Man-Thing

The Man-Thing (Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writers Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, the character first appeared in Savage Tales #1 (May 1971), and went on to be featured in various titles and in his own series, including Adventure into Fear. Steve Gerber's 39-issue run on the series is considered to be a cult classic.
The Man-Thing is a large, slow-moving, empathic, humanoid swamp monster living in the Florida Everglades near a Seminole reservation and the fictional town of Citrusville in Cypress County (also fictional), Florida.
The character made its live-action debut in the film Man-Thing (2005), played by Conan Stevens. He later appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television special Werewolf by Night (2022), motion-captured by Carey Jones and with Jeffrey Ford providing additional vocalizations.
As described in the text featurette "The Story Behind the Scenes" in Savage Tales #1 (cover-dated 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), as well as the concept of the man losing sentience.
As Thomas recalled in 2002:
Thomas worked out a detailed plot 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' cancellation after that single issue, "took a year or two to see print", according to Thomas. 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", 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 penciled by John Buscema and the second by Buscema and Rich Buckler).
The Wein-written Man-Thing story appeared in between Wein's first and second version of his DC Comics character the Swamp Thing. Wein was Conway's roommate at the time and as Thomas recalled in 2008,
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/fantasy stories. 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. 11, Gerber created the series' narrative tagline, used in captions: "Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!"
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 pencillers were, successively, Val Mayerik, Mike Ploog, John Buscema, and Jim Mooney.
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.
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. Gerber also wrote a graphic novel that Kevin Nowlan spent many years illustrating, but he did not live to see it published.
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 series.
Black and white Man-Thing stories, and some color covers, also appeared in the Marvel magazine Monsters Unleashed as well.
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.
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. DeMatteis would go on to write Man-Thing stories in Marvel Team-Up, The Defenders, Marvel Fanfare, and the 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.
In the 2000s, the Man-Thing has starred in a handful of stories appearing in 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.
In 2008, writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa retold Man-Thing's origin in Dead of Night featuring the Man-Thing #1-4 (April–July 2008), from the Marvel MAX imprint. 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.
The Man-Thing appeared regularly during The Punisher's Franken-Castle story arc and became a regular member of 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, was revived in the 2010s and appeared as a three-issue miniseries cover-titled The Infernal Man-Thing (Early Sept.-Oct. 2012). The story was a sequel to Gerber's "Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man" in Man-Thing #12 (Dec. 1974).
Author R.L. Stine made his comics debut with a five-issue Man-Thing miniseries in 2017.
Young biochemist Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis, a native of Omaha, Nebraska, is working in the Everglades as part of Wilma Calvin's Project: Gladiator team, which includes Barbara Morse and her fiancé Paul Allen, and an assistant named Jim. A Dr. Wendell is later cited as being on the staff after Calvin is shot. The group is attempting to recreate the Super-Soldier Serum that had created Captain America. Web of Spider-Man vol. 2 #6 revealed that Sallis at one point treated and worked alongside Curt Connors shortly after Connors' arm was amputated, driving the research that would eventually transform Connors into the Lizard.
Though warned that the technological terrorist group Advanced Idea Mechanics (A.I.M.) has been operating in the area, Sallis breaches security by bringing with him his lover, Ellen Brandt (referred to here as "Miss Brandt", but later retconned to be his wife). He destroys his notes to his formula, which he has memorized. Later, he is ambushed by two thugs and learns that Brandt has betrayed him. Fleeing with the only sample of his serum, he injects himself with it in hopes of saving himself. However, he crashes his car into the swamp, where scientific and magical forces combine to transform him into a plant-matter creature. Unable to speak, and with dim memories, he attacks the ambushers and Brandt, burning and scarring part of her face with an acid that he now secretes in the presence of negative emotions. The Man-Thing then wanders away into the swamp.
Sallis' mind was extinguished, although on rare occasions he could briefly return to consciousness within his monstrous form, as in Doctor Strange vol. 2 #41 (June 1980), The Defenders #98 (Aug. 1981), and Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual '99, and even to his human form, as in Adventure into Fear #13 (April 1973), Marvel Two-in-One #1 (Jan. 1974), Marvel Comics Presents #164 (Oct. 1994), and Man-Thing vol. 3 #5 and 7-8 (April 1998, June–July 1998).
Under writer Steve Gerber, the Man-Thing encounters the sorceress Jennifer Kale, with whom he briefly shared a psychic link and who knew his true identity, in a story arc in Fear #11-13 – the final issue of which established that the swamp had mystical properties as the Nexus of Realities. Through an interdimensional portal in Fear #19, he meets Howard the Duck, who becomes stranded in this reality. The Man-Thing became the guardian of the Nexus, and found himself facing demons, ghosts and time-traveling warriors, while continuing to encounter such non-supernatural antagonists as rapacious land developers, fascist vigilantes and common criminals. He formed a bond with young radio DJ Richard Rory and nurse Ruth Hart. Issue #12's "Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man", about a crazed writer named Brian Lazarus, spawned Gerber's posthumously published 2012 sequel, "The Screenplay of the Living Dead Man", in the three-issue miniseries The Infernal Man-Thing.
