Essential Marvel: Man-Thing, Vol. 2 by various authors and illustrators

(pb; 1974, 1979-1981, 2004, collects Man-Thing [1974] #15-22 and [1979], #1-11, Giant-Size Man-Thing #3-5, Rampaging Hulk #7, Marvel Team-Up #68, Marvel Two-in-One, #43 and Doctor Strange #41)

From the back cover

“With Captain America, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and the Thing around, it’s hard to stand out in a crowd─but somehow, the Man-Thing manages it! Citrusville, Florida, faces censorship, prejudice, psychosis and ghost pirates in stories as relevant today as they were more than twenty years ago! Sorcery, snowmen and super-soldier serums! Demons, dementia and D’Spayre await─but have no fear, because, well, if you do. . .”

Overall review

As with Man-Thing, Vol. 1, the second volume is a great comic book collection, with impressive artwork, surprisingly nuanced lead characters as well as solid, moralistic and ecology-friendly storytelling. This is especially impressive because of how willing the creators of this comic series are willing to indulge in wild and mostly effective break-the-Man-Thing-mold writing. 

A few of the issues feel like single-shot filler tales, but they are still entertaining and the artwork visually exciting. There are also the inevitable 1970s sexist, hippie and corporate greed stereotypes, along with some heavy-handed thematic overreaches (which further the egregiousness of the stereotypes), but these issues are relatively few, given how many issues are contained in this anthology.

Despite the above caveats, this graphic novel is worth owning.

Issues / story arcs

Caveat: possible spoilers in this review.

“Giant-Size Man-Thing – ‘The Blood of Kings!’” [#3]: Man-Thing, Korrek of Katharta (last seen in Man-Thing issue 1), Dakimh the Enchanter and Jennifer Kale─now a fledgling sorceress─battle the evil magic and brute power of Mortak the Usurper, Klonus  (a wizard) and their forces in an alternate world and Citrusville, Florida.

“Man-Thing – ‘A Candle for Sainte-Cloud’” [#15]: A stalker (Chuck) uses candle magick to get close to Sainte-Cloud, Ted Sallis’s hippie-poet ex-girlfriend, her first appearance in Man-Thing. Caught up in the illusory trap is Jeremy, Cloud’s blind neighbor and close friend─and, maybe, Man-Thing as well. What is real and what is not?

“Man-Thing – ‘Decay Meets the Mad Viking!’” [#16]: In the mucklands, Man-Thing is caught up in the random, chaotic struggle between a loopy, cult-leader rock star (Eugene “The Star” Spangler) and The Mad Viking (a weird-as-hunh??, axe-swinging ex-dock worker with delusions of being an American-tinged warrior). Also caught between them is the Viking’s granddaughter, Astrid Josefsen. The people who worked on this issue were clearly having a throw-in-everything-strange moment when they put this together.

“Giant-Size Man-Thing – ‘The Kid’s Night Out!’” [#4]: An unpopular teenager’s death sparks a surge of unlikely and hyperbolic violence in Citrusville. Alice Rimes, savaged friend of the lonely deceased boy, becomes a target of the maddened crowd, along with Man-Thing.

“Man-Thing – ‘A Book Burns in Citrusville!’” [#17]: The body of Eugene ‘The Star’ Spangler─killed by the Mad Viking in Man-Thing issue 16─is found by a Citrusville delivery boy. Fervor about Man-Thing rises anew, resulting in the murk dweller getting caught and placed in a vat of acid. Meanwhile, Richard Rory─WNRV disc jockey, previously seen in Man-Thing, Vol. 1 issues─tries, in vain, to head off a renewed burst of secular book burnings by a religiously inclined, hyperviolent and one-note Citrusville crowd, led by Olivia Selby. Cliffhanger finish to this one.

“Man-Thing – ‘School’s Out!’” [#18]: The events of issue 17 spill over into this issue. Led by the increasingly violent Mad Viking, the overzealous-religionist book burners storm the local high school and build a library bonfire. Man-Thing, now a creature of muck and chemical foam, confronts the Viking again. Richard Rory, trying to save lives and books, is fired by the manager of WNRV, the radio station he works for. The crazed Viking kills his granddaughter, Alice Rimes, before his fear does him in.

“Giant-Size Man-Thing – ‘Fear Times Three!’” [#5]: A trilogy of microtales makes up this issue, its wraparound story taking place before the events that turn Ted Sallis into Man-Thing─in this wraparound, Sallis and his later-traitorous girlfriend (Ellen Brandt) visit a psychic, who tells them about his Man-Thing-related future.

Her first microtale: In “There’s a Party in 6G!,” a coven of Satanists steal a baby, so that they might sacrifice a child (Allen) to Ehrthold, a powerful demon. Their plan goes sideways when Man-Thing, drawn by the hate and fear of the situation, shows up.

Her second microtale: In “The Sins of the Fathers. . .,” a swamp-trash Romeo and Juliet scenario plays out.

Her third microtale: In “Lifeline!,” Jackson Hunter, wheelchair-trapped and face-burned former foe of Man-Thing, sends a highly trained military force against the titular creature, who dismantles them with initial difficulty. There is a mini-twist character, in the form of one of the soldiers, at the end, before the microtale segues into the wraparound story.

“Man-Thing – ‘The Scavenger of Atlanta’” [#19]: Richard Rory drives a chemically altered Man-Thing─a result of the previous issue’s acidic foam conjoining─and Carol Selby (who reveals herself to be seventeen, a minor, to Rory’s horror) to Atlanta, Georgia. There, Man-Thing battles the quirky-insane, spandex-wearing Scavenger, who attacks women (including Colleen Sanders, a local) and absorbs their essence, physical and otherwise. Cliffhanger finish to this one.

