Man-Thing
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The Man-Thing is a fictional comic book creature created by Stan Lee, Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway, and featured in various Marvel Comics titles, the most prominent of which was written by Steve Gerber.
Man-Thing is a large, slow-moving muck-monster with a vaguely humanoid appearance living in the Florida Everglades near the Seminole reservation. Man-Thing debuted a month before a one-shot version of DC Comics' Swamp Thing, in which Alex Olsen was killed by his wife's lover and resurrected as a plant-based monster. Swamp Thing creator Len Wein was Conway's roommate at the time, but they did not discuss their work too much. When the ongoing Swamp Thing, Alec Holland, debuted in November (after Wein had contributed a Man-Thing story of his own), his origin was very similar to Man-Thing's.
Unlike the intelligent Swamp Thing, Man-Thing is a former scientist who became a nearly mindless mass of slime with no particular affinity to any living thing, but who nevertheless often becomes an accidental hero as it stumbles upon various crime and horror scenarios. It is able to sense human emotions, and is enraged by fear and automatically secretes a strong chemical corrosive; 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 Man-Thing's touch." Though fear is understandably most people's response to the creature, typically only villains end up meeting an immolating death at its hands.
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[edit] Origin
The Man-Thing first appeared in Savage Tales #1 (1971), written by Thomas and Conway and illustrated by Gray Morrow. This story explained the creature's origin, which was roughly similar to Swamp Thing's: Betrayed by his lover, Ellen Brandt, a biochemist, Ted Sallis, while fleeing from agents from Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) who wanted his formula for a miracle drug (later defined as the "super-soldier serum" used on Captain America), drowned in the swamp and was transformed into the Man-Thing by a combination of his own formula and (it was later explained) magical forces extant in the area. Sallis's mind was apparently extinguished, although it was later shown that he could briefly return to consciousness within his monstrous form,[1] and indeed he has been briefly returned to his human form several times.[2] A story intended for the much-delayed Savage Tales #2 was ultimately published in Astonishing Tales #12, written by Len Wein (before Swamp Thing #1). The story introduced us to Sallis's assistant, an elderly black scientist named Dr. Wilma Calvin. Ka-Zar was the featured lead in that issue, written by Roy Thomas, and the story became a flashback, with Ka-Zar meeting Man-Thing at the end of the issue. In issue #13, also by Thomas, Ka-Zar and Man-Thing destroy the base used by AIM. Issues #15-20 of Astonishing Tales (#14 was a colorized and censored reprint of the Ka-Zar story in Savage Tales #1) deal with Ka-Zar's efforts to destroy the remainder of the serum, aided by S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Nick Fury and Bobbi Morse, and Dr. Calvin, who by the end, was the only one with a copy of the formula, in her head alone. The remainder of Ka-Zar's Astonishing Tales run was written by Mike Friedrich.
[edit] Man-Thing in comics
The character next appeared in a story by Conway and Morrow in Adventure into Fear #10 (1972), sometimes erroneously said to be a reprint since it had the same authors, and continued to appear in that series for nine more issues, with Steve Gerber taking over as writer starting in #11.
[edit] Steve Gerber
Gerber expanded on the notion of the swamp having mystical properties and in issue #14 made it the "Nexus of all realities", thus supplying numerous demons, ghosts, time-travelling warriors, etc., to serve as the Man-Thing's antagonists—though he continued to encounter non-supernatural villains as well, including land developers, fascist vigilantes, and common criminals. The Fear stories introduced a large supporting cast, including the demon Thog the Nether-Spawn, the benevolent Dakimh the Enchanter, and several humans, including members of the Cult of Zhered-Na (led by Jennifer Kale's father, Joshua; Gerber would feature more of Zhered-Na in his "Tales of Atlantis" stories in Sub-Mariner), who became allies of Dakimh and the Man-Thing, thus circumventing the difficulty of having a protagonist with no mind and no goals. A major villain named Franklin Armstrong Schist (F.A. Schist) was introduced in issue 16, attempting to build an airport in Citrusville. The Man-Thing series inFear ended in a cliffhanger to introduce Man-Thing's own series in issue #19, a bizarre story involving Thog with characters from all times and places (including, briefly, Daredevil and the Black Widow). In one particularly bizarre scene, Korrek, Warrior Prince of Katharta, emerges from a jar of peanut butter partially eaten by Andy Kale, with a knife that becomes his sword! After that, Gerber needing something even weirder to join the forces of good, a talking duck named Howard soon stepped onto the scene. Dakimh declares Man-Thing, Jennifer, Korrek, and Howard to be part of a chosen five need to defeat Thog, though Howard stumbles and disappears and Man-Thing does much of the task himself.
