man's Lair" and Chloe immediately storms off to her room. Rebbecca goes to talk to her. Rebbecca finds out that Chloe is the laughing stock of her school and is now called the "Homeless girl". Chloe than says "I think I hate him" (Out of anger to her Father [Gary]). Gary is upset and leaves for the night. Gary (Now in Werewolf form) is running across a rooftop with Zechariah trying to talk to him. But Gary is just ignoring him and when Zech asks what's wrong, Gary says: "Blowing off some steam". Jumping off the rooftop Gary lands on a car, and totally destroys the front part of it, that appears to being chased by the cops. The man in the car flies through the front wind-shield and Gary catches him before he hits the ground. The man is a scientist and says: Not cops......Never running from the cops. Running from Him." A giant man appears leaping towards the scientist. Gary tries to protect and stay away from him as long as he can. Rebbecca is shown meeting a man named: Nathan, at a restaurant. She says: Nathan--Please. The Last thing in the world I came here to do is talk about Gary". Mecha-Maid is shown to be near the scene of Garys' fight. She tells the rest of the Auctioneer that she has located their target. Mecha-Maid comments on how the Giant man is a human battery. That he absorbed Kinetic energy to get stronger. Using her advanced technology she found a way to turn him off. The scientist returns with a bunch of men and he's ordering them to get him in the car, quickly. Kinetic finally appears at the scene and immediately attacks Gary, shouting: "MURDERER!". Gary punches her off of him and the rest of the Auctioneers show up. Gary is trying to explain to them on what happened, but none of them will listen. Kinetic orders everyone back so she can have him, all to herself. Not giving Gary a chance to move she continues beating on him until the rest of the Actioneers start second guessing on whats happening. Than Sergeant Superior shows up. But he has become a vampire. Sergeant Superior gets the rest of the team to stop attacking him and he then escapes. He quickly meets Zechariah. Of course Gary is upset that Zechariah never told Gary that he brought Superior back to life and was somewhat upset he brought him back as a vampire. He tells Zechariah he never wants to see him again and wants him to stay out of his life.

Tragedy

Gary returns to the base, and Rebecca informs him that his lawyers called with happy news - the embezzlement investigation against Gary has been closed; with him cleared of all charges. The family's assets have now been un-frozen and they can now move back in their home...which Rebecca wants to do so without Gary; explaining she wants to separate for some time. Gary is devastated by this.

Gary leaves the room and talks to Dunford about how he wishes he was never Wolf-Man, and how he thought it would be a good thing to be able to physically do some good after doing so much through charities. He promises Dunford his activities as Wolf-Man will end.

Gary tracks Rebecca down again, and after a short talk - Gary explaining he understands and accepts her request to be away from him for a time, but he will nevertheless try to put all that had happened right and make it up to her, Rebecca then kisses him, accepting his promise and reveals she still hopes things can work out between them.

As Rebecca is attending to her and Chloe's suitcases, Zechariah appears, wanting Rebecca's help in getting Gary to trust him again, so he can help him in his activities. Rebecca, however, is upset over what Gary previously told her and expresses her belief his appearance in Gary's life has been responsible for all the hardships he has suffered. When Zechariah grabs Rebecca's arm to make her listen, Rebecca scratches him across the face when she struggles to get free. Zechariah, momentarily overcome with fury that a human had struck him, back-hands her across the face so hard it breaks Rebecca's neck.

Zechariah begins to panic, guilty over what he did, and tries desperately to revive a fallen Rebecca by piercing her neck with his teeth and feeding on her blood, planning to revive her as a vampire. Gary walks in and charges at him, transforming in a fury and forcing Zechariah to stop - leaving Rebecca to bleed to death on the floor. Zechariah quickly tries to explain that due to feeding on Sergeant Superior's super-human blood he was over-come with the need to feed and lost track of his senses for only a moment. With Gary not wishing to listen, Zechariah vanishes into mist.