“Man-Thing – ‘The Nightmare Box’” [#20]: Richard Rory is arrested and returned to Citrusville for arraignment, to be charged with kidnapping Carol Selby (who insisted on going to Atlanta with him, and whom he didn’t know was seventeen). Man-Thing carries a strange box containing a destructive, supernatural element (somehow linked to a woman named Dani Nicolle), while an Atlanta-based portrait painter (Paul Jennings) tries to figure out the mystery of Dani’s bizarre eye beams. Shapeshifting demonic creatures stalk and clash with Man-Thing, seeking to take the mysterious box from him. Another cliffhanger ending.

“Man-Thing – ‘A Lunatic on Every Corner’” [#21]: The events of issue 20 spill over into this issue. Demons, compelled by an absent Thog─who first fought Man-Thing in Fear issue 11─run wild in the streets of Atlanta, attacking Man-Thing and people alike. Scavenger, that lust-and-energy-suck-obssessed spandex freak, kiss-feeds on another victim (Elsbeth Duhl), wife of Roland Duhl─a numbers-focused accountant in thrall to Thog. Seems the indestructible Scavenger, brother of Dani Nicolle, can only feel anything when he feeds on his victims.

The wizard Klonus and the barbarian Mortak, last seen in Giant-Size Man-Thing issue 3, return to attack the titular character. While they battle him, Thog appears in a blaze of hellish light, ending the issue.

“Man-Thing – ‘Pop Goes the Cosmos!’” [#22]: The final issue of the first volume/run of Man-Thing goes meta. Comic book writer Steve Gerber recounts how Dakimh the wizard told him about Thog’s escape from the world called Therea, where Thog was imprisoned brought about by Dakimh’s physical death. Later, Thog traps Dani Nicolle─who must vomit her excess, destructive head energy into a box─and her brother, Robert (a.k.a. Scavenger), who is an energy vampire, in trick-deal, resulting in the violence of issues 19-21. Furthermore, Thog’s increasing power source, a pyramid built with Dani’s energy-vomit boxes, becomes the source of the battle involving Man-Thing and the aforementioned characters before Thog is burned by Man-Thing, ending─as I wrote before─Man-Thing’s first titular comic book run.

“The Rampaging Hulk – ‘Among the Great Divide’” [#7]: Man-Thing gets a one-shot/side story about fighting the mostly vicious personalities of a schizophrenic woman (Andrea).

“Marvel Team-Up [featuring Spider-Man and the Man-Thing] – ‘The Measure of a Man’” [#68]: Man-Thing and Spider-Man, on an impromptu multidimensional rescue mission of Jennifer Kale and Dakimh the Wizard, quell the mad power of D’Spayre, a villain whose touch can shatter one’s sanity, reduce one to the mental state of a cowering, weeping child.

“Marvel Two-in-One Presents:The Thing and the Man-Thing – ‘The Day the World Winds Down’” [#43]: The Thing, Captain America and Man-Thing face off against Victorius, a former scientist of A.I.M.─Advanced Idea Mechanics, a “renegade arm of Hydra”─who drank a variation of the super-soldier serum that gave Steve Rogers (Captain America) his super powers. 

Victorius is the new leader of the reborn Entropy cult (“left leaderless” by Man-Thing in “Giant-Size Man-Thing” #1). Victorius has also resurrected Jude the Entropic Man, a logic-leaning supernatural being whose personality will make or break the heroes.

“The Man-Thing – ‘Regeneration and Rebirth’” [#1]: The second volume of the “Man-Thing” kicks off with this issue. At the behest of what he thinks is the CIA, scientist (Dr. Karl Oheimer) discovers a formula that returns to Man-Thing’s mental state to that of Ted Sallis, all the while maintaining the morass-dweller’s physical, plant-based form.

“The Man-Thing – ‘Himalayan Nightmare!’” [#2]: Man-Thing is instantly transported from his familiar morass to the Himalyas, when two scientists (Dr. Schechtman and his assistant, Frederick) accidentally zap him with an experimental raygun. In the freezing Himalayas, he battles a wolf pack and rescues another scientist (Russell Simpson) who has fallen off a cliff. Man-Thing travels with Russell as he returns to his fellow expeditioners (Elaine, his wife, and Roger Grafton, a supposed friend). Roger, a greedy letch who’s been trying to get with an offended Elaine, shoots and kills Russell, causing an avalanche to fall on Man-Thing and Elaine. Cliffhanger finish to this one─this is the beginning of a four-issue story arc.

“Man-Thing – ‘The Gong of Doom!’” [#3]: After surviving the avalanche, Man-Thing and Elaine Simpson are set upon by wild, bearded cave-dwellers with wooden cudgels─“abominable snowmen,” as their leader, Hiram Swenson, a mad anthropologist, calls them. Swenson’s intention to burn them at a stake is interrupted by Roger Grafton, who has returned with a small, machine-toting group of men to hunt Man-Thing, whom has Grafton has mistaken for a yeti, a.k.a. an abominable snowman. Grafton’s men slaughter Swenson and his yeti. Another avalanche follows, burying the Man-Thing-incinerated Grafton and dead combatants. Man-Thing, holding Elaine, grips the undercarriage of an airplane that two of Grafton’s men have taken, and they fly away.

