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Throwback Thursday: Man-Thing, Guard of the Swamp & Nexus of Realities

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A unique creation of science and magic, Man-Thing is a powerful hero saddled with immense responsibility and challenging circumstances. With his hulking form of deep green vegetable matter and glowing red eyes, Man-Thing is one intimidating figure whose goals are simply to protect the swamp and complexly to guard the Nexus of Realities. Since Man-Thing turns 50 this month, we thought it was time to dig up some dirt on this man of verdant vegetation.  

Man-Thing was created by the team of Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Gray Morrow for Savage Tales #1 in May 1971. This would be one month before rival publisher DC Comics would debut Swamp Thing, leading to speculation from historians about just who "ripped off" who. Rumor has it that Swamp Thing co-creator Bernie Wrightson and Man-Thing co-creator Gray Morrow were roommates at the time and may have influenced each other. Despite similarities in look and origin, neither Marvel or DC pursued legal action against the other. 

A large humanoid swamp monster who lives in the Florida Everglades, his appearance differs greatly from his contemporaries. He also has many exceptional abilities, including the power to regenerate by absorbing plants and their energy. He can manipulate plants, is empathic, and can secrete corrosive chemicals. Adding to this already impressive repertoire, he has superstrength, enhanced durability, and he can teleport.

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Dr. Ted Sallis was a young biochemist from Omaha, Nebraska working in the Everglades on Dr. Wilma Calvin’s Project, with a team that included Dr. Barbara Morse (the future Mockingbird). They were working on recreating the Super-Soldier Serum that created Captain America, and though the team had been warned that Advanced Idea Mechanics was also in the area, they continued to work. Still, Ted took precautions with the formula he was working on, memorizing the details and destroying his notes.

Ted had broken security protocol by bringing his girlfriend Ellen Brandt (later retconned as his wife) to the site. He was attacked by a pair of henchmen and was shocked to find that Ellen had betrayed him. Ted escaped and fled the area with the only sample of his serum, then injected himself to survive further attacks.

His car crashed into the swamp where magical forces mingled with the serum to transform him into the plant creature, Man-Thing. Ted’s mind was also manipulated by the serum, leaving him with an inability to speak and only a vague recollection of his past. He attacked Ellen and the people who accosted him, burning her with the acid he could now secrete when exposed to negative emotions.

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Though Ted’s original mind is gone, he can access his human consciousness on occasion and has even returned to his human form in a few stories.

AIM tried to steal the formula again, but Man-Thing and Ka-Zar were able to stop them. After Man-Thing decided to make the swamp his home, he met the sorceress Jennifer Kale and shared a psychic link with her. She was able to see his identity as a man and their story revealed that the swamp had mystical properties as the Nexus of Realities.

He became the guardian of the Nexus, protecting it from ghosts and demons, time-travelers, land developers, and other manner of criminals. In this period, he met Howard the Duck who became stranded in this reality and befriended the nurse Ruth Hart and radio DJ Richard Rory.

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Man-Thing was captured and put on display at the New York Museum of Natural History, which sent him into a frenzy of rage. Later he faced Maybell Tork, the Demons of Liberation, and the reality bending Brian Lazarus. While traveling through the Port Everglades he got involved in a cursed battle between the satyr Khordes, an immortal pirate crew, and Dr. Maura Spinner, the reincarnation of their former captain.

While stopping the Mad Viking on a rampage, Man-Thing was captured by townspeople and thrown into a sewage treatment plant. He escaped, stopped the Mad Viking, and ended a book burning led by Viking and Olivia Selby. He joined Ghost Rider, Morbius, and Werewolf as the Legion of Monsters to stop Starseed. After fighting Molecule Man, he was captured and forced to fight the Hulk but managed to escape.

Dr. Karl Oheimer used cerebral regeneration to restore Ted’s mind, and when the doctor was killed, a sentient Man-Thing killed those who sought his serum. Once he returned to the swamp, his mind faded again. Another attempt to restore his mind was led by the sorcerer Baron Mordo, who wanted to use him against Dr. Strange. Jennifer Kale helped Man-Thing retake control of his mind and stop the plot, and Ted’s mind was lost again.

At the conclusion of the first Man-Thing series, writer Steve Gerber introduced himself as a character in the comic. As writer on the second volume, Chris Claremont took things one step further. Not only did he put himself in the comic, he became Man-Thing for a brief period. Man-Thing joined Sheriff John Daltry and Barbara Bannister to stop a Thog attack. During the event, Ted was cured and Claremont took his place as Man-Thing to defeat Thog. Dr. Strange saved the writer and Ted returned to being Man-Thing.

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While working with Hulk, Man-Thing met a new Glob, this time Sumner Beckwith, and was nearly killed when she used the Star Brand to power the Nexus in a bid to rule all of reality. Dimensional travel splintered the Nexus of Realities, so Dr. Strange recruited Man-Thing and Ellen Brandt to restore it. The history of the Men of Lineage was revealed when Man-Thing was possessed by K’ad-Mon, and he discovered that he and Ellen were predestined to meet.

Man-Thing, Ellen, and K’ad-Mon found the Nexus fragments. The Fallen Star Amodeus Q. Termineus wanted to stop them from saving the Nexus, so he plotted to destroy all of existence. Termineus used the last fragment to break the healing Nexus, but Man-Thing used his nature as the Man of Lineage and Ellen’s love, as well as the help of Job Burke (their long-lost son) to restore reality.

