JEFFREY WINTERS JEFFREY WINTERS
Real Name: Jeffrey Winters
Identity/Class: Human werewolf (1930s era)
Occupation: School child
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Mildred Argot, Conrad Jeavons, Gladys Jones, Randy, Hodiah Twist, Colonel Witherspoon
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Manhattan
First Appearance: Marvel Preview#16 (Fall 1978)
Powers/Abilities: As a human, Jeffrey was a seemingly normal fourteen year old body with no skills or abilities that stood out (other than being a lycanthrope). As a werewolf, the boy possessed the typical powers associated with werewolves: superhuman speed and strength (from enhanced to superhuman levels), invulnerability to ordinary weapons or injury including decapitation, being only vulnerable to silver. He changed during nights of the full moon, but was not a wolf full time during this period, instead changing back and forth; whether he had any control over the ability or her lupine form remains unrevealed (see comments).
Height:
(human) 4'8"; (werewolf) 6' (both by approximation)
Weight: (human) 80 lbs.; (werewolf) 180 lbs. (both by
approximation)
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed - appeared to be a lighter color
History:
(Marvel Preview#16 (fb) - BTS) - Born circa 1923, by
1937 (see comments) fourteen year old Jeffrey Winters was going
through some changes, gaining an interest in girls and starting to grow
hair in unusual places...such as all over his body on nights of the full
moon when he transformed into a werewolf! It remains unrevealed how he
became a lycanthrope (see comments), whether through being
bitten by one or having somehow inherited the curse. To sake his lupine
blood lust, for several months on nights of the full moon he stalked
Manhattan's elevated trains, never striking on the same El twice.
Despite his murderous past time, Jeffrey was
otherwise like many young boys, intrigued by stories of heroes such as
Doc Savage, the Shadow and Hopalong Cassidy (see comments).
(Marvel
Preview#16) - On the night of
the latest full moon Jeffrey headed to 8th Avenue El, the last train he
had yet to strike on, and, in his wolf form, watched a man, Randy,
stumble up the steps to the platform lost in thoughts. Once on the
platform Randy and some other waiting passengers boarded the next train
to arrive.
(Marvel Preview#16 - BTS) - In human form Jeffrey entered the next carriage, which proved to be empty.
(Marvel Preview#16) -
Deciding he needed air and solitude, Randy stepped out onto the
gangway between the carriages, but this sudden isolation left him
vulnerable. With no witnesses now to catch him in the act, Jeffrey now
attacked, plunging his hairy arm plunged through the window in the next
carriage's door to grab the unfortunate Randy by the throat, pick him
bodily up, and smash his head hard against the side of the train,
killing him almost instantly.
(Marvel Preview#16 -
BTS) - Jeffrey left Randy's body in the empty carriage, making no effort
to hide it beyond its isolated location. Returning to human form,
Jeffrey moved into the carriage Randy had come from, and joined the
passengers there, who included the middle-aged
amateur detective Mildred Argot, curmudgeonly
retired soldier Colonel Witherspoon, and the beautiful dancer Gladys
Jones, who immediately stirred the romantically inexperienced teen's
emotions.
(Marvel
Preview#16) - A short while
later the detective Hodiah Twist boarded the train, there because he had
deduced the pattern of the recent slayings. Coincidentally entering the
same carriage as Jeffrey, Twist's distinctively Sherlockian garb
immediately enchanted the hero-loving boy. Whether because he wanted to
see the detective in action, or to lure him to somewhere more isolated
upon hearing him mentioning he was hunting the killer, Jeffrey rose from
his seat apparently on a whim and entered the adjacent carriage, then
recoiled in visible (but possibly feigned) shock at seeing Randy's
corpse, thus drawing Twist's attention to the murdered man. The
detective and all the other passengers of that carriage came into the
other car to see what had occurred. Having reached the body first, Twist
instructed his fellow passengers that it would be best if they remained
seated, and Jeffrey inquired whether Twist was a hero like Doc Savage or
the Shadow, prompting Twist to reply he was not familiar with either.
