Goosebumps Creator R.L. Stine's Awful Attempt at Marvel Comics

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R.L. Stine is famous for his Goosebumps and Fear Street horror books aimed at young adults. He claims he grew up a fan of comic books. So it makes sense that Marvel Comics approached him in 2017 and let him do whatever he wanted with their D-list character Man-Thing. And while it can be a good idea to try fresh ideas with obscure characters, in this case the pairing did not work. This video breaks down how the comic lacks structure, horror, and hits the reader with tons of bad jokes instead.
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[@nilus2k]

All those bad jokes and yet he didn’t even quip on “Giant-sized Man-Thing

[@floskywalker6220]

Omg I didn’t even think of that! He should’ve!

[@anthonygiangriego2121]

Because that would be funny

[@Eisenwulf666]

Phrasing!

[@plasticweapon]

shame.

[@timeliebe]

Want to bet he did, and even Joe Quesada couldn't miss that one?

[@therealmanos]

"I'm a plot guy. I don't do themes. Plot is the most important thing. Plot! Plot! Plot!" *The plot makes no sense*

[@heinoustentacles5719]

was that on his master class? lmfao

[@kenlieck7756]

Maybe he meant to say "plotz"... www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plotz

[@Shinmsl]

Funny thing, in a Writting for comics book by Alan Moore he criticized precisely that: "many American comics writting is like a guy going through mud : Plot!Plot!Plot!"

[@Manganization]

@@Shinmsl there's nothing wrong with a story that's only about a plot with no argumentative themes, just make it good. Sometimes themes bog down a story as much as a plot that isn't interesting on its own.

[@andreuva4782]

For real. He makes it sound so deep but the "plot" in this book sounds like ass 🤣

[@goosebump8917]

Honestly i think the biggest flaw in the whole idea was having stein do a character at all. They should've had him do collections of short horror stories like the old EC comics and everything wouldve been gravy train

[@TajesMahoney]

These quotes from RL about all his stories being just plot and themes and characters not mattering is heartbreaking but totally true.

[@PatternLand]

Well his stories are one offs...

[@goosebump8917]

I think its kind of cool that he tells stories that dont necessarily have or need a moral lesson.

[@Absurdistcomedy]

The Man from the pattern land u

[@PatternLand]

@@Absurdistcomedy ?

[@gesarts3625]

@@goosebump8917 Mr.Stine? I have a sinking feeling you might be a bit biased here.

[@TheOlFlat5]

I miss that scene in the goosebumps opening credits where the dog would bark along with the melody

[@D_Fyre]

lmao I know exactly what you mean!

[@Pleasestoptalkingthanks]

Woof woof woof woof woof...🎶🎵👁👁

[@jennikifm2]

It’s one of the best scenes in the theme.

[@aladinsane9785]

That dog is probably dead now….

[@k1ngk4gl3]

That was simultaneously the greatest and worst intro ever.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

I want to play that Thanos game LOL

[@futurestoryteller]

Did anybody else get weird digital compression on his blanket? It seemed really pixilated. My TV is sometimes garbage with smooth gradiants, I'm trying to find out if that was intentional on Chris' part to add randomness.

[@dominusfornax]

@@futurestoryteller I got that

[@finefatfly4019]

Ha-Ha! Chris's intros are always amusing, but this is the first to make me LOL.

[@futurestoryteller]

@@dominusfornax Okay thanks for the heads up

[@Chandasouk]

"Speaking of making bad jokes, let's talk about the Man Thing run from RL Stine" that was a muuurder

[@ant-fan]

I actually wouldn't be surprised if R.L. Stine DID grow up a comic book fan. He was born in 1943, so the comic he grew up on would've been golden age and maybe early silver age comics. Those comics were full of weird imagery and wacky one-liners, and never stayed focused on one thing for more than one or two issues. They were also decidedly aimed at younger audiences. If that was his only exposure to comic books, it's not too surprising that that's the direction he took with his book. It just really doesn't fit a modern-styled comic, especially a Man-Thing comic.

[@funnyfunnyvalentine7991]

He actually did make a book about comics, don't forget. It was very heavily inspired by the 60s Batman show, so this is most likely the case

[@davidmesquita1047]

Damn this makes so much sense. Especially all the one-liners.

[@comicenthusiast8593]

I'm pretty confident this book was aimed at children. His goosebumps books are huge with kids. Like huge. If I was in elementary or middle school, I would probably think this book was simple fun. I see a lot of people [not Comictropes] ranting that some books are trash when they are clearly meant for kids. A 8 year old doesn't care if the comic is faithful to canon they just want something fun to read during silent reading. That being said... he was kinda lazy at this.

[@roeimakikiderikadragontwin9898]

👍.