Gary runs to Rebecca's dead body - upon finding her lifeless, Gary, cradling her, screams out in agony...and Chloe walks in, seeing her mother dead and Gary, transformed and now covered in blood, is shocked into silence and starts crying. Gary tries to reach out to his daughter, only for Chloe, collapsing in fear, pleadingly whispers for him not to kill her - Chloe, no doubt believing he killed her. Gary, stricken and knowing he cannot convince her otherwise and his old life is over, walks away. Dunford walks in, shocked by the scene, and Gary asks him to watch over Chloe. Gary then leaves; with a shocked Dunford, sobbing Chloe and dead Rebecca behind him.

Later, the Actioneers are found to have been butchered, torn to pieces and killed by Sergeant Superior - they then begin to rise again, now vampires, in Zechariah's home, and Superior address Zechariah, visibly consumed with grief at his actions with Rebecca, as "master".

Fugitive

Days following Rebecca's death, it is now public knowledge Gary, now missing, is Wolf-Man - it is believed Gary to have committed the crime, instead of Zechariah, with the idea that Gary could not properly control his powers, snapped and then brutally murdered his wife, and then nearly killed Chloe before running away. Chloe, believing her father had lost his mind and was now out of control, resulting in her mother's death, plots revenge - after coping with attending her mother's funeral (attended beside Dunford, Gary and Rebecca's parents, Singleton and countless other mourners) by destroying all of her pictures of Gary, Chloe secretly hires Damien Darkblood to track down Zechariah, in an effort to be training and conditioned to kill her father, avenging her mother - all the while, not knowing it was in fact Zechariah who murdered her. Dunford, now Chloe's guardian with Rebecca dead and Gary a fugitive, tries his best to comfort and support Chloe through this time - to no effect.

Gary, meanwhile, has gone on the run - on the road with nothing to his name; gradually he makes his way back to Willow Creek Campground; the place where he was attacked and turned into a werewolf. It is here he discovers "The Elder" - the elder brood werewolf that gave him his powers; and, thirsting for revenge, demands to be trained so he can kill Zechariah (thus explaining his journey to Willow Creek). The Elder begins to train Gary to better use his powers. Meanwhile, Gary is still being hunted by Hunter; an immortal government agent.

Gary continues to run from the authorities; and soon other super-heroes, most notably the Guardians of the Globe, give chase. Invincible, at GDA Director Cecil Stedman's request, also tracks down and finds Gary to attack and capture him, though, after working together to beat Giant, a rampaging giant attacking Willow Creek forest, Invincible, after seeing how upset Gary is over Rebecca's death, realized that Gary was not a killer and didn't kill his wife; however the Guardians of the Globe didn't believe him and they fought them both to capture Gary; who, with help from Invincible, he escaped back to the Elder.

Imprisonment

Gary was finally caught when, even though he was granted partial protection and support from Stedman, who now believed Gary's innocence due to Invincible's actions, he was still unable to overcome his grief for Rebecca and, going alone, visit Rebecca's grave - upon which he breaks down, crying uncontrollably. This lasts until dawn - when his powers are in-active - and Hunter and a team of agents, who were monitoring the site of Rebecca's grave in the hopes Gary would come - confront him at gunpoint. Remembering the martial arts skills he received from the Elder, Gary fights them and tries to escape, but Hunter intercepts and defeats Gary - finishing him by smashing his head against Rebecca's gravestone.

Meanwhile, Dunford finally confronts Chloe about her behaviour - and goes into length about much of a kind and generous man her father is - Chloe, however, doesn't disagree with any of his words, as, by this point, she has come to the belief her actual father is dead, and the identity of Wolf-Man is the "deranged, inhuman beast" he became is what she is angry at and believes killed her mother. Upon hearing of Gary's arrest, Chloe leaves home to continue her training with Zechariah, who provided it so that she can take her revenge on her father. However she still isn't powerful enough to kill him so Zechariah, manipulating her from the beginning and playing along with her belief her father is guilty, has been feeding her his blood; which only gives her temporary powers as, seemingly displaying the regret he has towards what he has done to Gary, he is not willing to turn her into a true vampire, no matter what.

