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Marvel’s muck-monster appeared at nearly the same time as DC’s Swamp Thing. Even though both creatures were based on The Heap (a character from Hillman comics), both were entirely different in terms of execution. The early Swamp Thing was pure horror and science fiction; Man-Thing could change genres from issue to issue. Sorcery, horror, humor, contemporary tales of morality—it all happened in a Florida swamp and chartered the rise of Marvel’s most unique writer, Steve Gerber.
Man-Thing was conceived by Roy Thomas, Stan Lee, and Gerry Conway as a short story for Savage Tales #1—Marvel’s first entry into the black and white magazine market. As a kid, I never saw this issue, as it was poorly distributed. My first exposure to Man-Thing was in Astonishing Tales #12-13, where he met Ka-Zar. Astonishing Tales #12 had a ten page Man-Thing story drawn by Neal Adams, which seemed to have been done for Savage Tales #2 before it was cancelled.
Man-Thing took over the lead story in Adventures into Fear #10. Drawn by Gray Morrow, the origin story provided an uncanny link to the Marvel Universe. Captain America was responsible for Man-Thing’s birth—in a roundabout way.
Ted Sallis was a scientist working to recreate the super-soldier serum that transformed Steve Rogers. Betrayed by a woman in the employ of A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), Sallis escapes in his car down a Florida road. Sensing that he will be caught, Sallis injects the serum into his bloodstream, right before his car is flung off the road and into the swamp.
The serum (which Steve Gerber later said was designed to help humans breathe pollutants) transformed his body, using the swamp’s elements to mold him into the Man-Thing. Sallis’ personality submerged completely in this new mindless form. Just as in Tales of the Zombie, we never heard the Man-Thing talk or think. He possessed dim memories of Sallis’ life and his own adventures. The Man-Thing was an empathic creature, responding to emotions of those around him. Fear was repulsive to the monster, as we discovered later: “Whoever knows Fear burns at the Man-Thing’s touch!”
With issue #11, Steve Gerber became the regular scripter. His first story introduced a demon summoned by Jennifer Kale, a young sorceress who would develop as the series progressed. Jennifer Kale, Dakimh the Enchanter, and the Shred-Na cult provided a layer of sub-plots that would weave through Gerber’s stories. I didn’t really care for these tales; Gerber worked much better when he wrote about characters that he could relate to.
In issue #12, one story of this type was titled “No Choice of Colors!” Man-Thing witnesses a black man named Jackson, running through the swamp, pursued by a white racist sheriff called Corley. Jackson is wounded and Man-Thing saves him. Jackson tells us a story about Corley pursuing him because he loved a white girl. Later, when Sheriff Corley catches up, we find that Jackson has committed murder.
Unable to fathom the truth, Man-Thing turns away from both of them. Corley kills Jackson and boasts that he wants to see all black people murdered. This triggers a rage from Man-Thing, who incinerates the sheriff. A nice art job by Jim Starlin helped introduce kids to the subject of racism in a shocking manner.
The story in AIF #17 inverted the Superman myth with hilarious results. Wundarr had almost the same origin of Superman, except Ma and Pa Kent were too afraid to go to the rocket.
Wundarr sat in the rocket for twenty-two years until Man-Thing releases him…and concludes that Man-Thing must be his mother! Wundarr (who had the powers of Superman but the mind of Superbaby) would go on to become a guest-star in the Thing’s series, Marvel Two-In-One.
AIF#19 was the last appearance of Man-Thing in the anthology before receiving his own series. He left on a cliffhanger, as the Nexus of All Realities started to collapse, and Dakimh assembled a team to put it all back together. Howard the Duck was one of them, walking into the swamp, wondering who all the hairless apes were.
Frank Brunner drew the gorgeous cover to Man-Thing #1, where the realities were saved, but at the cost of Howard’s life (or so we thought). It seemed incredible to even the most faithful Marvelites that our quirky muck monster was in his own monthly title (and popping up everywhere in the Marvel Universe as well).
Man-Thing #2 introduced the final key cast member to the series: Richard Rory. Rory was a character that Steve Gerber seemed to identify with, and in some ways he seemed to resemble the pictures I had seen of Gerber. Rory claimed to be a perennial loser whose bad luck streak started at birth (see above). Although his luck couldn’t be that bad—he gets saved by Man-Thing a bunch of times and meets a hot biker chick named Ruth.
With all these elements in place, Gerber was poised to do his strongest work yet in the Florida swamp. I’ll cover that in Part Two, where you will learn about my favorite Giant-Sized Man-Thing. Nuff said.
See also:
When Giant-Sized Man-Things Walked the Earth (Man-Thing Part II)
Need a Team-Up? Got a Man-Thing!
Man-Thing Wikipedia Entry
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