Man-Thing vol. 2 #2

Some scientist and his assistent are testing a teleportation gun. When they aim it at the Man-Thing, they send him to the Himalayan Mountains. First of all, they were gonna test the gun on a tree trunk. Then the Man-Thing was approaching them, so they zapped him instead. If they were testing a teleportation device, you'd think the destination point would be somewhere in which they could verify that the object has been successfully teleported. I don't think going from the Florida Everglades to the Himalayans qualifies.

What is remarkable is that the Man-Thing can function at all in the Himalayans. Previous stories have shown that Manny is dependent on the mystic energies of that portion of the Everglades to survive. Not to mention the Swamp itself. Not only that, but Man-Thing is said to be pretty much composed of swamp water. Wouldn't he freeze in the Himalayan mountains?

Excelsior!

One question about the Man-Thing: Since he's said to be composed basically of swamp water and muck, he doesn't have any bones, how does he maintain his physical structure? You'd think with his physical composition, he'd be a shapeless heap. (Or would his being a "Heap" be a case of copyright infringement? )

Whatsoever knows nits gets picked by the Nit-Picker!

Here's something that kinda bothered me. I alwasy wondered how no one at Marvel could've realized the potential for toruble. Remember the "Giant Size" series of the 70s? Giant Size X-Men, Giant Size Spider-Man et al? Remember Man-Thing? Man-Thin had a Giant Size issue too. Giant Size Man-Thing. Yipes. Just, yipes.

Hey, I own all five issues of Giant Size Man-Thing. Then again, I am a fan of The Man-Thing comics series.

Besides, I think LUIGI once told me that Peter David used that joke in some issue of Captain Marvel.

Excelsior!

Benn: Never read Captain Marvel, so I wouldn't have known that. D@mn! And here I was, thinking I was so clever.

Well, Brian, I've only read the original Captain Marvel. Er, let me rephrase that, since the original "Captain Marvel" is also known as "Shazam". ("Golll-lee Sgt. Carter!") What I mean to say is that I've only read Marvel Comics' original Captain Marvel - Captain Mar-Vell. I realize the current one is the son of Marv's, but I really have no interest in that character. Nor am I a Peter David fan, so that's not a hook to get me into reading the series. And to be honest, of the original Captain Mar-Vell, I'm really only interested in #25-up. Y'know, starting with the issue that Jim Starlin drew?

By Hala!

let me rephrase that, since the original "Captain Marvel" is also known as "Shazam".
No. Shazam is the old wizard who gave Billy Batson the power to become Captain Marvel by saying Shazam. ;-)

Captain Marvel was originally published by Fawcett until a Copyright Infringement case was lost to DC in 1953 and Fawcett ceased publishing of their comics line.

In the '60s another company realized that the Trademark (a seperate thing from Copyright) to the name Captain Marvel was open so they published a few issues of a new character named Captain Marvel.

Stan Lee realized that if any company should publish a book called Captain Marvel it should be Marvel Comics and took steps to acquire the Trademark and create a Captain Marvel of their own.

DC & Fawcett arrived at an agreement where DC can print new & old Captain Marvel adventures, but because the Trademark to the title Captain Marvel belongs to Marvel they call the book Shazam!

In order to preserve the Trademark to the Captain Marvel name Marvel has to have an active character with the name, so after the death of Mar-Vell they later create a female Captain Marvel, then apparently because she wasn't very popular, they give the Captain Marvel name to the son of Mar-Vell, & as of recent Captain Marvel storylines the daughter of Mar-Vell is also using the name.

BTW I read somewhere that Roy Thomas' decision to have Mar-Vell & Rick Jones switch places via the Nega-Bands was his homage to the original Captain Marvel/Billy Batson switch.

Shazam!

Okay, I made an error (and got an essay for my troubles). Can I excuse it by saying I was going for the joke? Didn't think so.

But Captain Marvel zapped him right between the eyes. Zap!

Back in the '70s, Marvel Comics would have the names of the comics printed in the upper left-hand corner. When the first issue of Marvel Two-In-One was published, in the left-hand corner what was written was "Marvel Two-On-One". Sounds kinda kinky. Especially since that issue featured the Thing and the Man-Thing.

Excelsior!

Okay, I made an error (and got an essay for my troubles).
Oh, I could have been much more long-winded, actually. ;-)
(Trivia is nice, but if you don't use it every now and then it goes bad and stinks up the insides of your head. ;-)

Besides it seemed like there was some potential for confusion so I tried to make it clear how many Captain Marvels there have been & their relations if any.

Next we have Marvelman & Miracleman who... ;-)

Isn't Marvel Two On One the new title from the Marvel MAX line?

What is the deal with Man-Thing? As far as I can tell this thing can't speak, doesn't think, is attracted to strong emotions and what feels fear burns at it's touch. Off-hand there would seem to be a limited number of stories that could be told starring Man-Thing, but through the years Marvel has given it several books to star in. What am I missing here?