“Man-Thing – ‘Death-Knell’” [#4]: The plane, taken by Grafton’s ex-employees, Conrad Shürz and Billy Ellenshaw, cannot maintain its necessary altitude with 600 additional pounds clinging to its undercarriage─that additional weight being Man-Thing and Elaine Simpson, who fall from the aircraft right before it crashes.

Meanwhile, in Paris, France, master of the mystic arts Stephen Strange (a.k.a. Doctor Strange) is losing a fight against Azrael, a supernatural villain. Azrael, an ancient being, was reborn in Lord Julian Phyffe’s body when Baron Mordo─another Strange foe─subjugated and possessed Phyffe, Strange’s “supposed ally.” This battle is a continuation of a crossover conflict last seen in issue 40 of Dr. Strange. Using desperate magick, Strange manages to defeat Azrael and transport himself and his ex-lover Madeleine de St. Germain to Citrusville, Florida, where Mordo intends to open another Chaos Gate via blood sacrifices. The sheriff tells Strange and St. Germain that eighteen people have disappeared or been slaughtered. Mordo’s targets: Joshua, Jennifer and Andy Kale, friends of Man-Thing whose bloodline and history rife with supernatural and alternate-worldl experience, some of it with our titular hero. 

When Jaxon, a friend of the Kales, takes Strange and St. Germain to the Kale house, they are greeted by a shocking sight: a woman (Elaine Simpson) wearing a parka fleeing their house, screaming for them to get away. It seems Mordo has transported Simpson and Man-Thing to Citrusville, and taken over Man-Thing’s will, in order to destroy Strange. After a brief flurry of physical and mystical blows with the murk creature, Strange plays possum by letting Man-Thing “drown” him in swamp water, while Mordo mocks him and Germain.

“Dr. Strange – ‘Weep for the Soul of Man. . .’” [#41]: The crossover event that began with Dr. Strange issue 40 and Man-Thing issues 3 and 4 concludes in this issue. Mordo’s quest to become the most powerful being in the universe continues as Doctor Strange and Man-Thing battle him. Like Strange’s ex-lover, Madeleine de St. Germain, Jennifer Kale, her friend Jaxon and others, Man-Thing is held in partially held in thrall by Mordo and sacrificial, mystical victims, numbering thirteen. Mordo is barely defeated.

“Man-Thing – ‘Who Knows Fear’” [#5]: Man-Thing helps rescue a quag-trapped young woman, Barbra Bannister, being pursued by modern day pirates, led by the duplicitious Ian McGuire.

“Man-Thing – ‘Fraternity Rites!’” [#6]: John Daltrey, sheriff of Citrusville and ally of Man-Thing, helps the titular quag-monster stop a murderous group of collegiate thugs, its sadistic leader (J. Elliot Osbourne, a.k.a “Jacko”) enamored with Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novel A Clockwork Orange.

“Man-Thing – ‘Whatever Happened to Captain Fate?’” [#7]: A commercial airplane crashes in the Everglades near Citrusville after Captain Jebediah Fate, pirate ghost-captain of the Serpent Crown, returns with his crew and attacks it, killing all its passengers. Fate was last seen in issue 14 of the original run of Man-Thing, thought to be laid to rest with his undead followers. 

John Daltrey, sheriff of Citrusville, and romantic interest Barbra Bannister are kidnapped by the ghost floating-ship ghost crew, and of course Man-Thing is thrown back into conflict with them. Cliffhanger finish to this.

“Man-Thing – ‘Red Sails Burning!’” [#8]: Continued from previous issue. . . Maura Spinner, ex-oceangrapher, and Khourdes, the last of the sartyrs, appear on a mystical British frigate (H.M.S. Athena) to help Man-Thing defeat Jebediah Fate and his scurvy-ridden shipmates, as they did in the original run of Man-Thing, issues 13 and 14. They, along with Barbra Bannister and John Daltrey, are successful─but it is pyrrhic victory. Fate’s curse is passed on to the hapless Daltrey, who is now bound to Fate’s ghost ship, the Serpent Crown.

“Man-Thing – ‘The Echo of Pain!’” [#9]: A baby and his young parents, David and Elizabeth Connelly, are caught between their class warfare-obsessed parents, a more mature, darker take on Romeo and Juliet.

“Man-Thing – ‘Came the Dark Man Walkin’, Walkin’’” [#10]: A stranger with odd powers, John Kowalski, observes a biker gang’s attack on Andy Kale (brother of sorceress Jennifer Kale). When Man-Thing tangles with the vicious bikers, things of course get hetted up.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Kale and Barbra Bannister enact a ritual to try and save Bannister’s boyfriend, John Daltrey, from the curse that binds him to the pirate ghost ship (Serpent Crown)─last seen in issue 8.  The two storylines come together and Kowalski reveals himself to be Death.

“Man-Thing – ‘Hell’s Gate’” [#11 – final issue]: Real-life comic book author Chris Claremont tells his friends (also fellow Marvel/Man-Thing employees) why he can’t write Man-Thing anymore. Seems that Man-Thing is based on real-life, mystical events: Barbra Bannister, transformed into a fellow Death-agent by the cynical John Kowalski, rights a cosmic injustice by also enlisting Man-Thing to fight Thog (a recurrent, demonic foe in the original Man-Thing run) in Thog’s dominion, “Sominus, the land of eternal shadow.” There, Doctor Strange, his lover/disciple Clea, and others are held prisoner by John Daltrey (turned evil by a cursed “magus sword”) and his master, Thog.