Beginning in January 1974, Gerber wrote his own Man-Thing series for Marvel, illustrated mostly by Val Mayerik at first and later Mike Ploog, John Buscema and Jim Mooney. The series became Marvel's chief non-superhero fantasy title, and — again like DC's Swamp Thing — was flexible enough to accommodate horror, fantasy, science fiction, crime, and occasional crossovers with superhero characters. The first story arc after concluding the cliffhanger introduced us to Richard Rory and Ruth Hart, and the first concerted attempt by F.A. Schist to destroy the creature. In the following issue, we learnt Rory was fleeing the Foolkiller. Ruth, a nurse involved with a biker gang slain by the Foolkiller soon left for New York City without Rory, who continued to deal with the strange forces in the swamp, and formed a bond with Man-Thing.
In Man-Thing #7, reality set in and the energy crisis prevented F.A. Schist from completing his airport. The reason for the airport was then revealed: Schist wanted to find the Fountain of Youth. Unfortunately, he learnt the hard way that the desired effects of the fountain's water come from bathing in it, not drinking it,a nd with a newly fragile body, was done in by Man-Thing.
Gerber also wrote five longer issues of a parallel series, Giant-Size Man-Thing, whose apparently unintentional double-entendre title became a common joke among comics readers (a "giant-size" comic is one with more pages than a standard comic book). In the second issue, Schist's widow and daughter arrange to have the Man-Thing captured, but he escapes and runs amok in Manhattan. The third issue featured the death of Dakimh's physical form, though his spirit would continue to appear, while the fourth began the solo adventures of Howard the Duck. In the fifth issue, we see that Ted Sallis had prior knowledge of his future as Man-Thing from a fortune teller, who outraged him rather than making him pay heed.
In one story (#13–14), an astral pirate ship headed by Captain Fate, ended up in the Nexus. A scientist, Dr. Maura Spinner, was the reincarnation of a pirate queen and both were linked with a satyr named Khordes. In a controversial ending which Gerber expressed regrets about having written, Spinner stayed with Khordes.
Soon, Gerber was delving into Ted Sallis's past. In a text story in Monsters Unleashed #8 and #9, Sallis was revealed to have slept with an underage girl, whose father sought to kill the current occupant of his shack. In [Daredevil (Marvel Comics)|[Daredevil]] #108, Gerber introduced Foggy Nelson's sister Candace, who was being harassed over research she was doing at Empire State University. In issue #113, this was revealed to be the Sallis Papers, research that could have turned the human race into smog-breathing monsters and allow industry to proceed unchecked. In Man-Thing #15, we are introduced to Sainte-Cloud, a young woman who helped Sallis decide to abandon the project. Sometimes this has been erroneously cited as the project that created Man-Thing, though it is made clear in the stories that this is an earlier project.
The final arc of the Gerber series dealt with a hypermasculine laborer named Sorensen forced into retirement at age 65. He went on a rampage as a Mad Viking, killed his daughter Astrid's artist boyfriend, and allied himself with Olivia Selby, who led a bookburning riot at Citrusville High School, leading to the slaughter of several teachers. Man-Thing's involvement led to him being dumped in the local sewage treatment plant, which only increased his ability to leave the swamp, while Richard Rory got fired by the local radio station for speaking out against the book burning on air. Rory attempted to leave for Atlanta, and Man-Thing and Carol Selby, Olivia's daughter, demanded to go with him. In Atlanta, they met Robert Nicolle, a man with neither feeling nor physical sensation, who appeared as the costumed criminal the Scavenger, whose sister, Dani Nicolle, has her sensations on overload and must project them into objects called Nightmare Boxes.
Man-Thing #22 was the last of the series, and justified its end with an unusual device: Gerber appeared as a character in the story, and admitted that he had not been inventing the Man-Thing's adventures but simply reporting on them. After witnessing the near-end of the universe—in which the minds of everyone except Gerber, Dakimh, and Thog (who was attempting to control the universe with a pyramid of Dani's Nightmare Boxes) were destroyed but then restored—Gerber decided he had to move on to other things. Gerber continued to write cameo appearances for the Man-Thing in other Marvel titles, including The Evolutionary War crossover, in which Man-Thing came to the aid of Spider-Man, and a 12-part Man-Thing serial in the anthology series Marvel Comics Presents, through 1989, which was largely a commentary on the Iran-Contra scandal, and the most violent and graphic Man-Thing story then published.
