“Riddle of the Man-Thing Part One”
Creative Staff:
Story: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
Art: Travel Foreman
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Lettering: VC’s Cory Petit
What They Say:
THE GREEN GIANTS THROW DOWN! HULK VS. MAN-THING! Trouble awaits in the foggy bogs when a sultry seductress of the swamp lures unsuspecting victims into her trap! What is this mysterious creature’s connection to the Swamp Walker himself? It’s rage versus empathy as these two green goliaths come to blows – and even the Hulk isn’t immune to Man-Thing’s deadly acid! Guest artist Travel Foreman joins Phillip Kennedy Johnson for a twisted two-part tale!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having not read a Hulk series since, well, back when Peter David finished out the first time on the property, I was curious to see what Phillip Kennedy Johnson would do after enjoying some of their Alien work recently. The opening installment did well in establishing things while playing against recent events in the prior series so that new readers such as myself can figure out most of it easily enough. The clues and context are there which is a big plus for someone like me. The book makes out even better by having Travel Foreman get on this two-part storyline on the artwork with Matthew Wilson coloring. There’s a good 80s-infused pre-Vertigo kind of DC feeling to this but also trying into the 70s Marvel with the monsters. It looks fantastic and has the right kind of near-Lovecraftian elements to draw me in and want to see how Bruce and the Hulk all factor into it.
While progress is slim in the big-picture sense, this installment does bring it more to the forefront. But a lot of what we get is the continuing dread and creepiness of the horrors surfacing in various areas and the dynamic between Banner and Charlie. She’s not exactly thrilled to be traveling with Banner himself and she’s certainly overacting with her anger a bit toward him to stay on Hulk’s good side, figuring he loves seeing Banner get humiliated some. Banner, for his part, is able to just ignore most of it as he’s done his fair share of talking himself down over the years as well. But he’s also able to talk her up some as we see him trying to encourage her to get off this crazy train and settle down where they are in Florida as she could get a job of some sort and go back to school. He even ends up leaving her at the restaurant to head back on the road as he thinks it’s the right path for her – though he’s not aware she’s now formally wanted for questioning as we learn from the news.
What’s interesting is two-fold as this plays out. The first is that we see that there’s something in the marshes and swamp area that’s calling to people, using their sadness and guilt against them to draw them off the road and consume them. It’s some nobody at first but Charlie gets caught up in it toward the end as it pulls her little brother from her mind. At the same time, Banner’s journey has Man-Thing basically grabbing him from behind and consuming him, which in turn has Hulk in an angry fit bursting out – but into the nexus place. It’s here that the core of Man-Thing with Ted starts talking about the Eldest that we’ve seen nods toward already and what it’s trying to do. It’s basically a call to start organizing against what’s coming but we’ll have to see how Hulk views this because right now it doesn’t seem like his thing all that much.
In Summary:
There’s a lot to like here and while I like Foreman’s artwork it’s in the vein of Klein’s but has a different feel, especially with Banner himself. The story itself continues to be interesting and I’m glad we’re getting mostly a slow build here as so many books just rush through things in a way that I simply don’t enjoy these days. The time with Banner and Charlie works well and I’m intrigued by the larger story as we still get more to come from Man-Thing/Ted with what’s really going on. The potential is there and it’s laying out the stakes piece by piece.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics
Release Date: September 13th, 2023
MSRP: $3.99