Wild, everything-but-the-bathroom-faucet elements make this a slam-bang-boom finish to the dark, ecologically themed and morality-play series that is Man-Thing. My one major nitpick with this issue is that one that plagues many comic books: the women are unnecessarily sexualized in their behavior and outfits─in this case, when Barbra Bannister is transformed into a fellow Death agent, her spandex suit is especially tight, whereas Kowalski (who transformed her) is dressed like a regular guy, button-up shirt and slacks. I understand that this was a trend, then and now, but sometimes it’s egregious in its male-gaze imbalance.

Still, a mostly fun finish that recalls the final issue of Man-Thing’s original run.

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Images from the 2005 film.

Essential Marvel: Man-Thing, Vol. 1 by various authors and illustrators

(pb, graphic novel; 1971-75, 2006, collects Savage Tales #1, Astonishing Tales #12-13, Adventure into Fear #10-19, Man-Thing #1-14, Giant Sized Man-Thing #1-2 and Monsters Unleashed #5, 8-9)

From the back cover

“Whosoever knows fear will see just how much there is to know in this compilation of staggering swamp sagas! Explore the heights of the cosmos and the depths of the soul with the mindless Man-Thing! Guest-starring the Fantastic Four, Ka-Zar, Daredevil, Korrek the Peanut Butter Barbarian! And featuring the first web-footed steps into adventure of Howard the Duck!”

Overall review

Man-Thing, Vol. 1 is a great comic book collection, with impressive artwork, surprisingly nuanced lead characters as well as solid, moralistic and ecology-friendly storytelling. This is especially impressive because of how willing the creators of this comic series are willing to indulge in wild and mostly effective break-the-Man-Thing-mold writing.

A few of the issues feel like single-shot filler tales, but they are still entertaining and the artwork visually exciting. There are also the inevitable 1970s sexist, hippie and corporate greed stereotypes, along with some heavy-handed thematic overreaches (which further the egregiousness of the stereotypes), but these issues are relatively few, given how many issues are contained in this anthology.

Despite the above caveats, this graphic novel is worth owning. Followed by Essential Marvel: Man-Thing, Vol. 2.

Issue / story arcs

Warning: possible spoilers in this issue breakdown.

“Savage Tales – ‘. . .Man-Thing!’” (#1): In the Florida swamps, a scientist (Ted Sallis) discovers that his not-quite-developed super-soldier serum is intended for horrific misuse in horrible ways by his employers. He tries to escape his laboratory/camp (Project Gladiator) with the only serum sample to keep it away from them. Complications and deaths ensue, leading to Sallis becoming the Man-Thing.

“Astonishing Tales – ‘Terror Stalks the Everglades!’” (#12): Ka-Zar and his sabretooth tiger (Zabu) join Dr. Barbara Morse and Dr. Paul Allen in their swampland search for the missing Ted Sallis. Those who helped bring about Sallis’s Man-Thing transformation in “Savage Tales” #1, a nefarious agency known as Advance Idea Mechanics (AIM), try to sabotage that search, kill the search party and Man-Thing.

“Astonishing Tales – ‘Man-Thing!’” (#13): Picking up from the cliffhanger finish of issue 12, Ka-Zar and Man-Thing fight, realize they have a mutual enemy (AIM agents), sort of team up, and set out to rescue Ka-Zar’s fellow search party members (Dr. Barbara Morse and Dr. Paul Allen) from AIM soldiers. Of course, betrayal complicates this already violent conflict, further flavoring this pulpy tale.

“Fear – ‘Cry Monster!’” (#10): Man-Thing rescues a swamp-abandoned baby from his terrible father.

“Fear ─ ‘Night of the Nether-Spawn!’” (#11): After two teenagers (Andy and Jennifer Kale) open a portal to a hell-realm with a book “borrowed” from their grandfather, Man-Thing tries to send a demon back to its home. The book: Tome of Zhered-Na.

“Fear ─ ‘No Choice of Colors!’” (#12): A black fugitive (Mark Jackson) flees into the mucklands to escape a racist cop (Wallace Corlee). Both encounter Man-Thing, whose sense of fairness and justice is briefly challenged by the violent conflict.

“Fear ─ ‘Where Worlds Collide’” (#13): Man-Thing, Andy and Jennifer Kale (issue 11) are drawn into a netherworld via the Mists of Maalok, where Thog, demon overlord, rules. It is a world of illusion and temptation─will Man-Thing kill the teenagers to regain his human form, or will he remain true to his natural convictions?

Also: Man-Thing battles the Cult of Zhered-Na and a sand demon. The metaphysical elements of the Man-Thing’s natural abode are revealed.

“Fear ─ ‘The Demon Plague!’” (#14): Man-Thing, Andy and Jennifer Kale (issues 11 and 13), along with their grandfather (Joshua Kale) find themselves in danger from Kale’s fellow cultists (Cult of Zhered-Na). The reason: a missing spell book, the Tome of Zhered-Na, “borrowed” and destroyed (in this realm) by Andy and Jennifer in issue 11.

Also: a murder-madness plague spreads throughout humanity. The Mists of Maalok reappear─a netherworld portal─are again opened by Kale’s cult, and Man-Thing and Jennifer, who have a psychic link, are brought through it to the world of Sandt. There, an evil enchanter (Dakimh) tries to ensure that the earthly demon plague engulfs humanity. The only person slowing its spread: Man-Thing!

