Marvel Comics 2017
Written by R.L. Stine
Illustrated by German Peralta
Coloured by Rachelle Rosenberg
Lettered by VC’s Travis Lanham
Well here’s hoping someone like R.L. Stine, who I know created Goosebumps but that’s as far as i’m familiar, can bring Man-Thing into the present and make him a viable character again. I forgot too how close his origin is to Swamp Thing I mean I know they are only months apart in creation but wow. While Ted here was created first he never did seem to have the success that his counterpart has had.
So my biggest fear was that Stine who writes primarily for a younger audience would kind of santize the character a bit. However so far we get a look at the man the creature is today and a look back at his creation. Also he’s trying to make a movie and well now that he can talk I guess he’s trying anything and everything to be relevant again. So i’m of a mixed mind because what we see doesn’t do much for me in the way of setting up what this series is going to be about and yet it’s Man-Thing and I want it to succeed. This is going to take a few issues for me to decide if it’s worth continuing with.
I do like that we may possibly be seeing an inner struggle by Ted as he tries to find a place where he fits into this world. We do know that it’s Marvel Universe proper because Ant-Man is mentioned but I think this would really kind of benefit from being a real horror based fringe book. With the kind of writing that is as intellectual as it does creep you out it would seal the deal for me. The scientist redemption route where he tries to become human again is okay so long as it doesn’t permeate the series. Though with each new serum or attempted discovery if he ends up creating a new monster I wouldn’t be upset either.
Loving the attention to detail in the artwork here. I have to say that seeing him in all his glory is nice and that it isn’t watered down or made to appear more contemporary is fantastic. The use of page layouts through their angles and perspective are utilised extremely well. The creativity and imagination on display here and in the way the backgrounds are used to bring all this to life makes me excited for what’s to come still.
I’m hoping that this series will put Man-Thing back on the map but not put him into the mainstream of the Marvel U. He’s a great complex and interesting character and he deserves the respect and attention away from team-ups and the public spotlight as we can see all too well in this very issue.
The back-up is an R.L. Stine classic kind of story. I’m not sure we need them but perhaps that’s part of the deal with him writing this series. It’s creepy, well thought out and executed that’s for sure and it would make a great feature in a horror anthology series that I wouldn’t mind seeing on stands.
Alright so the jury is still out on this one folks and while it’s solid in bringing the world up to date on his origin we’ll have to wait and see what the books really going to be about.