Morbius first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #101, in the middle of a storyline that had Peter Parker somehow growing 4 additional limbs to become even more arachnid like. The worst idea Stan Lee ever had! Fortunately, Peter went to 2 arms after issue #102.
Morbius was different than the typical villain. He killed people for blood, but felt really guilty about it afterward. His tragic origin pushed Morbius to the edge where he could be villain or anti-hero.
Gil Kane’s art was really inspired during this issue. I am wondering who came up with the design for Morbius. Was it John Romita or Kane? Maybe an informed Marvel historian can please tell me.
Morbius quickly became a popular character. He next appeared in Marvel Team-Up #1, then he helped launched Giant-Size Superheroes #1 for Spider-Man. He teamed up with Man-Wolf (a scientifically created werewolf) to take down Peter Parker. After this, Morbius graduated into 2 separate series: Adventure Into Fear (a color comic) and Vampire Tales (a black and white magazine). Nuff said,
Since you ask: Gil Kane was asked not to incorporate Gothic elements. He used red and blue---like Spidey, Super-Man---and created the first Morbius costume.
This is my sixth or seventh visit, having come here for the Defenders, Dracula, the monsters, Joe Sinnott, and I can't remember what else. Great big scans: it's like getting to see your comics in person! I have to imagine the old paper smell...
I hope I can join your blogroll someday, even though I don't do strictly comic-related stuff. Perhaps I can convert my comic-leaning blog integr8dfix.blogspot.com into one. What would you say?