The Man-Thing Omnibus

Man-Thing (1974) #1-22

by Steve Gerber

Neither wholly plant nor animal, neither entirely self-aware nor totally non-sentient, the creature called the Man-Thing is unique, unchanging and alone - but none who encounter him can ever be the same again. Empathic by nature and drawn to fight evil, his shambling visage inspires fear - and whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch.

COLLECTING: SAVAGE TALES (1971) NO. 1, ASTONISHING TALES (1970) NOS. 12-13, FEAR NOS. 10-19, MAN-THING (1974) NOS. 1-22, MONSTERS UNLEASHED NOS. 5 & 8-9, GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING NOS. 1-5, INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) NOS. 197-198, RAMPAGING HULK (1977) NO. 7, MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) NO. 68, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) NO. 43, MAN-THING (1979) NOS. 1-11 & DOCTOR STRANGE (1974) NO. 41

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

1192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 17, 2012

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

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Swamp Thing is a rational and moral character, defending the earth and the humans who inhabit it from the forces of decay, Man-Thing is not rational in any sense -- he's a being driven by pure emotion -- and is more or less amoral, in the sense that he isn't driven to protect people, or the earth, to act deliberately in any way we might consider "good", or " just", or "noble". I enjoyed reading about a comic book character who is just as likely to strike out against the "good" characters he encounters as the "bad" ones, the catalyst being their violent emotions. Ultimately, what we might perceive as "good" does prevail, generally with Man-Thing's assistance, but he is ever unaware of his part in events, which is very different from many of the other "righteous defenders of freedom and justice" characters that Marvel, and really comics in general, produce. Clever, unique, and interesting read...

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man-Thing was always a weird but different and enjoyable comic to me as a kid. I liked that he (it?) wasn't your standard caped superhero. The different artists throughout the series could try out new ideas and concepts with the series and not break the expected Hero style. Enjoyable read. Recommended

[Remxo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me two years to finish this. These bronze age comics are not meant for binge-reading.
The issues by Steve Gerber, which make up the bulk of this omnibus, are very interesting and out there. The reason I gave this four stars. It seems like he had a lot of creative freedom to tell the stories he wanted to tell, using The Man-Thing to address issues such as corporate greed, racism, religious fundamentalism and the destruction of the environment for profit. In Gerber's hands Man-Thing also becomes a vehicle to exorcise some of his personal demons relating to obesity and bullying in high school. Gerber's run gives a insight into 70s Marvel and how authors like Gerber were allowed to use a fringe character to talk about the dark side of American and Western culture.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed emotions about Steve Gerber's work. Really like the Howard the Duck stuff, but this not so much. There is no doubt that his stuff is very important. He knew how to be more creative when other writers were stiff and formulaic. What I did not like about this was the entire concept. We have this character with almost no personality and stories just happen around him. It's too bad that most of the human characters are so bland and/or unlikeable. There are a few cool re-occuring characters, like Jennifer Kale that are interesting and fun. In fact, if the stories were all about her, this would be amazing. But they aren't and Jennifer only pops up from time to time.

The art is mostly a disappointment as well. We get a lot of Val Maverick, who I do not like and some other more prominent artists who are not necessarily turning in their best work. Hidden in this volume is some really cool art by the likes of Mike Ploog, Neal Adams, Gray Morrow, Tom Sutton, and Alfredo Alcala. If you know classic comics, you know that these guys are awesome, more than a few Warren artists here doing work for Marvel. But none of them did many issues, except Ploog, who only did about 6 issues. With slightly different writing and a better consistent creative team, this would have been one of the best (and most fun) series to come out in the 70's, instead it's just an important milestone.

Update: re-read this book in April of 2022 because I felt it needed a second chance. Over just a few years my tastes have changed and I feel that I have a new perspective on this collection. First change is my perspective on Mike Ploog. He's a great 70s/80s artist, but this is one of his weaker efforts. His better stuff is in Werewolf by Night and Ghost Rider.

Previously, I stated that I don't really like Val Mayerik's work. Now I think he's one of my favorite Bronze age artists. Can't really explain why I like it. It's just a little awkward and the characters are all really expressive. Some great stuff.

As for the writing, Gerber takes a few issues to get warmed up. And the plots start out as standard Marvel horror. But once he starts getting creative, the strangeness never stops. It's less horror focused and more about strange adventures. Added to this are some great characters in Jennifer Kale, Korrek the barbarian, and Richard Rory. Had these stories continued, so much more could have been done with all of them. Once Gerber leaves the title, no other writers could fill his shoes until Chris Claremont came along. Although Len Wein does a pretty good job in a couple of issues.

What this series really does well is come up with creative story ideas. Some of my favorites are the issues featuring Foolkiller, the fight with Glob (who transforms from a golden brain into a 50's Kirby monster), anything with Richard Rory (who has terrible luck with women), fights with the Mad Viking and the Scavenger (who kisses women and turns them into a pile of bones). So many more plots and characters in this I just can't list them all.

Anyway, if you don't mind that this is very dated 70's comics and like to read something strange and creative from Marvel at that time. This is one of the gems.

[Cody Wilson]

70s Marvel is like comfort food to me. The comics are borderline unedited, and this period gets flak for its general sloppiness and stagnancy of the flagship titles. But a high degree of creative freedom also makes for some real gems among the left-of-center books, and nowhere is this more apparent than Steve Gerber’s Man-Thing.