He appeared in the Civil War event when SHIELD agents attempted to make him register under the Superhuman Registration Act. After that Phil Coulson recruited him to join the Howling Commandos.

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In the Empyre story the Cotati led by Ventri were able to control Man-Thing. Doctor Voodoo then took control of Man-Thing to free Matthew and the Black Knight. After that, Doctor Voodoo used Man-Thing to fight the Cotati. Once Doctor Voodoo removed his control, he left to assist Scarlet Witch while Man-Thing continued fighting the Cotati.

Man-Thing has had epic battles to protect reality and ones closer to home to protect the swamp. He has been treated like a monster, but still tries to be a good guy. For a man made of plants, he is anything but a delicate flower.

MARVEL COMICS
CURSE OF MAN-THING TP
(W) Steve Orlando (A) Francesco Mobili, More (CA) Patrick Gleason
Celebrating fifty years of strange and thought-provoking storytelling! The macabre Man-Thing rises from his swamp and returns to center stage! Overnight, vegetative pillars arise across the world. Atop them sit ominous bulbs, growing ever more repulsive. As the sun beats down, the bulbs swell, threatening to burst - and all who come into contact with them will burn! The signature curse of the Man-Thing has gone global! NEW VILLAIN HARROWER is trying to scorch humanity from the face of the planet - and when she discovers the Nexus of All Realities, her twisted mission becomes all the more apocalyptic! Unless Earth's greatest heroes can somehow rejuvenate the Man-Thing and help him reclaim his power, the whole world will be made to know fear - and to burn at its touch! Collecting AVENGERS: CURSE OF THE MAN-THING, SPIDER-MAN: CURSE OF THE MAN-THING and X-MEN: CURSE OF THE MAN-THING.
Rated T+
In Shops: Aug 04, 2021
SRP: $15.99
MARVEL PREVIEWS Page #91
MARVEL COMICS
MAN-THING OMNIBUS HC BRUNNER DM VAR NEW PTG
(W) Roy Thomas, More (A) Gray Morrow, More (CA) Frank Brunner
Neither wholly plant nor animal, neither entirely self-aware nor totally non-sentient, the creature called the Man-Thing is unique, unchanging and alone - but none who encounter him can ever be the same again. Empathic by nature and drawn to fight evil, his shambling visage inspires fear - and whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch! Whether danger rises from the swamp or the city, the past or the future, outer space or the human soul, the Man-Thing awaits! Collecting ASTONISHING TALES (1970) #12-13, FEAR #11-19, MAN-THING (1974) #1-22, GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING #1-3, INCREDIBLE HULK (1968) #197-198, MARVEL TEAM-UP (1972) #68, MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE (1974) #43, MAN-THING (1979) #1-11 and DOCTOR STRANGE (1974) #41 - plus material from SAVAGE TALES (1971) #1, FEAR #10, GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING #4-5, MONSTERS UNLEASHED (1973) #5 and #8-9 and RAMPAGING HULK (1977) #7.

Parental Advisory
In Shops: May 26, 2021
SRP: $125.00
MARVEL PREVIEWS Page #82
MARVEL COMICS
MAN-THING BY R L STINE TP VOL 01
(W) R. L. Stine (A) German Peralta, Daniel Johnson (CA) Tyler Crook
Marvel's melancholy muck-monster as you've never seen him before - courtesy of beloved author R.L. Stine (Goosebumps, Fear Street)! After so many years of somber silence, Man-Thing has found his voice - and taken Hollywood by storm! But when an ancient evil threatens his old swamp stomping ground, Man-Thing will have to choose between his new life and celebrity, and the world he used to call home. An old ally pays a visit, but everything else is out to get Man-Thing - including crocodiles, bats and mosquitos, oh my! Can the balance of the swamp be restored, or will the cause of this calamity be beyond Man-Thing's control? Plus: Bone-chilling bonus horror tales from the master himself, R.L. Stine! Reading this will give you goosebumps...but beware - for whoever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch! Collecting MAN-THING (2017) #1-5.
Rated T+
In Shops: Sep 06, 2017
SRP: $15.99
MARVEL PREVIEWS Page #109
MARVEL COMICS
MAN THING BY STEVE GERBER COMPLETE COLL TP VOL 02
(W) Steve Gerber (A) Various (CA) Mike Ploog
Continuing the definitive collection of Man-Thing's macabre misadventures by his signature writer! The lumbering behemoth goes truly giant-size in one of the most notorious Marvel titles of all time, with stories ranging from a battle of the swamp monsters against the Glob, to a portentous flashback to the life of Ted Sallis before he was transformed. Those who know fear burn at the Man-Thing's touch, but what will happen when he joins Daredevil, the Man Without Fear, in battle with Death-Stalker? Demons, dragons and dancers all lie in wait - and so do mad Vikings and ghost pirates! From the introspective to the action-packed to the downright bizarre, it's the Man-Thing unleashed! Collecting GIANT-SIZE MAN-THING #1-5, DAREDEVIL (1964) #113-114, MAN-THING (1974) #9-18 and material from MONSTERS UNLEASHED #8-9.
Parental Advisory
In Shops: Oct 26, 2016
SRP: $34.99
MARVEL PREVIEWS Page #150

Keep an eye on PREVIEWSworld.com's TwitterFacebookYouTube, or Instagram for more character profiles! And if you're interested in more Sunspot tales, head to your local comic shop and check out the following.

This article originally appeared in Gemstone Publishing’s e-newsletter Scoop.

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