Man-Thing #2 Review

Man Thing #2 Review

Writer: R.L. Stine

Art Team: German Peralta & Rachelle Rosenberg

Marvel Comics

Release Date: March 30, 2017

Cover Price: $3.99

Mucking It Up With Man-Thing

I had no idea what to expect in issue one of the new Man-Thing title but came out looking forward to issue two in the series to see what R.L. Stine, of Goosebumps fame, had up his sleeve next.  Thankfully, with Marvel in a giant rush lately to push everything out pretty much bi-weekly, I didn’t have to wait very long to pick up from last issues cliffhanger. With that being said lets not hesitate to find out if ‘Hollywood’ Man-Thing is able to get the best of an ‘evil’ copy of himself before issue three comes out.

Events start with a continuation of last issues cliffhanger battle between the two copies of Man-Thing.  The good copy determines this bad copy of himself has been sent to bring him back to the swamp, where he rightfully belongs, however after working so hard to get his voice and mind back this is the last thing the good copy of Man-Thing wants to happen.   

Despite the effort Man-Thing puts forth to remain free in this brutal fight on the streets of Hollywood he is ultimately unable to stop the ‘wild’ copy of himself from magically merging sending him back through a ‘Nexsus’ back to the Florida Swamps. In frustration and anger, over being back ‘home’ and losing his ability to speak once again, Man-Thing starts ripping trees from the ground and launching them in the air, a perfectly normal stress reliever, before beginning to notice something is ‘off’ in this place he hates to call home.

Man-Thing begins working his way through the Swamps various obstacles that appear, before he has his attention drawn by someone calling out for help, rushing off in a hurry to investigate what the fuss is all about.  When our hero arrives on the scene he sees a woman named Lily-Ann Millard, who he happens to be familiar with from his former life, in the clutches of a giant crocodile, who graciously hasn’t eaten his snack yet.  The giant freak of an animal catches Man-Thing’s hands, dropping the girl, and scurrying off before it gets beaten down further.

Despite the girl being understandably freaked out by Man-Thing he does his best to calm her and try and communicate.  That process is quickly interrupted again, this time by a giant Snake Monster, who kidnaps Lily taking off before Man-Thing is able to catch either the girl or snake.  Despite a ‘friend’ now lost to the weirdness going on in the Swamp, Man-Thing decides to put tracking her down on hold, while continuing the investigation into all the sudden weird action occurring. 

Man-Thing travels to an ‘unseen’ area of the swamp, where the Oldfather watches over all, to see if he can get an answer for the sudden strange occurrences randomly happening since his reappearance in Florida.  When Man-Thing finally arrives to his destination he finds the Oldfather has vanished, that there are signs of a struggle and an indication he was taken, and all signs point towards it being through the the doorway to the Nexus of All Realities which has been busted open, resulting in bad news because this has the potential to alter the world beyond recognition.  Man-Thing faces a life altering decision to enter the Nexus and pursue the answers he seeks or to turn around to rescue Lily once again as our issue comes to a conclusion.

Overall, this book remains a highly intriguing title and story to follow coming in with a little bit of a

different flavor and direction than a traditional super hero comic books.  I find R.L. Stine has done an excellent job so far of established the world and character of Man-Thing inherits, keeping new and even long time fans engaged and interested, while keeping the reader really looking forward to the next bits of the story to come in both but never throws to much at the reader in the story to where they would miss something important or overlook a key fact. The art team continues to do an incredible job of setting the tone and mood of the story with a great use of color to set a horror tone that’s not too heavy or dark to overshadow the action sequences, which there are plenty of.

Bits and Pieces

Man-Thing has been a hit so far with R.L. Stine, a proverbial childhood author for a large group of readers, penning an action packed, mystery/horror story supported with great art. Mini-series sometimes don’t get the attention they deserve but this is just different enough to warrant your attention.

8.5/10