Man Thing

Publication history

As described in the text featurette "The Story Behind the Scenes" in Savage Tales #1 (cover-dated May 1971), the black-and-white adventure fantasy magazine in which the character debuted in an 11-page origin story, Man-Thing was conceived in discussions between Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee and writer Roy Thomas, and that together they created five possible origins. Lee provided the name, which had previously been used for unrelated creatures in Marvel's early science-fiction/fantasy anthology Tales of Suspense #7 (Jan. 1960) and #81 (Sept. 1966), as well as the concept of the man losing sentience.

As Thomas recalled in 2002:

Stan Lee called me in; it would've been late '70 or early '71. [...] He had a couple of sentences or so for the concept — I think it was mainly the notion of a guy working on some experimental drug or something for the government, his being accosted by spies, and getting fused with the swamp so that he becomes this creature. The creature itself sounds a lot like the Heap, but neither of us mentioned that character at the time.... I didn't care much for the name 'Man-Thing', because we already had the Thing [of the superhero team the Fantastic Four], and I thought it would be confusing to also have another one called Man-Thing.

Thomas worked out a detailed plot and gave it to Gerry Conway to script. Thomas and Conway are credited as writers, with Gray Morrow as artist. A second story, written by Len Wein and drawn by Neal Adams, was prepared at that time, but, upon Savage Tales' cancellation after that single issue, "took a year or two to see print", according to Thomas. That occurred in Astonishing Tales #12 (June 1972), in which the seven-page story was integrated in its entirety within the 21-page feature "Ka-Zar", starring Marvel's jungle-lord hero. This black-and-white interlude (with yellow highlighting) segued to Man-Thing's introduction to color comics as Ka-Zar's antagonist-turned-ally in this and the following issue (both written by Thomas, with the first penciled by John Buscema and the second by Buscema and Rich Buckler).

The Wein-written Man-Thing story appeared in between Wein's first and second version of his DC Comics character Swamp Thing. Wein was Conway's roommate at the time, and as Thomas recalled in 2008,

Gerry and I thought that, unconsciously, the origin in Swamp Thing #1 was a bit too similar to the origin of Man-Thing a year-and-a-half earlier. There was vague talk at the time around Marvel of legal action, but it was never really pursued. I don't know if any letters even changed hands between Marvel and DC. [...] We weren't happy with the situation over the Swamp Thing #1 origin, but we figured it was an accident. Gerry was rooming with Len at the time and tried to talk him into changing the Swamp Thing's origin. Len didn't see the similarities, so he went ahead with what he was going to do. The two characters verged off after that origin, so it didn't make much difference, anyway.

Man-Thing received his own 10-page feature, again by Conway (with Morrow inking pencils by Howard Chaykin), in Adventure into Fear #10 (Oct. 1972), sharing that anthological title with reprinted 1950s horror/fantasy stories. Steve Gerber, who would become Man-Thing's signature writer, succeeded Conway the following issue, with art by Rich Buckler (Mayerik began with issue #13). The feature expanded to 15 pages with #12 (art by Jim Starlin), became 16 pages two issues later, and reached the then-standard 19-page length of Marvel superhero comics with issue #15, at which point the series also went from bi-monthly to monthly. In Fear #11 (Dec. 1972), page 11, Gerber created the series' narrative tagline, used in captions: "Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!"

After issue #19 (Dec.1973), Man-Thing received a solo title The Man-Thing, which ran 22 issues (Jan. 1974 - Oct. 1975). Following Morrow, the main series' primary pencillers were, successively, Val Mayerik, Mike Ploog, John Buscema, and Jim Mooney. A sister publication was the larger, quarterly Giant-Size Man-Thing #1-5 (August 1974 - August 1975), which featured 1950s horror-fantasy and 1960s science fiction/monster reprints as back-up stories, with a Howard the Duck feature added in the final two issues. The unintentional double entendre in the sister series' title became a joke among comics readers.

In the final issue, writer Gerber appeared as a character in the story, claiming he had not been inventing the Man-Thing's adventures but simply reporting on them and that he had decided to move on. Gerber continued to write Man-Thing guest appearances in other Marvel titles, as well as the serialized, eight-page Man-Thing feature in the omnibus series Marvel Comics Presents #1-12 (Sept. 1988 - Feb. 1989), and a supporting role in The Evolutionary War, coming to the aid of Spider-Man. Gerber also wrote a graphic novel that Kevin Nowlan spent many years illustrating, but he did not live to see it published.

