The werewolf superhero comic The Astounding Wolf-Man—from Image Comics—turns 7 today at the anniversary of its first issue publication as a 2007 Free Comic Book Day exclusive. (Not a bad way to garner interest in a new series!) The Astounding Wolf-Man ran from 2007 to its conclusion in 2010, and was created by author Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and artist Jason Howard (Super Dinosaur). While not a typical werewolf story—the comic follows a plotline much closer to superhero comics rather than horror—it still remains one of the most widely-recognized and widely-distributed modern werewolf comics published.

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Sharing a birthday with this comic is makeup artist Jack Pierce, known for designing the makeup for a wolf man of his own. Pierce would be turning 125 this year. Pierce was a renowned makeup artist of his time, known best for his work in the Universal Studios monster makeup design. For the purposes of this blog, he is notable for his makeup effects and work in the films Werewolf of London, The Wolf Man, She-Wolf of London, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, House of Dracula, and House of Frankenstein. Pierce’s work helped to inspire other makeup artists such as Rick Baker (An American Werewolf in London, The Wolfman) and Tom Savini (Dawn of the Dead, Creepshow).