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The Essential Man-Thing, Vol. 1

… because “all who know fear BURN at the touch of the Man-Thing!”

In the very short amount of free time I have at conventions, I’ve made a habit out of cruising the retailer bins for old issues of Man-Thing. You can usually pick up a batch for less than a dollar. I’ve made it my solemn mission to accumulate an entire run of this truly forgettable series of comics. In case you’re unfamiliar with Man-Thing, the monster’s power was “acute empathy” - yes, the lumbering beast would echo whatever emotions are strongest around it and then, in almost every issue, end up swinging one of his moss-covered, meathook arms at the bad guys for one reason or another and saving the day. In the small collection I’ve put together thus far, he’s taken on conservative, Bible belt book-burners dressed like Vikings, pirates, yetis (I still don’t know how he ended up in the Himalayas), suicidal circus clowns and a wife beater.

Oh, and he partnered with Howard the Duck for a while.

What’s not to love?