Giant-Size Werewolf #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeGiant-Size Werewolf #3 (January 1975) is the sole first and only appearance of Maria Russoff — Jack Russell's paternal grandmother, a Transylvanian Romani sorceress — making it a meaningful genealogical keystone for the entire Werewolf by Night mythos. Her self-sacrifice to shield her grandson from her own zombie Gypsies, revealed moments before her death, gave Doug Moench's run a rare emotional gut-punch that deepened the Russoff family tragedy beyond simple monster-of-the-month plotting. The issue also marks an important storytelling bridge in the ongoing Transylvania arc, as Topaz's psychic summons pulls Jack across continents and firmly ties the 1970s Marvel horror universe's supernatural ecosystem — sorcery, Romani folklore, zombie horror, and lycanthropy — into a single, coherent narrative thread. As part of Marvel's Giant-Size format experiment of 1974–1975, it also demonstrates how the oversized anthology structure let Moench expand continuity in ways the monthly title's page count could not accommodate.
In "Castle Curse!", a woman stranded in a remote area finds refuge in a mysterious house after her car breaks down—only to face a terrifying stranger wrapped in a cloak. When a second man bursts in, the truth behind the disguise unfolds in a tense, unexpected twist. With art by Don Perlin and inks by Abe Simon, and a striking cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer, this 1975 Marvel classic blends suspense and revelation in a chilling tale of vengeance and mistaken identity.
In "The Man Who Talked to Rats!" from Giant-Size Werewolf #3 (1975), a desperate nephew strikes a chilling bargain with a reclusive stranger who claims to command rats. With a grim promise to deliver his uncle’s inheritance, the man sets a gruesome plan in motion—only to find himself trapped in a nightmare he never fully understood.
In "The Hands of Death," a woman stranded by a broken-down car stumbles upon a remote house where a series of murders has left women dead—strangled in the dark. Taken in by a cloaked figure who seems to be the killer, she screams in terror—only for another man to burst through the door, revealing the truth: the stranger had been pretending to be the killer to lure him out. The story unfolds with quiet dread, as the man explains he’s been waiting to avenge his wife’s death, and now, with the killer dead, the real danger may have just begun.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was produced within Marvel's mid-1970s Giant-Size publishing initiative, an editorial strategy that paired new, longer lead stories with reprint backup tales drawn from the pre-Code Atlas horror archives. Writer Doug Moench and penciler Don Perlin — the same creative pairing steering the monthly Werewolf by Night series — handled the new lead story 'Castle Curse!', inked by Sal Trapani, with the cover by Gil Kane (pencils) and Tom Palmer (inks). Roy Thomas served as series editor, with Len Wein listed as Editor-in-Chief at the time of publication. The series itself had begun its life under a different title: its numbering continued from Giant-Size Creatures Featuring Werewolf #1, which had debuted Tigra, before the title was retitled Giant-Size Werewolf with issue #2.
Trivia · 7 facts
- First and only appearance of Maria Russoff (Baroness Maria Russoff), Jack Russell's paternal grandmother — she appears and dies within this single issue.
- Maria Russoff is established as a Romani witch who married Baron Gregor Russoff; their son Gregory Russoff would become the father of Jack Russell (the Werewolf by Night).
- Lead story titled 'Castle Curse!', written by Doug Moench with art by Don Perlin (pencils) and Sal Trapani (inks); cover by Gil Kane and Tom Palmer.
- The issue slots into the regular continuity between Werewolf by Night #26 and #27, and marks Topaz's return to the book after an absence since Werewolf by Night #17.
- Backup reprint content includes stories originally published in Adventures into Terror #13 and Journey into Mystery #18, consistent with the anthology format of the Giant-Size line.
- The story has been collected in: Essential Werewolf by Night Vol. 2 (2007, black and white), the Werewolf by Night Omnibus (2015), Werewolf by Night: The Complete Collection Vol. 2 (2018), and a Panini Deutschland classic collection (2020).
- The Giant-Size Werewolf series continued the numbering established by Giant-Size Creatures Featuring Werewolf #1 (1974), which had introduced Tigra; the series ran five issues total, from 1974 to 1975.
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints Adventures into Terror #13 (1952), Journey into Mystery #18 (1954)
Reprinted in L'Insolite #4 (1977), Essential Werewolf by Night #2 (2007), Werewolf by Night Omnibus #[nn] (2015), Werewolf by Night: The Complete Collection #2 (2018), Werewolf by Night - Classic Collection #1 (2020), Marvel Masterworks: Werewolf by Night #3 (2024), Giant-Size Marvel Omnibus #[nn] (2025)
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