Man-Thing by Steve Gerber: The Complete Collection, Vol. 2

Man-Thing by Steve Gerber: The Complete Collection

by Steve Gerber, Mike Ploog (Illustrator), John Buscema (Illustrator)

Collects Giant-Size Man-Thing #1-5, Daredevil (1964) #113-114, Man-Thing (1974) 9-18 and material from Monsters Unleashed #8-9. Continuing the definitive collection of Man-Thing's macabre misadventures by his signature writer! The lumbering behemoth goes truly giant-size in one of the most notorious Marvel titles of all time, with stories ranging from a battle of the swamp monsters against the Glob, to a portentous flashback to the life of Ted Sallis before he was transformed. Those who know fear burn at the Man-Thing's touch, but what will happen when he joins Daredevil, the Man Without Fear, in battle with Death-Stalker? Demons, dragons and dancers all lie in wait — and so do mad Vikings and ghost pirates! From the introspective to the action-packed to the downright bizarre, it's the Man-Thing unleashed!

Genres: Comics, Horror, Fantasy, Marvel, Science Fiction, Superheroes, Graphic Novels

401 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 15, 2016

About the author

Steve Gerber graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in communications and took a job in advertising. To keep himself sane, he wrote bizarre short stories such as "Elves Against Hitler," "Conversion in a Terminal Subway," and "...And the Birds Hummed Dirges!" He noticed acquaintance Roy Thomas working at Marvel, and Thomas sent him Marvel's standard writing test, dialoguing Daredevil art. He was soon made a regular on Daredevil and Sub-Mariner, and the newly created Man-Thing, the latter of which pegged him as having a strong personal style--intellectual, introspective, and literary. In one issue, he introduced an anthropomorphic duck into a horror fantasy, because he wanted something weird and incongruous, and Thomas made the character, named for Gerber's childhood friend Howard, fall to his apparent death in the following issue. Fans were outraged, and the character was revived in a new and deeply personal series. Gerber said in interview that the joke of Howard the Duck is that "there is no joke." The series was existential and dealt with the necessities of life, such as finding employment to pay the rent. Such unusual fare for comicbooks also informed his writing on The Defenders. Other works included Morbius, the Lving Vampire, The Son of Satan, Tales of the Zombie, The Living Mummy, Marvel Two-in-One, Guardians of the Galaxy, Shanna the She-Devil, and Crazy Magazine for Marvel, and Mister Miracle, Metal Men, The Phantom Zone , and The Immortal Doctor Fate for DC. Gerber eventually lost a lawsuit for control of Howard the Duck when he was defending artist Gene Colan's claim of delayed paychecks for the series, which was less important to him personally because he had a staff job and Colan did not.

He left comics for animation in the early 1980s, working mainly with Ruby-Spears, creating Thundarr the Barbarian with Alex Toth and Jack Kirby and episodes of The Puppy's Further Adventures, and Marvel Productions, where he was story editor on multiple Marvel series including Dungeons & Dragons, G.I. Joe, and The Transformers. He continued to dabble in comics, mainly for Eclipse, including the graphic novel Stewart the Rat, the two-part horror story "Role Model: Caring, Sharing, and Helping Others," and the seven-issue Destroyer Duck with Jack Kirby, which began as a fundraiser for Gerber's lawsuit.

In the early 1990s, he returned to Marvel with Foolkiller, a ten-issue limited series featuring a new version of a villain he had used in The Man-Thing and Omega the Unknown, who communicated with a previous version of the character through internet bulletin boards. An early internet adopter himself, he wrote two chapters of BBSs for Dummies with Beth Woods Slick, with whom he also wrote the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "Contagion." During this period, he also wrote The Sensational She-Hulk and Cloak and Dagger for Marvel, Cybernary and WildC.A.T.s for Image, and Sludge and Exiles for the writer-driven Malibu Ultraverse, and Nevada for DC's mature readers Vertigo line.

In 2002, he returned to the Howard the Duck character for Marvel's mature readers MAX line, and for DC created Hard Time with Mary Skrenes, with whom he had co-created the cult hit Omega the Unknown for Marvel. Their ending for Omega the Unknown remains a secret that Skrenes plans to take to the grave if Marvel refuses to publish it. Suffering from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis ("idiopathic" meaning of unknown origin despite having been a heavy smoker much of his life), he was on a waiting list for a double lung transplant. His final work was the Doctor Fate story arc, "More Pain Comics," for DC Comics'