“Fear ─ ‘From Here to Infinity!’” (#15): The murder-crazed/demon-sourced plague spreads further into our world (issue 14). The history of the Cult and Tome of Zhered-Na are revealed by Joshua Kale. His granddaughter, Jennifer, and Man-Thing are swept into another mystical realm by the enchanter Dakimh (issue 14), who may not be as “evil” as initially thought. Jennifer and Man-Thing’s mission: retrieve the Tome of Zhered-Na, the only thing that can stop the four-issue cycle of madness and destruction.

“Fear ─ Cry of the Native!’” (#16): Man-Thing is caught between a construction crew bent on ousting some of the swamp’s denizens (a group of Native Americans) and the Native Americans, who have dug themselves in for fight. The Kale family (Jennifer, Andy and Joshua) make a brief appearance in this issue.

“Fear ─ ‘It Came Out of the Sky’” (#17): After Man-Thing opens a crashed, gleaming spacecraft, he frees Wundarr─a superman with a childlike mentality, also the last surviving member of the planet Dakkam. A misunderstanding births a brief brawl between them, one that spills out into the streets of nearby Citrusville, Florida. Meanwhile, Jennifer Kale─her psychic link to Man-Thing still severed─has wake-up-screaming nightmares.

“Fear ─ ‘A Question of Survival!’” (#18): A drunk driver (Ralph Sorrell) crashes into a bus, causing it to crash near the edge of the swamp. Bus-crash survivors─Mary Brown (a nurse), a wounded boy (Kevin Kennerman), a hot-headed ex-POW (Jim Arsdale) and a callous war protester (Holden Crane)─try to make their way to safety through the swamp with Sorrell, all the while screaming at each other. Man-Thing watches all this, the men’s self-interest and clashing rage about the Vietnam War making his head hurt, even as he tries to help Mary get the boy to relative safety (at the Schist Construction Camp, site of various Man-Thing battles in previous issues).

Also: Jennifer Kale’s nightmares become shriek-worthy daytime visions. Jaxon, her date-mate─last seen in issue 13─also makes an appearance.

This issue is, not surprisingly, comic book-simple and anachronistic with its extreme “microcosm” statement about Vietnam, a blessing or a curse depending on the reader’s perspective.

“Fear ─ ‘The Enchanter’s Apprentice’” (#19): Jennifer Kale and Man-Thing’s shared nightmare of an alternate dimension (Sominus), where a battle of unlikely foes and allies takes place, becomes a surrealistic reality when Dakimh the Enchanter (last seen in issue 15) takes them there, so that they might prevent a disastrous collision of worlds. Cliffhanger finish to this one.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Battle for the Palace of the Gods!’” (#1): Man-Thing, Jennifer Kale (apprentice to Dakimh the Enchanter) and Korrek (issue 19) battle the strange-mix army of the Congress of Realities, led by the Nether Spawn, in a shifting, hallucinatory realm. Daredevil and Black Widow make a fun, two-second appearance in this tale of colliding, surreal worlds. The Nether Spawn last appeared in “Fear“ (issue 11).

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Nowhere to Go But Down!’” (#2): Man-Thing protects a bummed-out “loser” (Richard Rory) and a hippie nurse (Ruth Hart) from a biker gang who are pursuing Hart. Man-Thing must also contend with a deadly house of laser-bouncing mirrors, designed by a mercenary (Hargood Wickham, nicknamed Professor Slaughter), who has been hired by F.A. Schist (owner of F.A. Schist Construction), which has been trying to build an airport in the swamp since issue 16─only to see its construction goals consistently thwarted by Man-Thing.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Day of the Killer, Night of the Fool!’” (#3): A murderous, spandex-wearing nutjob with a messianic complex (the Foolkiller) heads to the murklands to kill his next three targets: F.A. Schist (construction company owner), Richard Rory (issue 2) and Ted Sallis─now the Man-Thing!

“Man-Thing ─ ‘The Making of a Madman’” (#4): The Foolkiller’s backstory is revealed as well as Richard Rory’s history with the aforementioned nutjob, whose stalk-and-kill mission, started in the previous issue, ends in a way he doesn’t expect.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Night of the Laughing Dead!’” (#5): A clown (Darrel) commits suicide, reuniting Man-Thing with Richard Rory and Ruth Hart (issues 2-4), and introducing Ayla Prentiss (a carnival high-wire artist), as well as new villains (Mr. Garvey, carnival owner, and his freak-tall thug, Tragg), who want to kill Man-Thing and his allies.  Cliffhanger finish to this.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘And When I Died. . .!’” (#6): Darrel the suicidal clown, with the aid of supernatural “critics,” forces the characters of issue 4 to reenact key events of his life in a deadly “play”─actually a trial for Darrel’s soul.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘The Old Die Young!’” (#7): F.A. Schist and his employees finalize the razing of his construction camp, ending a yearlong campaign to drain the swamp and “build an airport”─in actuality, a cover for Schist’s seeking of the Fountain of Youth, which he has not given up on. Man-Thing engages ageless, ancient Spaniards (who benefit from said Fountain) in combat, and makes a startling, possibly fatal, discovery about his relationship with the Fountain. Cliffhanger ending to this.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘The Gift of Death!’” (#8): F.A. Schist and Professor Hargood Wickham (a.k.a. Professor Slaughter) find the Fountain of Youth that Schist is so fervidly seeking. Man-Thing, being treated by the Fountain’s kindly, five-hundred-year-old guardians, is caught between them and Schist, who─in a violent twist─gets his misguided, monstrous wish.

