Review- THE INFERNAL MAN-THING

THE INFERNAL MAN-THING (Marvel, 2012; Softcover)

Collects Man-Thing No. 12, The Infernal Man-Thing Nos. 1-3, and the Man-Thing origin story from Savage Tales No. 1 (cover dates May, 1971- October, 2012)

Writers: Steve Gerber and Gerry Conway (Savage Tales No. 1 only)

Artists: Gray Morrow (Savage Tales No. 1), John Buscema and Klaus Janson (Man-Thing No. 12), and Kevin Nowlan (Artist and Colorist- The Infernal Man-Thing Nos. 1-3)

Steve Gerber is a great writer who has gotten a bad rap from modern comic book fans for being supposedly pretentious and overly wordy. While the late Gerber's writing was definitely a product of its time, sharing the beliefs and convictions of baby boomer hippies everywhere, his cynicism and wit transcend those perceived limitations. Gerber seemed to put himself into these stories as the characters. Brian Lazarus is Gerber on some level.

The three-issue Infernal Man-Thing series is a sequel to 1974's Man-Thing No. 12. Brian Lazarus' life has gone on since then but not gone well. A series of unfulfilling life choices have brought him face to face again with Sibyl Mills, the girl whose path he crossed in the original story. Sibyl's life has been equally unfulfilling. This is a bleak, somewhat depressing look at two people's lives but is saved from becoming a sobfest by Gerber's witty, cynical worldview. This was finished after Gerber's death, as Nowlan was still painting it on and off over the years. Like so many stories in the original series, the Man-Thing is a set piece and utilized sparingly. There is an Omnibus hardcover and two black and white Essential phonebooks of the 1970s run available. Highly recommended reading.

The origin story from 1971 is great. I've read it numerous times over the years and it remains brilliant. I love the whole Gerry Conway/ Len Wein Man-Thing/ Swamp-Thing wink and nod. For those of you who don't know, they were roommates at the time. Gerry worked for Marvel while Len worked for DC (and later Marvel). Swamp-Thing's origin is very similar to Man-Thing's. Wein doesn't see the similarities but it would surprise me if those two weren't just taking the piss out of Marvel and DC at the time.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 4.25 out of 5.

The OCD zone- This is one of the thinnest trade paperbacks that Marvel has done in a while, clocking in at around 104 pages.

Linework and Color restoration rating on Savage Tales No. 1 and Man-Thing No. 12: 4.5 out of 5. While not Marvel Masterworks level, the restoration is really good on these issues. The color palette is faithful to the original publication on the Man-Thing issue. Savage Tales was a black and white magazine.

Paper rating: 4.25 out of 5. Decent weight coated stock with a slight sheen. Looks too glossy for the '70s material.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. Glued binding.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. The same nice laminated cardstock found on all Marvel softcovers.

Buy THE INFERNAL MAN-THING TP at InStockTrades!

Originally posted on my myspace blog on 2/22 and 3/8/2009

SHE-HULK VOL. 3: TIME TRIALS (Marvel, 2006)

Collects She-Hulk (Vol. 2) Nos. 1-5 (cover dates December, 2005- May, 2006)

SHE-HULK VOL. 4: LAWS OF ATTRACTION (Marvel, 2007)

Collects She-Hulk (Vol. 2) Nos. 6-13 (cover dates May-December, 2006)

SHE-HULK VOL. 5: PLANET WITHOUT A HULK (Marvel, 2007)

Collects She-Hulk (Vol. 2) Nos. 14-21 (cover dates January- August,2007)

Dan Slott writes some great stuff here, with jokes that only hardcore Marvel zombies will get. Not exactly a title I would recommend to a newbie, though. Juan Bobillo’s artwork is far too mangish and cartoony for my taste, but Scott Kollins does a great job on Issue 4. Issues 6 and 7 have excellent artwork by Will Conrad, and Ron Frenz pops in on Issue 9, but most of the artists and colorists on this series are sub-par. I was thrilled to see the return of the Man-Wolf, as I have been a sucker for him since my friend had Amazing Spider-Man No. 189 when I was 6 and showed it to me. I hunted down that and several other back issues with Man-Wolf in '83-84. I snagged ASM 124 and 125 for $1.00 each in Fine condition back then and still have them, but I digress. This was a witty, light-hearted and fun series that I actually want to read again someday.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: GOLDEN AGE ALL-WINNERS VOL. 3 (Marvel, 2008)