After the long and well-publicized "Hampton Trial", Gary is ultimately found guilty of Rebecca's murder - based entirely on circumstantial evidence (namely that the teeth markings on Rebecca's neck; the wounds that caused her to bleed to death, never matched Gary's in human or wolf form, but the prosecution successfully argued the bite could have occurred in mid-transformation, explaining this discrepancy) and Chloe's testimony, though he avoids the death penalty, as Hunter wished he would receive - Gary is sentenced to life in Stronghold Penitentiary, a super-prison, and is taken there alongside Eruptor, Thrill Kill and Construct (who were recently beaten by the Elder when they searched for Gary in the Elder's forest). After Thrill Kill kills a guard protecting Gary, he is beaten by the enraged guards. Later, Gary is brought to see "The Face" - a powerful criminal inside the prison who has de-facto control of the entire prison through its corrupt warden and guards. The Face confidently demands Gary's immediate loyalty, explaining he has big plans to strike against the country upon escaping from prison, in revenge for his incarceration, and Gary, because of his prior international business success, would surely have access to such means of travel to a safe location to begin his revenge efforts, potentially making him a valuable asset to his plans. Face incentives Gary to accept, pointing out if he did not, things in prison would get so bad for him he would surely die within days, as by this point Gary is despised by the entire world; who see him as yet another supervillain. Gary flatly refuses, deciding to take his chances with the guards.

Gary's stance changes when Dunford comes to visit - and says Chloe is gone; Dunford explains to an outraged Gary that Chloe left after his conviction and, despite the police investigating and private investigators being hired, no-one can find her. Later, Gary is brought back to Face; faced with the choice of either accepting his offer or face the wrath of the guards again. Gary, a broken man, promises Face to do whatever he wants if he helpds him find his daughter. Delighted, Face has Gary's power draining collar removed, to see his powers in action - this proves a mistake, as, due to the Moon Rage suppressed through Gary's arrest, trial and initial imprisonment, Gary transforms uncontrollably and kills many attacking guards. Later, Gary explains this to Face, who had initially thought Gary had tried to betray and kill him. Face begrudgingly accepts his explanation and relations between them are restored.

Unknown to Face, Gary had secretly brought all of Face's plans to Stedman's attention - who arranged to have Gary's collar modified to Gary could secretly access his abilities. Stedman confirms he is still trying to exonerate Gary and locate Chloe; and the two agree for Gary to go along with Face following his escape to better understand and stop his plans.

Attack on Stronghold

Finally, Zechariah, Chloe and the vampire Actioneers attack the prison, hoping to kill Gary. Zechariah goes toe to toe with Wolf-Man; the first time since Rebecca died - with Gary screaming that Zechariah killed his wife. Due to Gary's training with the Elder, he can now better fight Zechariah, and the two have a brutal battle, which is soon joined by the Guardians of the Globe, GDA reinforcements and the prison guards on one side, and escaing supervillains, including Face, on the other. Gary badly handicaps Zechaiah by chewing off one of his arms (after sucking it into his mouth while it was in mist form; a trick, among others, that the Elder taught him). Wolf-Man and Zechariah's fight finally goes Gary's way, and he manages to stake Zechariah to the ground with a broken piece of wood; binding him to the earth itself and leaving him to die with the imminent sunrise. Gary ignores Zechariah's claims the Elder has more malicious intentions for him in the future.

