Those Who Know Fear: Man-Thing (Dr. Theodore Sallis) Appreciation

[Johnny Peril]

Incredible Hulk #427 and #428

Ever wonder how Man-Thing would do against a heavy hitter like the Hulk? Well if Jade Jaws feels fear he'll wind up just like everyone else.
Not a good Man-Thing story as in their second meeting(since #198) all he does is get in between Hulk and a child killer. Don't think the writer had a good grasp on how Manny works because although empathic Man-thing retains enough intelligence to help children.

[Johnny Peril]

Incredible Hulk #427 and #428

Ever wonder how Man-Thing would do against a heavy hitter like the Hulk? Well if Jade Jaws feels fear he'll wind up just like everyone else.
Not a good Man-Thing story as in their second meeting(since #198) all he does is get in between Hulk and a child killer. Don't think the writer had a good grasp on how Manny works because although empathic Man-thing retains enough intelligence to help children.

A slight correction; Incredible Hulk #427 and #428 would be their third encounter, they first met in Incredible Hulk #197 then in Incredible Hulk #389.

[Johnny Peril]

Okay, this is Hulk and Man-Thing's first meeting in Incredible Hulk #197. It's a good story that follows some Man-Thing continuity which I'll discuss at a later time. To make a long story short the Hulk lands in the Everglades, Man-Thing's stomping ground, where he is confronted by The Collector who wants to add him to his collection. The Collector already has two monsters under his control, Man-Thing and the Glob(more about him later), and uses them to capture the Hulk. To be Hulktinued-

[Johnny Peril]

Man-Thing, The Glob, and an unconscious Hulk find themselves in a replicated swamp aboard the Collector's museum ship where he intends to keep them forever. But when the Hulk wakes he transforms into Banner who easily escapes a prison specifically built for monsters. Banner quickly discovers there are other earthlings and aliens from all different eras that are being held as if in a zoo. As he is confronted by the Collector, Man-Thing and The Glob manage to escape their cell due to their less than solid bodies, however they trigger the ship's alarm. Concerned about losing his new monster exhibit the Collector orders his guards to recapture them which is enough to turn Banner back into the Hulk. The trio wreak havoc, destroying the machines that were keeping the exhibits captive and led by the Hulk they all escape the museum ship save The Glob (who I'll discuss later) who goes after the Collector.

A bitter-sweet ending, as the captives leave the protection of the ship they quickly convert to their true age.

[Johnny Peril]

As I said earlier I'd like to tell a little about the Glob being that he and Man-Thing are so similar and are headed for a showdown. Joe Timms was doing time in a Florida prison when he received a letter from his wife informing him she was dying. He put in a request to be temporarily released so he could spend time with his spouse in her remaining days but the request was denied. Seeing no other option he performed an escape, making his way through the everglades until he was pulled down into the bog where his body was never found. "But, some say that a man doesn't really die in the swamp's embrace.. not if his desire to live is fierce enough.. not if he refuses to die.."
Years later, on one of his rampages through Florida, the Hulk would come upon a military shack storing radioactive waste and toss one of its canisters into the swamp where Timms perished, giving birth to the Glob. Retaining a fraction of his former memory the Glob would stalk the swamp until coming upon Betty Ross whom he carried away with him. This led him into conflict with the Hulk. Thinking the Hulk was a threat to Betty the Glob carried her deeper into the swamp where he walked into a bog mixed with anti-radiation fluid, a trap the military set for the Hulk. Starting to dissolve and sensing that Betty would die also, he raised her above his head giving the Hulk time to save her.

A few issues later, The Leader would re-form the Glob, fill him with images of the Hulk harming his wife and then send him after the Hulk. All the way from Florida to Los Angeles, actually. That must have been some walk. Anyway, they have a fierce battle, ripping up the city, but the Glob keeps coming. In one last gamble the Hulk lures the Glob to the top of an electrical tower where he shocks him with a live wire sending the Glob plummeting onto a dynamo. The dynamo explodes, scattering parts of the Glob for miles. The reader is left with the impression that eventually the Glob may reform himself.