This issue has a touch of heartbreak to it because of Man-Thing’s near-return-to-humanity, not the first time he’s had a near-miss with resumed humanity.

“Giant Size Man-Thing ─ ‘How Will We Keep Warm When the Last Flame Dies?’” (#1): Robed cultists (the Entropists) attack Omegaville, an environmentally friendly, experimental commune in the swamp. Helping─manipulated by─the Entropists is the “Golden Brain” of Joe Timms (a.k.a. the Glob, last seen in issues 121 and 129 of “Hulk”), who goes through serious mental and physical changes. Mixed up in all this, of course, is Man-Thing.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Deathwatch!’” (#9) to “Nobody Dies Forever” (#10): A swamp rat (Ezekiel Tork) and his dog (Dawg) are terrorized by the incarnate jealousy and frustration of Tork’s wife, Maybelle. Man-Thing helps Tork and Dawg fend off her shadow self’s variable-form attacks.

“Giant Size Man-Thing ─ ‘Of Monsters and Men!’” (#2): Vivian Schist, widow of F.A. Schist─who died in issue 8─and his less-than-enthusiastic daughter (Carolyn) search for the presumed-dead construction company owner. Vivian swears vengeance on Man-Thing for his presumed crimes, and at her behest a high-tech, clever trap is set for the anomalous creature. Man-Thing gets unwanted freak-show trip to New York before his inevitable, raging return to the swamps of Citrusville, Florida.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Dance to the Murder!’” (#11): Richard Rory, last seen in issue 6, meets Sybil Mills, an escapee from a group of masked kidnappers, whose mysterious aspects are easily espied.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man!’” (#12): A mentally ill man (Brian Lazarus) fights an ineffectual battle against his personal traumas, which have taken on the form of a money-demanding mob. He meets Sybil Mills (from issue 11), who helps him battle his weirdly realized tormentors, along with a more-confused-than-usual Man-Thing.

“Man-Thing ─ ‘Red Sails at 40,000 Feet’” (#13) to “Tower of the Satyr!” (#14): Man-Thing, trapped aboard seafaring ship in the Bermuda Triangle, is drawn into a conflict between undead pirates, a curse-adept satyr (Khordes), modern sailors, and a scientist with a forgotten, relevant-to-the-above-situation past (Dr. Maura Spinner). This is one of the wilder storylines in the series, one whose tone─read with the current liberal outlook─falls into a sexist groove: it’s a woman who causes many of these problems, and, at repeated points, acknowledges that. The plot is out-there, but so is the character of Man-Thing, so─aside from the sexism─this is an otherwise fun, definitely-written-in-the-1970s story arc.

“Monsters Unleashed! ─ ‘All the Faces of Fear!’” (#5): Ellen Brandt, Ted Sallis’s traitorous, greedy girlfriend─last seen  in Amazing Tales issue 12─is a day away from having her face-covering bandages removed from her (a result of Man-Thing scorching her face). She is also having nightmares about Sallis/Man-Thing, wrestling with her guilt over her actions, mixed with a burning sense of revenge toward Man-Thing. She takes her doctor, Leonard, to the Man-Thing-trashed A.I.M. (Advanced Ideas Mechanics) camp, site of her former employers, who bribed her to betray Sallis. There, she and Leonard confront her emotionally befuddled nighttime tormentor, with─surprising to her─results.

“Monsters Unleashed! ─ ‘Several Meaningless Deaths, Part 1’” (#8): Christopher Dale, fleeing New York City and memories of his girlfriend’s murder, ends up in the Everglades, near Citrusville, Florida. Also a victim of writer’s block, he’s trying to break through that. Then a sixteen-year-old girl, named Elaine (like his dead girlfriend) pounds on his front door. She’s fleeing her murderous father, who mistakenly thinks he’s Ted Sallis, and in a further mistake, thinks Sallis raped his daughter Elaine. Of course, violence ensues and Man-Thing makes his inevitable appearance.

This is a mostly-text-with-some-illustrations work, an entertaining and Man-Thing-familiar story.

“Monsters Unleashed! ─ ‘Several Meaningless Deaths, Conclusion” (#9): The mostly-text-with-some-illustrations story is wrapped up, in a satisfying, Man-Thing-true way.

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The resulting movie, Man-Thing, aired on the Sci Fi Channel (now the Syfy Channel) on April 30, 2005. Brett Leonard directed the film, from a screenplay by Hans Rodionoff. Leonard also played a supporting character, Val Mayerick.

Conan Stevens, billed as Mark Stevens, played Man-Thing. Matthew La Nevez played Kyle. Rachel Taylor played Teri. Jack Thompson played Schist. Rawiri Paratene played Pete Horn.

Essential Marvel: Tales of the Zombie Vol. 1 by various artists and writers

(pb; 1973─1975, 2006: graphic novel. Collects Dracula Lives #1─2 and Tales of the Zombie #1─10.)

From the back cover

“He lives! He strikes! No grave can hold him! Nothing can stop the man without a soul! Marked for human sacrifice by voodoo practitioners, Simon Garth was instead reanimated by mystical means ─ to be controlled by whoever holds the fabled Amulet of Damballah. And so begins the Tales of the Zombie! Terrors criminal, corporate and just plain creepy are reprinted here for the first time in more than a quarter-century! His stare’s the only thing that’s empty about the adventures of Simon Garth through mad science and madder magic!”