In Man-Thing vol. 2 #1-11 (Nov. 1979–July 1981), writer Chris Claremont introduced himself as a character in the final issue, as Gerber had in the finale of the first series. Additionally, Claremont temporarily became the Man-Thing after being killed. His and other characters' deaths were later resolved with the intervention of the War Is Hell series lead, John Kowalski, now an aspect of Marvel Comics' manifestation of Death. In Man-Thing vol. 3 #1-8 (Dec. 1997–July 1998), Ellen Brandt Sallis returns to the Citrusville area and encounters a little boy, Job Burke, who is actually the Sallises' son, who had been put up for adoption. Following this series, the story continued in Strange Tales vol. 4 #1-2, and was projected to continue in the unpublished issues #3-4. Summaries based on DeMatteis' unillustrated scripts appear on the K'Ad-mon and Ellen Brandt pages in Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe.
During the "Civil War" storyline, two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents unsuccessfully attempt to register the Man-Thing under the Superhuman Registration Act.
The Man-Thing later appears as a member of the Legion of Monsters alongside Morbius, Werewolf by Night, Manphibian, and N'Kantu, the Living Mummy. He later gains the ability to speak comprehensibly through the use of the "Universal Language". Phil Coulson subsequently recruits the Man-Thing into the Howling Commandos.
As part of the All-New, All-Different Marvel branding, the Man-Thing appears as a member of S.T.A.K.E.'s Howling Commandos.
During the "Empyre" storyline, Man-Thing falls under the control of the Cotati. Doctor Voodoo takes control of Man-Thing to free Matthew and Black Knight. As Matthew and Black Knight fight the Cotati, a Doctor Voodoo-controlled Man-Thing fights the Cotati's control and defeats Ventri. As Doctor Voodoo exits Man-Thing to assist Scarlet Witch after Ka-Zar was stabbed by a Cotati using Black Knight's Ebony Blade, Man-Thing continued the fight against the Cotati. When the Cotati were defeated, Man-Thing takes his leave after being thanked by Black Knight. Ventri claims that what they learned from Man-Thing's energy has been sent to Quoi to fuel the Cotati's invasion.
Harriet Brome, an agent of the self-proclaimed eco-warriors the Hordeculture, adopts the name "Harrower" and attempts to use Man-Thing to perform a mass culling of humanity, intending to purge the human race and let another species take over. To this end, she attacks and skins the Man-Thing and uses his corpse to produce seedling spores that will emerge in all major cities across the world and burn their victims. When the Avengers respond, Captain America is briefly absorbed by one of the spores, where he meets the remnants of Ted Sallis, who explains that he never truly cracked the super-soldier serum. He attempts to get Cap to contact Connors for help, but when Connors affirms that he can't help, Spider-Man convinces Sallis to take responsibility for his past. After Sallis's essence creates a new body for Man-Thing, Man-Thing returns to Sallis's old office, where it is revealed that Sallis made a deal with the demon Belasco to crack the formula. When he performs the ritual again, he summons Magik, the new ruler of Limbo, who offers to release Sallis from his current state. Understanding that his freedom would leave Man-Thing an uncontrolled creature of instinct, Sallis agrees to remain and joins Magik's strike team in attacking Harrower. After banishing Harrower to another dimension and destroying her spore-plants, Magik summons Belasco so that Sallis can properly punish the demon for his role in Sallis's fate.
Man-Thing later appears as a teacher at Strange Academy, where he teaches Care for Magical Plants.
Though the beast now lacks a normal human intellect and has shed any desire to communicate with human society, it nevertheless often becomes an accidental hero as it stumbles upon various crime and horror scenarios.
In The Thunderbolts, Hank Pym has expressed the view that the Man-Thing is sentient, though difficult to communicate with. For example, he once rescued an infant and left the child with a doctor (which would require an understanding of the function of a doctor and the ability to navigate to a specific address). He is shown to understand concepts such as how to ring a doorbell, how to put an arm in a sling, and even how to flip an auto-destruct switch. The change in the Man-Thing's intellect can partly be explained by fact that its brain, sensory organs, and central nervous system are organized in a completely different fashion than a human. Regardless of what level of humanity the creature still possesses, it can discern when a person's motivations are evil, which causes it pain and motivates it to lash out.
