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

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Not sure how I feel about Man-Thing being treated as a comedy. Seems like taking the easy way out (so far).

that's.. surprising

First issue was great, my guess the "Other" Man-Thing that Ted is fighting is the one from S.T.A.K.E. since all it does is roar and attack without mercy like when he attacked Misty Knights friend which is VERY out of character of Teddy.

The second mini-story from Stine was meh, it could have been used for characters of the Manny history like; Kazar, Satana, Jennifer Kale fighting the Living Brain instead of we get a bad Twilight Zone story.

Oh man! To me, GREAT suggestions!

There’re several reasons I don’t read much of Marvel’s comics anymore.
Now I’ve another: it seems when Marvel revives a character these days, they do so in appearance only, as if they forget that what makes a character worth reviving is not the character’s appearance, but why that character was created in the first place.

Nowadays Marvel rarely seems to ask its creators, What is this character for? What’s the purpose special to this one. Too often the purpose for bringing a character back seems only financial, or as copyright protection.
Character updates at Marvel have been slick, superficial characterizations inside the sleeked skins of their previous selves, their original reasons for being, dissipated, forgotten:
The Hulk, who mirrored our clumsy, dimwitted angry selves, the utterly misunderstood outcast. Now sleek hip Artemus Cho in greenskin.
Dr. Strange, haunted by his own past selfish self, defending us in atonement, against forces not understood; now a snarky, ineffectual whiner.
Howard the Duck, the everyone-aloner created specifically to vent against outrageous politics and sordid living conditions, and now— (Genuinely updating HTD would find him railing against the President, howling about deportation of the undocumented, perhaps even concerned about global warming.)

Which brings us to Manthing. Manthing was created to express and expose the emotion of humanity. The new, updated Manthing ironically is truest to the character in the cheap-shot horror film re-awakened Ted Sallis/Manthing finds himself undertaking; a shambling, rooty parody of a manthing.
I don’t know if this was RL Stine’s conception, or one his was given to work with, but for a Goosebumps fan, this’s so disappointing I won’t be bothering with issue 2.

GREAT points and I agree completely

[Johnny Peril]

Really not feeling this. Starting to feel like a Swamp Thing saga (and I don't mean that in a good way). Back up stories I'll assume are a homage to the 1970's B&W horror mags more suited for a younger crowd. Would have preferred if they were somehow connected to Manny or Ted.

[Johnny Peril]

Man-Thing and his Howling Commandos make an appearance in Secret Warriors #2.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. spoilers
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

[PyroTwilight]

Wait. What? Man-Thing was a human originally too? I would never have known that if I didn't click on this thread.

I thought his origin was simply that Man-Thing was an ever present plant elemental but with nearly no active intelligence who guarded the nexus of realities.

I suppose I should've known there was more to him but dang.

[Captain Craig]

Wait. What? Man-Thing was a human originally too? I would never have known that if I didn't click on this thread.

I thought his origin was simply that Man-Thing was an ever present plant elemental but with nearly no active intelligence who guarded the nexus of realities.

I suppose I should've known there was more to him but dang.

I recommend when you come across a character you don't know to hit up Wikipedia. Sometimes you may strike out if the character is very minor or very new but other times there is enough in a few paragraphs to give you some insight.

Just a suggestion if you're newer to comics.

[PyroTwilight]

I recommend when you come across a character you don't know to hit up Wikipedia. Sometimes you may strike out if the character is very minor or very new but other times there is enough in a few paragraphs to give you some insight.

Just a suggestion if you're newer to comics.

Nope. Well, sort of (started in 05 essentially). I've seen many a Man-Thing appearance but never one that introduced him as a former scientist so that's a shocker to me.

Probably one of the few things I know was his brief part in the Thunderbolts especially since he was the one who kills King Hyperion in the end.

[Johnny Peril]

Nope. Well, sort of (started in 05 essentially). I've seen many a Man-Thing appearance but never one that introduced him as a former scientist so that's a shocker to me.

Probably one of the few things I know was his brief part in the Thunderbolts especially since he was the one who kills King Hyperion in the end.

Not your fault, cause most writers gloss over the fact that this is (or was) a brilliant scientist who lost his intelligence, memories, his sense of self, and is now a walking pile of swamp while the heroes who have done squat to help him pretend like he's happy. Earlier in Man-Thing's career it's often implied that since Ted was working on a formula for the US military during the unpopular Vietnam war he received poetic justice.

[Johnny Peril]

Don't want to discuss the story but I have no idea what is going on in this pic. What's that "steam" coming from Manny? How was he able to sneak up on Moon Girl and Karnak? And why would he help in hunting down Inhumans anyway? Love the art, though!

Man-Thing and his Howling Commandos make an appearance in Secret Warriors #2.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
. spoilers
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

[stingray]

Just finished number 5. What a piece of crap. Lame dialogue and even lamer jokes. Hopefully when we see Manny again he'll be treated a little better. What a waste of time and money this series was.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Ted Sallis' wife Ellen Brandt was adapted for the MCU film Iron Man 3, where she is portrayed by Stéphanie Szostak. In this film, the character is a war veteran who lost an arm and is injected with the Extremis virus by A.I.M. founder Aldrich Killian. After a confrontation with Tony Stark, she's killed when she is lured into a diner which Stark floods with gas from the stove then explodes by microwaving metal from dog tags before being blown out onto power lines which electrocute her.

[Johnny Peril]

Didn't see Iron Man 3 but now you've piqued my curiosity. Think I'll check it out (I heard it did well at the box office).

[Johnny Peril]

Still not feeling this. Man-Thing works best when he's not the protagonist.

Ted Sallis' wife Ellen Brandt was adapted for the MCU film Iron Man 3, where she is portrayed by Stéphanie Szostak. In this film, the character is a war veteran who lost an arm and is injected with the Extremis virus by A.I.M. founder Aldrich Killian. After a confrontation with Tony Stark, she's killed when she is lured into a diner which Stark floods with gas from the stove then explodes by microwaving metal from dog tags before being blown out onto power lines which electrocute her.

Finally got to see it. Seems like a waste of a good comic character. Perhaps they could introduce Ted as trying to recreate the Super Soldier Serum to revive his wife?

[DJ1107]

They did name drop Man-Thing in an episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Not sure if we'll ever see him though given the direction the show is going but you never know.

[Captain Craig]

On the topic of "name drops" it seems some have been combing over the new Thor Ragnarok trailer. In a screen grab a totem pole shows former arena champions of which Man-Thing is at the top.

Thor Ragnarok Man-Thing.jpg

[redrunner97]

I saw this in the trailer because it actually buffered on that scene. And OMFG it got me all kinds of excited! What if Man-Thing is in the gladiator matches? This is probably just a neat Easter Egg, but still, a man can dream! That being said, a nexus of all realities (in Florida of all places) could be REALLY useful in Infinity War... so you never know what they might be sewing the seeds for in Thor: Ragnarok. We know Manny is on somebody's mind over at Marvel, since they've name-dropped him in AOS. Fingers crossed!!