The Infernal Man-Thing, a new limited series from Marvel, just had its third issue of three released; hit the jump to see what I thought of it.
The comic is a script by the late great Steve Gerber, drawn and hand painted by Kevin Nowlan; originally the comic was meant to come out in the 1980’s as a sequel to an earlier issue of Man-Thing called “Song-cry of the Living Dead Man”; the project was shelved for years after Nowlan needed to take less time-intensive and more well-paid work, and it’s only just been completed after over 30 years.
Gerber’s writing is absolutely amazing; the original story, handily reprinted in full at the back of the first 2 issues, shows a man losing his sanity, and the Man-Thing, whose very presence inspires fear, becomes almost therapeutic. But the sequel, the current mini-series, is where Gerber’s writing really shines. His writing is passionately personal; each step in Lazarus’s doomed journey seems to echo an experience of Gerber. Even while making Lazarus relatable, there’s a constant undercurrent of terror and danger that he emanates in every line, echoed by the art.
As good as Gerber’s script is, and I really can’t stress enough how incredibly great it is, Nowlan’s art is somehow better. He’s able to capture every moment of Lazarus’s relapse into madness, the modernist surrealism of his former home life, and the mad delusions that attack the emphatic Man-Thing. Further, each panel is hand painted by Nowlan, the colors adding a dull miasma of darkness to the fluid lines. You can easily believe that this was a work that took him 30 years to complete.
In Summary
This is absolutely a comic masterpiece. The writing is passionate, the artwork unbelievable, and the finished product exquisite. Buy it right now at your local comic shop or at Comixology.