[edit] Michael Fleischer
A second Man-Thing series began in November 1979, written by Michael Fleisher and later, Chris Claremont, and illustrated by Jim Mooney and Don Perlin.
Fleischer introduced a scientist, Dr. Oheimer, who attempted to restore Ted Sallis's mind, now scattered about in ganglia throughout Man-Thing's body. A series of plot holes lead to the end of the project and Dr. Oheimer's death, and a negative result was predicted in What If Vol. 1, #26. The next issue introduced a melodramatic love triangle that took Man-Thing to the Himalayas. Fleischer's work received a great deal of negative criticism and he was taken off the book.
[edit] Chris Claremont
Chris Claremont began writing the series with issue #4 (the story which was concluded in Doctor Strange vol. 2, #41, to tie it with a series he was already writing), after previously working with the character in Marvel Team-Up #68, in which he introduced a concept many fans found ludicrous: certain supernatural creatures, in this case, D'Spayre, who appeared for the first time in that issue, could cause Man-Thing to feel fear and spontaneously combust. This concept appeared again, with much severer effects, in What If #26 and Heroes Reborn: The Return #1. Many found Tom Peyer's revival of the character, , in his following appearance, Marvel Team-Up vol. 2 #4, after his apparent destruction in Heroes Reborn, to be quite awkward.
As Gerber had kept the focus on his own original characters, Claremont's arc focused on newly-orphaned upper-class cheerleader Bobbie Bannister and Citrusville Sheriff John Daltry. The series lasted through issue #11, in which Claremont not only introduced himself as a character as Gerber had, but, after being stabbed to death by John Daltry (possessed by the sword of Captain Fate), temporarily became the Man-Thing. The temporary deaths of all the characters, including Dr. Strange, guided by a retconned version of Claremont's earlier character, John Kowalski, now an aspect of Death, resolved the issue. At about the same time, Claremont gave Man-Thing a guest appearance in The Uncanny X-Men #144, which re-introduced D'Spayre as a major X-Men foe. Ironically, Steve Gerber would later tie D'Spayre to the origin of Cloak and Dagger. Claremont also misspelled Gerber's first name as "Steven" in Dakimh's dialogue in issue #11.
[edit] J.M. DeMatteis
J.M. DeMatteis began writing the character in a backup story in Man-Thing Vol. 2, #9, which opened with a fill-in by Dickie McKenzie. After writing him in Marvel Team-Up, Defenders, and sporadic stories in Marvel Fanfare, and the limited series, Daydreamers, DeMatteis wrote a third series with the character in 1997, illustrated by Liam Sharp, for eight issues, the two-issue Strange Tales volume 5, and Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual '99. His series returned to the beginning, bringing Ellen Brandt back into the story, half of her face hideously scarred by Man-Thing on their first encounter (apparently ignoring Tony Isabella's story in Monsters Unleashed #5). Man-Thing was also reunited with Howard the Duck, met Namor the Sub-Mariner, again incorporating the Zhered-Na mythos, and finally united Ellen and Ted with K'Ad-Mon, revealed to be Spyros, from Gerber's Son of Satan arc in Marvel Spotlight, who is in fact the Biblical Adam.
[edit] Other Appearances
Man-Thing also appeared as a cameo in issue #19 ("Retreat" by Steve Englehart and Paul Gulacy) of the martial arts comic book Master of Kung Fu, which starred Shang-Chi, the son of Fu Manchu. Man-Thing was accompanied by a man called Lu Sun who looked after him. The Man-Thing saved Lu Sun and Shang-Chi from Fu Manchu's assassins when Shang-Chi fell into a sandpit trap. The assassins died from being burned by Man-Thing when they attacked him while feeling fear.
By the time Man-Thing appeared in Hulk #4, K'Ad-Mon had apparently left. What happened to Ellen Brandt is unclear.
In one of the earliest What If...? storylines, several issues were devoted to the question of "What if the Fantastic 4 all received the same powers?" (such as all of them being able to control fire). During the story where they all became "Things", Susan Storm became a mute monstrosity that appeared nearly identical to the Man-Thing.
[edit] Superhuman abilities
The Man-Thing possesses a variety of superhuman powers that are derived from the interaction of the scientific formula created by Ted Sallis and the mystical energies of the Nexus of Realities.
Man-Thing's superhuman strength varies considerably in his comic book appearances. 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.
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.
The Man-Thing is also 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.