Reviews

[Zack! Empire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good stuff from Marvels horror phase in the 70's. I think the best part is how diverse Man-Thing's stories can be. You get a wide range in this book as Man-thing takes on ghost pirates, wizards, super villains, even an evil brain! In fact, one of the best stories only has Man-thing as a conceptual idea!
The art work is good. Because of his design, Man-thing can be drawn by someone with a cartoon style, or a darker moody style. They do a good job of matching the artist to the diverse stories.
This book is at times too wordy. It really reads like a novel in some places. I don't have a problem with comics containing a lot of dialogue, but at times it feels like you are just dredging through.
If a volume 3 comes out, I'll be sure to pick it up.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume of the macabre Man-Thing’s metaphysical misadventures opens with Giant-Size Man-Thing #1. This story features the return of an old Hulk sparring partner the Glob, a cult of entropy enthusiasts, and some eco-friendly fanatics desiring to build a self-sustainable community in the Florida Everglades. What makes this wild tale so good is the wonderful art by Mike Ploog. Definitely a favorite of mine (4/5).

Up next are a pair of issues Daredevil, specifically #113-114, that brings the Man Without Fear to the Everglades in search of a kidnapped college student. Nothing all that great here, although I do have to admit that these were the first two issues of Daredevil that I ever read. I know I’d read something with the character before these, but there were the first two issues of his own title that I picked up. As for the story itself? Nothing to write home about, it’s a couple chapters from a larger storyline in progress and the only reason Man-Thing is present is because Gerber was writing both books (3/5).

Then it’s back to classic Man-Thing action with Man-Thing #9-10. Another wonderful character piece from Gerber with very memorable art from Ploog. Definitely another favorite and well remembered from my childhood (4/5).

This was the summer of Marvel’s Giant-Size titles, so that means we’ve got Giant-Size Man-Thing #2 up next. This one is good, but not nearly as iconic as the previous issue with art by Ploog. John Buscema gives a great Man-Thing, but it’s just not as visually iconic as Ploog’s version (which will always be my iconicly classic take on the character). This story features the muck monster being captured and taken to NYC and guest-stars the Fantastic Four (with a nice nod to the meeting between Ben Grimm and Man-Thing from Marvel Two-In-One #1). A good story, but the art just isn’t quite there, at least for me (3/5).

Next up is a 2-part text story from the pages of the Marvel black & white magazine Monsters Unleashed #8-9. This is a nice little tale that works well in this format. It also reconnects the reader with Ted Sallis, if not in person, at least in spirit, to add some poignancy (3/5).

Some major changes begin (and end) with Man-Thing #11-14. This first, sadly, is that #11 is Ploog’s last issue. It also begins wrapping up some of the big subplots with Richard Rory. Bittersweet issue for me as Ploog is a personal favorite artist for me, and certainly the signpost by which I grade all other artistic takes of the Man-Thing. His unique style and line work is so identifiable and he was one of the earliest artists that I quickly learned to identify and enjoy, right up there with Kirby and Ditko, Adams and a handful of others (4/5). The next issue gives us some more Buscema and wraps up some more loose ends, even while delivering a truly classic story of early Man-Thing. Had this one also been by Ploog, it likely would be one of my all time favorite Man-Thing stories, as is it is certainly a solid contribution (4/5). Then things start to change. Buscema is around for the next issue, and #13 again takes us away from the Florida Everglades and into the Bermuda Triangle and the Pirates of the Caribbean, oh wait Disney didn’t own Marvel back then. Sorry, make that some ghost-pirates on a Flying Dutchman type vessel and a magical curse … yeah it’s all very weird (3/5). And the conclusion of that story is done in the next issue with art by the always memorable Alfredo Alcalá, another artist with a very unique and identifiable style. So, these four issues offer the loss of Ploog, some more appearance of Buscema’s reoccurring art and our ghostly, otherworldly pirates of the … flying Caribbean cursed ship. Yep, Tower of the Satyr is definitely a weird one (3/5).

Giant-Size Man-Thing #3 sees the return of some ally’s of the miry muck monster. Dakimk, Jennifer Kale and Korrek are all back, as the nexus of all realities this trio and the Man-Thing together again to fight off a trio of loathsome baddies. Yep, it’s another high fantasy quest with Man-Thing along for the ride. Alcalá is back providing the art and it’s a fun romp almost deserving of an appearance of a certain Cimmerian Barbarian … almost (3/5).

Next up is Man-Thing #15. This is an odd tale that is more than a bit surreal. Art by Rico Rival, it seems to be trying to conjure a sense of Ploog, without trying to parrot his unique style. The story itself is nothing special, almost seems like filler in many ways, but it does provide some interesting backgrounds details for Ted Sallis, the man who would become the Man-Thing. The next issue introduces a character that we’ll see again, but it comes across as just a one-off appearance, so the larger picture isn’t made clear yet. This is actually something Gerber does very well. Buscema is back for this story as well (3/5).