[@dubuyajay9964]

I am so tired of the "it's for kids, so we don't have to try" excuse. Children don't like being talked down to or being treated like their stupid.

[@comicenthusiast8593]

@@dubuyajay9964 I said at the end it seems like he was kinda lazy at this. But i know what youre saying tho. Kids are smarter than we think.

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Goosebumps aren't meant just only for kids, it's for everyone. Sure, the books are pretty campy but some of them have actual horrors in it. There's one book where the kid went to music school to teach how to play a piano only he discovered some of these severed hands belong to the students. At the end, the main antagonist just dragged him to the forest by the ghosts, never seen again ( the TV series doesn't count since his fate where his cruel music teacher forced him to play piano for all eternity). Man! The books where villains brutally met their fates are a lot more terrifying than the TV series. R.L. Stine is pretty much of a genius when it comes to writing but the comics doesn't seemed to work on him so it doesn't mean it's his fault.

[@thecosmic8248]

If I read this in middle school I probably would have liked it granted but just because something is for younger audiences doesn't mean you don't have to try.

[@darkestccino5405]

This speaks to me as a writer personally. The thing about quips is that they come to you naturally while you're writing a scene. For example, I have a character who makes dark humor quips, and while there was a scene where the characters were looking at a collection of restraining equipment for different species and body shapes in a dungeon, I had the idea of him making the quip "this must be a nice place to be, because there's a little something for everyone down here." I didn't originally plan on him making a joke in that scene while planning it out, it's just something I naturally came up with while writing the scene. Conversely, the times where I want characters to try to be having fun and exchanging jokes with each other are the ones that I have trouble with as I need to force myself to think of something to fill it in with. There's such a stark difference between quips that come naturally and quips that come forced. But now with this, the idea of having to frequently think of not one, not two, but three quips to insert into every applicable scene, that just hurts me to imagine. I've come up with jokes I'm quite proud of, but that would just leave me starring at a flickering cursor on a page as struggle to think of yet another dumb joke to write down, probably having to google some cheap jokes to artificially insert in just to fill it.

[@dreadlordhg360]

Exactly. You can’t force a character; sure, you can create an outline, but that character will come to you naturally.

[@andreuva4782]

When outside of story and combat my humor comes from the clashing of character personalities of in alot of senses, Irony. I make alot of morally flawed characters and the themes of their stories are both where their flaws make them monsters but also why not everyone who is morally flawed is *"Totally"* a monster. Jokes are normally alittle dark but are played passive aggressive. Such as a really unnecessary threat or rude observation. Or the said morally flawed character QUESTIONING someone who's arguably worse and the joke is, even THEY see why some things are wrong.

[@jjclaxton1652]

Its interesting on why Kevin Smith could do well with Daredevil and Green Arrow but not Batman (a character he really loves)

[@Skuldug]

Maybe because there's more pressure on doing a run on a hero as big as batman idk

[@TheNickcone]

I liked Smiths run on Green Arrow but his dialogue can be clunky.

[@marcuswalters8093]

I feel like loving the character can be a stumbling block for some. Look at Moffat's run on Doctor Who, he clearly loved the character, making him the centre of so many stories and the universe at large. He made him the most important guy in space. I'm also thinking of Tom King's run on Batman. He clearly is a talented writer who loved the character, but his run never jibed with me. That includes The War Of Jokes and Riddles.

[@XxzanesterxX]

I didn't care for his Batman run much but I can't help but wonder if the standard is simply different. Green arrow and Daredevil offer much more freedom and leeway, even if fans dont realize it, they may have different expectations and that may genuinely effect the perception of those books. You can get cooky with B leaguer's and people will take it for what it is but Batman seemingly demands a different take. I think that's pretty interesting.

[@jjclaxton1652]

Yes I could see DC putting a lot of pressure on a character like Batman. A character like Moon Knight could be a good fit for Smith to write.

[@diamondknuckle7056]

I love how campy goosebumps is its literally a massive part of my childhood how bad they kinda are. I can't really excuse this comic tho lol

[@ShawnWeeded510]

Hate it. Always hated it. The only campy horror that's ever worked for me is Army of Darkness. These attempts to water down horror characters for the sake of making everything family friendly is kinda gross. Characters like Blade, Man Thing, and Man Thing should be serious supernatural horror. No sugar coating it for little kids as if kids don't watch horror films. If they can't get over trying to make clearly horror themed characters kid friendly these characters will never become successful.

[@AceLM92]

@@ShawnWeeded510 I think that's partly because of what subgenres of horror and does the camp undercut the horror or play into it, like Killer Clowns from Outer Space or something

[@Clay3613]

@@ShawnWeeded510 Ow, the edge.