Don't worry, the Glob will be back to face Man-Thing in Giant size Man-Thing #1

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To me, Cullen Bunn really has to use Man-Thing for 2017´s Monsters Unleashed!

[Johnny Peril]

This is it. The battle I and all the Man-Thing fans were looking forward to back in the day; Man-Thing vs. the Glob! If I remember correctly this would be Manny’s first battle against a fellow monster. As an added bonus it was featured in Giant Size Man-Thing #1. A Giant Size had 64-68 pages and was similar to an Annual.



Okay, now for the bad news:
1) Although it had 64 pages that included advertisements
2) It had three stories but the other two were re-printed monster stories
3) For a Steve Gerber story it was a bit underwhelming
4) The actual fight is short
5) A big part of the plot is built around an inconsistency(my biggest complaint). This story takes place after The Glob was destroyed in Incredible Hulk #129 which took place in Los Angeles but this story states it happened in Florida, which is important as you’ll see.


Let’s get to the story.
A futuristic, solar powered, self contained community called Omegaville is nearing completion but the Cult of Entropy, who are against anything that unnaturally prolongs life, want it stopped. Hey, this is a Gerber story and you’re going to see crazy cults in every other issue. The Entropists have a secret weapon, the brain of the Glob, which they found after the supposedly battle in Florida. The evil waves emitted from the brain attracts the empathetic Man-Thing so they command the brain to create an energy Glob to destroy. After a brief battle Man-Thing throws a wet tree through the energy Glob shorting it out and the backlash tosses the brain into the swamp. Round 1 to Manny.



For some reason the brain creates its own body, a better looking Joe Timms devoid of memory and gets a job working at Omegaville. The Cult leader has a telepathic connection to the brain so it’s not long until he tracks it down, orders it to recreate its original Glob form and destroy the community. Man-Thing interrupts it and this fight lasts a little longer which is basically swamp vs. swamp until Manny just unleashes and rips The Glob apart. Round 2 to Manny.



The Entropist’s leader is enraged and commands the brain to reform itself. The brain obeys and a creates a new form covering the leader suffocating him. Round 3 to Manny. Fight over.

Not really a good story or fight but it was nice to see Man-Thing taking on something other than frightened humans. Also, Omegaville will be seen again.

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Man-Thing #5-6 “Night of the Laughing Dead”/”And When I Died…”

Steve Gerber, Mike Ploog and Frank Chiaramonte combine for a stunningly clever two-parter about a clown who kills himself in the swamp and then the people who know him (as well as the human stars of the series) are forced by ghosts to re-live the clown’s life to see if the clown deserves to go to Heaven, Hell or Limbo. It’s a beautifully disturbing (and disturbingly beautiful) tale.
http://www.thegerbercurse.yolasite.com/Chapter_One.php

[Johnny Peril]

The Incredible Hulk #389 - "Of Man and Man-Thing"
Story: Tom Field

Pencils: Gary Barker
Inks: Mark Farmer

The story’s not bad, it’s not good either, but at least it’s contained to one issue. The Hulk has Banner’s brain and he and Rick Jones work for an agency called the Pantheon. They are both called upon to help with a case that involves one of their missing scientists, some missing teens, and some monster sightings all taking place in the Florida everglades(Florida everglades? No way this is ending well).

When they get to Florida they immediately split up(real smart, Rick)and Rick is just in time to save a girl from Man-thing. She is grateful and takes Rick to meet her friends who attack him for no reason really but get their butts handed to them by him. Turns out she and her friends and the missing teens are thrill-seekers out to catch a monster(yeah, no way this is ending well). Rick informs them how ****ing crazy they are so as a reward they take him by surprise, knock him out, and tie him to a tree to use as monster bait(that’s what happens when you play Good Samaritan, Rick).

The Hulk(it’s technically still his mag) has been doing some searching(remember he has Banner’s mind) and finds the missing scientist’s, Dr. Summers Beckwith, lab. Seems he started out working on a cure for cancer then found Ted Sallis’s notes so tried to recreate the super-soldier formula and naturally tested it on himself(he’s either really dumb or really confident). The result is he became the new Glob.