A second Man-Thing series ran 11 issues (Nov. 1979 - Jan. 1981). Writer Michael Fleisher and penciller Mooney teamed for the first three issues, with the letters page of #3 noting that Fleisher's work had received a great deal of negative criticism and that he had been taken off the book. He was succeeded by, primarily, writer Chris Claremont and illustrators Don Perlin (breakdowns) and Bob Wiacek (finished pencils). Claremont's stories introduced Man-Thing and Jennifer Kale to Doctor Strange (whose series he was concurrently writing), after which his material focused on two new supporting characters: John Daltry, Citrusville's new sheriff, and Bobbie Bannister, a formerly wealthy girl who is the only survivor when her parents' yacht is attacked. These characters' stories he resolved by tying them to a resolution for his own War Is Hell series.

Black and white Man-Thing stories, and some covers, also appeared in the Marvel magazine Monsters Unleashed as well.

Simon Jowett provided a Man-Thing story in Marvel Comics Presents #164-168 (Early Oct.-Late Nov. 1994). The story was set soon after Sallis' transformation, yet depicted Sallis using a standard personal computer with up-to-date graphics rather than hard-copy files, an example of the floating timeline effect.

J.M. DeMatteis began writing the character in a backup story in Man-Thing vol. 2, #9 (March 1981), which opened with a fill-in by Dickie McKenzie. DeMatteis would go on to write Man-Thing stories in Marvel Team-Up, The Defenders, Marvel Fanfare, and the limited series Daydreamers, as well as the eight-issue Man-Thing vol. 3 (Dec. 1997 - July 1998), illustrated by Liam Sharp. The two would re-team for the Man-Thing feature in the two-issue Strange Tales vol. 4 (Sept.-Oct. 1998). Four issues were written, but #3 and 4 were never published. Their stories were summarized briefly in Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual '99, also by DeMatteis, with art by Sharp and others.

In the 2000s, Man-Thing has starred in a handful of stories appearing in one-shots and limited series, including Marvel Knights Double Shot #2 (July 2002) by Ted McKeever, and Legion of Monsters: Man-Thing #1 (May 2007) by Charlie Huston and Klaus Janson.

In 2008, writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa retold Man-Thing's origin in Dead of Night Featuring Man-Thing #1-4 (April–July 2008), from the Marvel MAX imprint. This was followed by an eight-page story in Marvel Comics Presents vol. 2, #12 (Oct. 2008), by writer Jai Nitz and artist Ben Stenbeck.

Man-Thing appeared regularly during The Punisher's Franken-Castle story arc and became a regular member of Thunderbolts with issue #144. The series was retitled Dark Avengers with #175, and Man-Thing continued to appear as a regular character until issue #183. Steve Gerber's posthumous Man-Thing story The Screenplay of the Living Dead Man, with art by Kevin Nowlan, originally planned as a 1980s graphic novel before being left uncompleted by the artist, was revived in the 2010s and appeared as a three-issue miniseries cover-titled The Infernal Man-Thing (Early Sept.-Oct. 2012). The story was a sequel to Gerber's “Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man” in Man-Thing #12 (Dec. 1974).

Fictional character biography

Young biochemist Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, is working in the Everglades as part of Dr. Wilma Calvin's Project: Gladiator team, which includes Dr. Barbara Morse and her fiancé Dr. Paul Allen. A Dr. Wendell is later cited as being on the staff after Dr. Calvin is shot. The group is attempting to recreate the "Super-Soldier Serum" that had created Captain America. Web of Spider-Man vol. 2, #6 revealed that Sallis at one point treated and worked alongside Dr. Curt Connors shortly after Connors' arm was amputated, driving the research that would eventually transform Connors into the Lizard.

Though warned that the technological terrorist group Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) has been operating in the area, Sallis breaches security by bringing with him his lover, Ellen Brandt (referred to here as "Miss Brandt", but later retconned to be his wife). He destroys his notes to his formula, which he has memorized. Later, he is ambushed and learns Brandt has betrayed him. Fleeing with the only sample of his serum, he injects himself with it in hopes of saving himself. However, he crashes his car into the swamp where chemical and, as Man-Thing #1 later explained, magical forces instantly transform him into a slow-moving plant-matter creature with large, solid red eyes, Unable to speak, and with dim memories, he attacks the ambushers and Brandt, burning and scarring part of her face with an acid he now secretes in the presence of violent emotions. The Man-Thing then wanders away into the swamp.

Sallis' mind was apparently extinguished, although on rare occasions he could briefly return to consciousness within his monstrous form, as in Doctor Strange vol. 2, #41 (June 1980) and Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual '99, and even to his human form, as in Adventure into Fear #13 (April 1973), Marvel Two-in-One #1 (Jan. 1974), Marvel Comics Presents #164 (Oct. 1994), and Man-Thing vol. 3, #5, 7, 8 (April, June–July 1998).