[@heinoustentacles5719]

Thing is i never really saw goosebumps as scary. I thought it was an ironic sort of thing. He did this one thing called "how I learned to fly" which was more slice of life-y which i really liked.

[@Octorber13]

I look at goosebumps as 80's cheesy horror films.

[@horizonbrave1533]

It's a shame, because Man-Thing has always been a favorite of mine...(Yes I also love Swamp Thing xD) I'm a sucker for reclusive, misunderstood, tortured characters....I love that he's actually mute and is more feral...So many good story opportunities, but it's so niche that I don't think most people will go for it 90% of the time for a dedicated story for him..

[@Noname-ut1ye]

Same. I literally just bought both complete collection Steve Gerber Man-Thing volumes, his Infernal Man-Thing trade and even the Legion of Monsters one shot. All great stories that were zaney yet well told. The art was out there and trippy. I read R L Stine's Man-Thing and holy shit, it was terrible. Manny was no longer mute and was spouting jokes that literally took away HP from me. He should never touch a comic character again.

[@Popcultureguy3000]

No name The worst part is that a Man-Thing that talks can be interesting, just look at what Jeff Parker did with that concept when his Thunderbolt’s comic run suddenly became the new Dark Avengers book. To make a long story short, Jeff Parker’s run on the book had them become a team of super-criminals reducing or commuting their sentences through “superhero community service” I.e. going on the dangerous missions the Avengers are either too busy, or too clean to do, they essentially briefly become Marvel’s answer to DC’s Task Force X. In their final arc, an attempt to hijack Man-Things teleporting powers goes awry sending most of the team hopelessly flung back further and further back in time, eventually it’s revealed that the creature formerly known as Ted Sallis needed to go back to the pre-Cambrian age in order to soak up that nutrient rich ooze rich in life and mana in order to ascend to higher state. Ted ended up fully aware, mystically wise and able to “talk” to his teammates through what is essentially magic psychic powers that cause him to sound different to each listener. Sadly, after Jeff Parker stopped writing for Marvel to write for DC’s amazing Batman ‘66 revival comic (and all their insane crossover spin-offs), Marvel seemed to kind of ignore this recent development in Man-Thing’s life and only started to write him as being more aware after this terrible mini, making it hard to parse whether writers who write him as aware, but mute and somewhat stoic are influenced by Jeff Parker’s Thunderbolts/Dark Avengers Man-Thing sub-plot or this wet fart of a miniseries.

[@philipebbrell2793]

@@Popcultureguy3000 Parker's run on Thunderbolts was superb. Very enjoyable. Great to see Santanna again.

[@Noname-ut1ye]

@@Popcultureguy3000 I remember reading up on that part of history on wiki to fill in the blanks because his modern appearances are hard to track(and because team books besides the new Teen Titans aren't my cup of tea, I prefer series where there's a main character and that character is the main focus or the driving plot point). I prefer Manny as being pure instinct with moments of clarity and being mute but that's just me.

[@Popcultureguy3000]

No name That character approach certainly worked for the anthology show format the original comics had, but doesn’t always work for a team book unless you want Manny to be the dumb funny brute archetype. I love that in Strange Academy (buy this book now before Marvel cancels it, they have zero faith in young/teen reader books unless trades sell well by Scholastic book fairs the first time they put them in their catalogue, never forget, never Forgive the untimely, uncalled for cancellation of Future Foundation (2019)) he teaches magical botany purely through demonstration and body language. Ted remembers his Earth magic you guys!

[@AceAttorny]

I feel like maybe Stine wrote this script like a book, y'know? Like maybe the jokes wouldn't be nearly as packed together if all the art were described in words.

[@Octorber13]

Preety much, some people cant transfer well to other types of media and are good at some things

[@Shinmsl]

That's the sort of thing a good editor should be on top of.

[@kinginthenorth1437]

I was surprised when you said this came out at the same time as Immortal Hulk. Everything about it made me think it was from the early 2000s.

[@IknowIamkindagreat]

This comic should have been called "Boomer Humor and Dad Jokes: The Event". It is such a cringeworthy read that it is almost good. Like that movie, the Room.

[@JunkyardKid]

“You’re tearing me apart, Black Adam!”

[@braydenmunro2385]

JunkyardKid what a story, Mark!

[@sca8217]

"Here you go, keep the plot!"

[@kevinm5940]

Not to be confused with 'Room', which is actually pretty good.

[@IncredibleMD]

Wait, wait, wait, wait, *wait* . They made a Man-Thing movie, in 2005, twelve years before this comic? This comic was made in 2017? Seriously? That doesn't sound right...

[@kiddog5134]

The clip shown looks like it was from an Asylum rip off movie.