The Man-Thing possesses a variety of superhuman powers that are derived from the combined interaction of the scientific formula created by Ted Sallis and the mystical energies of the Nexus of All Realities.
It can sense human emotions, and is enraged by fear and automatically secretes a powerful corrosive; anyone feeling fear and clutched by the Man-Thing is prone to be burned (either chemically or mystically), hence the series' tagline: "Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!". Though fear is understandably most people's response to the creature, both for his monstrous appearance and the physical danger of his touch, typically only villains end up meeting an immolating death at its hands. Many survive being burned, notably Ellen Brandt, Nightcrawler, and Mongu, either due to intervention or dissipation. Unusual psychic and mystical forces react in what passes as the "brain" cells located throughout his body. These unique forces render the Man-Thing extremely sensitive to emotions. Emotions that are mild and generally considered positive arouse curiosity and the Man-Thing will sometimes observe from a distance. However, emotions that are often viewed as negative, such as violent emotions like anger, hatred, and fear, cause the Man-Thing great discomfort and might provoke him to attack. Once provoked into violent actions, his body secretes highly concentrated acid that can burn human beings to ashes within a matter of seconds. Even individuals that have high levels of superhuman durability have proven unable to withstand the acid. While the Man-Thing is devoid of violent emotions, his body produces mucus that neutralizes the acid.
Although the Man-Thing's superhuman strength, speed, intelligence, durability, and immortality, give the monster his powers it is his spiritual ability that makes him immune to any other disease, it has been established that the creature possesses physical stamina beyond the limitations of any human athlete. Initially, the Man-Thing is only slightly stronger than Captain America, but in later appearances, the Man-Thing possesses sufficient superhuman strength to stand toe-to-toe with much stronger villains. He can lift a 2,000 lb (910 kg) automobile when sufficiently motivated.
The Man-Thing's body is practically invulnerable to harm. Because his body is not entirely solid, but composed of the muck and vegetative matter of the swamp, fists, bullets, knives, energy blasts, etc. will either pass entirely through him or will harmlessly be lodged within his body. Even if a vast portion of the Man-Thing's body were to be ripped away or incinerated, he would be able to reorganize himself by drawing the necessary material from the surrounding vegetation. The Devil-Slayer once sliced him nearly in half, and he has survived being incinerated by a Celestial, although his healing from the latter has been the longest and most complex in his lifetime.
Due to the construction of his body, the Man-Thing can ooze his body through openings or around barriers that would seem too small for him to pass through. The smaller the opening, the longer it will take for him to reorganize his mass upon reaching the other side. This ability can be defeated mystically.
The Man-Thing was once dependent upon the swamp he inhabits for his continued survival; his body would slowly weaken and eventually lapse into dormancy if not returned to the swamp or would be greatly damaged if exposed to clean water. His exposure to the Citrusville waste treatment plant greatly enhanced his ability to leave the swamp, as he became a self-contained ecosystem, feeding off of his own waste products. He generally leaves the swamp of his own accord only if he senses a mystical disturbance. The Man-Thing has also demonstrated himself susceptible to possession by other entities.
The Man-Thing and a host of alternate counterparts have undergone a couple of changes in form, like having the ability to control and alternate plant matter both from its own person and the surrounding area. The Man-Thing also has trans-reality shifting abilities due in part to his nature as a living extra-dimensional crossroads; he can open portals to and from alternate realities, interact with different dimensional counterparts and even alternate the physical appearances of said doppelgangers with those of their prime universe iterations. Through his empathic abilities, the Man-Thing can grow more powerful by feeding on the fear of others, increasing his size and mass to titanic proportions during Fear Itself.
Although the Man-Thing lacks a normal human intellect, in his life as Ted Sallis, he possessed a Ph.D. in biochemistry. Sallis is legally dead, but his identity is known to numerous people, including Wilma Calvin, Ellen Brandt, Stephen Strange, Molecule Man, the Thing, Thog, and Jennifer Kale. His identity as the Man-Thing could not be considered secret, but his existence is generally believed to be a hoax, and an obscure one at that. In-universe, knowledge of his existence is rarely tied to the experiments of Sallis, as are speculations as to any human identity he may have had. Despite having appeared in Citrusville many times, many there still believe him to be a rumor.
There were other known Man-Things in the comics besides Ted Sallis that appear in order of appearance:
In the pages of Savage Wolverine as part of the "Marvel NOW!" branding, a different Man-Thing appeared where it resided on a mysterious island somewhere in the Savage Land. Amadeus Cho confirmed that this Man-Thing is not Ted Sallis as it has been rooted on the island for a long time. The Neanderthals on the island used the blood of this Man-Thing to resurrect Shanna the She-Devil.