Under writer Steve Gerber, the Man-Thing encounters the sorceress Jennifer Kale, with whom he briefly shared a psychic link and who knew his true identity, in a story arc in Fear #11-13 — the final issue of which established that the swamp had mystical properties as the Nexus of All Realities. Through an interdimensional portal in Fear #19, he meets Howard the Duck, who becomes stranded in this reality. Man-Thing became the guardian of the nexus, and found himself facing demons, ghosts, and time-traveling warriors, while continuing to encounter such non-supernatural antagonists as rapacious land developers, fascist vigilantes, and common criminals. He formed a bond with young radio DJ Richard Rory and nurse Ruth Hart. Issue #12's "Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man", about institutionalized writer named Brian Lazarus, spawned Gerber's posthumously published 2012 sequel, "The Screenplay of the Living Dead Man", in three-issue miniseries The Infernal Man-Thing.

In Man-Thing vol. 2 (Nov. 1979 - July 1981), writer Chris Claremont introduced himself as a character in the final issue, as Gerber had in the finale of the first series. Additionally, Claremont temporarily became the Man-Thing after being stabbed to death. His and other characters' deaths were later resolved with the intervention of the War Is Hell series lead, John Kowalski, now an aspect of Marvel Comics' manifestation of Death. In vol. 3 (Dec. 1997 - July 1998), Ellen Brandt Sallis returns to the Citrusville area, still half-scarred from the Man-Thing's touch. (The existence of the scars contradicts the story in Monsters Unleashed #5 in which her second husband, Leonard, a plastic surgeon, fixes her.) The Nexus of All Realities has shattered and the Man-Thing must reassemble the pieces with Ellen as his guide. In issue #4, they encounter a little boy, Job Burke, who is actually the Sallis' son, who had been put up for adoption. Following this series, the story continued in Strange Tales vol. 4, #2, and was projected to continue in the unpublished issues #3-4. Summaries based on DeMatteis' unillustrated scripts appear on the K'Ad-mon and Ellen Brandt pages on Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. The Sallises eventually save the multiverse by merging fully with the Nexus.

During the Civil War storyline, two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are sent to the Everglades to register the Man-Thing with the Superhuman Registration Act. As the Man-Thing is mentally unfit to sign documents, this is actually a cover for a corrupt S.H.I.E.L.D. boss to take out one disreputable member and put another in his place while he retires on stolen gold. The attempt to destroy Man-Thing fails.

Captain America, operating as Captain Steve Rogers, later arranges for Man-Thing to serve as the transportation for the Thunderbolts, a team of supervillains attempting to reform. Man-Thing's physical form is damaged while with the group, but restored by exposure to primordial water from the beginning of time, which also gives Man-Thing the ability to speak comprehensibly through the use of the "Universal Language".

During the Fear Itself storyline, Man-Thing goes on a destructive rampage due to the fear and chaos running rampant across the Earth. He battles the Fearsome Four, formed by She-Hulk, Howard the Duck, Nighthawk and Frankenstein's Monster, who later discover a plot by Psycho-Man to weaponize Man-Thing's volatile empathy.

Phil Coulson subsequently recruits Man-Thing for his incarnation of the Howling Commandos.

As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, Man-Thing appears as a member of S.T.A.K.E.'s Howling Commandos.

Powers and abilities

Man-Thing is a former scientist who was transformed into a creature composed of vegetable matter through the synergistic interaction of mystical energy and swamp mutagens. Though the beast now lacks a normal human intellect and has shed any desire to communicate with human society, it nevertheless often becomes an accidental hero as it stumbles upon various crime and horror scenarios.

In the pages of The Thunderbolts, Dr. Henry Pym has expressed the view that the Man-Thing is sentient, though difficult to communicate with. For example, he once rescued an infant and left the child with a doctor (which would require an understanding of the function of a doctor and the ability to navigate to a specific address). He is shown to understand concepts such as how to ring a doorbell, how to put an arm in a sling, and even how to flip an auto-destruct switch. The change in Man-Thing's intellect can partly be explained by fact that its brain, sensory organs, and central nervous system are now organized in a completely different fashion than a human; for instance, Man-Thing's auditory receptors are in his forehead. Regardless of what level of humanity the creature still possesses, it can discern when a person's motivations are evil, which causes it pain and motivates it to lash out.

The Man-Thing possesses a variety of superhuman powers, described below, that are derived from the interaction of the scientific formula created by Ted Sallis and the mystical energies of the Nexus of Realities.