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

The film for the actual Man Thing was made for Sci-Fi Channel (back when it was spelled that way) in the late 90s. Tropes here reference the asylum knockoff.

[@IncredibleMD]

@@DCMarvelMultiverse See, that's what I thought. This seems more like an early 2000s Joe Quesada type thing than modern marvel comics. SOMETHING about those numbers sounded wrong. When did they make that Man-Thing movie? Around the time of that Fantastic Four movie that never got released, I suppose?

[@thephantomoftheparadise5666]

It sucked.

[@DCMarvelMultiverse]

@@IncredibleMD 1997 I am sure. When Marvel was doing a lot of bad tv deals.

[@CollegeDroputPowerpoints]

So many tropes you can take from the whole single superhero caricature: -Having a clone of you as a villain -Being popular and well known by everyone -Having quips and catchphrases -Filler -Superpowers being very vague and more on the fly -"Story" driving what the character can actually do at times. -Personality or projection?

[@MrLCGO]

This reminds me of that infamous quote by David Benioff: “Themes are for eighth-grade book reports".

[@futurestoryteller]

Nobody ever seems to respond when I point out that George R.R. Martin himself is also very dismissive of themes as a practical concept to be _utilized_ by authors, I would dare to go as far as saying it would not surprise me in the slightest to learn that Benioff was quoting something Martin had said to him verbatim.

[@radicalraddish6292]

@@futurestoryteller I mean on a practical sense themes don't have to, and in some cases shouldn't, be the driving force for the story when initially writing it. But when your story has a thematic flow that its been following from its inception to break from that flow would be incredibly jarring for anyone following it

[@futurestoryteller]

@@radicalraddish6292 What Martin said was that he doesn't think about themes while he's writing, that he doesn't think that's useful creatively, and that all of the characters have different viewpoints so "hopefully there are a lot of themes" you can identify when you read his work. That is... writing themes off as a tool for writing, but not in the exploration of writing, for example... eighth grade book reports....

[@screamingstephenhawking9245]

It reminds me of a quote from Garth Merenghi: 'I know a lot of authors who use subtext and they're all cowards'.

[@Wafflyy]

Bruh

[@fizzplease6742]

.... I would have accepted the "make an ash out of yourself" in isolation, that one got an actual chuckle out of me.

[@ryancarroll2886]

This series was one of the biggest disappointments of my comics reading life. Man-Thing was one of the very first Marvel characters I connected with as a kid. A constant go-to when I'm bored is fantasizing about how amazingly varied a streaming series about him could be, Marvel's Twilight Zone lodged in the Everglades. There'd be Dr. Strangelove-like elements of social satire for the Mad Viking, intense psychological tragedy like Andrei Tarkovsky's Solaris/Stalker, a giallo Foolkiller saga, a hint of Roger Rabbit when Howard the Duck shows up, awesome pulpy practical effects monster fights, and Ted Sallis' ordeal leading up to becoming Man-Thing would be a psychedelic thriller like Videodrome. Episode to episode, Man-Thing's appearance could mutate around from resembling the 2004 movie prequel comic, a terrifying root demon with skulls lodged in his body to a mossy, hobbled, ineffectually ugly-cute teddy bear like in Infernal Man-Thing. I could never shut up about the potential of this. Seeing RL Stine say at the time he was just a plot guy made my balls feel like lead. Ironically, the Goosebumps episode Werewolf of Fever Swamp is probably an aspect of why I read Man-Thing to start.

[@TheRealNormanBates]

This comment should be pinned. Maybe CT will go over earlier runs of Man Thing.... ... especially the Giant Sized Man Thing! 😉😁

[@coreylineberry8557]

Well, we did get a Werewolf by Night special with Man-Thing.

[@Jamaicafunk]

I knew him as Jovial Bob Stein’. I did art for him on a humor magazine called ‘Bananas’ for scholastic press.

[@justincasesept92]

Sadly, this series was a big disappointment, because the artist (Germán Peralta) was my comic teacher, and while never read any of R.L. Stine's books, I was a big fan of TV Goosebumps back in my childhood days. Germán's art is good as always, but the writing, the dialogues and the plot are sooo cheesy..! And the end reminds me some discarded plot twist for the old Goosebumps episodes (like the one of the teenagers being dogs-turned-humans).

[@LARKXHIN]

I was like “where is this intro going?” And then it hit 😂

[@rojaws1183]

I thought you were going to make a "giant sized Man-Thing" joke in the intro.

[@resort.janitor]

I was expecting at least 1 giant size man thing joke.

