File:Marvel Spotlight Vol 1 2 001.jpg

Description
In Los Angeles, a mugger skulks about the alleyways in search of prey. He is not the only hunter lurking in the shadows this evening however. A snarling werewolf leaps out and attacks the mugger, killing him. A motorcycle cop chances upon the scene and fires two shots towards the creature. The werewolf bounds off into the night, but one of the policeman's bullets manages to graze its arm. The werewolf races frantically down back alleys in the light of the full moon. The next morning, young Jack Russell awakens in his bedroom with a start. He cannot understand why he had a dream that he was a werewolf. He grows concerned however as he looks down and sees a cut across his left shoulder; the same area that was struck by the officer's bullet. As Jack gets dressed, his mother, Laura, enters the room. Today is Jack's eighteenth birthday, and Laura wants him to spend it with his stepfather, Philip. Jack never cared for Philip, and he despises the dominating hold that the man appears to have over his mother. As Jack comes downstairs, he sees his mother having an argument with Philip's chauffeur, Max Grant. Frustrated, Jack leaves. That evening, Jack goes to a friend's house in Malibu. As the full moon begins to rise, sharp blisters of pain surge through him, and he is forced to run from the house. He runs down to the beach just as he transforms into a werewolf. Staring down into the water, the fleeting remnants of Jack's personality begin to realize that he didn't have a dream the night before. He truly is a werewolf. Instinctively, the werewolf finds himself drawn to a beach-house. He smashes through a patio door where he finds a growling guard dog. The dog attacks him and the werewolf struggles with the beast for several minutes before hurling it outside. The werewolf leaps out the window and bays at the moon. The next morning, Philip Russell finds Jack unconscious on the beach. He brings him back to the house where he finds his sister, Lissa, crying hysterically. Philip explains to Jack that his mother went out last evening looking for him and was in a serious car accident. She has been admitted to a local hospital and is in critical condition. She is not expected to survive the night. Philip has Doctor Allen give Jack a strong sedative and tells him to get some rest. Through the haze of drugs, Jack overhears Philip talking with the chauffeur, Max Grant. Philip agrees to meet Grant at an abandoned warehouse later that evening for a payoff. Unable to concentrate on the issue any further, Jack falls asleep. Hours later when Jack awakens, he rushes down to the hospital to see his mother. She is barely conscious, but she is strong enough to warn Jack that a curse has been placed upon him – a curse that forces him to transform into a monster on the night of his eighteenth birthday. Jack presses her for an explanation. Laura explains that twenty years ago she was a student on holiday in Transylvania. She met, fell in love with, and ultimately married a Baron named Gregory Russoff. For three nights out of every month, Russoff would seal himself inside of a tower room in his castle with instructions to never be disturbed. He told his young wife that he was studying. One evening however, a lightning storm swept through the Baltic nation and a stray bolt blasted a hole in the side of the tower. That same night, witnesses claimed to have seen a werewolf prowling the countryside. Several of the town elders visited Russoff Castle to inquire with the Baron, but when Laura inspected the tower room, he was nowhere to be found. Still later, a group of hunters, armed with silver bullets cornered the werewolf and shot him. It was then that they discovered that the werewolf was actually the Baron. As she concludes her tale, Jack realizes that Laura married Philip in the hopes of wiping out his true father's bloody memory. Seeing the anger rising within him, Laura makes Jack promise that he will never raise a hand in anger to his stepfather. Jack swears a vow, and Laura passes away. The full moon rises, and Jack feels the change begin to take effect. He races outside of the hospital and begins prowling the city. Instinctively, the werewolf heads towards an empty warehouse where he finds Max Grant. Max is a large, muscular man and does not believe that Jack is a true werewolf. He tackles the creature and holds his own for several minutes. During the melee, Grant confesses that Philip owes him ten-thousand dollars for sabotaging the brakes on Laura's car. With Laura dead, Philip stands to inherit the entire Russoff fortune. Even as a werewolf, a small part of Jack's subconscious recognizes what he hears and sinks his teeth into Grant's neck. Max falls to the ground, dead. Moments later, a car pulls up and Philip Russell enters the warehouse. The werewolf is poised to attack, but Jack's mind recalls the deathbed promise he mad to his mother. Running off into the night, the werewolf angrily howls at the moon.