Issue(s): Fear #18
Cover Date: Nov 73
Title: "A question of survival!"
Credits:
Steve Gerber - Writer
Val Mayerik - Penciler
Sal Trapani - Inker

Review/plot:
This is more of a standard horror story type of plot, where a drunk guy crashes into a bus and the survivors all have to travel through the swamp to get help (and of course pick up the Man-Thing along the way), with the forced interaction allowing for interesting character examinations.

One of the guys turns out to be a nihilist, one's a soldier, the drunk guy is a patriotic conservative, etc.

While the nihilist seems (at least to me) ridiculous, this is a story that otherwise downplays Gerber's zanier side and lets him focus on what i think is his stronger trait, which is character development. I'm not getting into the details here because it's not really relevant to the larger Marvel universe, but it's a decent story. I guess the one elephant in the room is the fact that no one is all that fazed by the existence of the Man-Thing.

You can attribute that to the fact that this is the Marvel universe, where strange things happen all the time, but that obviously isn't the intent here.

Gerber does keep the Kale family in the picture, showing that Jennifer is having some problems.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References:

• The survivors wind up at F.A. Schist's construction site, seen in Fear #16 and last issue.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Man-Thing vol. 1