During the Secret Wars storyline, a bunch of Man-Things reside on the Battleworld domain of Weirdworld where they are found in the Forest of the Man-Things. The Man-Things encounter Arkon and Skull the Slayer after they fell into their area. The Man-Things are ruled over by the Swamp Queen of the Man-Things (the Earth-11234 version of Jennifer Kale) who is behind the rebellion against the Witch Queen Morgan le Fay.
One Man-Thing that was nicknamed "Mossy" had mated with a Crystal Warrior named Blythir. They had a hybrid son named Toth who is a student at the Strange Academy.
Deadpool's Secret Secret Wars revealed the existence of the She-Man-Thing, a character that fought on the Grandmaster's team in a bonus round of the Contest of Champions.
Roxxon Energy Corporation created a spawn of the Man-Thing, with Dario Agger enhancing its abilities with the DNA of Groot. It battles Weapon H and is imprisoned in a Roxxon facility, but is eventually freed.
Xarus got a piece of the original Man-Thing to grow his own similar creature called the Boy-Thing. Boy-Thing spent all of his time on Xarus' shoulder as he supplied him with sticks to use against the vampires. After Xarus was killed by Blade, the latter took Boy-Thing as his own.
Dr. Barbara "Bobbi" Morse was introduced in the second Man-Thing story by Len Wein/Neal Adams, although because of publication delays, she was introduced in Astonishing Tales #6, with the Wein/Adams story presented as flashback. Morse became the costumed hero Mockingbird in Marvel Team-Up #95 and went on to become a prominent member of Avengers West Coast, eventually sacrificing her life to save her husband, Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, from Mephisto. Until recently, her spirit fought alongside Daimon Hellstrom to eliminate demons from his version of Hell; however, she has appeared alive during the Secret Invasion crossover event. At the end of Secret Invasion, Mockingbird was revealed to be alive and had been one of the early captures of the Skrulls. Morse has joined the New Avengers and has had adventures alongside Hawkeye.
Jennifer Kale debuted in Adventure into Fear #11, which was the first story Steve Gerber wrote for Marvel after his initial tryout. She went on to appear in two team books, The Legion of Night, created and written by Gerber and partially composed of several other Gerber-created supporting cast members such as Martin Gold and Dr. Katherine Reynolds, and Bronwyn Carlton and Bryan Walsh's Witches in which she teamed with Satana the Devil's Daughter and Topaz under the tutelage of Doctor Strange.
Gerber introduced Howard the Duck in a Man-Thing story in Adventure into Fear #19. Howard, who was displaced from Duckworld, an alternate Earth of anthropomorphic ducks in another dimension, via the swamp's Nexus of Realities, later acquired his own series, which was written by Gerber for the first 27 issues.
The Foolkiller, a vigilante who used a ray-gun to disintegrate not only criminals but anyone that he considered foolish, was introduced in issue #3 of this series, bent on slaying disc jockey Richard Rory, introduced in the previous issue. When Rory was serving time for trumped-up kidnapping charges, he accidentally created another Foolkiller when he revealed too much detail about the previous incarnation and the whereabouts of his gear. This Foolkiller became an occasional villain in other Marvel comics. Both Rory and this second Foolkiller, along with nurse Ruth Hart (who appeared in Man-Thing (vol. 1) #2-7) were supporting characters in Gerber's Omega the Unknown, while David Anthony Kraft made Rory a potential love interest for the She-Hulk. A third version of the character, who was in Internet communication with the second, starred in Gerber's 1990 Foolkiller miniseries. A second series by Greg Hurwitz, featuring a fourth Foolkiller, appeared in 2008.
An alternate universe variant of Man-Thing from Earth-12101 appears in Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe #4.
Various characters from Earth-91 based on Man-Thing appear in Avengers Forever #5.
An alternate universe variant of Man-Thing from Earth-691 appears in Amazing Adventures #38.
An alternate universe variant of Man-Thing from Earth-11234 appears in Champions (vol. 2). This version is a member of the Swamp Queen Alliance, led by his world's version of Jennifer Kale.
An alternate universe variant of Man-Thing from Earth-1298, amalgamated with Doctor Strange, appears in Mutant X.
An alternate universe variant of Man-Thing from an unidentified universe appears in The Adventures of the X-Men.
An alternate universe variant of Man-Thing from Earth-1610 appears in the Ultimate Marvel imprint.
Man-Thing Thang Thoom, a fusion of Man-Thing and Fin Fang Foom created by the Infinity Gems, appears in the Infinity Wars storyline.
An alternate universe variant of Man-Thing from Earth-8130 appears in What If...? #26. This version regained sentience as Man-Thing, but was killed by an alligator, who became his successor.
The Man-Thing was ranked #7 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015.