Giant-Size Man-Thing #4 gives Gerber a chance to go back to a reoccurring theme, that of the outsider who never seems to get a break from unrelenting bullying and torment. This is a dark story, and one that is all too often cliched in High School stories. Pretty weak and unoriginal, and the art doesn’t really do anything to attempt to elevate it (2/5). As a side note, this issue also include an original Howard the Duck story, which was quite excellent, but is not included in this collection (see Howard the Duck: The Complete Collection, Vol. 1 to find that one).

We’re getting close to the end of the volume now. Man-Thing #17-18 are drawn by Jim Mooney and it almost harkens aback to the Val Mayerik style, almost. The story gives us the return of the Mad Viking from #16, even offering excellent continuity with Giant-Size Man-Thing #4, and a theme that is just as relevant today as it was in 1975. Cult of personality, book burnings, mass public hysteria - the more things change, the more they stay the same (4/5).

Giant-Size Man-Thing #5 is a rather disappointing closer for this collection. Gerber provides the framing sequence and the first of the three out of sequence stories here, Len Wein and Marv Wolfman step in for the other two, nothing special here. Feels more like inventory stories just strung together (2/5).

[Buddy Scalera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uneven, strange, and innovative. Steve Gerber collaborated on a wide range of brilliant, but also flawed storylines.

I did a complete episode on this on my Comic Book School YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/live/3vyyneCv...

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Gerber wrote with a heavy hand but it was probably because it was weighed down by that red herring he couldn't let go of. But, he was very creative and original and it all feels very fresh. You never know what to expect when you crack open a Gerber book but it rarely disappoints.

[Alex Andrasik · Rating 4 out of 5]

The miry Man-Thing returns for another set of adventures, more of which were hits for me than misses this time. Like Vertigo would do a decade-plus later, Gerber's Man-Thing provides a vehicle for a rotating cast of characters - some normal, some supernormal; some recurring, some one-off - to confront their own fears, guilts, and motivations in the course of a confrontation with the repulsive and inexplicable. Man-Thing functions similarly to the way the Hulk did during this era as a character of limited agency, merely stumbling into other people's lives, only with less of Hulk's child-like naivete and much more of a blank slate, responding powerfully to the sensation of others' emotions. A standout for me is toward the beginning of this collection, in a two- or three-part story that starts out as a domestic farce, evolves into an almost parodic supernatural tale of possessed swamp stuff on a rampage, and winds up being about the difficulty of navigating relationships and the resentments they can engender over many years.

[Mark Schlatter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Alright, a few caveats before the big review….

Caveat 1: I read these comics on the Marvel Unlimited app and not in paper form. Unfortunately, that means I haven’t read a few issues that are unavailable in that format (mainly the Marvel Comics Presents material and some issues of Monsters Unleashed). But I did read all of the Fear issues with Man-Thing, all of the Man-Thing, Giant Size Man-Thing, and Infernal Man-Thing issues along with a good bit of the crossover material. Also, I am posting the same review to all three volumes of the Steve Gerber Man-Thing Collection instead of breaking down the material by the volume it appears.

Caveat 2: I adore the Steve Gerber Defenders run, and I’m quite a fan of his Howard the Duck stuff, both of which I read when it came out. But I read almost none of Gerber’s Man-Thing when it was published (the big exception being the creature’s appearance in two issues of Howard the Duck). So, I have no nostalgia for these works, and I am reading these early 70’s comic books with a pretty critical eye.

So, what works? Squint and you can see an early version of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing run; there’s a muck creature with identity issues surrounded by stories of social importance, with a big focus (as usual for Gerber) on the danger of mob mentalities. Squint even harder and you can see hints of Grant Morrison’s Animal Man run; the final issue of the Man-Thing title has Gerber as the main character, explaining how he gets all the stories from a side character called Dakimh the Enchanter and having a cosmic adventure all his own. In short, there’s a ton of inventiveness mixed in with the typical Gerber insanity.

Compared to Defenders and Howard the Duck, this is the series that focuses most on human beings and their travails. (And there’s a good reason why a few paragraphs down.) There are issues on race relations, the evils of consumer culture, the impact of fat-shaming and bullying, and much more. And the very large cast of non-powered people who move in and out of the book make it, in some ways, one of the more grounded Gerber titles.