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 sulfuric 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 (except, perhaps the Hulk.) While the Man-Thing is devoid of violent emotions, his body produces a type of foamy, soapy mucus that neutralizes the acid.
The Man-Thing is dependent upon the swamp he inhabits for his continued survival. He is able to leave the swamp, and has done so on many occasions, sometimes for a considerable length of time. However, his body will slowly weaken and eventually lapse into dormancy if not returned to the swamp or exposed to clean water. His exposure to the Citrusville waste treatment plant (in Vol. 1, #17) greatly enhanced his ability to leave the swamp.
[edit] Ultimate Man-Thing
In his first Ultimate Marvel appearance, Man-Thing teamed with Spider-Man in Ultimate Marvel Team Up #10, unwittingly saving the superhero from Ultimate Lizard. Additionally, in Ultimate Fantastic Four #7, during a flashback that transformed Reed and his colleagues into the Fantastic Four, the Man-Thing is shown for a moment. It has been hypothesized that Man-Thing and the FF share some elemental bound, being as they are representations of earth (Thing), fire (Human Torch), water (Mr. Fantastic), and air (Invisible Woman). Alternatively, this is perhaps just a reference to the aforementioned What If...? issue.
Ultimate Man-Thing is similar to his traditional counterpart and seems to share the same abilities and possibly origin.
[edit] Mutant X
The Mutant X comic book series depicts a Marvel Universe in which characters' counterparts are vastly different. In the Mutant X '99 annual, Dr. Strange, the sorcerer supreme of Earth, reveals himself to be the Man-Thing.
[edit] Comic book spin-offs
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.
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 # 2-5) 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.
[edit] Film
A Man-Thing telefilm, directed by Brett Leonard and based loosely on a Gerber storyline involving the unscrupulous land developer F.A. Schist, appeared on the Sci Fi Channel in 2005 under the Sci Fi Pictures label.
[edit] Similar characters
The Man-Thing has often been described as Marvel's attempt to imitate the similar and more famous DC Comics character Swamp Thing, but this is unlikely given that both debuted within a few months of one another, Man-Thing, in fact, appearing first. Gerry Conway and Len Wein were good friends and roommates at the time that they created both Man-Thing and Swamp-Thing. They merely took their ideas to different comics. Further discrediting the idea that Man-Thing is an imitation of Swamp Thing is the fact that Len Wein wrote the second Man-Thing story before he wrote the first story of the ongoing Swamp Thing, although its publication was severely delayed and appeared afterwards, after a change in the Comics Code allowed the more brutal nature of Man-Thing to appear in a color comic.
A predecessor of both was Hillman Publications' the Heap, who debuted in what was intended as a one-time appearance in the feature "Skywolf" in Air Fighters #3 (Dec. 1942). Created by writer Harry Stein and artist Mort Leav, the Heap became a popular character in return appearances and later an ongoing solo feature. Early depictions of the Heap look highly similar to the Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies character Gossamer, a orange-furred, practically featureless monster in sneakers who menaced Bugs Bunny in the 1946 animated short "Hair-Raising Hare" before going on to other appearances (named "Rudolph" in one).
A literary predecessor was the title creature of "It", a Theodore Sturgeon short story that first appeared in the pulp magazine "Unknown" in 1940.
