ManThing Omnibus DM edition Steve Gerber Books
Download As PDF : ManThing Omnibus DM edition Steve Gerber Books
Neither wholly plant nor animal, neither entirely self-aware nor totally non-sentient, the creature called the Man-Thing is unique, unchanging and alone - but none who encounter him can ever be the same again. Empathic by nature and drawn to fight evil, his shambling visage inspires fear - and whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch.
ManThing Omnibus DM edition Steve Gerber Books
Let's be clear about something right from the start: my 5 stars are solely for the Steve Gerber portion of this collection. While the stories by other writers range from solid to competent to just plain awful, it's Steve Gerber's take on Marvel's muck monster that makes this volume worth owning & reading. Really, it should simply have contained Gerber's work, perhaps with one or two of the earliest origin stories by previous writers to set the groundwork, and nothing more. Nor should any other writer have ever been allowed to write Man-Thing after Gerber left the book.Why?
Because, even more so than Alan Moore on his justly acclaimed run on DC's Swamp Thing, writer Steve Gerber was the heart & soul of what would otherwise have been just one more variation on a rather generic horror comic book. The horrors he wrote about were human, psychological, social, existential; his stories were more like episodes of "The Twilight Zone" or "Route 66" (for example) in that they encompassed so much, with such richness & insight into the human condition. He didn't care a bit about the geek minutia that consumes so many these days -- what mattered to him was the encounter with life itself, both good & bad.
True, some of his work here is raw & a little heavy-handed, especially at the beginning. But he was a young man shaped by the 1960s, burning with talent & ideals & honesty, striving to say something worthwhile & meaningful. First steps for such a creator are almost always clumsy ones. In any case, he found his stride very quickly & gave his readers stories that were always moving, startling, sometimes disturbing, often surreal, always passionate & memorable. Whether it was the wonderfully absurd introduction of Howard the Duck or the anguish of soul-devoured writer Brian Lazarus, the poignancy of Dawg or the utterly bleak book-burning in Citrusville, he offered a panoply of stories that hit home every time.
I've no doubt that some will dismiss his work as dated, crude, certainly nowhere near as slick & glib as many contemporary comics. He even anticipated that change in the culture, and lived through it himself -- see his final Man-Thing story, written in the 1980s but not published until this year & in a separate volume, "Screenplay of the Living Dead Man" for proof. It's left the youthful exuberance of these earlier stories behind, but is even more heartbreakingly honest.
Meanwhile, if you appreciate truly good, thoughtful writing, then you won't go wrong with Gerber's work here. This is the reason I kept on reading comics after my teens, eagerly anticipating & immersing myself in each new issue. Gerber spoke to my own feelings about life in America as it entered the 1970s & raced toward the shattered present ... and I think he spoke to the feelings of many others as well. In a way, he was writing autobiographical independent comics before they actually existed, using the stable of corporate superheroes to tell his own very personal stories. Of course he was bound to be disappointed & discarded when he asserted himself -- the Powers That Be will only allow honesty as long as it doesn't cut into profit & control. It was a story he himself told many times in his work, writing what he lived & living what he wrote.
And now he's gone, and we'll see no further work from him. This is indeed a pity, because his scathing, outraged, idealistic vision is needed all the more now in a mass-produced, mass-marketed culture that glories in the superficial & denies the painful truths of human suffering & existence. Still, we have these stories, more than 35 years old & just as relevant as ever, demanding that we tear ourselves away from our empty distractions & genuinely see ourselves & our fellow human beings, as well as the unsatisfactory world in which we live. If one function of art is to confront us with & awaken us to the things we fear to acknowledge, then Steve Gerber's work is surely art.
Most highly recommended!
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ManThing Omnibus DM edition Steve Gerber Books Reviews
This book is absolutely massive, just a huge collection. Doesn't have any of Man-Things recent appearances but still great read
You can read all of Marvels classic man thing run in one book in vivid color- and it's worth it! If you don't want this- you should! It's a massive story collection.
Man-Thing had his origins in the relaxation of the Comics Code guidelines. Horror material that was previously forbidden was now permitted. Marvel jumped on this opportunity right away.
There is a tremendous amount of material in this book which is almost 1200 pages in length. That suggests an unwieldy volume like the Thor Simonson Omnibus but actually it is not nearly that bad. The present book is printed on much thinner stock which might not be to everyone's liking but makes the book much more manageable. I think in this case the thinner stock is entirely justified.
The material itself is well above average for 1970s fare. Steve Gerber handles the scripting for the bulk of the book and does quite a good job with good plots, interesting settings, and decent characterization. He essentially mines two genres. The first is epic fantasy. The second is social commentary. The first is done very well; the second I have some reservations about. Gerber tends to be very self indulgent. He deals with contemporary 1970s issues as if they are all black and white/good and evil questions. He really pours his own views into his stories which might be off putting for some readers. Personally, I don't care for social commentary delivered with all the subtlety of a safe dropping on my head. Worse, he writes himself into the story as "Richard Rory" who works as his own personal mouthpiece. Later, he writes himself in as himself. But this is not to say the stories are ruined as a result; it just distracts the reader.
