Man-Thing #2 (of 5) by R.L. Stein

[Captain Craig]

Contains plot points of said issue: SPOILER Summary below




The issue picks up right from the ending of #1 where our down on his luck Ted Sallis, vocally capable, Man-Thing is going down the street to suddenly be confronted by a more mindless, animalistic(Ted's words), version of his former self. As the two tussle the "animalistic" Man-Thing begins to ensnare and merge itself into Ted/Man-Thing. As this process completes(and it happens quickly) the two are transported back to the Florida Everglades. Ted immediately thinks,"No, please don't affect my cognitive abilities!". He pauses realizes he's thinking and then tries to speak....that has been lost to him now due to this merger.

He is then randomly(?) attacked by a gator so large it needs explaining. I assume Mr.Stein is planning that. During the gator attack Ted rescues a damsel to find out she is someone for his past. She's in the swamp looking for Ted but of course can't recognize her rescuer of muck is him. As he's gesturing to her in pacify motions he's attacked by two giant boa constrictors.....something is up with these large animals.

The boas manage to make off with our damsel(whose name escapes me) and Ted emerges to only find her shoe. As he's holding it some locals in an airboat see him and the shoe and think he's done something to her. They open fire and Ted dismisses with them. He sets off to find his friend but first needs to solve the answer of these large animals and that is where we end the issue.


I'm enjoying what R.L. Stein is doing with Man-Thing. I only wish he hadn't wiped out the vocal ability.
Anyone else reading this title? Thoughts on this issue?

[Moon Ronin]

Contains plot points of said issue: SPOILER Summary below




The issue picks up right from the ending of #1 where our down on his luck Ted Sallis, vocally capable, Man-Thing is going down the street to suddenly be confronted by a more mindless, animalistic(Ted's words), version of his former self. As the two tussle the "animalistic" Man-Thing begins to ensnare and merge itself into Ted/Man-Thing. As this process completes(and it happens quickly) the two are transported back to the Florida Everglades. Ted immediately thinks,"No, please don't affect my cognitive abilities!". He pauses realizes he's thinking and then tries to speak....that has been lost to him now due to this merger.

He is then randomly(?) attacked by a gator so large it needs explaining. I assume Mr.Stein is planning that. During the gator attack Ted rescues a damsel to find out she is someone for his past. She's in the swamp looking for Ted but of course can't recognize her rescuer of muck is him. As he's gesturing to her in pacify motions he's attacked by two giant boa constrictors.....something is up with these large animals.

The boas manage to make off with our damsel(whose name escapes me) and Ted emerges to only find her shoe. As he's holding it some locals in an airboat see him and the shoe and think he's done something to her. They open fire and Ted dismisses with them. He sets off to find his friend but first needs to solve the answer of these large animals and that is where we end the issue.


I'm enjoying what R.L. Stein is doing with Man-Thing. I only wish he hadn't wiped out the vocal ability.
Anyone else reading this title? Thoughts on this issue?

I'm getting the feeling this is all a Man-Thing dream......

[Chimeratengun]

Contains plot points of said issue: SPOILER Summary below




The issue picks up right from the ending of #1 where our down on his luck Ted Sallis, vocally capable, Man-Thing is going down the street to suddenly be confronted by a more mindless, animalistic(Ted's words), version of his former self. As the two tussle the "animalistic" Man-Thing begins to ensnare and merge itself into Ted/Man-Thing. As this process completes(and it happens quickly) the two are transported back to the Florida Everglades. Ted immediately thinks,"No, please don't affect my cognitive abilities!". He pauses realizes he's thinking and then tries to speak....that has been lost to him now due to this merger.

He is then randomly(?) attacked by a gator so large it needs explaining. I assume Mr.Stein is planning that. During the gator attack Ted rescues a damsel to find out she is someone for his past. She's in the swamp looking for Ted but of course can't recognize her rescuer of muck is him. As he's gesturing to her in pacify motions he's attacked by two giant boa constrictors.....something is up with these large animals.

The boas manage to make off with our damsel(whose name escapes me) and Ted emerges to only find her shoe. As he's holding it some locals in an airboat see him and the shoe and think he's done something to her. They open fire and Ted dismisses with them. He sets off to find his friend but first needs to solve the answer of these large animals and that is where we end the issue.


I'm enjoying what R.L. Stein is doing with Man-Thing. I only wish he hadn't wiped out the vocal ability.
Anyone else reading this title? Thoughts on this issue?

So far I'm enjoying story . The side story of Stein's however are meh.
I wonder if losing his voice is whats making him so violent in dose Howling Commandos stories?

[Captain Craig]

We don't know when in the timeline this happens, if it's "in continuity" or not but I suspect it is. Maybe the conclusion will give us more insight on IF this is a "Lost Tale" and post-Thunderbolts or if it's more linear and takes place after Howling Commandoes of SHIELD. I suspect it's the later.

[JKtheMac]

I had a flick through this and the previous issue and I just don't understand the flippant tone. Too many weird asides that sound like kids cartoon dialogue, especially the onlookers in the first issue, but the tone infects Man-Thing also. He watches a girl get carried away by snakes and thinks that situation can be put on hold while he figures other things out! Why would he think that? The very basis of heroic comics, even humorous or off the wall ones, is acting heroically. We can be sure she won't be dead but Man-Thing has nothing to suggest that she won't be eaten in the next ten minutes.

I don't actually mind the backups. They seem very nostalgic and the tone seems on point. I think they suffer from being juxtaposed next to a totally wonky main story, but in and of themselves they seem fine.

[Captain Craig]

He watches a girl get carried away by snakes and thinks that situation can be put on hold while he figures other things out! Why would he think that? The very basis of heroic comics, even humorous or off the wall ones, is acting heroically. We can be sure she won't be dead but Man-Thing has nothing to suggest that she won't be eaten in the next ten minutes.

I thought from a structure standpoint that was the only real flaw in this issue. It would be different, if like you said, he was able to discern she wasn't going to be eaten but taken hostage or some such thing. Taken to their "leader".

[JKtheMac]

I thought from a structure standpoint that was the only real flaw in this issue. It would be different, if like you said, he was able to discern she wasn't going to be eaten but taken hostage or some such thing. Taken to their "leader".

My point isn't just that the logic is poor, but that there is no seriousness of approach. Yes this book has comic elements, but it treats everything as unimportant, including the comedy. I don't get the impression any care has gone into the writing. It doesn't feel like a part of the MU even on the level of other less serious titles. I would like to think this is all some fever dream, or he is in or from a weirder universe, but I somehow doubt that, and I don't think I will be reading to find out.

I only have a passing interest in Man-Thing, so I wasn't really in the market for this, and I only flicked through somebody else's copy, but I find it hard to imagine this is representative of the character I have encountered in cameos, or that horror comic fans look back upon with fondness.

[Captain Craig]

As a more dedicated Man-Thing fan it does seem clear that R.L. Stein has been given a lot of freedom. Ted Sallis has never been characterized as a guy who regularly delivers zinger dialogue as we've seen him in issue #1 or think via thought bubbles in issue #2. Pursuing a career in Hollywood is not something I'd imagine him doing. Signing on with SHIELD or some other scientific think tank makes sense due to his background and powerset.

I was taken off guard in Thunderbolts when he gained the ability to telepathically talk to anyone he focused on but quickly took to it. It was a character development that was an extension of his last ongoing in the early '00s where he could only "speak" with Ellen.
I'm just hoping for a fun romp now and we'll see where this goes. Regardless I feel Man-Thing has gotten a better shake here, even if slightly mis-characterized, than he got in Howling Commandoes of SHIELD. He should've been a bigger star in that book.