Suddenly a voice screams out to them from the distance - a horrified Gary recognises it - it's Chloe; who leaps into the fray and beats down and holds her father at swordpoint, screaming he has to die for killing her mother. Gary, rather than defend himself, tries to explain what really happened with Rebecca, and finally reveals what Zechariah had done. This news shocks Chloe into silence, and Gary, overriding Zechariah's attempts to make Chloe not listen to him, pours his heart out to Chloe, saying he is still her father and still loves her and Rebecca, and would never harm them. Gary goes to hug her, and Chloe embraces him....and then, still not entirely believing him, stabs him through his chest with her sword.

Return to Grace

Gary calmly takes the sword out of his chest, and tries to give it back to a stunned Chloe; saying he won't fight her, and that if his death will help her, he would offer his life for her to take. Succumbing to his injury, Gary collapses in front of his daughter. After a few moments Chloe, seeing her father apparently dead on the ground, and remembering how much he had tried to make her believe him, finally sees the truh and runs to her father's side; a tearful Chloe apologizes to Gary, saying she thought she had lost both him and her mother, and begs him not to die.

They are both attacked by Thrill Kill and Kursk; Gary, regenerating from his injuries, fights beside Chloe to beat the two, but the Actioneers are still fighting with the prisoners and guards. Gary, following through with his plan to stop Face, parts ways with Chloe - the two now reconciled. Gary, pretending he helped arrange the attack with Mecha-Maid, escapes Stronghold with Face, Eruptor, Construct and a captive Mecha-Maid; who was hurt in the fight.

The fight ends, and Cecil arrested the Actioneers and even found a still living Zec and arrests him. He also takes Chloe with him to keep her safe. Meanwhile Gary and Mecha-Maid are flying with the Face and his people. He asks Gary to use his contacts to go to the next part of his plan. Meanwhile he is being watched by another werewolf.

Conclusion

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman is an American comic book writer best known for his work on The Walking Dead and Invincible for Image Comics, and Ultimate X-Men and Marvel Zombies for Marvel Comics. He has also collaborated with Image Comics co-founder Todd McFarlane on the series Haunt...

 ended The Astounding Wolf-Man in 2010 with the story arc 'Legacy'. Although Wolf-Man's own series was concluded and all loose ends tied up, Kirkman pointed out that characters from Wolf-Man's universe would still cross over into his other characters' lives as they inhabit the same universe http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=23378 - Wolf-Man himself appeared in the Invincible

Invincible (comics)

Invincible is a superhero in the . Created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Cory Walker, the character first appeared in Tech Jacket #1 , before graduating to his own self-titled regular series in 2003, as a title in Image's then-new superhero line.Invincible is the teenaged son of Omni-Man, an...

 series several times.

