Editing Man-Thing (section)

==Publication history==
As described in the text featurette "The Story Behind the Scenes" in ''[[Savage Tales]]'' #1 ([[cover-date]]d May 1971), the black-and-white adventure fantasy magazine in which the character debuted in an 11-page origin story, the Man-Thing was conceived in discussions between [[Marvel Comics]] editor [[Stan Lee]] and writer [[Roy Thomas]]. Together they created five possible origins for the character. Lee provided the name, which had previously been used for unrelated creatures in Marvel's early science-fiction/fantasy anthology ''[[Tales of Suspense]]'' #7 (January 1960) and #81 (September 1966),<ref>[http://www.comics.org/details.lasso?id=15469 ''Tales of Suspense'' #7 (Jan. 1960)]: "I Fought the [[Molten Man-Thing]]!", writer unknown, at the [[Grand Comics Database]]</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://chronologyproject.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4073&sid=37aa7778a4232117321b5e4ac8a3eee3&p=25609#p25609 |title=Marvel Chronology Project • View topic – Man-Thing I |publisher=Chronologyproject.com |access-date=2012-04-12}}</ref> as well as the concept of the man losing sentience.

As Thomas recalled in 2002:
{{blockquote|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 (comics)|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 (comics)|Thing]] [of the superhero team the [[Fantastic Four]]], and I thought it would be confusing to also have another one called Man-Thing.<ref>Roy Thomas interview, ''[[Alter Ego (magazine)|Alter Ego]]'' #81 (October 2008), p. 20</ref>}}

Thomas worked out a detailed plot<ref>The three-page, single-spaced plot for the 11-page story is reprinted in ''Alter Ego'' #81 (October 2008), pp. 22–23</ref>  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''<nowiki>'</nowiki> cancellation after that single issue,<ref>The magazine was later revived, beginning with issue #2 (October 1973)</ref> "took a year or two to see print", according to Thomas.<ref>Thomas interview, p. 21</ref> 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 (Kevin Plunder)|Ka-Zar]]", starring Marvel's jungle-lord hero. This black-and-white interlude (with yellow highlighting) segued to the 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 [[Penciler|penciled]] by [[John Buscema]] and the second by Buscema and [[Rich Buckler]]).{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

The Wein-written Man-Thing story appeared in between Wein's first<ref>The character Alexander "Alex" Olsen, introduced in DC's ''[[House of Secrets (DC Comics)|House of Secrets]]'' #92 (July 1971)</ref> and second<ref>The character Alexander "Alec" Holland, introduced in DC's ''Swamp Thing'' #1 (Nov. 1972)</ref> version of his [[DC Comics]] character the [[Swamp Thing]]. Wein was Conway's roommate at the time and as Thomas recalled in 2008,

{{blockquote|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 [di]verged off after that origin, so it didn't make much difference, anyway.<ref>Thomas interview, p. 25</ref>}}

The 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 anthology title with reprinted 1950s [[Horror fiction|horror]]/[[fantasy]] stories.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brevoort |first1=Tom |last2=DeFalco |first2=Tom |last3=Manning |first3=Matthew K. |last4=Sanderson |first4=Peter |last5=Wiacek |first5=Win |title=Marvel Year By Year: A Visual History |date=2017 |publisher=DK Publishing |isbn=978-1465455505 |page=157}}</ref> [[Steve Gerber]], who would become the 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), p.&nbsp;11, Gerber created the series' narrative tagline, used in captions: "Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!"

[[File:Man-Thing 1 (1974).jpg|thumb|left|upright|''The Man-Thing'' #1 (Jan. 1974). Cover art by [[Frank Brunner]].]]
After issue #19 (Dec. 1973), the Man-Thing received a solo title ''The Man-Thing'', which ran 22 issues (Jan. 1974–Oct. 1975). Following Morrow, the main series' primary [[penciller]]s were, successively, [[Val Mayerik]], [[Mike Ploog]], John Buscema, and [[Jim Mooney]].{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

{{anchor|Giant-Size Man-Thing}} A sister publication was the larger, quarterly ''Giant-Size Man-Thing'' #1-5 (Aug. 1974–Aug. 1975), which featured 1950s horror-fantasy and 1960s [[science fiction]]/monster reprints as back-up stories, with a two-part [[Howard the Duck]] co-feature added in the final two issues. The unintentional [[double entendre]] in this sister series' title has become a recurring joke among comics readers.<ref>As Thomas, for one, recalled: "''Giant-Size Man-Thing'' later had a decidedly funny ring to it, but not ''Man-Thing'' in itself". (Thomas interview, p. 21)</ref>