[@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299]

I keep mine in my pants ;P

[@hexum7]

Pretty much any phrase with Man-Thing and an adjective sounds dirty. Try it; " red man thing" " happy man thing" " badly-written man thing"

[@poeticserenade]

I think Stine saying he read comics as a kid and the way he writes and approaches Man Thing makes me think he's referring to classic slapstick comic strips and not things like Watchmen or Dark Knight Returns, etc.

[@sergeipilipetskii7826]

Your intro was the best by far. I had soda coming out of my nose when I saw your costume. "Vegging out"... classic

[@ChuckD008]

I remember Gerber's final, post-humous Man-Thing story was a trippy and beautiful miniseries

[@kenlieck7756]

Yep. "Screenplay of the Living Dead Man" w/art by Kevin Nowlan. (sequel to "Song-Cry of the Living Dead Man" from Man-Thing #12). Collected as "The Infernal Man-Thing"... ... readcomiconline.to/Comic/Infernal-Man-Thing

[@Popcultureguy3000]

It is such a beautiful meditation on life, depression, and suicide. It’s downright eerie how Steve Gerber was basically saying that if things got a little worse for him (no comics job to fall back on after Filmation went under, family leaves him due to writing obsession, hallucinations due to days between eating) he would have driven himself mad and/or suicidal.

[@daniel26395]

I'm something of a Gamer™ myself, and I enjoy the occasional "vegging out"

[@vwin9112]

Daniel Corral ohhh...that pun burns as hot as man things touch.

[@CaralisTrevorum]

I can’t help but imagine every single one of these quips being said in a snarky valley girl voice. Why does every character in this comic sound the exact same?

[@kenlieck7756]

Laziness.

[@gnbman]

Every RL Stine character in human history talks exactly the same way.

[@aaronmarko]

"I don't know what RL Stine was going for" Money. It really does sound like he wasn't going for anything other than an easy paycheck.

[@brandonweatherstone2380]

Jesus, he's already got 200 million dollars, how much more money do you need?

[@Rocketboy1313]

He is one of the richest authors on earth.

[@benderbendingrodriguez420]

Goosebumps books at its peak was making 4$ million a month

[@paulheap1982]

@@brandonweatherstone2380 When John D. Rockefeller was asked how much money was enough, he replied: "A little bit more."

[@darkthorpocomicknight7891]

@@brandonweatherstone2380 more! LMAO

[@MattDraper]

Loved the video! This comic seems like a Giant-Size Mess. (See what I did? I'm a regular R.L. Stine)

[@56postoffice]

Wow, never knew Man Thing was there just before *DC's* Swamp Thing. Great synopsis as per usual. 👍👍 *RIP* to Joe Sinnott, inker supremo.

[@BreezeMHill]

I don't know why but watching your videos always help me when I'm struggling with motivation to draw. Thank you:)

[@Rakhamon]

The missing connection between Man-Thing and Swamp Thing is that they were both inspired by the golden age character The Heap who started out as a villain for Airboy and later got his own title. The Heap in itself was inspired by a Theodore Sturgeon short story. So it's definitely a long lineage of "guy gets in an accident in a swamp and becomes a muck monster".

[@daxratbone1548]

I don’t really even read mainstream comics but damn I love this channel. One of the realest channels by a genuine dude with actual passion and love for them medium.

[@tonyjackomisandtheimaginar5876]

I met R.L. Stine a few years ago and he was literally the funniest person I've ever met in my life. He told me while we were talking that humor was very important to him and he puts a ton of jokes into his books because he really just wants to make people laugh. I didn't have the heart to tell him but I never thought his books were funny. I never even thought they were supposed to be funny. I think maybe his sense of humor doesn't translate to the written word. But he is very funny in person. Without exaggeration I can say pretty much everything he said to me that day made me laugh out loud

[@casanovafunkenstein5090]

To be fair a lot of his books are pretty silly both in concept and execution. It's kind of like how nobody seems to pick up on Alan Moore's love of puns when taking about his work.

[@silent_hydra]

As a fan of fairly mainstream comics and graphic novels, and only a surface understanding of their history, your channel is so interesting and informative! I love your videos! Keep it up!

[@Vangance]

I love Man-thing concept and his design! he looks terrifying like some kind of Lovecraftian creature , I feel that there is so much potential in him, his unique ability of burning somebody by his touch if he or she fears like come on this is great! And I dont think its that hardy really considering how much was he explored in comics, by how much i mean not much. There is so many things you can do with him, for example maybe make some kind of story where he is only the monster, not the main character, do it like an old fashioned slasher movie with bunch of people going into louisiana swamps. That sounds so great! at least in my opinion. Great Video as always!

[@felipea1399]

I think he just thought that writing comics is too easy and didnt try

[@thedevilgoose2482]

Man-Thing has one of my personal favorite designs, I think he looks really cool in just about every appearance. R.L. Stein was a large part of my childhood. But there are some things, even if you enjoy them, that should be kept separate.