Characters

• Gary Hampton aka "Wolf-Man" - the main protagonist of the series; a successful businessman turned superhero following an incident that left him with were-wolf abilities.
• Rebecca Hampton - Gary's beautiful wife. Killed in Issue #7 by Zechariah; who she struck across the face after expressing her disdain for him; Zechariah, momentarily blinded by rage, responded by hitting her across the face and breaking her neck, and then fatally biting her neck, causing Rebecca to bleed to death.
• Chloe Hampton aka "Vampire Girl" - Gary's loving daughter, she is close to both of her parents.
• Dunford - The estate manager, butler and life-long friend to the Hampton family; formerly a businessman whose company was bought out by Gary during his rise in the business world, Dunford was actually offered a position in Hampton Industries, but chose to retire instead. Following his wife's death, Dunford, who was friends with Gary by then, was invited to stay with his family as their estate manager. Dunford is Gary's closest friend and sees him as kind and generous man who has only ever wanted to help people; a belief that leads to him to be the (initially) only one who believes Gary's innocence following Rebecca's death. Dunford is made Chloe's legal guardian during this time, and ultimately is successful in getting her through her grief. Killed in Issue #22 by Jacobsen and the were-wolves following their attack on the Hampton estate. Gary, Chloe, Mecha-Maid and Elise attend his private funeral.
• Maria - The loyal maid to the Hampton family; reluctantly let go following Gary's loss of his company, which forced the family to cut back on luxuries.
• Nathan Singleton - A corporate CEO and head of Singleton Enterprises; Hampton Industries' greatest rival. Singleton himself was a rival to Gary for years, and later embarked upon an affair with a lonely Rebecca - and gained information from her about Gary's company that almost ruined him. Singleton, despite appearing to have taken advantage of his relationship with Rebecca in order to hurt Gary's business, was actually in love with Rebecca, and, even after the two ended their relationship, he was still happy to get back together when Rebecca distanced herself from Gary, during his early days as Wolf-Man, and reached back out to Singleton. Singleton was last seen attending Rebecca's funeral, alongside Chloe, Dunford and Gary and Rebecca's parents.
• Zechariah - A vampire who approached Gary immediately following his discovery of his abilities; Gary posed as a friend and mentor to Gary in his early days as Wolf-Man; teaching him all he knew about were-wolves and how to control his abilities, as well as establishing his Wolf-Man identity. Ultimately, Gary's trust in Zechariah crumbled when he realized how much Zechariah was keeping from him - when Zechariah tried to find and reconcile with Gary; instead he met Rebecca, and a confrontation led him to kill Gary's wife in a brief moment of rage. Zechariah left Gary to take the blame - though was finally caught following his attack on Stronghold Prison, setting the record straight. Zechariah escaped with Mecha-Maid's assistance and, avoiding her trap with Gary, plotted revenge and kidnapped Chloe to turn into a vampire. Zechariah was killed in the final issue, before he could succeed, when the Elder tore Zechariah's heart out of chest and consumed it, killing him and reducing him to a skeleton in seconds - finally ending his evil actions and interference in Gary's life.
• The Actioneers - A team of super-heroes who are killed and revived as vampires by Zechariah to serve him; despite retaining their memories, their instinctive loyalty to Zechariah is overpowering and follow him completely. The team was finally captured following their attack on Stronghold Prison; which they participated in beside Zechariah and Chloe, in order to track down and kill Gary. The team is kept in isolation inside GDA HQ beneath the Pentagon. In the final issue, the team, immediately following Zechariah's death, is restored to normal.
• Pamela aka "Mecha-Maid" - A member of the Actioneers super-hero team; who, being a robot, was instead disassembled and kept captive by Zechariah and the now-vampire Actioneers. Mecha-Maid finally escapes when they departed, alongside Chloe, to attack Stronghold Prison, and Mecha-Maid followed and was caught in the fray, being captured by Face and his team - but was spared at Gary's insistence and later joined him as his super-hero partner (and possible love interest). Mecha-Maid later joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe and, accepting Gary's advice to let her child grow and develop on her own, constructs a robot body for Elise. In the final issue, Mecha-Maid is seen happily reuniting with the restored Actioneers.
• Elise - The artificially-created "daughter" of Mecha-Maid; initially just a hologram, she is much later given a robot body to live independently.