It is able to sense human emotions, and is enraged by fear and automatically secretes a poisonous chemical; anyone feeling fear and clutched by the Man-Thing is prone to be burned (either chemically or mystically), hence the series' tag-line: "Whatever knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing." Though fear is understandably most people's response to the creature, both for his monstrous appearance and the physical danger of his touch, typically only villains end up meeting an immolating death at its hands. Many survive being burned, notably Ellen Brandt, Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner (whom he does not even scar), and Mongu, whose hand he permanently attaches to his axe, either due to intervention or dissipation. Unusual psychic and mystical forces react in what passes as the "brain" cells located throughout his body. These unique forces render the Man-Thing extremely sensitive to emotions. Emotions that are mild and generally considered positive arouse curiosity and the Man-Thing will sometimes observe from a distance. However, emotions that are often viewed as negative, such as violent emotions, rage, anger, hatred, and fear, cause the Man-Thing great discomfort and might provoke him to attack. Once provoked into violent actions, his body secretes highly concentrated acid that can burn human beings to ashes within a matter of seconds. Even individuals that have high levels of superhuman durability have proven unable to withstand this potent acid. While the Man-Thing is devoid of violent emotions, his body produces a type of foamy, soapy mucus that neutralizes the acid.

Although Man-Thing's superhuman strength, speed, intelligence, durability, immortality, give the monster powers it is his spiritual ability that makes him immune to any other disease, it has been established that the creature possesses physical stamina beyond the limitations of any human athlete. Initially, the Man-Thing is only slightly stronger than Captain America, but in later appearances, the Man-Thing possesses sufficient superhuman strength to stand toe to toe with much stronger villains. He is able to lift a 2,000 pound automobile when sufficiently moved to do so.

The Man-Thing's body is practically invulnerable to harm. Because his body is not entirely solid, but composed of the muck and vegetative matter of the swamp, fists, bullets, knives, energy blasts, etc. will either pass entirely through him or will harmlessly be lodged within his body. Even if a vast portion of the Man-Thing's body were to be ripped away or incinerated, he would be able to reorganize himself by drawing the necessary material from the surrounding vegetation. Devil-Slayer once sliced him nearly in half, and he has survived being incinerated by a Celestial, although his healing from the latter has been the longest and most complex in his lifetime.

Due to the construction of his body, the Man-Thing is able to ooze his body through openings or around barriers that would seem too small for him to pass though. The smaller the opening, the longer it will take for him to reorganize his mass upon reaching the other side. This ability, can be defeated mystically.

The Man-Thing was once dependent upon the swamp he inhabits for his continued survival; his body would slowly weaken and eventually lapse into dormancy if not returned to the swamp or would be greatly damaged if exposed to clean water. His exposure to the Citrusville waste treatment plant greatly enhanced his ability to leave the swamp, as he became a self-contained ecosystem, feeding off his own waste products. He generally leaves the swamp of his own accord only if he senses a mystical disturbance. Man-Thing has also demonstrated himself susceptible to possession by other entities.

Although the Man-Thing lacks a normal human intellect, in its life as Ted Sallis, it possessed a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Sallis is legally dead, but his identity is known to numerous living people, including Wilma Calvin, Ellen Brandt, Stephen Strange, Owen Reece, Ben Grimm, Thog, and Jennifer Kale, and anyone they may have told or written to. His identity as Man-Thing could not be considered secret, but his existence is generally believed to be a hoax, and an obscure one at that. In-universe, knowledge of his existence is rarely tied to the experiments of Sallis, as are speculations as to any human identity he may have had. Despite having appeared in Citrusville many times, many there still believe him to be a rumor.

Other versions

There were other known Man-Things in the comics besides Ted Sallis:

Comic book spin-offs

Dr. Barbara Morse was introduced in the second Man-Thing story by Len Wein/Neal Adams, although because of publication delays, she was introduced in Astonishing Tales #6, with the Wein/Adams story presented as flashback. Morse became the costumed hero Mockingbird in Marvel Team-Up #95 and went on to become a prominent member of Avengers West Coast, eventually sacrificing her life to save her husband, Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, from Mephisto. Until recently, her spirit fought alongside Daimon Hellstrom to eliminate demons from his Hell; however, she has appeared alive during the Secret Invasion crossover. At the end of Secret Invasion, Mockingbird was revealed to be alive and had been one of the early captures of the Skrulls. Morse has joined the New Avengers and has had adventures alongside Hawkeye.