Okay, back to monster bait Rick who actually does attract a monster, two in fact. First the (new)Glob comes after Rick then Man-Thing comes. By the way it was the Glob who killed the missing teens and Man-Thing got the blame. Anyway, Hulk arrives and fights the Glob “intelligently” by ripping him apart. The Dr. Beckwith that’s left inside starts to panic and that attracts Manny to deliver the coup de grâce. After giving the surviving teens (Glob killed a couple more for good measure) a short tongue lashing he takes the Hulk home. With his name cleared Man-Thing departs.

Like I said, a so-so story with most of the pages were devoted to those idiot kids. A short fight and quick end but you’d think Banner/Hulk might have been more sympathetic to someone like Dr. Beckwith rather than just destroy him.

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Fear #12 (Feb 1973) Gerber/Starlin/Buckler(inks)
Man-Thing confronts racism.
http://www.comicsreporter.com/index....y_jim_starlin/

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HALLOWEENY COVERS FROM TWO OF MY FAVOURITE MARVEL COMICS' SEVENTIES TEAM TITLES

[Johnny Peril]

I’d like to recap two of my favorite Man-Thing team ups, the Thing and Iron Man. But before I can get to them I have to tell a little back story on the Molecule Man, being that they both involve him.

The tale starts in Fantastic Four vol. 1, 1963, #20. The watcher (the guy who never gets involved) gets the F.F. to come to his sanctuary so he can warn them about a threat that is capable of destroying the Earth as well as his race (guess that’s his loophole). Owen Reece, an employee of Acme Atomics Corporation had an accident. His boss, who doesn’t even know his name, fires him for being careless, but the accident gave Owen power to control molecules so he doesn’t need the job. He decides to make himself ruler of New York. For some reason he needs a wand to use his power. That’s never explained but there’s a funny scene where Sue turns invisible to grab the wand but when she fails she starts crying. She, along with the rest of the F.F. get beaten and have to flee where they are saved by the Yancy Street gang. To make a long story short, Reed finds Owens weaknesses, can’t manipulate organic molecules (something else not explained) and the wand. The Watcher appears (the guy who never gets involved), takes M.M. into custody and undoes all the damage done. The end. So let’s get to the Man-thing.


Marvel Two-In-One #1



Ben Grimm reads a newspaper that has a Man-Thing story and becomes enraged. He feels that the name “Thing” is his and his alone so he takes a bus down to Florida to have a little chat with the swamp dweller. Cut to Owen Reece who is on another planet old and dying. Turns out the Watcher (the guy who never gets involved) stripped the Molecule Man of his power and stranded him on a world where time moves faster. But Owen spent his years building machinery in the hope of recreating the accident that gave him his ability. Oh, and somehow he managed to have a son (let me point out this is a Steve Gerber story). Senior dies before he can use the machine but his son uses it so he can gain his father’s powers and take revenge on the Fantastic Four. For some reason, like his dad, he needs a wand to use his power (that’s going to be important later). Attempting to track down the Thing first junior appears in the Florida everglades where he encounters Man-Thing. Startled, he drops the wand and immediately starts to age causing him to realize he cannot exist off his Homeworld without the wand’s energies. Picking up the wand he returns to his task when Ben Grimm literally drops in. There’s a brief battle with the Thing teaming up with Man-Thing but MM jr. ends it by transforming the two into their human selves. He then seeks out the rest of the FF but the swamp is interfering with his teleport abilities so he has to walk leaving Ted and Ben to decide on a course of action. Ted believes if he can find his lab (good luck with that) he may be able to use his knowledge of chemistry to defeat the new Molecule Man.



Unable to find Sallis’s lab they head into the city to search for one (Citrusville) where they encounter Junior going on a rampage. To show how powerful he is, MM changes them both back to monsters so he can watch them fight each other. During the battle Ben takes a piece of Manny’s goop and hurls it knocking the wand from Reece’s hand causing him to age and then turn to dust (Ben seemed to have enjoyed it). Grimm picks up the wand and attempts to make Man-Thing human again but it won’t work so he gives it to a little kid. The end, for now.

