F.M. :: PLOOG MIKE

Man-Thing 9 page 16 by Mike Ploog & Frank Chiaramonte

Artists: Mike Ploog (Penciller) , Frank Chiaramonte (Inker)

5 Comments - 812 Views - 3 Likes

Man-Thing 9 page 16 by Mike Ploog & Frank Chiaramonte Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	Man-Thing 9 page 16 by Mike Ploog & Frank Chiaramonte
Artist:	Mike Ploog (Penciller)
Artist:	Frank Chiaramonte (Inker)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	812
Likes on CAF:	3 4
Favorited on CAF:	1
Comments:	5
Added to Site:	1/17/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

This is my first published page (despite being lucky to own a cover from him before this) by the sublime Mike Ploog, another favorite artist of mine whose vintage work was often too pricey for my purse as he was mainly active during the 70s. I absolutely LOVE his later work on anything he drew but a monster Marvel page long eluded me.

I�ll be the first to admit that this is a middle quality Man-Thing page due to the fact that he only appears on two of the four panels on this page and seen from a 3-4 view and from behind BUT the page remains attractive for various other reasons AND it was one of those cases which I nervously couldn�t let pass for the price I was able to get it as it was simply cheap for a Ploog vintage monster page (ps: upon reception, the previous art dealer had put the previous price on the back of the page in pencil which was close to double of what I paid. And he was not even one of the �expensive� ones ^^).

The four even panel grid is appealing here if only for the sake of clarity.

The first one is the prize as far as I�m concerned. We get the best Man-Thing of the two times he appears on the page, complete with dripping muddy water on his back and hand. I love how Mike drew the wavering water of the swamps, around his legs and in front of him as it creates a superb eerie mood. The swamp snake hanging from the tree around him is a nice bonus as we get more vegetation, establishing the settings and subtly pointing the reader�s eye where it should go.

In the second panel, we have another nice Man-Thing shot as well as more lush swamp ambience and vegetation. The rednecky old man is also great and a typical type of character for Ploog who always enjoyed drawing characters with strong visual personality here enhanced by his offbeat garments. The emaciated dog is also excellent (complete with drooling maw) and through him noticing something dangerous and weird coming out of the water, the action can continue to the next panel.

In the third panel, we have a splashy (�) evil tree coming out of the swamps! You have to love the cheesy 70s writing where it was felt that the characters still had to tell you what you were clearly seeing on the page because indeed �Lord o� mercy! It�s risin� up outta the water!� ^^

And then in the fourth panel, the evil evil tree stands revealed! Reaching for the old man and mishandling the poor dog who is calling for help! The tree�s �face� is fantastic here and its (again) drooling mouth adds to his evilness. To me, this a great example of Gerber�s tenure on the title as he came with one weird concept and story idea after another (remember the jumping brain? Boing! Boing!).

In the end, I�d say that in US comics, when you think about swamps, you think of either Wrightson or Ploog and this page pushes all the right buttons for me.

A last comment on the inks by Frank Chiaramonte whose work I never cared much for as he did a great disservice to Kerry Gammill on the jobs he inked him. That being said, he did a suitable job here, lushly inking the swamps and blacks where needed.

I obviously need more Ploog monster pages 😊

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Joined:	May 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
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Rob L
Member Since 2003

1 - Posted on 1/17/2021

LOVE IT! Ploog is AWESOME!

J H
Member Since 2019

1 - Posted on 1/18/2021

Nice Ploog work! I like this page, it's a great Man-Thing moment. He ignores you while dispassionately--almost disassociative--doing good. It was a fun aspect that set him apart from the other swamp creatures. And when Chiaramonte did good work, imo, it was really nice. I really like his inks over Swan Superman pages, and I like them here. Congrats!

Timothy Finney
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 1/29/2021

Ploog & Co. mix horror, pathos, comedy and absurdity in equal measures. Man-Thing was indeed a different kind of read back in the day.

artless artmore
Member Since 2013

1 - Posted on 5/28/2021

Super page! Love all the characters in this, especially the great face in the tree, and the inks are right on

Paul Roach
Member Since 2014

1 - Posted on 8/20/2021

Dawg! Muck monster versus scary tree with a face - what's not to like about this page? Great last panel. Ploog manages a nice change of pace, from the leisurely travel across the swamp to the suddeness of the confrontation.

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