What If? #24 (April 1991) 

Writers – Roy Thomas and J.M. Lofficier 

Artist – Tom Morgan 

What if…Wolverine had become the Lord of Vampires? 

Once and awhile, when I’m at Phantom of the Attic, I’ll take a look in the $2.00 Bronze Age Box for some classic comics. I am a sucker for What If? titles and I will always pick up a few when I come across them. I bought this issue a while ago and I had it sitting out to read. I finally got around to it the weekend of August 24^th, 2024. 

The Watcher presents a reality where Storm fully embraces her vampiric side as she and Dracula feed on her friends Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine. As the trio of mutants rise from their graves, Wolverine faces off against Dracula for the title of Lord of Vampires. Dracula is no match for Wolverine. As Logan transforms his fellow mutants (good and bad) into vampires, Dr. Strange becomes a target. He controls the Darkhold and a passage called the Montesi Formula might led to the eradication of all vampires if read aloud. Can Dr. Strange stop the plague racing through New York City and what role will Frank Castle, The Punisher, play in this scenario to save the world?

Unlike most What If stories, this one actually has a happy ending. However, there is a lot of blood and gore and horrific images that take place from start to finish. They really pushed the envelope on this issue and I’m surprised a majority of the action scenes made it to print. Marvel Comics posts a warning on its comics nowadays if its M for Mature or Parental Advisory. This one did not have such a warning on the cover and I’m sure if Timmy or Jimmy read this one, they’d have a hard time sleeping and their parents would shake their fist at Marvel for what they got away with in this comic. 

The main reason I wanted to read and review this entry is because it appears that Marvel has been going back to these What If? issues and using them for storyline ideas. Case in point – What if Jane Foster had found the Hammer of Thor? When Thor became unworthy, Jane Foster became the Mighty Thor. Another example – Dracula returned and went after the X-Men once more and Wolverine became a vampire in Curse of the Mutants. My final example is at the end of Blood Hunt. I won’t spoil the end of the event but if you have What If? #52 in your collection, congratulations, it’s going to be a hot book in the next few months. 

On one hand, it’s interesting to see these What If? stories pay off in ways we never thought possible. On the other hand, its lazy storytelling. Having a hard time for a character’s new direction? Let’s pull up the What If? catalog to see what we can do to change their status quo for the time being. I’m fine with Marvel Studios using the comics as the basis for bringing the Disney Plus animated series to life, but I’m not the only comic reader that’s said to themselves, “why this seem so familiar to me?” 

You can do better, Marvel! 

All in all, this issue has unlikely team-ups, a seemingly unstoppable hero turned villain, and a nice exploration on the horror side of Marvel that we only see on a limited basis. Again, this issue ends on a hopeful note. Most What Ifs? end with the Earth blowing up or everyone dying in some horrific fashion. This issue definitely deserved a sequel later in the series to see how the Earth picked up and thrived after such destruction and devastation was wrought by Wolverine and his monstrous minions. Oh well, I guess we will just have to imagine it ourselves and ask, What If?

Next Issue – What If …The Marvel Super-Heroes had lost Atlantis Attacks?