Man-Thing by R.L. Stine

Man-Thing (2017) #1-5

by R.L. Stine, German Peralta (Illustrator)

Collects Man-Thing (2017) #1-5.

Marvel's melancholy muck-monster as you've never seen him before - courtesy of beloved author R.L. Stine (Goosebumps, Fear Street)! After so many years of somber silence, Man-Thing has found his voice -and taken Hollywood by storm! But when an ancient evil threatens his old swamp stomping ground, Man-Thing will have to choose between his new life and celebrity, and the world he used to call home. An old ally pays a visit, but everything else is out to get Man-Thing -including crocodiles, bats and mosquitos, oh my! Can the balance of the swamp be restored, or will the cause of this calamity be beyond Man-Thing's control? Plus, bone-chilling bonus horror tales from the master himself, R.L. Stine! Reading this will give you goosebumps...but beware - for whoever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Horror, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, Comic Book

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 6, 2017

About the author

Robert Lawrence Stine known as R. L. Stine and Jovial Bob Stine, is an American novelist and writer, well known for targeting younger audiences. Stine, who is often called the Stephen King of children's literature, is the author of dozens of popular horror fiction novellas, including the books in the Goosebumps, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room and Fear Street series.

R. L. Stine began his writing career when he was nine years old, and today he has achieved the position of the bestselling children's author in history. In the early 1990s, Stine was catapulted to fame when he wrote the unprecedented, bestselling Goosebumps® series, which sold more than 250 million copies and became a worldwide multimedia phenomenon. His other major series, Fear Street, has over 80 million copies sold.

Stine has received numerous awards of recognition, including several Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and Disney Adventures Kids' Choice Awards, and he has been selected by kids as one of their favorite authors in the NEA's Read Across America program. He lives in New York, NY.

http://us.macmillan.com/itsthefirstda...

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man-Thing was a character created around fifty years ago (about the same time as his more famous DC cousin, Swamp-Thing) by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Grey Morrow, and (of course!) Stan Lee. (Apropos of nothing, does anyone remember The Heap?) Steve Gerber's long, crazed run on the book is a cult-classic, and Chris Claremont had a successful run, too. Bobbi Morse (Mockingbird) and Howard the Duck were introduced in Man-Thing stories... so there's a lot of history with many high-points. I think R.L. Stine was trying to channel Gerber's tone, but it just all kinds of falls short and flat. It's just not a comprehensible story, though there are some funny bits and lines. Back in the day, I read dozens of Stine's Goosebumps books to my youngest daughter, but his take on Man-Thing, while enthusiastic, in nothing but disappointing. Thankfully, the book also includes five individual short-short stories by Stine that are quite delightful. They're little morality vignettes reminiscent of the EC horror classics. The Man-Thing art by Peralta is okay (sometimes he makes Man-Thing look like a Frank R. Paul interpretation of a Lovecraft creature, but that's okay), but the five closing short pieces are all illustrated by a different artist, and all are quite good and fit their stories excellently. Skim the first part and then enjoy the short pieces. Excelsior!

[Bill Riggs · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series had so much potential. Incredibly it was ruined. A wisecracking Man-Thing? No thanks. This character should be rooted in horror, not comedy. The art was the only good thing in the series except for the back up stories at the end.

[Vishnu Chevli · Rating 2 out of 5]

One time read for kids

[Logan · Rating 2 out of 5]

An Okay read. So originally when I heard R.L. Stine was doing a Man-Thing series, (a character I've been wanting to read up on) I was like: "This I got to see!". But now I'm not so sure (No disrespect to Mr. Stine). So the story starts with Man-Thing trying to get into the Hollywood show business making his own Superhero movie (coupled with some great MCU Jokes), but quickly that fails and he has to return to the swamp he used to protect, only to find Old Father(some important character) has been kidnapped, so now Man-thing has to rescue him! Now initially I loved the first two issues; the jokes had me rolling on the floor laughing, and I loved how it was the great parody of all B-Horror movies but also Swamp Things comics! If you've read some of the old Swamp Thing comics you will appreciate how they parody all the tropes! But from issue 3 onwards I lost the plot entirely, rather then the whole thing just be a parody swamp adventure(Which I would have preferred) it quickly turns into some space-Planet Hulk type story??? I don't know what to say, the story just felt so out of place from issue 3 onwards; it was still funny, there were a few lines that made me chuckle, but overall the story was just really weak, which hurts the book overall! Artwork though is pretty top notch! But overall, it pains me to say this was not my cup of coffee!