• Agent Hunter - An agent of the Global Defense Agency; who also has the ability to survive all type of injury and completely regenerate from his wounds, regardless of how fatal they are (e.g. decapitation). Hunter is placed in charge of the Wolf-Man investigation and, with his human partner and with the backing of the GDA and Guardians of the Globe, relentlessly track Gary down to arrest him, completely believing Gary murdered Rebecca, despite numerous attempts, on Gary's part, to change his mind. Hunter ultimately succeeded when Gary was caught at Rebecca's grave. Later, however, Hunter found he had been mistaken about Gary all along, and was ordered by Stedman to let go of his investigation after it was shut down. Hunter and Gary, apparently, made amends, and together joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe.
• Director Cecil Stedman - The leader of the Global Defense Agency; Stedman is an enigmatic and very powerful U.S. government figure, who later becomes Gary's strongest ally following Rebecca's death, working tirelessly to aid him and later exonerate him for Zechariah's crime. Stedman later recruits Gary to the expanded Guardians of the Globe, and later gives his blessing to Gary's formation of his own team - The Wolf Corps. He is a main character in the Invincible series; where is history and position is further explored.
• "The Face" - A powerful criminal with two-merged faces and a third laser-blasting eye, who was in de-facto control of Stronghold Prison; formerly the most powerful member of a defunct criminal organisation known as "The Body" - with Face being last to fall and be imprisoned. Face escaped Stronghold with Gary to the UK; and then released Gorgg, who betrayed Face and consumed him. Face was presumed dead, until he was found alive in Gorgg's remains during the salvation operation - immediately asking he be taken back to prison. Gary later confirmed to Construct that Face was sent back to prison as requested.
• Agent Donald Ferguson - An agent of the Global Defense Agency; who is also a robot, and later joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe. He becomes a friend to Gary and Chloe following Gary's exoneration.
• "The Elder" - An elder brood were-wolf and leader of all were-wolves in the world; the Elder was responsible for attacking and giving Gary his were-wolf powers, making him responsible for leaving Gary's old life in ruins, and his wife and best friend dead. In the final issue, the Elder confronts Gary for battle to test his worth - explaining he had chosen Gary to succeed him as Elder of the were-wolves so they may be redeemed and become great once again. After a fierce battle, Gary fatally strikes Elder across his throat and he ultimately collapsed and bled to death - a victorious Gary stood over his body, and the surrounding were-wolves immediately bowed to their new Elder.
• Jacobsen - An influential were-wolf under the Elder's command; Jacobsen first meets Gary while seeking to kill Zechariah to avenge his murder of one of his children - when Gary (apparently) does so, Jacobsen immediately declares he and all behind him will consider Gary an ally and friend to the were-wolves. Much later, Jacobsen and the were-wolves returned to attack the Hampton estate, declaring Gary was marked for death by the Elder; during which Jacobsen killed Dunford. Jacobsen was witness to the Elder and Gary's final battle, where Gary killed the Elder, as he had wished. Jacobsen and the others immediately bowed to their new Elder. Later, Jacobsen and the were-wolves were taken in by Gary and, with Jacobsen's influence, forms the Wolf Corps under Gary's command - Jacobsen, embracing his humanity, deeply expressed regret for his actions at the Elder's command, but Gary, having already forgiven him, stated all issues between them were settled and all were welcome with the were-wolves.
• "Gray Wolf" - A were-wolf, who real name is unknown, who is employed as an agent of the Global Defense Agency; who originally "attacked" Gary, pretending to work for the Elder, but secretly gave him a hidden communicator at Stedman's behest, as apparently Gary saved Gray Wolf's life. Later, following Gary's defeat of Gorgg, exoneration and return as a super-hero, Gray Wolf joins the expanded Guardians of the Globe. After a mission to shut down Impact's former employer, Gray Wolf revealed his identity - he was the rooftop gardener who Gary, in his first night as a werewolf, apparently killed while mindlessly wandering the rooftops; explaining that, as he had terminal cancer, his new werewolf abilities, given to him by Gary who instinctively sensed his sickness, healed him of - and then Gray Wolf, a retired CIA agent, found himself back in the spy game with the GDA, as a super-hero; leaving him happier than he has ever been. This revelation finally gives Gary closure on this incident (as Gray Wolf's believed death had haunted Gary for a long time afterwards). In the final issue, it is implied Gray Wolf is now the Hamptons' new butler and estate manager.

Collected editions

The series is being collected into trade paperbacks

Trade paperback (comics)

In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

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• Volume 1 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #1-7, 96 pages, January 2008, ISBN 1582408629)
• Volume 2 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #8-12 and Invincible #57, 160 pages, April 2009, ISBN 1607060078)
• Volume 3 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #13-18, 166 pages, February 2010, ISBN 1607061112)
• Volume 4 (collects The Astounding Wolf-Man #19-25, 160 pages, January 2011, ISBN 1607062496)