Astonishing Tales #12-13

 Astonishing Tales #12-13

Originally released in 1972

Written by Roy Thomas and Len Wein

Art by John Buscema and Neal Adams

I'm looking into the first appearance of Man-Thing that's on Marvel Unlimited, as I don't know much about him.  First appearing in the pages of a series focusing on barbarian hero Ka-Zar, Man-Thing and Swamp Thing were created around the same time, and from what I recall, their creators were roommates at one point, which leaves it ambiguous when it comes to which one came first.

Picking up where the previous issue left off, Ka-Zar's sabertooth tiger friend, Zabu, has been caged, and he just broke free.  Ka-Zar stops the situation from escalating, but he's promptly arrested by the police after his declaration of being friends with Zabu is taken as an admission of ownership.

Two people from the outside world are with Ka-Zar, and I was surprised to learn that the woman is Dr. Barbara Morse, who would later become better known as the superhero Mockingbird.  Having heard of Ka-Zar, they tracked him down because his tracking skills should hopefully help them find Professor Ted Sallis, who disappeared weeks ago.

The villainous organization A.I.M. is behind this, and they cause the helicopter to crash, leading to the three humans and Zabu being attacked by alligators in the Florida swamp.  They escape and make it to Ted Sallis's lab, but unbeknownst to them, they are being watched by the Man-Thing!

A major difference between Swamp Thing and Man-Thing is that Man-Thing is mute.  Otherwise, their origins are similar - facing betrayal while working on a form of the Super Soldier Serum, Ted Sallis injected his work into himself to keep it out of enemy hands moments before his car crashed into a swamp.  The issue recounts his origin from Savage Tales #1, a comic which isn't on Marvel Unlimited.

The search for Ted Sallis is laden with dramatic irony; one scientist suspects the truth, that Ted and the Man-Thing are one and the same, but she's comatose, and everyone else views the Man-Thing as a monster patrolling the swamps and an obstacle on the hunt for Ted.

While fighting A.I.M. agents, Ka-Zar falls into a pit that was used to trap Man-Thing.  Anything that knows fear burns at the touch of the Man-Thing, but Ka-Zar's courage prevents him from being burned.  The scientists work for SHIELD, so they plan to take Swamp Thing back to New York, though Ka-Zar will not go to civilization, and focus on trying to find Ted Sallis whether he's dead or alive.

When one of the scientists is kidnapped along with Paul Allen (Barbara Morse's fiancé), Ka-Zar and Barbara go to rescue them. The scientist is found, still unconscious, but Paul is nowhere to be seen - at least until he reveals himself to be the head of this group of A.I.M. members. (Barbara seemed to suspect as much when they were heading for the A.I.M. base)

Man-Thing shows up to save Ka-Zar, Barbara, and the scientist (Dr. Calvin, who was the one who suspected the Man-Thing's secret) before setting the A.I.M. base to self destruct.  Ka-Zar agrees to go to New York with Barbara, which is good because his previous quest would have been completely fruitless if he had stayed to try and complete it.

The muteness of the Man-Thing adds a layer of tragedy to the character that the Swamp Thing doesn't have, though the twist that happened at the start of Alan Moore's run makes Swamp Thing a more compelling character.  I haven't read much about Ka-Zar, or Mockingbird for that matter.  Ka-Zar's nature makes him have no problem with killing, contrasting him with other heroic characters in the Marvel universe, though otherwise, he feels like Tarzan transplanted into Marvel.  As for Barbara Morse, she has a strong start, avoiding the clichés of the era, though she hardly seems like the type to put on a costume and use a codename at this point in her career.