Marvel Horror - The Living Mummy!

When the monsters were unleashed at Marvel they lumbered in from everywhere, including the crypts of ancient Egypt. The Mummy was a natural addition to a line-up which already included Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, a Werewolf by Night, and assorted other fiends. This "Living Mummy" woke up and walked out first in the pages of Supernatural Thrillers #5.

Written by Steve Gerber and drawn by the muscular team of Rich Buckler and Frank Chiramonte, the mummy, named N'Kantu, rose up in the middle of the Middle East with its interminable conflicts. Found by Israeli soldiers, N'Kantu is an black African king and giant who was buried alive by the vile priest Nephrus. He seeks revenge on the descendants of Nephrus.

That descendant turns out to be one Dr.Alexi Scarab who along with his colleagues Ron McCallister and Janice Carr are about the opening up old tombs. You get the sense that the story is intended as a one-off as that's what Supernatural Thrillers featured until that point and the next issue of the comic feature a whole other set of characters.

But by the seventh issue it had been decided that the Living Mummy would be a series and to that end Gerber is joined by new regular artist Val Mayerik, his former partner on the Man-Thing. If they thought they could work that same magic here, they were alas sadly mistaken. Tony Isabella became the regular writer with the next issue and an elaborate plotline about other-dimensional super-beings called "Elementals" dominated the series for the balance of its run with the Mummy becoming a sidelight in his own title. John Warner as writer and Tom Sutton as artist stepped in toward the end of the run to try and take it in a new direction but that didn't work either.

They did get some striking covers, one must say. See below.

Rip Off