Apparently, the comics world is big enough for two men of science turned into giant swamp creatures. Marvel introduced Man-Thing near simultaneously with DC’s eerily similar Swamp Thing, and while the latter enjoyed a long, healthy run that continues today, the Man-Thing wallowed in relative obscurity. Every now and again, he shows up to make an appearance, recently in his own absolutely dreadful movie and now the much more wonderful ESSENTIAL MAN-THING: VOL. 1 collection.
Birthed in a brief story in the first issue of SAVAGE TALES, Man-Thing was one do-gooder scientist Ted Sallis, formulating on a secret super-soldier serum in the Florida Everglades until his sexy little ho-bag turns on him. Rather than let his chemical concoction fall into criminal hands, Sallis injects himself with it and crashes into the swamp. The combo of the murky waters and the syringe contents turns him into a big, strong, mute, green monster whose fingers ooze acid. And, as his catchphrase goes, “Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing’s touch!”
Man-Thing oozed into the tryout title ADVENTURES INTO FEAR for a while, which continued the character’s horror roots while establishing an ongoing story of ecology: The swamp is forever threatened to be turned into a parking lot by develop F.A. Schist (get it?), and tends to attract a lot of bad guys, all of whom experience Man-Thing’s peculiar brand of skin-sizzling. But writer Steve Gerber soon takes the title into a more fantasy-based direction, jumping dimensions and introducing a large dose of the supernatural, with Man-Thing having a psychic link with a local girl who accidentally lets loose some demons when she dabbles in witchcraft.
Another recurring character is Richard Rory, the lovable loser who also figures greatly in the recent ESSENTIAL SHE-HULK. But what makes Man-Thing a must-read are the utterly bizarre bit parts from a barbarian made of peanut butter, space pirates and a talking duck named Howard – perhaps you’ve heard of him? These kind of what-the-hell’s-next touches play better than the usual Marvel superhero cameos (though those are here, too, including The Fantastic Four), but ultimately probably killed the concept. It gets too silly, and Gerber can’t quite pull off the fantasy angle in ways that Alan Moore and company could with Swamp Thing by resisting the comedy.
Still, this is a prime piece of Marvel’s horror reign of the ’70s. For that alone – and the proof that they had the, er, balls to produce an issue titled GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING – this is worth the purchase. –Rod Lott
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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL GODZILLA: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL IRON FIST: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL KILLRAVEN: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL MARVEL HORROR: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL MOON KNIGHT: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL NOVA: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL SAVAGE SHE-HULK: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL SUPER VILLAIN TEAM-UP: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL TALES OF THE ZOMBIE: VOL. 1
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