I can't really answer that one, KAM. But the best Man-Thing stories are the ones that realize that limitation and accept the fact that Manny can only be a prop in the story, rather than an actual character. This means that it is the supporting cast of humans that must grab the readers' attention. Steve Gerber is probably the one writer who understood this, and was thus able to construct the best stories involving the Man-Thing. Mike Fleisher and Chris Claremont understood it the least, and their run on the book ('79-80, or '81) was rather dismal. J.M. DeMatteis, I suspect, disliked it so much that he changed the character into something that's very similar to the Swamp-Thing, and turned Manny into a more active character. (Un)fortunately, this version of the Man-Thing hasn't been used since 1998, or thereabout, leading me to think that the changes DeMatteis instigated weren't too well received. (I personally could strangle DeMatteis for it.)

The bottom line may be that many writers are fascinated by the concept of the Man-Thing, but few have any real ideas of how to make it work.

"Whatsoever knows errors, burns at the touch of the Nit-Pickers."

Manny can only be a prop in the story, rather than an actual character
Yeah that's what I figured which is why his popularity baffled me.

The bottom line may be that many writers are fascinated by the concept of the Man-Thing, but few have any real ideas of how to make it work.
That's probably the correct answer. Thanks, Benn.

J.M. DeMatteis, I suspect, disliked it so much that he changed the character into something that's very similar to the Swamp-Thing
Which version? ;-) Swampy has changed a bit through the years IIRC. (Man turned into creature searching for a way to turn back, then he does become a man again for a awhile, but gets switched back to a thing, then later it's revealed that he was never a man, but an elemental with a man's memories. Yeah, okay, sure.)

Speaking of which, I really think that these two characters have the wrong names. Manny really doesn't look much like a man & calling him a swamp-thing would be more fitting, while Swampy does look more like a man & calling him a man-thing would be more fitting.

Manny can only be a prop in the story, rather than an actual character.
Yeah that's what I figured which is why his popularity baffled me.

I admit I'm a fan of the "character", in that I tend to buy most any comic that features him. It's mostly in the hopes that I run across a well told story, rather any outright interest in the Man-Thing per se (or not). Manny really can't have much of a personal story arc, seeing that he lacks a personality to support such an arc. Again, the best stories are the ones that utilize the fact that the Man-Thing can at best act as a prop in a tale. I should mention that he can also act as a bit of symbolism. And, in far too many cases, as a duex ex machina. (sp?) Too often it is in the superhero stories that the Man-Thing appears in, that the deux ex machina route is taken. Sometimes, as in Iron Man Annual #3, it is done quite successfully. Most of the time, it ends up being used to create some form of cheap irony. (The mindless Man-Thing saves the day type of thing, unaware of what was at stake.)

The symbolic use of the Man-Thing is best demonstrated in such stories as "The Night of the Laughing Dead" in Man-Thing (vol. 1) #5 & 6 and in "Kid's Night Out!" in Giant Size #4. Both, of course, were written by Steve Gerber, and, to me, they represent two of the best Man-Thing stories of all time. I'd like to see more tales using the Man-Thing of this caliber. Unfortunately, they tend to be a rarity.

One other problem with the Man-Thing is that he is located in the Florida Everglades. This tends to limit how much the character can interact with the rest of the Marvel Universe. For Spider-Man, the Thing, Captain America, the Hulk, Iron Man or Shang-Chi* to "team-up" with the Man-Thing, these heroes have to journey down to Citrusville, FLA. It's that, or do like Claremont did in Marvel Team-Up #68 and have the Man-Thing transported to New York, so the Amazing Spider-Man can meet him. (The bulk of the story still takes place in Florida, though.)

One device that both Mike Fleisher and J. M. DeMatteis did use was to give the Man-Thing part of, if not all of, Ted Sallis' intellect. This never lasts long, and is a mistake to me. Sure, you can get some melodramatic mileage from having Sallis' genuis brain trapped in the Man-Thing's body, but that's kinda been done before (the Hulk, Swamp-Thing, etc.). As a matter of fact, this approach tends to be so limited that no writer utilizes it for more than a few issues. (Admittedly, Gerber even resorted to it for an issue or two.)

J.M. DeMatteis, I suspect, disliked it so much that he changed the character into something that's very similar to the Swamp-Thing.
Which version? ;-) Swampy has changed a bit through the years IIRC. (Man turned into creature searching for a way to turn back, then he does become a man again for a awhile, but gets switched back to a thing, then later it's revealed that he was never a man, but an elemental with a man's memories. Yeah, okay, sure.)

I'm thinking of (and going by memory of something I haven't read in years) Alan Moore's version; the elemental who's there to act as a protector of the universe of some sort. This was really brought to the fore in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man Annual '99. The splash page best explains it with these captions: "Call him Man-Thing, for that is the form he now inhabits. But in truth, he is K'ad-Mon of the Fallen Stars, old as the universes. Keeper of the dream. The First Soul to inhabit this planet." The Man-Thing now has grey/white hair(?) and a walking stick. Oh, and he can talk now. The last appearance of the Man-Thing was in Double Shot #2, a 2002 comic book. The story and art was by Ted McKeever (and boy, is it horrible!) and used the original version of the Man-Thing.

Speaking of which, I really think that these two characters have the wrong names. Manny really doesn't look much like a man & calling him a swamp-thing would be more fitting, while Swampy does look more like a man & calling him a man-thing would be more fitting.