[Mattia Ravasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Video review

A real treat for fans of Stine, and for goo aficionados. I suspect the two categories to overlap somewhat.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing... My Lord! Whatever happened to Stine here? This has got to be the most boring and all-over-the-place-story I’ve ever read and don’t even get me started on the never ending and cringeworthy dadjokes. The only decent thing about this was the art, which was wonderful in my opinion, and the stories at the end which weren’t expected at all, but after such an anticlimactic experience much needed.

[Bekka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, but reasonably interesting. Definitely weird though.
TW for human experimentation, violence, isolation, loss of memories, murder, death, beheadings, kidnapping.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://youtu.be/nat7HGExrOc

[Austin Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐

This is some of that go-go gadget random BS type of story, but the art was good and there was some fun to be had with the wackiness of it all. Some of Stine's jokes can be cringy, though.

[Shawn Deal · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a good story trying to get out of here. Problem is it is quagmired in too much humor. I did like the humorous touch of this graphic novel but it got in the way of the story telling and the creature I know and love. In essence, less is more. With everyone wise cracking in this story, it got old fast. And it seemed that the humor was more important than the story telling. I loved the look and illustration of the story and there was a decent story buried under all this, but ....

[Gary Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

15th book read in 2019.

Number 150 out of 763 on my all time book list.

Funny and mind-bending tale.

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

🅡🅔🅥🅘🅔🅦

Man-Thing
2017
Comic book
Rating: 1.5/5

Man-Thing is a disappointing read that fails to deliver on the promise of combining a beloved author with a classic Marvel character. Writer R.L. Stine is one of those timely authors who has the luxury of being implanted in my nostalgic memories, and finding this lifeless story was very disappointing. The series attempts to blend Stine’s knack for horror with Marvel’s Man-Thing, but it falls flat on almost every level. The narrative is disjointed, with a lack of clear direction or cohesion. The character development was minimal, leaving the protagonist feeling flat. Stine’s usually effective horror storytelling feels out of place in the comic book medium, resulting in a series that is neither frightening nor engaging. I wanted to enjoy this series but I couldn’t connect with this story. Others may find something special here but for me it never came together. Man-Thing obviously struggles to exist in the Marvel, especially when you consider it’s a direct opposition to DC Swamp-Thing, and anyone will struggle to compete with the likes of Alan Moore’s run on that character. I was excited to dive into R.L. Stine’s Man-Thing series, expecting a nostalgic trip with a touch of the macabre. Unfortunately, what I got was a muddled mess that barely held my interest.

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[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow. Just...wow. Definitely one of the worst comics I have ever read. This was all over the place. I love Stine's novels, but this? I don't even know a good way to describe this. Man-Thing should've stayed in the swamp.

[Brianne Hofmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Again, the artwork is ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. The colors are beautiful.

But the story was a mess.

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A review is coming later.

[Sarospice]

I liked the humor and horror of the back-up stories alot. A comic series of GOOSEBUMP would be fun. However, RL Stine plays Man Thing for laughs too and it just doesn't fit the character. I'd suggest him for Howard the duck since his sense of humor and the absurd would work on that character...

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little disappointing. When I saw R.L. Stine was writing a Man-Thing series, I was intrigued. However, it wasn't what I expected. For one thing, I never thought of Man-Thing as a humor character, so to see him cracking jokes didn't fit. Next, the story was haphazard and not really a horror tale. Really this story would have fit Spider-Man or Deadpool better than Man-Thing. It almost felt more like a 50s comic then a modern book, and that may be what Stine thinks of when he thinks of comics so that could explain why he went in the direction.

On the plus side, the art was exceptional and there was short back up horror stories that reminded me of EC Comics. I'd like to see Stine do a full length anthology comic like that because that seems to fit his strengths better.

This wasn't bad, but I think I had my expectations a little high and was expecting something much different. If you're a big Goosebumps fans and not as familiar with the Man-Thing, you'll probably like this better then long time Man-Thing readers.

[Derek Farris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not quite sure what I've just read. I loved RL Stine's books as a kid, and I still love to re-read Goosebumps now, but I think his work is best when he is working with his original characters.

This was absolutely a great love letter to a B-Type horror character, but the story and jokes just fell a bit flat. With almost every line coming from Man-Thing's mouth as a joke, he almost felt as if he was trying to be a swampy Deadpool, but with PG jokes. The story only spans 5 issues and they try to work way too much backstory and current story together. Everything just works way too convenient to advance the plot.

It's not the worst thing I've ever read, but there are plenty of other titles worthy of the time. If you like RL Stine's writing, or cheesy horror characters, you may enjoy it.

[Samsalaqueen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely horrible - and not the good kind.
Man-thing talks and thinks in one-liners, dad jokes and incel humour. Can't believe R. L. Stine wrote this.
Thankfully I bought it second hand so not much is lost.
Having that said, the short stories at the end are delightfully horrible (the good kind) and come with the classic R. L. Stine twist.
They were definitely worth the money but didn't make up for the Man-thing horrors (once again, the bad kind).