Twist informed his fellow passengers that none of them could be allowed
to leave until the murder was solved, adding that they would all
disembark at the next stop to wait together for the authorities. To
prevent this, Jeffrey covertly cut power to the lights, then in the
darkness swiftly ran from one end of the car to the other in wolf form,
slipping past Twist in the dark and using his immense lupine strength to
bend all the exit doors, trapping everyone in the carriage. Some limited
light was soon restored to the room via candles provided by Mildred, by
which time Jeffrey had returned to his human form.
Terrified that she was about to die, Gladys bemoaned that her mother had always said she would come to no good, and Witherspoon cruelly retorted that in his estimation she had a bad beginning too, prompting her to move away from him to the end of the carriage where Twist, Jeavons and Argot were examining the damaged doors.
(Marvel Preview#16 - BTS) - With
Witherspoon now momentarily isolated, the others' backs turned and
darkness cloaking his actions, Jeffrey resumed his lupine form and
quickly attacked Witherspoon, ripping out his tongue to keep him quiet
and crushing his head, killing him. Jeffrey then hung Witherspoon's
body up, using one of the hanging straps as a noose. He also took a
swipe at Twist's head, who had his back to the carriage while
examining the door, but missed because the train suddenly lunged
forward, causing Twist to stumble and duck at the crucial moment.
Before anyone could spot him in the dim light, Jeffrey returned to
human.
(Marvel Preview#16) - Jeavons
noticed Witherspoon's absence from his seat, and as the group moved
closer they discovered Witherspoon's corpse. Jeffrey watched with
interest as Twist lifted Witherspoon's body down and examined it.
Leaving Mildred continuing examining the corpse to make her own
deductions, Twist and Jeavons switched their attentions to trying to
figure out exactly where in the carriage Witherspoon had been
attacked, hoping that might reveal the killer's identity. As they
moved from the corpse, Twist put an avuncular arm on Jeffrey's
shoulder and ushered him along with them, asking the boy his name.
Answering the question, Jeffrey added that current events weren't
like the Saturday matinees, noting that when people were killed in
the monster or cowboy movies it was never this bloody. Seeking to
drew the boy's mind away from such lurid things, Twist tried to make
conversation by asking Jeffrey what he wanted to be when he grew up,
suggesting either a train engineer or a cowboy-hero? Jeffrey
admitted he didn't really understand much that was happening to him
lately, adding that when he was near ladies like Gladys he started
feeling strange. Laughing at the thought that the boy was naturally
confused about puberty and beginning to notice girls, Twist advised
the lad that what he was experiencing was quite natural.
Their discussion was
interrupted as Mildred called the others' attention back to her,
announcing she had solved the case, and proposing that the entire
carriage (barring presumably herself) had worked together to kill
the colonel. Seizing this new opportunity provided by Twist and
Jeavons now being focused on Mildred, Jeffrey became the wolf again,
stunned the inattentive Gladys with a blow from behind, then doused
the candle. With the carriage once again in darkness, Jeffrey
quickly killed Mildred, throwing her fatally into one of the
windows, then reverted to his innocent looking human appearance
before Twist could restore the light. Noticing that neither Gladys nor Jeffrey had
audibly reacted to the incident from their end of the carriage,
Twist and Jeavons hurried to check on their safety, and found Gladys
just waking up, with her head on Jeffrey's lap.
Because he didn't believe in
werewolves, Twist now concluded that neither Gladys nor Jeffrey were
physically capable of the murders, and so concluded that Witherspoon
must have faked his own demise; as such, Twist and Jeavons moved over to
where Witherspoon's body lay. Meanwhile a distressed Gladys moved
off Jeffrey's lap and began waxing philosophically about her life
and how everything was dying, unaware as she talked towards Jeavons
and Twist that behind her Jeffrey was staring intently at her and
beginning to look distressed. As the boy clutched his head, Gladys
suddenly realized something was wrong, and tugged at Jeavons sleeve
so that he too turned. Together the pair witnessed Jeffrey's
transformation; focused on Witherspoon, Twist missed the change but
was swiftly alerted to the werewolf's presence by Jeavons. The
creature advanced menacingly on the terrified Gladys, seemingly
having forgotten about the others, but Twist leapt between Jeffrey
and his prey, then blew burning ash from his pipe into the
werewolf's eyes.