[@bennett93ish]

I remember being really excited about this because I was a big fan of Goosebumps as a kid and thought it would be a really fun take on Man-Thing. I was very wrong. Great video and even greater Man-Thing costume!

[@christianninsananda9626]

2:43 Showed Savage Tales mag, but said Strange Tales... he did debuted in Savage Tales.

[@jacksonwayneputnam1599]

i kind of appreciate how blunt Stine is with his intentions, no pretense what-so-ever kind of refreshing to have around.

[@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770]

I wish other people were like that. “Mr. James Politician, what are your goals for when you get elected to office? What are you going to do for your constituents?” “Goals? Doing things for the people!?? Ha! I don’t give a shit about any of that! I’m just going to do whatever my big corporate donors tell me to do.” I was going to make this a real life politician, but I changed it so I could get more likes by appealing to both sides of the political spectrum. Because I care more about getting recognition than actually making a statement!

[@peterburman5193]

Is it weird that I enjoy hearing about failed projects? I don't mean I celebrate it, I just find it fascinating.

[@maximosimancas5166]

Yeah, I read it (even did a review) and, although it started strong, it plummeted pretty quickly. Steve Gerber's weird run, on the other hand, is still enjoyable and relevant 40+ years later.

[@ShawnWeeded510]

The entire run feels like a huge step backwards. They need to lean more into a mature horror story on the same level of maturity as stories like Alias.

[@maximosimancas5166]

@@ShawnWeeded510 Absolutely! Man-Thing has a lot of potential and hasn't received the great modern story he (it?) deserves.

[@Sanvarin]

Just noticed his face looks like a monster energy drink logo.

[@TrillyThough]

They both ripped of "The Heap"

[@jason366]

I love how elaborate your intro gags get :D

[@marcuswalters8093]

That's a 5 year old doing that drawing at the end? Whoa. Look out comic world, this guy is coming! 👏🏽

[@reddragon0624]

Man-Thing is a character I love even though he’s probably never had a good storyline in his existence

[@Noname-ut1ye]

He did. Read Gerber's run on him.

[@ryancarroll2886]

Night of the Laughing Dead, the Mad Viking Saga and Infernal Man-Thing

[@Addiepoptart]

"Giant Size Man-Thing" lol

[@ThePinkMan]

@@Addiepoptart Which was actually pretty good back in the day.

[@jonathana7202]

Wow a new one! Hope the time off has been good for you! I missed your awesome videos and I'm happy to see them back again. Hope all is well with you!

[@jonathana7202]

And dude, did you lose weight? That pandemic diet has done well for you too!

[@thegreywanderer8427]

This series could be salvaged with some editing; just remove all of Man-Thing's dialogue.

[@GothamCityCritics]

You know.....I think you're right. It would make it look like this stuff is just happening to him.

[@Ghstrbt]

I remember so many people getting excited for this run, and I couldn't get why. I loves goosebumps when I was 7 but I wouldn't defend them like some people do nowadays.

[@wrensart1335]

This was the most elaborate intro so far lmao. Great vid Chris.

[@theajshow]

Hey, c'mon now, Man-Thing is AT LEAST a C-lister!

[@goldreaper4209]

I can’t get the image of Chris tearing up his yard and smothering it all over his body for his Man-Thing cosplay. Don’t know what that says about me. Love it either way.

[@greyt00th]

What a shame. I found the silent, mysterious character of Man-Thing worked well in Thunderbolts (particularly how they tapped into him for teleportation). I think he works better as a side character and not given a "voice" so can stay intentionally ineffable.

[@smallmanbigmouth2699]

Great episode, Chris! Always a pleasure vegging out with Comic Tropes!!!

[@MrOrcshaman]

I was a pre teen when I started reading x-men comics, and introduced to the serious tones of batman the animated series when I was a young teen. I can assure you, the tone of this comic wouldn't have appealed to me, given the amazing works of Jim Lee, Bruce Timm and Paul Dini. This thing here shows how Stine is very limited in his capacity as a writer, Swamp thing has potential to tell some disturbing stories and real horror elements, thing you wouldn't introduce to a younger audience, but when given to someone like Stine, his style of writing comes off campy, so while it appeals to younger audience members, it just doesn't work for swamp thing. It be like having Beatrix Potter telling the story of stephen kings IT.

[@SamuelSEdme]

RL Stine wrote Man-Thing, not Swamp Thing.

[@-Teague-]

Where can I buy "Thanos: the game"? Is it at GameStop yet?

[@TheRealNormanBates]

Yes, but you can only get half of it. The rest of it might pop up in around 5 years or so...