[Logan Harrington · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10:
This five-issue limited series is one of the strangest things I’ve ever read. This is a horror comic based on one of the most iconic Marvel horror characters (Man-Thing) written by a legendary horror author (RL Stine). You would think that combination would be a recipe for success, but this just doesn’t work.

The entire story felt like it was getting made up on the spot from issue to issue, with lots of dangling plot holes and rewrites at the start of issues #2-5. Then throw in the fact that each issue was cut short because RL Stine had to include a short story (unrelated to the Marvel Comics universe) at the end? It’s just so messy.

The art is absolutely beautiful, and I’d love to see some of the things in this collection addressed in future Man-Thing projects. But this is just weird all around.

[RSC_Collecting · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was actually horrible. I couldn't even finish it. And I tried. Hard. It is so obnoxiously unfunny. An awful joke in almost every single panel. I'm not joking. I don't need a quip and a gag every goddamn panel. I don't even need that every page. Especially for a monster book. Especially for a horror book. The first few pages have Man-Thing as a Hollywood actor living in Burbank. I should've closed the book right there. But I trudged on. And was met with disappointment at every turn. The art was fine. It definitely couldn't fix the atrocious writing. Do not read this book. Do not open this book. Stay away.

[Kent · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was better than I expected. As a fan of Goosebumps growing up, it’s nice to see that Stine hasn’t lost his craft. The jokes were bearable, the story is trippy and the writing was definitely entertaining although silly. Long story short, I loved every moment of this book.

[Blake Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see what you did there R.L. Stine. Real sneaky commentary on Hollywood.

[Ben A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pure kinetic energy in the story but it all felt like too much. I did really enjoy the backup stories though.

[Michael Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird, and whimsical. A different take on the classic Marvel monster. Very strange, bouncing from Hollywood, the the swamps of Florida, and into the Nexus of Realities itself. A nice companion-piece / follow-up to his previous appearance in the WeirdWorld series.

[Orrin Grey · Rating 2 out of 5]

R.L. Stine writing Man-Thing with covers by Tyler Crook? I was in. Unfortunately, I found the story too jokey (and the jokes too repetitive) for its own good, but it was still fun.

[Tyler Gray · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW: Violence, Murder, Abuse, Torture

This was a bit disappointing. It started off decent enough, got empathy for man-thing and I did appreciate his backstory (says the person who's never heard of man-thing before now so take that, and all of this, as you will). I heard R. L. Stine, the author who got me into reading in the first place as a child, was doing a comic book, of course I had to check it out!

Anyway it quickly spiraled into stuff that made no sense. How could other people see the old him when he was supposedly fighting with himself, like how did that work? I saw the metaphor or whatever it's called but it still had me scratching my head. And mentioning he has no ears so...how can hear then? The story went all over the place and while I can enjoy a light funny read, I was often going "Wtf am I reading?". I did enjoy the ending and what it seemed like the story was trying to say, it just fell flat. The jokes on every page also had me rolling my eyes at times. I liked the art, and did enjoy parts of it, but over-all it was just ok. Not sad I read it but was disappointing. The little stories at the end, not related to man-thing, were interesting, to varying degrees. Also some of the trigger warnings aren't actually for man-thing but for the short stories at the end.

[Stephanie Davis · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was an attempt to cater to a first-grader who wanted me to ‘read’ a comic book with him. I figured “How can I go wrong with the author of the Goosebumps franchise?!” Boy, was I mistaken! I’m not an avid fan of comic books but have glimpsed at enough and even read a few. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever read of Stine’s and I felt like he was just making it up as he wrote it (but that might work for some, I don’t know!) and thought it’d be a good idea to throw in some weird names/phrases. It didn’t work.

[Dan · Rating 1 out of 5]

The one thing that always really distinguished "Man-Thing" and "Swamp Thing" in my mind was that the former was always a brutal, unthinking, uncaring, force of nature. He talks and thinks in this book. This isn't a spoiler. It starts from the very first page. Basically, this book has turned Marvel's unique take on the Swamp Monster, and turned it into a cut-rate "Swamp Thing". Don't waste your time with this. Just go read or re-read Allan Moore's Swamp Thing comics. A MILLION times better...

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man-Thing wants to find a way to become his human self again. But first, he notices that things in the swamp are strange, re: alligators as big as Cincinnati, vultures in the swamp and birds spontaneously exploding. He goes to Oldfather to help him put the world back in order but finds him missing. He must go into the Nexus of all Realities to find him. A fun story with humour and mild violence. The best part though is five "Chamber of Chills" short stories at the end.