Collects All-Winners Comics Nos. 9-14 (cover dates Summer, 1943- Winter 1944-45)

Carl Burgos and Bill Everett were all busy serving Uncle Sam when these issues were originally published, but the machine rolled on. The page counts gradually decreased, as paper became more scarce and expensive during World War II. These days, they would simply jack up the price, but back then they wanted to maintain the 10 cent cover price. This continued into the early '60s. These stories are par for the course for the Golden Age, with the exception of the excellent Whizzer story from All-Winners No. 13: The Maze of Madness, which for some reason creeped me out. All in all, these Golden Age Masterworks offer comic book fans a chance to read these long lost treasures at an affordable price.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE AVENGERS VOL. 8 (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects Avengers Nos. 69-79 (cover dates October, 1969- August, 1970)

Outstanding stuff by Roy Thomas (writer), with art by John Buscema, Sal Buscema and Tom Palmer. This is the first Golden Age of The Avengers, when they had a great team and great villains. Bendis should pick this book up and take notes. Sure, some of Thomas' dialogue is dated and/or slightly corny, but at least there aren't two page spreads and splash pages interrupted by talking head pages!

SIN CITY VOL. 3: THE BIG FAT KILL (Dark Horse, 2005)

Collects Sin City: The Big Fat Kill Nos. 1-5 (cover dates November, 1994- March, 1995)

I really enjoy this series, which surprises me, as I don’t really like Frank Miller’s artwork very much. His writing and sense of pace are excellent, but his artwork just leaves me cold. He should stick to layouts.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE X-MEN VOL. 7 (Marvel, 2008)

Collects Amazing Adventures Nos. 11-17, Amazing Spider-Man No. 92, Incredible Hulk Nos. 150, 161 and Marvel Team-Up (Vol. 1) No. 4 (cover dates January, 1971- March, 1973).

This hardcover collects the "in-between" years of the X-Men, when the title was cancelled due to low sales and existed as a reprint title. The Beast stories in Amazing Adventures, done mostly by Steve Englehart and Tom Sutton, are sensational slices of Bronze Age goodness. I've always enjoyed the "furry" Beast, and wish to _______ (deity of your choice) that someone would undo the cat-like Beast from Grant Morrison's run on the title that seems to have stuck around much too long in the current comics.

DEAD OF NIGHT FEATURING THE MAN-THING (Marvel, 2008)

Collects Dead of Night Featuring Man-Thing Nos. 1-4 (cover dates April- July, 2008)

This was an excellent read that re-tells and revises Man-Thing’s origin. The artist and colorist were different each issue, but they were all excellent. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s writing was great, too. A little more meat wouldn’t hurt, though; I flew through these issues.

MOON KNIGHT VOL. 3: GOD & COUNTRY (Marvel, 2008; Hardcover)

Collects Moon Knight (Vol. 4) Nos. 14-20 (cover dates March- September, 2008)

MOON KNIGHT VOL. 4: THE DEATH OF MARC SPECTOR (Marvel, 2009; Hardcover)

Collects Moon Knight (Vol. 4) Nos. 21-25 and Moon Knight: Silent Knight (cover dates October, 2008- February, 2009).

Mike Benson (writer) and Mark Texeria (artist) (14-19) craft a disturbing tale of the hero(?) on the brink of madness. This title is really gaining steam and is inching towards the top of my favorites. Mike Deodato, Jr. (artist, Number 20) hops on board for a done-in-one, back to the roots story featuring my beloved Werewolf By Night! Issues 21-25 see the quality dip slightly but are still very good. I am not a fan of the Norman Osbourne led Thunderbolts, or the whole redeemed villain angle. The fight with Bullseye was great, though.