Roaring in agony, the
werewolf instinctively sought to reach cool open air, ripped through
the carriage roof and leapt out onto the top of the train, ignoring
Twist's cries as he appealed to Jeffrey to fight his curse. Ignoring
Jeavons' pleas to let Jeffrey go and leave him for the police to
deal with, Twist pursued, insistent that he had to try and save the
boy, rather than let him continue to suffer under his lunar
affliction. Jeffrey ran along the top of the racing train, and when
Hodiah called to him the werewolf turned to face him, thus failing
to notice a bridge the train was fast approaching. One of the low
beams caught the werewolf, instantly decapitating him, but despite
this the now headless monster continued moving, stumbling towards
Twist with arms flailing like it was seeking fresh prey. Reaching
Twist, it bore him to the ground and its talons began ripping
through the soft flesh under his jaw even as the detective fought
futilely to push it away. Racing to his friend's rescue with a
silver dagger pendant formerly worn by Mildred Argot, Jeavons
stabbed Jeffrey. Finally slain, the werewolf''s limp body fell from
the speeding train.
It was hinted in the story that it was Jeffrey's incoming puberty that had brought the change into a werewolf. - Jean-Marc Lofficier
Regarding both Jeffrey's year of birth and when the events of the story
take place - the date isn't given in the story, but we do have some
clues as to when it took place. Gladys mentions that if they die on the
train they'll never know if La Guardia will get re-elected as mayor;
while she could be saying this any time after he was initially elected
(1933), her comment gives the impression that it's close to the time
that he needs to run for office again, which happened in 1937 and 1941.
Gladys, who appears to be no older than her late twenties, remembers his
previous campaign, in 1933, and recalls that the repeal of prohibition
(in December 1933) temporarily put her out of work, which counts against
the story taking place in 1941. Additionally,
the elevated trains went into serious decline around the late 1930s,
with the Sixth Avenue line closing in 1938 and other following over
the next few years. So it would seem most likely that the
werewolf on the El incident took place some time in 1937.
Did the human Jeffrey know what he was doing
as the werewolf, and was just playing innocent? Twist seemed to at least
want to believe this was true, as he tried to appeal to the boy once he
turned, but I don't think it's quite as clear cut as that. During the
transformation that others witnessed, Jeffrey is described in such as
way as to suggest that he doesn't want to change - he has "wild terror
eyes" and "pleading fingers." Once turned, the werewolf advances on
Gladys with "little remembrance of anything else" which gives the
impression that the werewolf is of more limited intellect than its human
form. However, we also have evidence that the werewolf is able to
understand what is happening better than a mere animal, is aware of
events happening when Jeffrey is in his human form, and has a reasonable
degree of control over both the transformations and what it does while
transformed. Jeffrey doesn't remain stuck in wolf form during the full
moon like many werewolves - he changes back and forth, and does so at
the times best suited to target vulnerable prey. Unless his
transformations magically include his clothing, he's got to be
undressing before turning lupine, as he's always wearing undamaged
clothing within seconds of becoming Jeffrey again; given how much bigger
his wolf form is, he should be shredding any clothing he wears through
the metamorphosis. He doesn't run around randomly attacking whoever
crosses his path - he picks and chooses targets and takes time stalking
them. Jeffrey doesn't seem confused to find himself on the El train,
despite us seeing from a werewolf shadow that he stalked Randy from the
street up onto the train - he had to assume human form to ascend to the
platform and board unnoticed. A human who doesn't know he is a werewolf
tends to be confused when they resume human form, but Jeffrey isn't.
Once on the train he first becomes the wolf when Randy moves away from
witnesses; it's Jeffrey who "accidentally" discovers Randy's corpse but
only after the detective Twist boards while mentioning he is hunting the
El killer within Randy's earshot, and this lures Twist and others into
an otherwise empty compartment, where they can be picked off. Twist
mentions that the killer has striking aboard different El trains for
months, and we learn that he has deduced that this current train will be
the next one targeted specifically because it is the only one that had
not yet had any attacks on it - that's a pattern chosen by a
human-minded killer, not an animal.
