Chaotic Neutral: Man-Thing

A previous post on this blog compared Man-Thing to a Shambling Mound, a plant monster from Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Under the game's nine-alignment system, a Shambling Mound was Neutral. But would that description hold true for Man-Thing?

A failed scientific experiment transformed Ted Sallis into the mammoth mound of vegetation known as Man-Thing. Although Sallis lost most of his intelligence as Man-Thing, he acquired a form of empathy that made him receptive to the emotions of others. Man-Thing's disposition could vacillate from curious to isolationistic, from tranquil to irate. Although he might accompany superheroes, this often resulted from happenstance. Given his capricious nature, Man-Thing might be better understood as Chaotic Neutral.

Lawful Good	Neutral Good	Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral	True Neutral	Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil	Neutral Evil	Chaotic Evil

Man-Thing's original entry from The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe appears below.

Chaotic Evil: Foolkiller

Following in the footsteps of a costumed assassin called Foolkiller (Man-Thing #3-4), a self-appointed successor adopted the Foolkiller persona and granted himself poetic license to murder anyone he deemed a fool. For his first target, the new Foolkiller assassinated the supervillain Blockbuster (Omega the Unknown #9).

Foolkiller next arrived at Nighthawk's ranch intent on murdering the serial killer Lunatik (Defenders #73), only to attack the Defenders for looking foolish in a recent televised documentary. Foolkiller escaped from the heroes but not without setting fire to their headquarters (#74-75). Foolkiller's idiosyncratic criteria for dispensing violence would fit with an interpretation of Chaotic Evil using the alignment system from Dungeons & Dragons.

Lawful Good	Neutral Good	Chaotic Good
Lawful Neutral	True Neutral	Chaotic Neutral
Lawful Evil	Neutral Evil	Chaotic Evil

The Discreet Debut of Dr. Druid

An earlier post on this blog noted how the first few appearances of Dr. Droom in Amazing Adventures appeared years later in Weird Wonder Tales … prominently reintroducing the mystical hero as Dr. Druid.

Interestingly, Dr. Droom had returned for a fifth appearance in Amazing Adventures #6 (Nov. 1961), which had the same publication cover date as Fantastic Four #1. But while the Fantastic Four would enjoy lasting success, launching a new generation of heroes in Marvel Comics, the character of Dr. Droom fell into obscurity.

In that fifth and final Dr. Droom adventure, an extraterrestrial menace named Krogg used advanced technology to send houses in the town of Greenbirch to another dimension. That five-page story was reprinted as a back-up feature in Giant-Size Man-Thing #3 (Feb. 1975), changing the name Dr. Droom to Dr. Druid two years before Weird Wonder Tales #19 (Feb. 1977) … and effectively making the last published appearance of Dr. Droom the first published appearance of Dr. Druid.

This image of Dr. Droom/Druid comes from the final page of the story "Krogg!"

Meet the Press

Soon after his losing battle in Defenders #104, the magician named Ian Fate returned in Marvel Team-Up #122 (one of many cross-over stories between the two series).

Demoralized and downtrodden, Fate felt an emotional connection to the misunderstood creature called Man-Thing. The feeling was mutual, and Man-Thing accompanied Fate from the swamplands of Florida to New York City.

On the streets of Manhattan, Peter Parker's "Spider Sense" began to buzz as Ian Fate and a suspiciously disguised Man-Thing made their way to Daily Bugle newspaper.

With Man-Thing (no longer disguised) at his side, Fate begged editor J. Jonah Jameson to use his journalistic influence to stop all suffering and violence among humanity. Standing on principle, Jameson countered that he had a responsibility to report the news as he saw it and not promote an idealized vision of the world.

When Jameson refused to cooperate, Fate punched him, which prompted a confused Man-Thing to grab Fate.

Spider-Man, who had followed Fate and Man-Thing to the Daily Bugle, entered the scene. But the web-slinger's intervention caused Man-Thing to go on a rampage. In the end, Fate teleported both himself and Man-Thing back to the Florida swamp where they had met.

Marvel Team-Up. Vol. 1. No. 122. October 1982. "A Simple Twist of … Fate." J.M. DeMatteis (scripter), Kerry Gammill (penciler), Mike Esposito (inker), Diana Albers (letterer), Bob Sharen (colorist), Tom DeFalco (editor), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).

Shambling Mound

A previous post likened several of the Defenders to characters (or monsters) from Dungeons & Dragons.

The D&D ad that ran in Defenders #98 accentuated the similarities between the fantasy role-playing game and the superhero comic book.

The comic-strip style ad that month depicted a party of adventurers encounter a Shambling Mound, a semi-intelligent creature composed of vegetation.

Coincidentally, in that very issue, the Defenders met Man-Thing, a semi-intelligent creature composed of vegetation.

In the ad, Grimslade the magic-user cast a charm spell to stop the monstrous Shambling Mound.

In the Defenders story, Dr. Strange entered into his astral form to face the demons that had gained control of the typically timid Man-Thing.

Defenders. Vol. 1. No. 98. August 1981. "The Hand Closes!" J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Don Perlin / Joe Sinnott (artists), Allen Milgrom (editor), Jim Novak (letterer), George Roussos (colorist), Jim Shooter (editor-in-chief).