Jennifer Kale debuted in Fear #11, which was the first story Steve Gerber wrote for Marvel after his initial tryout. She went on to appear in two team books, The Legion of Night, created and written by Gerber and partially composed of several other Gerber-created supporting cast members such as Martin Gold and Dr. Katherine Reynolds, and Bronwyn Carlton and Bryan Walsh's Witches in which she teamed with Satana and Topaz under the tutelage of Doctor Strange.

Gerber introduced Howard the Duck in a Man-Thing story in Adventure into Fear #19. Howard, who was displaced from a planet of anthropomorphics in another dimension via the swamp's Nexus of All Realities, later acquired his own series, which was written by Gerber for the first 27 issues.

The Foolkiller, a vigilante who used a ray-gun to disintegrate not only criminals but anyone he considered foolish, was introduced in issue #3 of this series, bent on slaying disc jockey Richard Rory, introduced in the previous issue. When Rory served time for trumped-up kidnapping charges, he accidentally created another Foolkiller when he revealed too much detail about the previous incarnation and the whereabouts of his gear. This Foolkiller became an occasional villain in other Marvel comics. Both Rory and this second Foolkiller, along with nurse Ruth Hart (who appeared in Man-Thing # 2-7) were supporting characters in Gerber's Omega the Unknown, while David Anthony Kraft made Rory a potential love interest for She-Hulk. A third version of the character, who was in internet communication with the second, starred in Gerber's 1990 Foolkiller miniseries. A second series by Greg Hurwitz, featuring a fourth Foolkiller, appeared in 2008.

The Adventures of the X-Men

In The Adventures of the X-Men, which is set in the world of the X-Men animated series (Earth-921031), Storm and Jean Grey are inadvertently teleported to Man-Thing's swamp from the Mojoverse. The three battle D'Spayre, who appears as a fake preacher trying to lead people up a suicide tower that is drawing energy out of the Nexus of All Realities. D'Spayre, working for the Dweller-in-Darkness, is burned by Man-Thing when he fears failure. After their defeat of D'Spayre, Jean makes a psychic link with Man-Thing (which she had done earlier to learn his origin) and is imparted information that she believes is the most important thing in the world. Jean is forced to become the Phoenix once more, using the information obtained from Man-Thing, destroys the M'Kraan Crystal, and in doing so, ends the universe. However, one survivor is sent into the universe to come, Galactus, thereby implying that the animation continuity takes place eons before the mainstream Marvel continuity.

Mutant X

The Mutant X comic book series depicts a Marvel Universe in which characters' counterparts are vastly different. In the Mutant X Annual '99 (1999), Doctor Strange, the sorcerer supreme of Earth, reveals himself to be the Man-Thing. He returns in Mutant X Annual '01 (2001), and Mutant X #32 (June 2001).

Earth-691

Amazing Adventures volume 2 #38 tells the story of what happened when Killraven stumbled across the Miami Museum of Cultural Development and became caught up in the projected dreams of an astronaut from the "Mars launch in 1999." During the hallucination, Killraven encountered distorted versions of numerous Marvel characters. Rather ambiguously, the awakened astronaut later described the figures as "all the heroes from my youth" but he also often referred to them as "myths". The only Marvel character that is definitely "real" in the projected nightmare is the Man-Thing who appears as part of an actual memory of an encounter that the astronaut had with the creature in the Florida Everglades.

Marvel Super Hero Squad

Man-Thing appears in issue #10 of Marvel Super Hero Squad.

Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe

Man-Thing appears in the last issue and appears to be standing guard over all creation. It ultimately accepts Deadpool's plan and kills the Taskmaster.

Ultimate Marvel

Ultimate Man-Thing, in the alternate-universe Ultimate Marvel imprint, is similar to his traditional counterpart in mainstream continuity. In his first appearance, he teamed with Spider-Man in Ultimate Marvel Team Up #10, unwittingly saving the superhero from the Lizard. Additionally, in Ultimate Fantastic Four #7, during a flashback that transformed Reed Richards and his colleagues into the Fantastic Four, the Man-Thing is shown for a moment.

What If

The second story in the alternate-reality anthology What If #26 (April 1981) asked, "What if the Man-Thing had Regained Ted Sallis' Brain?" Written by Steven Grant, with art by penciller Herb Trimpe and inker Bob Wiacek. In the story, an alligator Dr. Oheimer was working on became the new Man-Thing while Sallis self-immolated at his own fear.

What If vol. 2, #11 (March 1990) featured the Fantastic Four in four scenarios written and penciled by Jim Valentino, showing what might have happened if the team-members had all had the same powers as one another. In "What if the Fantastic Four had All Become Monsters Like the Thing?", Sue Storm's appearance was that of the Man-Thing. In this form she had lost all but her very basic intelligence and could no longer speak.

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