Then there are the order of events in the carriage, as Jeffrey changes
back and forth. The first time he does so immediately after Twist has
said he will make them all disembark together to await the police; in
response the wolf puts out the lights (which I assume he would have had
to do as Jeffrey, since if he transformed before dousing the
illumination he would have been seen changing) and breaks the doors so
no one can exit, leaving alone vulnerable targets as he moves past them
in the dark from one end of the carriage to the other. A purely
animalistic killer would have just attacked some of them. His next
victim is Colonel Witherspoon, who had just been rude to Gladys, a woman
Jeffrey admits being attracted to; the wolf doesn't tear into him as a
beast might, but instead rips out his tongue (presumably to keep him
quiet) and crushes his skull, then hangs him up on display, closer to a
human trophy hunter than an unintelligent beast. Jeffrey also takes a
swipe at Twist which the detective fails to notice, but doesn't follow
through when it misses, seemingly unwilling to press his luck. After
Mildred claimed to have solved the mystery (she hadn't), she's the next
to die, and the wolf makes a point of knocking Gladys out without really
harming her and dousing the candles before slaying Ms. Argot. When Twist
and Jeavons check on Jeffrey and Gladys, he sitting with her head on his
lap.
If Jeffrey wasn't aware of his condition and
in control of his wolf form, he was at minimum under his alter ego's
influence, with it directing him to board the train and choosing when to
change. But I think he probably did know what he was doing, more or
less, and while he might not have been always able to prevent the
metamorphosis, I think he had a fair degree of control while in his
hairy form, BUT crucially not total control, as he was still new to
changing. It's unquestionable that the teenage boy developed a very
quick crush on the pretty Gladys, so he was trying to avoid killing her
(or at least, leaving her to last). The final transformation was done
when he was almost certain to be exposed - even if Twist didn't believe
in werewolves, Jeavons was willing to, and with only Gladys or Jeffrey
remaining as suspects, the jig would have been up the moment Twist
confirmed the colonel really was dead. I think between his attraction to
Gladys and his genuine hero worshiping of Twist, Jeffrey didn't really
want to have to kill them, but the instinct for self-preservation had
triggered the transformation, hence why he was fighting it this time. I
don't think Jeffrey was evil, and I do think he was clearly conflicted
by the end, but I also suspect he knew of his condition and that he
needed to "feed the beast" on the full moons in order to otherwise
maintain control.
It's not mentioned how long Jeffrey was killing people for, but we're told the El train that Twist found him on was the last one yet to suffer one of his attacks, so if anyone knows how many routes the Manhattan El train had in the late 1930s we could probably pinpoint exactly how many months Jeffrey had been active.
Jeffrey asks Twist if he is a hero, like "Doc Savage or The Shadow" and Twist responds, "I'm not familiar with either of those gentlemen." Later when Jeffrey mentions Hopalong Cassidy, Twists reacts in the same fashion. Again, there is an ambiguity: is Jeffrey referring to "real" heroes or "fictional characters"? Certainly Doc Savage did exist in the Marvel Universe, and there has been several Doc Savage / The Shadow crossovers...
Profile by Loki, expanding on the sub-profile first written by Jean-Marc Lofficier for the Hodiah Twist entry.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Jeffrey Winters should
not be confused with
images: (without ads)
Marvel Preview#16, p23, pan5 (main, werewolf form)
Marvel Preview#16, p17, pan5 (human headshot)
Marvel Preview#16, p22, pan3
(transforming)
Marvel Preview#16, p24, pan2-3 (ash in eye)
Marvel
Preview#16, p26, pan1 (decapitated)
Marvel Preview#16, p26, pan4 (headless body)
Marvel Preview#16, p27,
pan2-3 (death)
Appearances:
Marvel Preview#16 (Fall 1978) - Don
McGregor (writers), Gene Colan (pencils), Tony DeZuniga (inks),
Richard E. Marschall (editor)
First Posted: 10/24/2021
Last updated: 10/24/2021
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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