[@-Teague-]

@@TheRealNormanBateslol nice

[@thekidkrow]

I remember being super excited when I first saw the solicitations for this book. R.L. Stine was my gateway to pulpy horror as a kid and Manthing is one of my favorite character and was my gateway drug for silver age comics and horror comics in general. I was so disappointed with how phoned in it was and how miserable of a read it was. (Also, the Kevin Smith run of green arrow should be seen as amazing for the concept of onomatopoeia as a character alone)

[@robvangessel3766]

I absolutely LOVED Man-Thing issues of the 1970s by Steve Gerber and, one of my favorite artists, Mike Ploog.

[@coopergreen9306]

Thanks for featuring my art chris it was really fun drawing it for you :)

[@d4peters86]

I loved goosebumps as a kid. I found them a fun read and some of them actually gave me a little scare. Have they aged well, though? Uh... That’s debatable.

[@rileyscherer129]

Man-Thing has always been one of my favorite d listers. His history is so strange and when he's a supporting character he works really well. When I saw R.L. Stein was working on this I thought it would be a match made in heaven. Goosebumps (at least the early books I read as a kid) had a great blend of scary and silly content. I picked up the first issue day of and was MASSIVELY disappointed

[@trevorwilliamson186]

I think it is worth noting that Stine was originally a humor writer at the beginning of his career. He wrote joke books for kids, and that is how he conceived of his horror. Moreover, the comics he remembers as he grew up were largely the same kinds of comics he wrote here. He was a huge fan of EC Comics, which often involved elaborate puns and jokes. None of this excuses how bad his run is, because they are very juvenile in nature and fail to have matured at all in the intervening decades. He is an old-school kind of writer in that his work is a literal labor.

[@dystrophic]

Hey Chris, have you read Spider-Man India? It's a 4-issue miniseries that re-imagines him as Pavitr Prabakhar in India.

[@kiddog5134]

I respect a man like R.L. Stine admitting that his comic books are nothing except what he thought would be cool and fun with no underlying messages in mind. He's like the Kevin Smith of children's authors.

[@TevyaSmolka]

Oh yeah I remember this run on man thing by rl stiene it was really weird and not really good

[@markodjuric4282]

A new comic trope episode! Today is a automaticaly a better day!

[@jamesoblivion]

You're in some good company there, in Kyle's fan art. Spotted Phelous and Obscurus Lupa right off...and now, I'm off to watch them riff an episode of the Goosebumps TV series, in honor of this splendid collision of my subs. haha

[@blackphoenix77]

I've never heard of this Man-Thing run before now.

[@justinkroboth360]

That intro was beautiful, Chris - well done. :D

[@oldbsturgeon5493]

I have a friend that man thing is his favorite character and was unware of this take on him. I saw the collection was available on amazon for $3.50 from a seller, so bought it for him. It sounds Batman Odyssey levels of horrible, he is gonna love it.

[@santyvalens]

wow thats really cool of you to do for them :)

[@mikedestazador5116]

Hey Chris, great video once again, how about a video on Karla Pacheco, creator of fantastic four's worst story ever and how out of political correctes marvel even assigned her her own book and she is destroying spider woman right now

[@alldayumday2660]

Gonna start my quest to like and watch every comic tropes episode on youtube

[@morriscolautti9822]

Another great video Chris. Can't wait to see your next episodes. Keep 'em coming mate.

[@Dale_The_Space_Wizard]

...Oh hi, you caught me making a movie about my Giant Sized Man-Thing!

[@blooper_kingpin]

If you want to try another Goosebumps that I think would be more up your alley, there is Attack of the Mutant. It is Goosebumps #25 and chock-full of comic book refrences.

[@ianfinrir8724]

And Adam West was in the episode based on the book.

[@noelaronson2876]

I don't know. When I read these issues, I very much took the run as being a throwback style, aimed at pre-teens. In that context it didn't bother me at all. It simply wasn't aimed at me, or people my age. That said, I did wonder if he had some sort of meta plot twist planned, that would have given a reason for the juvenile tone, but the book was canceled before Stine could bring it to fruition. Even if I don't have the same opinion of the run, great episode.

[@TheBigGSN5]

Yeah, bringing these characters back to a kid's level is a damned if you do, damned if you don't problem. Kids don't care about American comics and if you try to reach them, they probably won't even see it or the work isn't any good.

[@atheistbluesmetalhardrock824]

Keep up the good work. More episodes about artists, maybe one about the Kuberts please.

[@Rubice]

I can tell that this comic by Stine isn't good. But hey, for a strange reason I want to read it and have it. Don't know, I think it has its charm :P Nice episode Chris !

