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Cover of Man-Thing Issue 1 (Jan 1974) by Frank Brunner
Cover of Swamp Thing Issue 1 (Nov 1974) by Bernie Wrightson
I.
Sometimes, it takes fifty years or so before one finally (although inadvertently) discovers the answer to a question that has (unconsciously) troubled since comic-collecting childhood in the 1970s ...
Who emerged from the swamps first: Marvel's Man-Thing or DC's Swamp Thing?
Before I provide the answer to this, let me just briefly remind everyone who these two monstrous characters are, beginning with the Man-Thing ...
II.
Man-Thing may sound to some like a sex toy, but he's actually a large, slow-moving, empathic, swamp creature (formerly a human biochemist called Ted Sallis) living in the Florida Everglades, near the
fictional town of Citrusville.
Conceived by Stan Lee and developed by writers Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway and the artist Gray Morrow, the character first appeared in Savage Tales #1 (May 1971), but it was Steve Gerber's version of the Man-Thing - eventually given a comic of his very own that ran for 22 issues between January 1974 and October 1975 - that is now considered a cult classic.
Having injected himself with a Super-Soldier serum (don't ask), Sallis unfortunately crashes his car into the swamp, where scientific and magical forces combine to transform him into a highly sensitive plant-creature with immense strength and many other astonishing powers; not least his ability to secrete highly concentrated acid when triggered by the violent emotions of others: Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch!
III.
As for the Swamp Thing ... created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, he's had various incarnations, beginning with his first appearance in House of
Secrets #92 (July 1971), in a story set in Louisiana in the early
20th century.
Usually depicted as a monstrous anthropomorphic mound of vegetable matter, he uses his vital cosmic powers to protect the natural world (and mankind) from threats of both scientific and supernatural origin, so might best be described as a kind of eco-hero or an embodiment of the Green. Despite his strength and abilities, like other forms of vegetal life, Swamp Thing is susceptible to herbicides.
In the mid-late 1980s, a reimagined Swamp Thing found his greatest popularity thanks to the creative genius of Alan Moore, who was given full freedom to develop the character as he saw fit. His first big decision was to rewrite the Swamp Thing's origin in order to make him a true monster (as
opposed to a human being transformed into a monster). Moore also revealed that there had been dozens - perhaps hundreds - of earlier Swamp Things.
Whilst Moore retained the horror and fantasy elements fans loved, he also broadened the scope of the story to include more eco-spiritual matters and was voted by his fellow comic book professionals for several Jack Kirby Awards in the mid-1980s.
IV.
Let us return now to our opening question: who emerged first from the swamps; Man-Thing or Swamp Thing?
In purely chronological terms, as we have discovered, the answer is Man-Thing - but only by a few months. And so, it has to be asked if the Swamp Thing was merely a (ripped-off) version of the former, as many have suspected and like to believe.
Surprisingly, the answer to that seems to be no: for it appears that each character arose independently of one another (albeit around the same time) and that, if anything, both the Marvel and the DC character were inspired by a Golden Age comic book character known as the Heap; another mysterious and terrifying muck-monster, who first appeared in a comic cover dated December 1942 [1].
According to one comentator, this game of intertextuality, imitation, and influence is accepted practice within the world of comic books: "Whether fans see it as flattering imitation or unoriginal copying, it's very much the norm for creators to rework an older character into their own works." [2]
Nevertheless, it might be pointed out that Marvel did consider taking legal action against DC when Swamp Thing made his debut several months after their own Man-Thing. They probably didn't pursue such owing to the fact that both of these characters were so similar to the Heap and, besides, Roy Thomas and Len Wein were friends - Wein was also a flatmate of Gerry Conway's - so they doubtless swapped many ideas between them.
As someone who, as a child, was a Friend of Ol' Marvel, my loyalties were obviously to the Man-Thing.
But, I can't help retrospectively seeing that DC's Swamp Thing was probably the superior and more interesting character, especially when Moore took creative control and gave the latter "a tale of tragedy, romance, and an odyssey-inspired journey through the universe that eclipsed Man-Thing's story" [3].
Thus, whether Swamp Thing may have initially borrowed story elements from Man-Thing, is ultimately irrelevant.
Notes
[1] The Heap was created by writer Harry Stein and artist Mort Leav, in
collaboration with Ed Cronin. He first appeared in issue 3 of Air Fighters
Comics (Hillman Periodicals, Dec. 1942).
[2] Ashley Land, 'Man-Thing Vs Swamp Thing: Both Were Based On An Older Monster', published on the comic book website cbr.com (19 July, 2023): click here.
[3] Ibid.
Musical bonus: Malcolm McLaren, 'Swamp Thing', from the album of the same title (Charisma Records, 1985): click here.
Whilst the song has little to do with the comic book character, it's worth noting that McLaren and Alan Moore met and briefly worked together on a film script in 1985, when the latter was in the process of reimagining Swamp Thing. Each man was impressed by the other and Moore would later provide the Foreword to Paul Gorman's biography of McLaren (2020).