[Johnny Peril]

The Man-Thing team up with the Thing was more of a Ted Sallis team up as Manny was barely shown and only slightly needed. We did get to see the type of man Ted was as he was determined to help even in human form. It was also shown that he is a scientist not a fighter and more comfortable in a laboratory. As in most team ups the heroes have to fight so we are treated to a page of the Thing taking on Man-Thing.

If you’re familiar with Steve Gerber you know he has to kill an innocent bystander (I mean he just has to) so to show how much the Molecule Man hated the F.F. junior took a civilian, transformed him into Mister Fantastic and stretched him beyond his limits. One of the reasons why Ben didn’t save him at the end.

[Johnny Peril]

Now we get to my favorite Manny team up, Man-Thing/Iron Man from Invincible Iron Man vol 1 annual #3. Tony Stark is in Omegaville (from Giant Size Man-Thing #1) debating whether to invest in restoring it. On his tour he notices a petrified skeleton which turns out to be the remains of the leader of the Cult of Entropy (again from Giant Size Man-Thing #1) which for some reason were just left there. That should have been clue number one for Tony to get the hell out of there but he doesn’t.

Scene cuts to three costumed kids in the swamp playing super hero. One of the kids happens to be the boy Ben Grimm gave the Molecule Man’s wand to (Marvel Two And One #1) and during their game it gets knocked into the water. The girl, Cynthia, wearing a Iron Man costume retrieves it only to be attacked by an alligator. Terrified, she flees deeper into the swamp which attracts the attention of Man-Thing who battles the reptile. Cynthia continues running until she gets trapped in the dark water and pulled under still clutching the wand. There’s an unsuccessful search for her body followed by grieving and a funeral.

Stark in his armor is flying around Citrusville when he is attacked by flying giant spiked balls which turn into smiley face balloons. That should have been Tony’s second clue. Some of the citizens blame Iron Man for what is happening and when he confronts one of them they are both launched into the air by an erupting sidewalk. Stark manages to land safely but the civilian breaks his neck. This is a Steve Gerber story, he likes to kill a bystander.

Cynthia, or rather something resembling Cynthia rises from the swamp holding the wand. Turns out the bog where she went under is the same one which created the Glob and Molecule Man managed to transfer his essence into his wand. The body is now a cross between Cynthia and Owen jr..They both share the body but are mentally and physically fighting for control of it. Good scene where Cynthia/Owen turn her house into a palace and her mother into a doll. Iron Man engages them and is defeated by Owen but Cynthia is strong willed and won’t allow anything to happen to her hero. Round 1 to Molecule Man and should have been Tony’s third clue.

Okay, let’s skip to round two where Owen has managed to take control of the body. Using his full power he turns Iron Man into iron but Man-Thing appears, grabs Owen who starts to feel Cynthia’s fear so he burns. He drops his wand which causes everything to revert to normal. But it’s not over yet. The wand fell near a snake’s nest causing the snake to bite it and Owen takes control of the snake forming a new hybrid body. Iron Man is able to defeat it and snatches the wand reverting the snake back to its natural form. But it’s not over yet. With the wand in Iron Man’s hand Owen attempts to take control of his body. Tony fights it but the pressure is putting him on the verge of having a heart attack until Man-Thing pulls the wand from his grasp. Molecule Man tries to take control of Man Thing’s mind but the Swamp Walker doesn’t have a mind so Owen is screwed.


All in all a pretty good story with lots of Manny’s supporting cast involved. There’s a brief fight between Man-Thing and Iron Man where Stark realizes he can’t communicate or hurt him so he freezes our Manny and returns him to the swamp. I like how they made Molecule Man’s powers appear almost magical in nature. Excellent scene when he and Stark are fighting for control you can see Tony’s armor start to transform and sweat is dripping down his face plate.

[Johnny Peril]

Manny makes an appearance in Old Man Logan #14 along with The Howling Commandos.