Review

The Tales magazine was a mix of 1970s atmospheric, pulpy voodoo artwork and stories (their themes often rooted in revenge, greed, lust and redemption) and informative articles about the voodoo religion, and films and books related to the subject─e.g., White Zombie, 1932, Ian Fleming’s 1954 James Bond novel Live and Let Die (which resulted in the 1973 movie) and George A. Romero’s 1968 iconic Night of the Living Dead.

Tales also has a recurring, titular character, also called Simon Garth, whose often-violent and troubling journey through unlife is recounted in at least one piece per collected issue. Garth is a sympathetic and subconsciously troubled character: his comic book actions─reprehensible or  kind─are mandated by his ever-changing masters (who hold the Amulet of Damballah, which control Garth).

Brother Voodoo’s loa-based heroics earn him recurring comic book status, as well. He, like Garth, also has sometimes uneven-in-quality adventures.

Overall, this is a fun, well-drawn and-inked (and short-lived) series. Some of Tale‘s articles and comic book storylines are thrilling, others are not. If you are into 1970s Marvel monster comics or  pulpy voodoun works, there is a good chance you will enjoy Tales. If you are not, but curious, borrow this from your local library─if it has it─or pick it up for an especially low price.

Essential Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 4 by "Stan Lee, John Romita, Sam Rosen & Friends"

(pb; 1969, 1989 and 2005: Collects The Amazing Spider-Man #66-89, & Annual issue #5. Note that issues #66-68 are also republished in the previous graphic novel, Volume 3.)

From the back cover

"After being bitten by an irradiated spider, young Peter Parker learned he had gained the proportional strength and agility of a spider. Combined with a keen "spider-sense" that warned him of danger, Peter became the hero we all know and love...Spider-Man! In this great volume, Peter will face some of his greatest challenges and overcome some of his most harrowing foes. Adventure at its best, true believer!"

Overall review

Volume 4 is a fun, action-oriented and youth-angsty read. There is less melodrama than usual in these issues – “frail” Aunt May still dotes too much on Peter, and he still does dumb things (even for someone his age) that make little sense. Also, there is the issue of the oh-so-sexist issue #86 with Black Widow, and the occasional, silly filler issue (e.g., Annual #5). This is a worthwhile graphic novel, if you can overlook the above elements, as the artwork – as always – is top-notch. Followed by Vol. 5.

Story arcs

"The Madness of Mysterio” and “To Squash a Spider” (#67-68): Spider-Man gets shrunk and tries to elude death in a trap-rigged mini-amusement park.

“Crisis on the Campus” (#68) – “The Speedster and the Spider” (#71): Spider-Man is publicly accused of being in cahoots with the Kingpin, who tries to steal an ancient and priceless tablet. This leads to skirmishes with the cops and Quicksilver (who is trying to acquit himself and his wife, the Scarlet Witch, of unrelated false charges).

"The Parents of Peter Parker” (Annual #5): Peter accidentally discovers what really killed his parents – and what they were. Red Skull, from the comic book Captain America, makes an appearance. This storyline and inclusion of Red Skull feels silly and shoe-horned, the admixture of two unlikely elements. Still, there is plenty of action.

“Rocked By the Shocker” (#72) – “In the Blaze of Battle” (#77): More mayhem ensues, centered around that ancient tablet, issues #68–71. The Shocker, whose last appearance was in issue #46,  takes the tablet, with the intention of ransoming it. Before long, others are caught up in the conflict between Spider-Man and the Shocker: the Maggia (mobsters), including the hard-punching Man-Mountain Marko; Dr. Curt Connors, a.k.a. the Lizard; Johnny Storm, a.k.a. the Human Torch. . . This is Man-Mountain Marko’s first appearance in the Spider-Man comics. The Lizard last appeared in issue #45.

“The Night of the Prowler” and “To Prowl No More!” (#78–79): A desperate, down-on-his-luck window washer (Hobie Brown) turns his hand to thieving via a costumed alter ego, the Prowler. When his path crosses Spider-Man’s, they fight for a brief time. Also, Peter Parker stews about Gwen Stacy, whom he mistakenly thinks has dumped him.

“On the Trail of the Chameleon!” (#80): Spider-Man battles the Chameleon, who steals an expensive painting. The Chameleon was last seen in issue #2.

“The Coming of the Kangaroo!”(#81) A misunderstood man with the ability to leap about like a kangaroo finds himself at odds with Spider-Man.

“And Then Came Electro!” (#82): Electro, out of prison and working as an electrician, battles Spider-Man on live television. Electro is aided in his vengeful desire by Daily Bugler publisher J. Jonah Jameson, whose laser-focus hatred of the web-slinger once again comes into play. . . Electro was last seen in comic’s first annual Spider-Man issue.

“The Coming of the Schemer!” (#83) – “The Secret of the Schemer!” (#85) Two events reawaken the violent impulses of Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. the Kingpin) – first, the news that his wife, Vanessa, has discovered that their son (Richard) is likely dead; and second, the clamorous appearance of the Schemer, a new mobster-esque villain whose main aim to take over the criminal empire that Fisk abandoned, after the debacle involving a priceless, ancient tablet (issues #68–71). 

“Beware. . . the Black Widow!” (#86): Spider-Man crosses paths with the ex-Avenger and ex-agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course, a minor fight takes place before they finally talk and sort out their misunderstanding.