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] Original stories
- Savage Tales #1 (May 1971)
- Adventure into Fear #10-19 (Oct. 1972 - Dec. 1973)
- Man-Thing Vol. 1, #1-22 (Jan. 1974 - Oct. 1975)
- Monsters Unleashed #5, 8-9 (April 1974)
- Giant-Size Man-Thing #1-5 (Aug. 1974 - Aug. 1975)
- Marvel Premiere #28 (Feb. 1976) As part of Legion of Monsters
- The Rampaging Hulk, Vol. 1, #7 (Feb. 1978)
- Man-Thing Vol. 2, #1-11 (Nov. 1979 - July 1981)
- Marvel Fanfare Vol. 1, #9
- Marvel Fanfare Vol. 1, #36
- Marvel Comics Presents #1-12 (Sept. 1988 - Feb. 1989) "Elements of Terror" - 12 parts
- Marvel Comics Presents #164-167 (early Oct. - early Nov. 1994) "Behold The Man" - 4 parts
- Marvel Comics Presents #168 (late Nov. 1994) "Behold the Man-Thing" A retelling of his origin
- Daydreamers 1-3 (team book)
- Midnight Sons Unlimited #8
- Shadows & Light #2
- Man-Thing Vol. 3, #1-8 (Dec. 1997 - July 1998)
- Strange Tales Vol. 5, #1-2 (Sept.-Oct. 1998)
- Marvel Knights Double-Shot #2
- Man-Thing (movie prequel) #1-3 (Sept.-Nov. 2004)
[edit] Ultimate Man-Thing
- Ultimate Marvel Team-Up #9 (one panel cameo) and #10
[edit] Guest appearances
This list is complete through July 1981
- Astonishing Tales #12-13 (July-Aug. 1972) "Ka-Zar" feature
- The Avengers #118 (one panel cameo)
- Marvel Two-In-One #1 (Jan. 1974) The Thing team-up feature
- Master of Kung Fu Vol. 1, #19
- Daredevil #113-115 (Sept.-Nov. 1974) (flashback only in #115, behind the scenes stating with 108)
- Giant-Size Spider-Man #5 (July 1975)
- The Incredible Hulk #197-198 (March-April 1976)
- Iron Man Annual #3 (1976)
- Daredevil #140 (Dec. 1976) Flashback
- Fantastic Four #187 (Oct. 1977) Flashback
- Howard the Duck #22-24 (March-May 1978) Cameo only in #24
- Marvel Team-Up #68 (April 1978) Spider-Man team-up feature
- Marvel Two-In-One #43 (Sept. 1978) The Thing team-up feature
- Micronauts #7 (July 1979)
- Marvel Two-In-One #55 (Sept. 1979) The Thing team-up feature; flashback cameo only
- Doctor Strange Vol. 2, #41
- Howard the Duck (magazine) #5-7 (May-Sept. 1980) article on Howard's friends in #5; cameo in #6; full appearance in #7
- The Savage She-Hulk #7 (flashback) and #8 (Sept. 1980)
- The Uncanny X-Men #144 (April 1981)
- Marvel Two-In-One #77 (July 1981) The Thing team-up feature
- The Defenders, Vol. 1, #98 (and 1 panel flashback in #99)
- The Mighty Thor #316-317
- Marvel Team-Up #122
- Web of Spider-Man Annual #4
- Marvel Comics Presents #29 (Quasar story)
- Iron Man #275 (one panel cameo)
- The Incredible Hulk #389
- Quasar #31
- Quasar #50
- Nomad Vol. 2, #21
- Blaze #2
- Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #61 (one panel cameo)
- The Incredible Hulk #427-428
- Generation X #25
- Heroes Reborn: The Return #1
- Marvel Team-Up Vol. 2, #4
- Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual '99
- Hulk #4, 6-7
- X-Force #100
- Nightcrawler, Vol. 3, #9-10
[edit] Non-Continuity Appearances
- What If? Vol. 1, #26 (April 1981)
- What If Vol. 2, #1 (one panel cameo, probably a reference to Swamp Thing's appearance in Crisis on Infinite Earths #5)
- The Adventures of the X-Men #11-12
- Marvel Knights Millennial Visions #1
- Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #18
[edit] Reprints
- Monsters Unleashed #3 (Nov. 1973)
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- Reprints Savage Tales #1 story
- Monsters Unleashed Annual #1 (1975)
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- Reprints Monsters Unleashed #5 story
- The Adventures of the Thing #4 (July 1992)
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- Reprints Marvel Two-in-One #77.
- Book of the Dead #1-4 (Dec. 1993)
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- Reprints stories from Savage Tales #1, Fear #11, Fear #12, and The Man-Thing Vol. 1, #11.
- Man-Thing: Whatever Knows Fear trade paperback (2005)
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- Reprints Man-Thing movie prequel #1-3, Savage Tales #1 & Adventure into Fear #16 stories
- The Essential Marvel Two-in-One (2005)
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- Reprints Marvel Two-in-One #1 (and other issues).
- Marvel Milestones #8 (2005)
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- Reprints Fear #16 with Tomb of Dracula #10 and the first Satana story from Vampire Tales #2
- The Essential Man-Thing (2006) (Forthcoming)
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- Reprints Savage Tales #1, Astonishing Tales #12-13, Adventure Into Fear #10-19, Man-Thing #1-14; Giant-Size Man-Thing #1-2; Monsters Unleashed #5, 8-9.
[edit] References
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Man-Thing
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: The Heap
- The Grand Comics Database: Man-Thing search results
- Index to Man-Thing comics
- The Swamp (fan site)
- Photon Torpedoes (Nov. 2005): "My Man-Thing Was Very Versatile"
- Photon Torpedoes (Nov. 2005): "When Giant-Sized Man-Things Walked the Earth"
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