… Burns at the Man-Thing’s Touch!
That’s such a great tagline.
I’ve mentioned before that I’m fond of the Man-Thing. He’s got a great design. He’s big and shaggy and mossy and he has a face that looks like no other creature out there. One of the reasons I’ll probably never get around to seeing the movie is that they changed his look. (The general consensus that the movie is lousy wouldn’t stop me if the design had been correct.) It’s unsettling more than terrifying. You don’t worry that he’ll eat you. He hasn’t got a mouth. How could he? But if he’s not going to eat you what the hell will he do?
Man-Thing is one of those Marvel comics characters that has never managed to sustain his own series for very long. The reason is pretty obvious. He has no personality. He’s mindless. While he was originally a human being that human is so far gone as to be superfluous. Man-Thing doesn’t change back to his original human form. And as the Man-Thing he doesn’t think or plan or hunger. He doesn’t want anything, not even to be left alone. That would be too abstract of a thought. He’s an empathic creature and reacts to strong emotions. Some emotions rile him up. Rage and anger cause him pain and he’ll strike out. And fear? He really doesn’t like fear.
Actually I thought Man-Thing was a knock-off of the Heap. Features-wise that is.
It depends on which version you look at. The version that Eclipse came out with (post Man-Thing) would certainly indicate that, but the versions I can find from the 40s and 50s make that harder to determine. The 1940s version on this page indicates some sort of mossy nose thing but it’s not as definite as the carrot thing that the Eclipse version below it sports. Gray Morrow, who drew Man-Thing in his debut story was born in 1934 and so possibly read the Heap’s adventures as a kid.