Continued from Adventure into Fear issue 19, Man-Thing’s own magazine was ultimately produced in an overwhelming response the character’s popularity. In Marvel’s own words (from Astonishing Tales #13, August 1972, Astonishing Mails), “Special Announcement to Man-Thing Maniacs! We at the bullpen were so pleased with the literary and artistic accomplishments of Roy Thomas, Len Wein, John Buscema, Neal Adams, and Rich Buckler on our unique Creature-From-The-Swamp in these past couple of issues that we promptly decided to place Man-Thing in a series of his (its?) own. So naturally, we’re returning the creature’s original storytellers from Savage Tales #1, scripter Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, to weave again their magic yarns. Where, you ask? Even we aren’t sure—but it’ll definitely be in one of our present feature-less monster mags, Fear, Where Monsters Dwell, or Monsters on the Prowl. Watch for it!” Eventually, Marvel decided to feature Man-Thing in October 1972 with Fear #10. The new series with Man-Thing ran for ten consecutive issues and was so popular that Man-Thing finally was given his own magazine.
Interestingly, Man-Thing #1 was a continuation of a story from Adventures Into Fear #19. As the fearless Marvel bullpen explains, “Jump right in—the swamp is fine! To those of you who have followed the career of our macabre murk-dweller from his initial appearance in Savage Tales #1, on through his guest-starring role in Ka-Zar, and into his own strip in Adventures Into Fear (#10-19), our sincere thanks—for making Man-Thing one of Marvel’s surprise sensations of the ‘seventies. And to newcomers in the audience—welcome! You’ve bought yourself a twenty-cent ticket into a world of fear and fantasy, mystery and whimsy, outworld terror and human foibles…. Before we move to your letters on Fear #16, a word of semi-apology…. The decision to award the Man-Thing his own magazine was a sudden one, and it came after Steve Gerber had plotted the two-parter which concludes in this issue. We would’ve liked to have begun this new magazine with a brand-new storyline. But…schedules will be schedules. Hope you understand.” (from Man-Thing #1, January 1974, Mail-Things)
Collected Editions
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