Even by the standards of the late Sixties, there is an underlying sexism that exists within the boy-centric tone of the Amazing Spider-Man universe. All of the female characters – “frail” Aunt May, Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy (with their catty rivalry) and the Black widow – are all, in one way or another, reliant on a man or his approval. Black Widow is an egregious example of this, as three characters (including Black Widow herself) refers to the ex-Avenger as a “copy” of Spider-Man, with her huge identity crisis. (Black Widow, with her powers, battle style and outlook, is not derivative of the web-slinger.) I have not noted this in earlier reviews of The Amazing Spider-Man because few, if any previous issues, were so in-your-face sexist (to my knowledge).

“Unmasked At Last!” (#87): Peter, feverish with a mystery illness, reveals his alter ego to his friends at a party. He seeks  medical help. Hobie Brown, once the Prowler [#78–79], makes an appearance.

“The Arms of Doctor Octopus!” and “Doc Ock Lives!” (#88–89): Doctor Octopus escapes from prison, hijacks a plane and creates general havoc – often while battling Spider-Man, of course. Be warned that this last issue-chapter of Vol. 4 ends on a cliffhanger situation.

Followed by Marvel Essential: The Amazing Spider-Man Volume 5.

The People of the Black Circle by Robert E. Howard

(hb; 1977: second book in a four-book fantasy/horror anthology series, edited by Karl Edward Wagner & supervised by Glenn Lord)

From the inside flap:

"The People of the Black Circle is the second volume in the authorized edition of [the] Conan [the Barbarian quadrilogy] edited by Karl Edward Wagner and supervised by Glenn Lord, trustee of Robert E. Howard's estate. The People of the Black Circle assembles. . . Howard's novellas 'The Devil in Iron,' 'The People of the Black Circle,' 'A Witch Shall Be Born,' and 'Jewels of Gwahlur,' which first appeared in Weird Tales [magazine] during the flowering of the pulps in the 1930s.

"In 'The Devil in Iron,' the first novella in The People of the Black Circle, Conan journeys to the kingdom of Turan, where he is betrayed by the king, lured by Octavia, the beautiful slave girl, and forced to flee into an eerie subterranean realm. there he wages deadly battle with Khel, the monster whose human body is made of iron.

"In 'The People of the Black Circle,' Conan battles the mountain-dwelling Seers of the Black Circle, powerful sorcerers who threaten the kingdom of Vendhya. their leader and master, the magician of Yimsha, uses black magic to enslave Conan. In a thrilling climax, Conan's strength and the magician's power are pitted in winged combat.

" 'A Witch Shall Be Born' follows Conan's adventures against the forces of Salome, the witch-queen of Khauran, and the reptilian monster she commands. In 'Jewels of Gwahlur,' Conan's goal is the legendary Teeth of Gwahlur, a cache of gems in the ghost city of Alkmeenon. Man-apes, priests and the forces of evil clash in an epic battle in which Conan must choose between the jewels and a beautiful slave girl."

Review:

This four-book series republished the Conan stories, in the order in which they were originally published in Weird Tales magazine. The four novellas in this second volume were published between 1934 and 1935.

Howard's vivid, brutal, overheated and sexist/xenophobic sword & sorcery fare is on full display here, within the intense and fantastical scope of these Conan tales.

"The Devil in Iron" is a good, engrossing read; the two middle tales, "The People of the Black Circle" and "A Witch Shall Be Born," are the best of these stories, plot-twisty, character- and action-intense and incredibly inspired; the last tale, "Jewels of Gwahlur," is the least-inspired work of the bunch - it reads like a tired retread of Howard's more spirited and freshly imaginative pieces.

Excellent collection of tales, overall.

Followed by Red Nails.

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"The Devil in Iron" was "freely adapted" into comic book form in issue #15 of The Savage Sword of Conan, by Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala. This magazine was published by Marvel Comics in October 1976; it was republished in expanded, graphic novel form (The Savage Sword of Conan Volume Two) by Dark Horse Books in March 2008.

That same graphic novel also featured an adaptation of "The People of the Black Circle". The comic book version of this story originally appeared in issue #16 of The Savage Sword of Conan in December 1976. It was illustrated by Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema and Alfredo Alcala. (The cover for the 2008 graphic novel, illustrated by Boris Vallejo, follows this review.)

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Conan, the character, inspired the film Conan the Barbarian, which was released stateside on May 14, 1982.

Arnold Schwarzenegger played Conan. James Earl Jones played Thulsa Doom (a character who's scheduled to be the titular character of a 2012-release film). Sandahl Bergman played Valeria. Max von Sydow played King Osiric.

Ben Davidson played Rexor. Mako played Akiro/"The Wizard/Narrator". Valérie Quennessen played "The Princess". William Smith played "Conan's Father". Jack Taylor played "Priest". Cassandra Gava, billed as Cassandra Gaviola, played "The Witch". Gerry Lopez played Subotai.

An uncredited John Milius, who directed the film, played "Foodseller in the Old City". Milius co-scripted the film with Oliver Stone, from a story by an uncredited Edward Summer.

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A lackluster, kid-friendly, comedic sequel, Conan the Destroyer, was released stateside on June 29, 1984.

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A reboot/remake of Conan the Barbarian is scheduled for stateside release on August 19, 2011.

Jason Momoa played Conan. Rachel Nichols played Tamara. Stephen Lang played Khalar Zym. Rose McGowan played Marique. Saïd Taghmaoui played Ela-Shan. Ron Perlman played Corin.

Leo Howard played "Young Conan". Katarzyna Wolejnio played Valeria. An uncredited Shelly Varod played "Student Nun".

Marcus Nispel directed the film, from a screenplay by Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer and Sean Hood.