In the final issue (#22), writer Gerber appeared as a character in the story, claiming that 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]].<ref>''[[Web of Spider-Man]]'' Annual #4.</ref> Gerber also wrote a graphic novel that [[Kevin Nowlan]] spent many years illustrating, but he did not live to see it published.<ref name="lonely.geek.nz">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lonely.geek.nz/fording_the_mainstream/man-thing/infernal.html|title=Man-Thing Web-Thing :: Graphic Novel-Thing|website=www.lonely.geek.nz}}</ref>

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 the 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 (comics)|War is Hell]]'' series.<ref>''Man-Thing'' vol. 2 #10-11, guest starring John Kowalski.</ref>

Black and white Man-Thing stories, and some color covers, also appeared in the Marvel magazine ''[[Monsters Unleashed (comics)|Monsters Unleashed]]'' as well.<ref name="unleashed">{{cite news |url= http://www.comicvine.com/monsters-unleashed-3-man-thing/4000-13808/ |title=Monsters Unleashed! #3 |work=[[Comic Vine]] |access-date=2015-03-03}}</ref>

[[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.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

[[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.<!--He is credited as "Dickie" in the issue--> DeMatteis would go on to write Man-Thing stories in ''[[Marvel Team-Up]]'', ''[[The Defenders (comic book)|The Defenders]]'', ''[[Marvel Fanfare]]'', and the [[Limited series (comics)|miniseries]] ''Daydreamers'', as well as ''Man-Thing'' vol. 3 #1-8 (Dec. 1997–July 1998), illustrated by [[Liam Sharp]]. The two would re-team for the Man-Thing feature in ''Strange Tales'' vol. 4 #1-2 (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.<ref name=ebrandt>[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/brandtellenmt.htm Ellen Brandt] at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe</ref><ref name=kadmon>[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/spyrosad.htm K'Ad-Mon of the Fallen Stars] at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe</ref><ref>[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/cleitoatlantismt.htm Cleito] at the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe</ref>

In the 2000s, the Man-Thing has starred in a handful of stories appearing in [[One-shot (comics)|one-shots]] and miniseries, 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]].{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

In 2008, writer [[Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa]] retold Man-Thing's origin in ''[[Dead of Night (comics)|Dead of Night]] featuring the Man-Thing'' #1-4 (April–July 2008), from the [[Max (comics)|Marvel MAX]] [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]].<ref>[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=12531 Aguirre-Sacasa talks "Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing"], [[Comic Book Resources]], February 13, 2008</ref> 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.{{citation needed|date=July 2024}}

The Man-Thing appeared regularly during [[The Punisher]]'s ''[[Franken-Castle]]'' story arc and became a regular member of ''[[Thunderbolts (comics)|Thunderbolts]]'' with issue #144.  The series was retitled ''Dark Avengers'' with #175, and the 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,<ref name=bigwait>{{cite web | url = http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/09/the-next-big-wait-project-emerges-man-thing-by-gerber-and-nowlan/ | date = September 21, 2011 | first = Chris | last = Arrant | title = The Next Big-Wait Project Emerges: Man-Thing by Gerber and Nowlan | publisher = [[Comic Book Resources]] | access-date = February 14, 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120101035505/http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2011/09/the-next-big-wait-project-emerges-man-thing-by-gerber-and-nowlan/ | archive-date=January 1, 2012 | url-status = live}}</ref> was revived in the 2010s and appeared as a three-issue miniseries cover-titled ''The Infernal Man-Thing'' (Early Sept.-Oct. 2012).<ref>[http://www.comics.org/series/66559/ ''Infernal Man-Thing''] at the [[Grand Comics Database]]</ref> The story was a sequel to Gerber's "Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man" in ''Man-Thing'' #12 (Dec. 1974).<ref name=bigwait />

Author [[R.L. Stine]] made his comics debut with a five-issue ''Man-Thing'' miniseries in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last=Gene Gustines |first=George |date=December 9, 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/09/books/rl-stine-to-write-man-thing-series-for-marvel.html |title=R.L. Stine to Write Man-Thing Series for Marvel|work=[[New York Times]] |access-date=April 1, 2017}}</ref>