Man-Thing

Man-Thing
Man-Thing vol. 6 #2 (August 2004). Cover art by Kyle Hotz.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	Savage Tales #1 (May 1971)
Created by	Stan Lee Roy Thomas Gerry Conway Gray Morrow
In-story information
Alter ego	Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis
Species	Swamp monster
Team affiliations	Nexus of All Realities Thunderbolts Daydreamers Legion of Monsters Avengers of the Supernatural Ancient Order of the Shield S.T.A.K.E.
Partnerships	Howard the Duck
Notable aliases	Vorgornus Koth
Abilities	Superhuman strength and durability Empathic senses Ability to secrete a powerful corrosive chemical agent and a counter agent, teleport himself or others through 'the nexus of all realities' and speak the Universal Language

The Man-Thing (Dr. Theodore "Ted" Sallis) is a fictional monster appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writers Stan Lee, Roy Thomas, and Gerry Conway and artist Gray Morrow, the character first appeared in Savage Tales #1 (May 1971), and went on to be featured in various titles and in his own series, including Adventure into Fear, which introduced the character Howard the Duck.

Steve Gerber's 39-issue run on the series is a cult classic that was influential on such writers as Neil Gaiman.

Man-Thing is a large, slow-moving, empathic, humanoid swamp monster living in the Florida Everglades near the Seminole reservation and the fictitious town of Citrusville. Mark Stevens portrays the character in the 2005 live-action film Man-Thing.

As described in the text featurette "The Story Behind the Scenes" in Savage Tales #1 (cover-dated May 1971), the black-and-white adventure fantasy magazine in which the character debuted in an 11-page origin story, Man-Thing was conceived in discussions between Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee and writer Roy Thomas, and that together they created five possible origins. Lee provided the name, which had previously been used for unrelated creatures in Marvel's early science-fiction/fantasy anthology Tales of Suspense #7 (Jan. 1960) and #81 (Sept. 1966), as well as the concept of the man losing sentience.