Good point.

* Man-Thing's appearance in Master of Kung Fu #19 is actually another of his better guest starring appearances. Steve Englehart did a very good job of integrating the Man-Thing into the martial arts tale. In it, Manny acts as a counterpoint to much of the action.

"Whatsoever knows errors, burns at the touch of the Nit-Pickers."

I admit I'm a fan of the "character", in that I tend to buy most any comic that features him.
Do you have Micronauts #7 then? ;-)

Call him Man-Thing, for that is the form he now inhabits.
Sounds like he was possesed.

But in truth, he is K'ad-Mon
Sounds like a Digimon. ;-)

The Man-Thing now has grey/white hair(?) and a walking stick. Oh, and he can talk now.
What's next, give him a sexy sidekick in tight leather? ;-)

Thanks for info. I was rereading an old comic of mine where Manny appears & that sparked my whole wondering about the character. Interesting to see the way he's been handled & mishandled.

(Miss Handle? Hey, that could be the name of the sexy sidekick! I'd better send this idea to Marvel. Man-Thing & Miss Handle fighting crime in the Florida Everglades. They'll love it! ;-)

I admit I'm a fan of the "character", in that I tend to buy most any comic that features him.
Do you have Micronauts #7 then? ;-)

I used to. I do have it in a reprint issue that contains a few other issues of Micronauts. I give it an "Ehh."

Call him Man-Thing, for that is the form he now inhabits.
Sounds like he was possesed.

But in truth, he is K'ad-Mon.
Sounds like a Digimon. ;-)

The Man-Thing now has grey/white hair(?) and a walking stick. Oh, and he can talk now.
What's next, give him a sexy sidekick in tight leather? ;-)

LOL Keith. Good ones. Yeah, the whole revamping of the Man-Thing is ridiculous. At one point, Steve Gerber did establish that the Man-Thing was some sort of Guardian of the Nexus of All Realities. It was the fact that he was mindless that made him so "successful" at the job. Gerber never really played up this angle, though. I think that was for the best. It would have gotten tedious for the book to continuously have the Man-Thing inadvertedly fend off all threats to the Nexus issue after issue. The Man-Thing works best in a supernatural/horror/human drama type of tale, really. The superheroics should not be added to the mix. Unfortunately, DeMatteis revamp leaves the "character" wide open for such tales.

Thanks for (the) info.

You're welcome. It's kinda nice to be able to share some of this useless trivia I've got rattling around in my head.

I was rereading an old comic of mine where Manny appears...

Would that be Micronauts #7 by any chance? It's not a story that really represents the best Man-Thing tale. I'd even recommend The Uncanny X-Men #144 over that one. (The whole bit of having the Man-Thing team-up with a hero to fight D'Spayre got tedious after the first bout, though.)

...& that sparked my whole wondering about the character.

Again, I'd recommend the entire Steve Gerber run of the book before all others. There are some clunkers in there, but overall, it was one of the weirdest and most fascinating title of the Seventies. Incidentally, there is a Man-Thing movie in the works. You can see a poster and a picture of Manny's face here: the Man-Thing movie

"Whatsoever knows errors, burns at the touch of the Nit-Pickers."

LOL Keith. Good ones.
Thanks

It's kinda nice to be able to share some of this useless trivia I've got rattling around in my head.
As I said earlier, Trivia is nice, but if you don't use it every now and then it goes bad and stinks up the insides of your head. ;-)

Would that be Micronauts #7 by any chance?
Yep. Guess what the next comic I'll be nitpicking is? ;-)

Man-Thing Vol. 2 #10

In this issue, we meet one John Kowalski. He's a former Marines Sgt.-Major. You can tell he was in the Marines because he wears a Marines t-shirt. The eagle on it is colored black, except at the bottom of page 7, where it's red.

Barnaby Stone is the leader of a biker gang. He's after Andy Kale, because he thinks Kale took his girlfriend, Sally, away from him. Sally's hair is auburn in color - except on page 28, panel 2, where she's suddenly a blonde. I guess the Man-Thing must've really scared her. (Two different colorists did this issue, Diana Steele and someone who's last name is Gaff. I guess that explains the coloring errors.)

Stone and his gang lob molotov cocktails at the Man-Thing, setting him on fire. The Man-Thing recovers shortly thereafter due to the nearby presence of the Everglade Swamp. However, in the original series, the Man-Thing had to be immersed in the swamp waters to be revived and healed of any such harms.

Chris Claremont is famous for asking, "Is there any reason this character can't be a woman?" The issue ends with the revelation that Kowalski is Death. I guess Chris has never seen any Marvel comics drawn by Jim Starlin, especially the ones with Thanos in them. If so, he would have known that Death is a woman.

Whatever has nits, burns at the touch of the Nit-Picker!

On page 6, panel 2 of Adventure Into Fear with the Man-Thing #13, the Man-Thing's eyes are described as "hazy, golden". I'll buy the hazy part, but generally Slime Cakes'* eyes are red.

*Howard the Duck's nickname for the Man-Thing.

Whatever has nits, burns at the touch of the Nit-Picker!