It’s also a (usually) dark series, with much more death than I would expect from a 70’s Marvel comic. If you read anything from these collections, I would recommend Man-Thing #16-18, which centers around a book-burning crusade in Citrusville, the small Florida town that is the setting for most of the stories. Unlike a lot of Marvel stories with “social importance”, there is no happy ending here. A young girl dies, unable to stop her crazed grandfather on his mission of enforcing an outdated version of masculinity. The book burners win, with our protagonists leaving town to escape the mob. It is a remarkably sobering story.

So, what doesn’t work? Sadly, so so much…. See, the thing with Gerber is that the inventiveness is often mixed with an undisciplined approach, or --- to put it more bluntly --- Gerber is going to go too far too often. It’s not a surprise that a human antagonist for the early issues is called F. A. Schist. It’s not a surprise that an advertising executive will describe his frustration with trying to sell crap by writing a cringe-filled tone poem shown as a text page in the comic. It’s not a surprise that there’s an emotional vampire zooming around in a purple and yellow costume, devouring women down to their bones. It’s not a surprise that the main researcher of a Bermuda Triangle project is also the reincarnation of a pirate queen trying to escape a satyr. It’s just barely a surprise that a storyline addresses the consequences of one side character (Richard Rory, a possible Gerber stand-in) helping an underage teenage girl escape Citrusville with them both realizing that he can be charged with kidnapping.

And look, sometimes the absurdity of Gerber’s material works; it’s how we got Howard the Duck after all. But when it doesn’t, it sometimes falls hard. And given the craziness of what happens in this book (which in my mind outdoes the Defenders by a long shot), I have to wonder what editors at Marvel were thinking in the early 70’s.

And then there’s Man-Thing…. Unlike DC’s Swamp Thing, Man-Thing is barely conscious. He has no internal or external dialogue; he just reacts to others’ emotions or by instinct (and goodness knows the narration will tell you that over and over again.) In short, Man-Thing has no agency. He is never the protagonist but either the catalyst for the story or an agent of inadvertent justice at the conclusion. All of which means that the comic needs to keep on bringing in protagonist after protagonist for stories, most of whom have short shelf lives.

Since Man-Thing doesn’t speak or think, what we get instead is text box after text box of narration. Now, I love the catch phrase “whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing’s touch”, but aside from that, Gerber’s prose can get awfully boring. Add to that the relative lack of humor in this title, and many pages can become tough going.

Finally (and if you have gotten this far, congrats for realizing how petty this complaint is), there are too many fights with alligators. Sometimes a snake is thrown in for variety, but usually it’s alligators. It’s as if Marvel editorial was fine with Gerber getting crazy conceptually, but there still had to be the mandated fight scene per issue, so Gerber and his artists showed the Man-Thing/alligator fracas one more time.

I’m glad I read these issues, if only to experience more Gerber imagination and understand more of Marvel’s 70’s history. But I don’t see myself rereading these, and I’m not sure there’s much for anyone who isn’t already nostalgic for this run.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Man-Thing, the idea of a monster who is a hero not because he thinks he is or is pretty, but because of empathy. Not all of these stories have aged very well, (most of the women, even the ones writ strong, collapse in tears into a man's arms far too much for my liking. The story of Edmund including a teacher that has kindergartners strip to their underwear and take pictures of them to measure their posture is frankly more horrifying than anything else in the book); but there are other stories, Like a Book Burns in Citrusville, that sadly could be written today.

[Rockito · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good work by the first subversive of Marvel comics. A few stories a little too dumb and at times it gets too wordy, but Gerber's writing shines through that and he's accompanied by a pretty good array of artists. This books goes ways comics did not dared back then (in the USA at least, were they were dumbed down), and in great fashion considering the 70's narrative. Not as good as Omega the Unknown, but close.

[Matt Sautman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My review for all three volumes of The Man-Thing: The Complete Collection read identically: when Man-Thing is heavily integrated into the larger Marvel 616 universe of comics, Gerber’s work is phenomenal. However, when the series becomes too self-contained in horror plots, Gerber’s writing frequently becomes heavy-handed or underwhelming in comparison to his highest caliber work.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

More Bronze Age 70s goodness

...different and weird were expected - but still Man-Thing delivers the unexpected. This is a good thing. Man-Thing remains the same but the cast of characters around him are the welcome unexpected surprise. The '70s concerns about the changing social mores and about ecology are insightful and welcome.

[Dubzor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of fun stuff in this volume, including Man-Thing written by Len Wein!

[ISMOTU · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky 70’s muck monster mania!

[Kyle Burley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second volume of Steve Gerber's vintage swamp monster comic is as inspired as the first. The stories run the gamut from straight-up horror to trippy psychodrama, and from high fantasy to social commentary. A bit overwritten, like many comics of the day, but still entertaining, unique and totally, utterly, bat-shit crazy.