R.L. Stine Brings Horror And Humor To Marvel's Man-Thing
For more than 25 years, author R.L Stine has unnerved readers with his Goosebumps and Fear Street [...]
Man-Thing
There's an interesting twist at the end of the first issue when the other Man-Thing shows up. What role does this second Man-Thing play in the series?
RL Stine: Well, he's come to drag Man-Thing back to the swamp out of Burbank and back to his old primitive life. He's worked so hard to get out. He got his speech back and he got his memory back and he's trying to be human. He's trying for some other career. And his old self comes back and- I'll give it away- and drags him back to the swamp. And he's back to being unable to speak. He has his memory. He has his mind. But he can't speak. And he's a beast again. There he is in the swamp.
Then he finds out there's horrible chaos in the swamp. Everything is out of order. There's something horribly gone wrong, and it turns out that there's a character named Old Father, this ancient guy who controls the order of the swamp. He keeps order. He's been kidnapped. Man-Thing is going to have to go rescue him. Otherwise, there will be chaos over the whole Earth.
What drew you to writing Man-Thing in the first place?
RL Stine: That's a good question. They sent me a list of characters. I thought, "God, he's the ugliest one they ever had. He's hideous." He is, right? He's gruesome.
I thought it would fun to try to get a story, to bring him to life more. And also, I always loved swamp monsters. I don't know why. I guess it's like very basic horror. You're in this horrible atmosphere. The swamp is totally creepy and filled with all kinds of life forms. Then you have this beast, this creature. It's just a very basic thing. So that's what drew me to it.
I've done swamp monster books in Goosebumps. I think last year I did one called Here Comes the Shaggedy. I don't know why I'm drawn to them.
There's kind of a fun, humorous dichotomy between that gruesome, horrific visage and how you write Man-Thing to be rather polite and genteel.
RL Stine: Well, I do that in everything I do. The Goosebumps books, there's something funny at the end of every chapter. I think there's something very close between horror and humor. You get the same visceral reaction from people. They're very closely tied together. And I love having this balance of horror and humor. I do it in all the Goosebumps and Fear Street books. That's what I tried to do with Man-Thing.
That blend of horror and humor was definitely present in the first issue's backup story. Will there be more of those throughout the series?
RL Stine: One in each book. Yeah, I did one in each book just for fun, just to make my life harder. And I'm not content. I could have written just one story, right? I'd be done. But no, I wanted to do a little horror story. I thought people might expect it from me.
Are they all self-contained, or do they connect in any way to each other or to the main Man-Thing story?
RL Stine: Yeah, they're all self-contained. They're all little short stories.
Man-Thing #1 is on sale now.
Man-Thing #1
JAN170932
(W) R. L. Stine (A) German Peralta, Daniel Johnson (CA) Tyler Crook
MARVEL WELCOMES R.L. STINE!
Beloved writer R.L. STINE (Goosebumps, Fear Street) brings his special brand of horror to MAN-THING!
After working for years, MAN-THING has regained his ability to speak and has taken Hollywood by storm...But when an ancient and mysterious danger threatens the swamp, Man-Thing is going to have to choose between his new life and celebrity, and the world he used to call home...
PLUS! A bone-chilling new horror story, written by the master himself, R.L. STINE, and illustrated by the incomparable Daniel Warren Johnson!
Parental Advisory
In Shops: Mar 08, 2017
SRP: $3.99