Point Place, West Virginia – 1966: the first alleged sighting of Mothman. When two gravediggers were working in the cemetery one night, they claimed to have seen a large figure fly overhead, a figure that would come to be known as Mothman. According to legend, Mothman is a 10-foot tall creature with large wings and glowing red eyes, and while it’s never been reported that Mothman has been directly responsible for tragedy or violence, it is said that Mothman is an omen of such dark occurrences.
Of course, Mothman is assuredly nothing more than a local superstition (a fairly lucrative one, at that, given the attendance of the annual Mothman Festival in Point Place), which means it’s perfect for lore-expansion within the realm of comic book fiction. From comics with plotlines focused on actual real-world superstitions to ones that merely include such monsters within their own established universes, here are the 10 best comics starring the ultimate urban legend: Mothman!
An eccentric billionaire with a twisted sense of ironic justice has kidnapped a group of bounty hunters, trained killers, and hired assassins, and placed them on an island that’s filled with increasingly deadly cryptids – and one of them is none other than Mothman. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles find themselves on this island because they witnessed their TMNT frenemy Leatherhead (a mutant alligator) being taken and brought to the island as one of the many cryptids. Unfortunately, this means the Turtles find themselves facing some of the most horrific creatures alive.
While the likes of the Jersey Devil, Sasquatch, and El Chupacabra are prominently featured, Mothman still stands out in this issue. Not only is the cryptid featured by-name, but this TMNT comic actually reveals that the island doesn’t contain just one Mothman, but two. Is Mothman a species as opposed to another cryptid? TMNT certainly suggests so, which is an addition to Mothman lore that’s more than just exciting, it’s absolutely terrifying.
When Batwoman’s car gets totaled by a mysterious creature she’s told is Mothman, Kate Kane decides to leave Gotham City to hunt down this obvious threat. Batwoman’s investigation leads her to a small town reminiscent of Point Place, WV, where she quickly learns that the thing she’s after isn’t Mothman at all, but rather Batwoman’s nemesis, Nocturna. Nocturna is effectively a vampire, and she decides to take up residence in this small town and play the part of its local cryptid.
In exchange for being the town’s top tourist attraction, Nocturna gets her fill of “easy prey”, and every one of her kills is blamed on Mothman, only fueling this mutually beneficial cycle (well, beneficial for everyone except her victims, that is). While Mothman isn’t actually in this story, Truth & Justice instead plays off the real-world urban legend of the Mothman, which is arguably just as exciting and fun.
While Batwoman faced a familiar villain who covered up her crimes by pretending to be the real-world urban legend Mothman, Batman faced his own ‘Mothman’ named Killer Moth, who had nothing to do with the cryptid other than a shared aesthetic. Killer Moth (also known as Charaxes), made his first appearance in Batman #63, and while he initially looked like a fairly forgettable villain of the week, his personal evolution in DC Comics would show his appearance gradually becoming more monstrous, until Charaxes resembled how one would describe Mothman.
This Batman rogue admittedly has little to no connection with Mothman (indeed, he actually predates the urban legend by more than a decade). However, as Charaxes develops in DC Comics, fans can see the influence Mothman may have had on the character, which only speaks to the widespread impact of the Mothman urban legend.
Liesel Van Helsing, the descendant of Abraham Van Helsing, is coming into this series having just killed Dracula, and now she’s ready to take on Frankenstein’s Monster. However, before she tangles with the original zombie, Van Helsing and her team of monster hunters find themselves face-to-face with the legendary Mothman. This isn’t a vampire in disguise, or a similarly-dressed super-villain, this is the legitimate Mothman of myth – albeit much more violent.
While the real-world urban legend of Mothman describes him as more of an omen than a dangerous monster, the cryptid in this book is a vicious beast with insatiable bloodlust. Van Helsing’s teammates get ripped to bloody shreds when they face Mothman, and the first issue ends with the fate of Van Helsing herself uncertain. Van Helsing vs Frankenstein pushes the limit of how gruesome Mothman can be, and fans of gory horror will not be disappointed.
This issue takes place a year in the future following the Cryptid War. Readers get a look inside the Habitat, where a number of cryptids are allowed to reside under the protection of the Zookeeper. However, when the Zookeeper is after a couple of children who come into the protection of the Colonel, another battle rages during a time when one could hope for peace – and Mothman is one of the most prominent cryptids on the battlefield.
Similar to his appearance in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, this issue of Proof explores the idea of Mothman living (and even fighting) alongside other cryptids within an established universe. This Mothman isn’t just residing in his own territory, he’s quite literally rubbing shoulders with other figures in urban legends, which is a fascinating expansion of the Mothman mythos.
Bigfoot Bill is – as his name suggests – a Sasquatch who was taken into custody by a secret organization that handles cryptids before escaping with the bone of the severed finger of Poseidon. With the bone of the Sea God in his possession, Bigfoot Bill is able to command the Kraken, which is actually more of a sentient armor than an underwater beast. After Bigfoot Bill escapes with his Kraken power-up, he comes across the infamous Mothman, who abducts a girl Bigfoot Bill had come to know.
In order to save his friend’s life, Bigfoot Bill has to call upon the full might of Poseidon and fight Mothman, which ends in a sound victory for the titular Sasquatch. This entire story is an absolute blast, and the fact that Mothman is an antagonist for this Earthworm Jim-style hero is a real treat for cryptid (and comic) lovers everywhere.
The Perhapanauts follows a team of paranormal investigators working for an organization called Bedlam. In this issue, the Bedlam team is on a mission that requires them to go back in time. Thankfully, one of their allies, named Karl, is of a species with the capability to time travel, and he graciously offers his temporal abilities to the team for this mission – also, Karl is a Mothman. In this universe, Mothmen are far more than just earthbound cryptids, but are interdimensional beings that exist as a society outside what humans view as reality.
Mothman lore varies depending on who’s telling the story, but the Point Place cryptid usually doesn’t have anything to do with interdimensional existence or time travel – he’s pretty much just a big moth. However, The Perhapanauts expands Mothman lore beyond anyone’s wildest imaginations, which is why this storyline is so enjoyable.
Silk Hills is a graphic novel that doesn’t just use the idea of a ‘Mothman’ in one of the most creative ways possible, but also offers fans of cosmic horror an intriguing mystery that just keeps descending further into the proverbial abyss. The story follows an investigator looking for a missing person, who – as readers learn – got abducted by a cult and was ritualistically sacrificed in order to give life to the ‘god’ these cultists worship: Malikeh – who is effectively a giant Mothman.
This story is fueled by hallucinogenic ‘dust’ created by an eclipse of exotic moths which makes the main characters (and the reader) question what’s real throughout the story, including the very existence of Malikeh or the cult that worships it. Overall, Silk Hills is a must-read for those who love cosmic horror, as well as for fans of the real-world urban legend of the Mothman, as this story takes that superstition to all-new heights of bone-chilling horror.
Frank Frazetta’s Mothman flips the terrifying mystery surrounding Mothman lore by telling the cryptids story from his perspective, revealing that he’s an alien who crash-lands on Earth. While he is speaking a language humans cannot understand, readers can clearly see what Mothman is saying, and his dialogue gives the impression that he’s basically akin to a teenager who took his parent’s car out for a joyride without their permission.
Mothman is anxious because his spacecraft isn’t working, he’s being pursued by humans with guns trying to kill him, and he’s desperately trying to communicate with a dog, since that’s the only lifeform he’s found that isn’t trying to cause him harm. In this first issue, Mothman is actually a pretty relatable character who’s in a tight spot in a strange and hostile world, which is an incredibly unique and wildly entertaining take on the cryptid.