Comic Books

‘Man-Thing by R.L. Stine’ review: Surprisingly lifeless

As much as I had hoped that I could say that R.L. Stine’s Man-Thing was worth reading, I cannot.

September 6, 2017

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When I find out that R.L. Stine has penned something new, my inner child does a back-flip and I immediately try and find out as much as I can about whatever his newest project is. As of late, there’s been nothing more than Fear Street, and Goosebumps: Slappy World–whatever the hell that is–novels. Sure, it’s been quite a while since I skimmed through the pages of a Goosebumps book, but still, R.L Stine holds a place in my heart, and it is for this reason that I grew so excited after finding out that he was slated to pen a new Man-Thing comic. But, with great excitement comes the potential for great disappointment…

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'Man-Thing by R.L. Stine' review: Surprisingly lifeless

Before we get too far, Man-Thing, for me, was a total disappointment. Surprisingly, Man-Thing lacked depth, and as far as the story goes, it was nonsense. The first issue in this collection wasn’t terribly bad, but after that, the story goes downhill, and before long, we find ourselves in a Python World wondering what the hell happened to the story that we started reading pages before. And then finally, we’re left with an unsavory conclusion that leaves readers void of any sort of yearning to continue reading more of R.L. Stine’s Man-Thing.

From page to page, Stine’s writing is stale and, surprisingly, lifeless. I find it hard to believe that a man who has sold over 400 million books has a hard time writing comic book dialogue, so a lack of skill wasn’t an issue, but instead, it was a lack of heart that sank this ship.

Throughout this short collection, there is some solid artwork, but unfortunately, it’s not strong enough to save the story. Overall, I can’t recommend this collection to anyone other than hardcore R.L. Stine fans who feel as though they have to have this book.