The art is something of a mixed bag. Nothing is horrible but some work better than others.
There were other Man-Thing appearances that might have merited inclusion but the editor had to draw the line somewhere. I would have liked to have seen the Legion of Monsters appearances.
The book has extras but they are worked in throughout, not just at the end. Collections covers and house ads predominate but there are also some text pages. The last page has a map of the swamp and its surroundings so the reader might want to refer to it while reading through the book.
Highly recommended. The horror genre seems to work well in the omnibus format. I hope we eventually see other horror/supernatural books like Werewolf by Night, Frankenstein, Ghost Rider, and Son of Satan in this format.
Package came promptly, sealed, and in perfect condition. If you want a omnibus that gives you a bang for your dollar, look no further. I was kind of skeptical of Man-Thing at first. I heard his name mentioned in other comics and in "Agents of Shield" but didn't know much about him. This Man-Thing omnibus answers most if not all of your questions about the one time scientist known as Ted Sallis and his journey as the Man-Thing. Man-Thing is an emphatic creature (responds to emotions). He is not vocal but is nearly invincible and strong. His main power is his ability to burn entities who feel fear (because fear and anger hurt him so he must destroy these things). Warning some of these comics may not be totally family friendly. Expect death as it is a way of life. There are some creepy comics as well, which I found to be enjoyable and give insight into Man-Thing. Appearances include some famous characters like Doctor Strange, the Thing, Incredible Hulk, Spiderman, and even Howard the Duck. The comics do play through in sequential order and the artwork conveys the story pretty well. The writing staff make the story an enjoyable one. Great read.
Let's be clear about something right from the start my 5 stars are solely for the Steve Gerber portion of this collection. While the stories by other writers range from solid to competent to just plain awful, it's Steve Gerber's take on Marvel's muck monster that makes this volume worth owning & reading. Really, it should simply have contained Gerber's work, perhaps with one or two of the earliest origin stories by previous writers to set the groundwork, and nothing more. Nor should any other writer have ever been allowed to write Man-Thing after Gerber left the book.
Why?
Because, even more so than Alan Moore on his justly acclaimed run on DC's Swamp Thing, writer Steve Gerber was the heart & soul of what would otherwise have been just one more variation on a rather generic horror comic book. The horrors he wrote about were human, psychological, social, existential; his stories were more like episodes of "The Twilight Zone" or "Route 66" (for example) in that they encompassed so much, with such richness & insight into the human condition. He didn't care a bit about the geek minutia that consumes so many these days -- what mattered to him was the encounter with life itself, both good & bad.
True, some of his work here is raw & a little heavy-handed, especially at the beginning. But he was a young man shaped by the 1960s, burning with talent & ideals & honesty, striving to say something worthwhile & meaningful. First steps for such a creator are almost always clumsy ones. In any case, he found his stride very quickly & gave his readers stories that were always moving, startling, sometimes disturbing, often surreal, always passionate & memorable. Whether it was the wonderfully absurd introduction of Howard the Duck or the anguish of soul-devoured writer Brian Lazarus, the poignancy of Dawg or the utterly bleak book-burning in Citrusville, he offered a panoply of stories that hit home every time.
I've no doubt that some will dismiss his work as dated, crude, certainly nowhere near as slick & glib as many contemporary comics. He even anticipated that change in the culture, and lived through it himself -- see his final Man-Thing story, written in the 1980s but not published until this year & in a separate volume, "Screenplay of the Living Dead Man" for proof. It's left the youthful exuberance of these earlier stories behind, but is even more heartbreakingly honest.
Meanwhile, if you appreciate truly good, thoughtful writing, then you won't go wrong with Gerber's work here. This is the reason I kept on reading comics after my teens, eagerly anticipating & immersing myself in each new issue. Gerber spoke to my own feelings about life in America as it entered the 1970s & raced toward the shattered present ... and I think he spoke to the feelings of many others as well. In a way, he was writing autobiographical independent comics before they actually existed, using the stable of corporate superheroes to tell his own very personal stories. Of course he was bound to be disappointed & discarded when he asserted himself -- the Powers That Be will only allow honesty as long as it doesn't cut into profit & control. It was a story he himself told many times in his work, writing what he lived & living what he wrote.
And now he's gone, and we'll see no further work from him. This is indeed a pity, because his scathing, outraged, idealistic vision is needed all the more now in a mass-produced, mass-marketed culture that glories in the superficial & denies the painful truths of human suffering & existence. Still, we have these stories, more than 35 years old & just as relevant as ever, demanding that we tear ourselves away from our empty distractions & genuinely see ourselves & our fellow human beings, as well as the unsatisfactory world in which we live. If one function of art is to confront us with & awaken us to the things we fear to acknowledge, then Steve Gerber's work is surely art.
Most highly recommended!
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