The series’ basic conceit is its titular monster – which is borderline mindless but empathic – keeps getting into others’ businesses in the Florida Everglades. Man-Thing only ever acts to abate the pain he feels from the negative emotions – especially fear – emanating from eccentric characters who find themselves entangled in the swamp. While some readers may be repelled by Man-Thing’s passivity, this premise makes for an unpredictable, exciting series. The muck monster’s adventures range from grounded – such as a boy’s struggle with bullying over his weight – to completely off-the-wall – such as space pirates in the Bermuda Triangle and an interdimensional war involving a Conan parody spawned from a jar of peanut butter. This series tackles a variety of genres like sword-and-sorcery, science fiction, romance, and horror.

This series likely wouldn’t have gotten far without an authorial voice as unique and ambitious as Steve Gerber’s. Among his first regular gigs at Marvel, Man-Thing provided a proving ground for Gerber to hone his writing skills. Readers watch as he evolves from a punchy upstart to Marvel’s top writer during this period as his dialogue becomes more naturalistic and his plotting more complex. Gerber approaches each story with the intent of conveying a clear philosophical point, as compared to the shallow punch-em-ups common to the superhero genre. His attempts at social commentary start off rocky – such as a story about police brutality that misses the mark – but become far more compelling by the end with an unfortunately relevant plot about book burning in schools.

Gerber is especially incisive when he tackles themes around masculinity and violence. His stories often involve aggressive men doing considerable damage to themselves and the world around them. Despite frequent moments of levity and humor, Gerber doesn’t pull punches in depicting the consequences of barbarity – violence is quick, brutal, and consequential. Feelings surrounding the Vietnam War in the mid-70s clearly influence Gerber, even when he doesn’t directly comment on war itself. In the face of this toxic masculinity, female characters are often on the sidelines, aloof or offering support for victims of the violence. Gerber depicts women as sympathetic, flawed human beings with some capable of holding their own in violent situations, such as frequent protagonist Jennifer Kale. Compared to the misogynistic caricatures common of female characters in Bronze Age comics, Gerber is ahead of his time in this regard.

Despite his occasional forays into prose, Gerber benefits from a strong lineup of artists throughout the series. Val Mayerik, the first regular penciller, complements Gerber’s often bizarre stories with off-kilter panel angles. Man-Thing was among Mayerik’s earliest assignments, so his grasp on anatomy and page composition in these pages is shaky (which isn’t helped by uninspiring inks by Sal Trapani). Luckily, he returns to Man-Thing for the last issue of this omnibus to highlight how his skills improved in the following years. Following Mayerik, Mike Ploog brings a stylized, cartoony look to the series. It is obvious from his strong draftsmanship and storytelling that Ploog studied under Will Eisner. He excels at detailing the flora and fauna of the Florida Everglades.

More conventional, familiar Marvel artists dominate the latter half of this run but are surprisingly willing to indulge in the weirdness of Gerber’s material. After repeatedly drawing the same old superhero stories, they seem almost relieved to be doing something different. John Buscema brings his characteristically strong craftsmanship to the series; his evocative horror in Giant-Size Man-Thing #2 (yes, that’s the comic’s actual title) is a highlight, especially with Klaus Janson’s thick inks. Jim Mooney closes out Gerber’s run with grounded, solid work and occasional experimentation. Given the massive size of this omnibus, too many fantastic artists pitch in – including the highly detailed Alfredo Alcala and a cameo by Neal Adams – to comment on each individually. It does seem like every artist has a blast drawing Man-Thing with his awkward, hunched-over body and bug eyes.

I could keep gushing about Gerber’s Man-Thing, but the unfortunate reality is that roughly a quarter of this omnibus is penned by others. Young writers who dominated 70s Marvel – Len Wein, Gerry Conway, Marv Wolfman, Tony Isabella, and others – take turns writing Man-Thing and bring into relief the groundbreaking nature of Gerber’s work. While technically fine for this era (well, Wolfman’s story is a total mess), these comics just don’t live and breathe like Gerber’s. Chris Claremont comes the closest to capturing the freewheeling spirit of his predecessor’s work, but he’s held back by writing tics that manifest in most of his work: sloppy plotting, a desperate need for self-editing, overreliance on the stiff “strong female character” archetype, and above all overly melodramatic, verbose, cliché-ridden scripting. Nevertheless, some of Claremont’s emotionality works well, and I would have been interested in reading more from him (although with a different artist, since Don Perlin’s simple, workmanlike storytelling doesn’t suit Claremont).

Altogether, Man-Thing is a must-read for fans of 70s Marvel and Steve Gerber fans especially. I will note that this nearly-1,200-page omnibus is heavy and difficult to read, partly because it includes so much extra material that casual fans likely don’t need to read. It may be better to seek out smaller collections that focus on Gerber’s stories instead.

[Sanjuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man-Thing is an excellent character. His amoral nature is refreshing in the landscape of comic book characters; he's neither villain nor hero, but not conscious enough to be an anti-hero. Most of his actions are good, but merely because his empathic responses lend themselves to good results. Some of the art in this book is also really great.

However, because Man-Thing is not a reflective being with motives and ideas, he isn't interesting enough to carry a 1,200 page omnibus. There were some interesting recurring characters, and had the writers focused on some of them more consistently, then the book might have had more momentum and developed more of an engaging ethos, but the supporting characters came in and out of the book too often to develop any strong consistency. Some of the stories got too wild and silly, and I think this is a product of the writers reaching for any sort of thing to have stories to tell, because one can only write so many stories about a main character who saunters around a swamp doing the same thing every day. The book would have been better with other main characters to carry the load of story development.

[Bob Wolniak · Rating 3 out of 5]

70's kitsch. Gerber stories were weird, even for comic books, and at times self-indulgent (a lot of text squeezing out panels, imposing himself into the stories, etc.), but he had a way of creating a pocket universe of craziness that was very much the "Me" decade. I think the very best of Gerber is Howard the Duck, but Manny is a close second.