[@mayssm]

He's actually not bad. I've bought a few Goosebump books as an adult (I'd never read them back in the 90s), and thought they were decent. If I were 7-12 years old, I probably would have loved them.

[@funkyweapon1981]

@@mayssm I stopped reading them when I was 13, so yeah.

[@EoSxACB]

Used to love me some R.L.Stine as a kid

[@Rubice]

@@mayssm I remember de tv show, specefically one episode that actually was really scary. The one with the girl and the mask, oh god I really loved that episode back in the day.

[@kylebrown5101]

@@Rubice The episode is called The Haunted Mask. It's the first episode and premiere on prime time back in the day.

[@juanortiz9123]

Nice video chris. I have like 33 books of the fear street collection. Those were part of my childhood plus the goosebumps tv series. Why dont you talk about captain america the end? It was written by the same author of rambo (first blood) but honestly i didn't like it :/

[@QUATERMAIN10]

Around 2:45 in the video Chris mentions Strange Tales but I think he meant Savage Tales, since that's the comic whose cover appears on screen.

[@bes03c]

The little horror vignettes at the end were the best parts.

[@FruityGroovy]

I kind of enjoyed that Josh Whedon run of the Runaways. It's one of the first Runaway stories I've read, and I did like the tragedy if the new characters in it.

[@maef7026]

This was fantastic! Has Douwe Dabbert been translated into English? I can't imagine the comic world without it, it's such a classic and it marked the beginning of my adventure with comics. If this isn't available to English speakers, I will be shocked.

[@goldsea1678]

If I were to make a movie/show of Man Thing here is how I’d do it. A biologist or botanist who is doing research on how a swamp and it’s creatures have come around over time. When out in the field he has a vision forced upon him by the Nexus of Reality. He brushes it off at first as just a hallucination caused by the swamps aroma and his lack of rest. Over a week he sees and hears things that don’t make sense, in a dream catching a glimpse of a glowing red eyes. He hears the Nexus call to him again and this time he thinks he is going insane. All the while his wife and child are growing more and more concerned for him. He assures them that it’s just work. Then one night the voices are too loud and he drives out to the swamp. The Nexus greets him when he arrives and then tells him he has been chosen as the defender of the Nexus. He is confused for a moment and then an alligator (or crocodile) shows up and rips him apart. His flesh and blood has been used to grow the defender of the Nexus, Man Thing. He rises from the depths of a swamp to find that he cannot speak. He hears the Nexus tell him that he must fight monsters that try to travel to and from different dimensions to kill and cause chaos. He fights them because his animalistic side has warped his mind. The movie would be about man vs nature, but it would be like his human mind versus the animal part of his mind. The “bad guy” would be the part of him that he can’t control. Anyone else wanna toss a hat in the ring? Maybe expand off of this concept?

[@popitdeleon5843]

Thank you for the R. L. Stine episode. Could you do an episode on the New Universe comic run?

[@MrFaceNumeroUno]

Oh hi Chris! You just made my night with this vid! Yes! Hope all is well stay safe!

[@sbojan83]

So his doppelganger grabs his man-thing...got it.

[@DWNicolo]

Your video makes a great case for having a good editor.

[@SuperNuclearUnicorn]

I was here like "oh come on, it can't be that bad, all he needs to do is make a spooky story about a swamp monster" Holy shit it was that bad. Why did he try to do so much with such a simple character?

[@VideoGamePhilosopher]

Could you do something around silver surfer? Either around Ron Lim or one of the storylines. They’re all a little bizarre. Oh man. I’m just reading that Black Panther arc you mentioned. It’s really good!

[@jonc.6046]

"Run Away!" was certainly the message I received whenever I saw a Goosebumps book in the library.

[@st1ka]

Man it's so weird. I haven't seen any of your videos in a while. Not because I have anything against you, but because KZbin never notifies me even if I click the bell

[@RogerFusselman]

The David V. Reed run on Batman in the 260s is my model for an outside-vomics writer bringing freshness to the character. I think this was the case of the writer hoping his name more than any effort would sell his comics.

[@spider_dude]

It's kinda cute how many kids see your videos. This channel is very informative and educational in comic history. I'm happy to see new blood getting into comics.

[@CaptainNice]

So check out Scholastic's "Weird Worlds" (8 issues, 1978-81). Mostly sci-fi/horror articles targeted to grade school kids. Each issue also has a short horror comic written by Bob & Jane Stine (Bob = Robert Lawrence = R.L.) and illustrated by Steve Bissette. I think the art was done when Bissette was a student at Kubert's art school. B&W art that looks like Steve was trying to build his portfolio, or maybe for a final grade. Bob & his wife are ok at writing a 4-5 page comic, but that Bissette guy is pretty amazing and would be perfect for a swamp monster comic.