Fear #13
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFear #13 (cover-dated April 1973) is a key connective chapter in Steve Gerber's Man-Thing mythology, delivering the first appearance of Joshua Kale — sorcerer patriarch of the Kale family and leader of the Cult of Zhered-Na — who would anchor the supernatural support cast through years of subsequent Man-Thing and related stories. The issue also contains the pivotal scene in which Thog the Nether-Spawn first formally identifies himself by name and offers the Man-Thing restoration to his human Ted Sallis identity in exchange for the Kales' lives, a moral crucible that sharpens the swamp creature's characterization as something more than a mindless monster. Paired with the launch of the Gerber–Val Mayerik artistic partnership that would define the series' visual identity through its final Man-Thing issues, this chapter is the structural hinge between Jennifer Kale's debut arc and the increasingly cosmic mythology Gerber was building across the Everglades. Jennifer Kale herself would go on to become one of Marvel's most enduring supernatural heroines, later joining the Midnight Sons and the Witches, and debuting in live-action in the MCU's Agatha All Along.
In "Where Worlds Collide!", the silent, instinct-driven Homem-Coisa is drawn into the murky depths of the swamp when a new and unsettling threat emerges from the shadows. With no words and no thought beyond survival, he must confront a danger that defies the natural order—something ancient, unnatural, and rising from the mire.
In a quiet moment before war’s full fury, a young Japanese man named Jo finds himself spared from combat by a shadowy figure known only as Mister Black—only to be thrust into a fate far more terrible than battle. The promise of safety unravels as the man’s escape leads not to freedom, but to a place and time he cannot avoid.
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Fear #13 was written by Steve Gerber, penciled by Val Mayerik, inked by Frank Bolle, lettered by Artie Simek, colored by Ben Hunt, and edited by Roy Thomas under his tenure as Marvel Editor-in-Chief. It marked the start of the regular Gerber–Mayerik partnership on the Man-Thing feature, following a transitional period in which Rich Buckler and Jim Starlin had each taken a turn on pencils in issues #11 and #12 respectively. The issue's cover was drawn by Rich Buckler and inked by Frank Giacoia. Like the issues immediately surrounding it, #13 also carried a backup reprint — 'Mister Black,' a World War II-era fantasy story plotted by Stan Lee and scripted by Larry Lieber — consistent with the anthology format the series maintained through issue #14.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Joshua Kale (a.k.a. 'Grandpa Kale'), leader of the Cult of Zhered-Na and grandfather of Jennifer and Andrew Kale, who becomes a recurring figure in Man-Thing and related horror titles.
- Second appearance of Jennifer Kale (who debuted in Fear #11, December 1972) and her second encounter with both Man-Thing and Thog the Nether-Spawn.
- This is the issue in which Thog the Nether-Spawn first refers to himself by the name 'Thog,' having been known only as 'the Nether-Spawn' in his prior appearance in Fear #11.
- Central story hinge: Thog temporarily restores the Man-Thing to his human identity as scientist Ted Sallis and offers him a permanent cure — conditional on killing the Kale family — which Sallis refuses, choosing to revert to monster form.
- First appearance of Jaxon (surname unrevealed), Jennifer Kale's former boyfriend, who is possessed by a demon of Sominus and used as an instrument against the Kale family; the character returns in issue #19.
- Creative team: Written by Steve Gerber, penciled by Val Mayerik, inked by Frank Bolle — marking the start of the regular Gerber–Mayerik collaboration that carried the Man-Thing feature through Fear #19.
- Cover by Rich Buckler (pencils) and Frank Giacoia (inks); Roy Thomas served as editor.
- The issue and the full run of Adventure into Fear have been collected in Essential Man-Thing Vol. 1 and the Adventure into Fear Omnibus hardcover (Marvel, July 2020, ISBN 978-1302925123), which reprints all 31 issues of the series.
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Strange Tales #93 (1962)
Reprinted in Eclipso #45 (1974), Dracula Lives #67 (1976), Dracula Lives #68 (1976), Superaventuras Marvel #25 (1984), Essential Man-Thing #1 (2006), Man-Thing Omnibus #[nn] (2012), Man-Thing by Steve Gerber: The Complete Collection #1 (2015), Adventure into Fear Omnibus #[nn] (2020), Marvel Masterworks: Man-Thing #1 (2024)
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