By d. emerson eddy — For my last dive into some horror comics this spooky season, I wanted to spotlight something familiar, but different. In the late '00s, Marvel resurrected one of their '70s horror titles as a vehicle for some of their supernatural properties in Man-Thing, Werewolf by Night, and Devil-Slayer (I wanted to say there was supposed to be a fourth one as well, but I can't find any information on that). As a whole, it's kind of hard to pin down any one singular approach that Marvel took to their “mature readers” MAX imprint, but these Dead of Night mini-series were somewhat reminiscent of Vertigo's approach when updating characters. All of them were actually pretty damn good, including Brian Keene and Chris Samnee working on that Devil-Slayer book, but my favorite is Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing. The first issue by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Kano, Nick Percival, Javier Rodriguez, and an uncredited letterer (though later issues would be credited to Nate Piekos).

The series took an approach similar to anthology horror titles, largely self-contained horror stories featuring Man-Thing, hosted by a Tales from the Crypt Crypt Keeper-like character in Digger, returning from another Marvel horror anthology, Tower of Shadows. The first issue worked to update the origin story as originally told by Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, and Gray Morrow from back in Savage Tales #1, where subsequent issues would incorporate other bits of Man-Thing mythos (like Jennifer Kale) and horror movie themes. 

The story follows Ted Sallis as he tries to recreate the Super-Soldier Serum that yielded Captain America, while being regularly distracted by his fiance wandering around in a negligee. That last bit is actually a hold over from the original. I find it kind of funny that the salaciousness wasn't something added for this “mature readers” take, but an element that was always there. Sallis' assistant is impatient in testing out the serum, yielding some horrific mutated results of local townsfolk. Ultimately everything goes to hell as Sallis finds out both his fiance and assistant are working form AIM and he winds up a bloody, mucky mess in the swamp. Only to rise.

It's fairly faithful to that original Savage Tales origin, even as Man-Thing can be considered tapping the same zeitgeist that yielded Swamp Thing. You'd be hard-pressed not to see similarities between the two, even with some stark differences. It's in how the story's approached that really sets this apart. While the main story itself is fairly straightforward in its retelling of the origin, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa adds some critical, and frankly hilarious, narration from Digger that gives the story an entirely different feel. It taps into that kind of dark humor that we've grown to expect from many horror hosts.

The artwork in the main narrative is delivered by Kano and Javier Rodriguez and it is gorgeous. Kano uses a style here somewhat reminiscent of Goran Parlov and Marcos Martin, giving us some fine line characters with a slightly exaggerated style, but with an attention to more solid black shadows and slightly scratchy interior details. It works incredibly well for the horror feeling of the story and the swamp setting. It's beautifully coloured by Javier Rodriguez who, despite choosing a darker blue, green, and beige palette with a kind of muddy finish blending the colours, is unmistakable for his work here. It's not the bright, solid colours we're used to in his work, but there's still an element, a certain something, that makes it stand out as his. There are also the sequences with Digger that are painted by Nick Percival with a somewhat illusory effect, setting them apart from the main narrative.

Overall, Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing #1 by Aguirre-Sacasa, Kano, Percival, and Rodriguez is fun. It's an entertaining mix of Marvel horror with late night horror anthology schlock that tells a solid horror story that's still not afraid to poke fun at itself. It's a wonderful celebration of numerous aspects that make horror such a compelling genre.

Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing #1

Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing #1
Writer: Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Artists: Kano & Nick Percival
Colorists: Javier Rodriguez & Nick Percival
Letterer: uncredited – although possibly Nate Piekos as he lettered the other three issues
Publisher: Marvel Comics / MAX
Biochemist Ted Sallis and his team are on a mission: To recreate the serum that spawned the world's first super-soldier. But like the swamp itself, there are dangers lurking beneath the surface. Ted's partner Eric, his girlfriend Ellen, the government, terrorists – everyone wants what Ted has, but what Ted doesn't realize is that the swamp itself may want him! A radical re-imagining of the Man-Thing's origin begins here, in a horror-tinged tale narrated by Digger, keeper of the Tower of Shadows!
Release Date: February 13, 2008
Price: $1.99 | Also available in the collection Dead of Night featuring Man-Thing ($6.99)

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d. emerson eddy is a student and writer of things. He fell in love with comics during Moore, Bissette, & Totleben's run on Swamp Thing and it has been a torrid affair ever since. His madness typically manifests itself on Twitter @93418.