The Foolkiller

Live A Poem...Or Die A Fool. As philosophies go, it's not a bad one. 

The Foolkiller first appeared in Man-Thing # 3, and instantly became one of my favourite tortured, insane villains.

I always looked at him as Steve Gerber's twisted answer to superheroes in general, and The Punisher in particular, what with his holy mission to take out ( anyone he percieved to be ) the garbage.

After all, what right does any superhero have to go out at night and beat people up? No one asked them to. And what if they go after somebody that society deems to be the wrong person, as The Foolkiller invariably does? Who's right and who's wrong? 

Foolie ( as I'm sure he wouldn't like to called ) is obviously insane, but compared to who?

And as he himself discovers in this, the second part of his origin tale, you should always choose your heroes wisely, as they'll invariably let you down, them being fools like everybody else.

But there will always be fools in the world, as proven by the fact that various characters have taken up this mantle over the years, in various different comic runs, so there's clearly always room for another judgemental vigilante out there.

What would a 21st century Foolkiller fight against? People who text on their mobiles while driving?

Now there's an idea. Where do I get me a hat and a gun like that?

The Thing & Man-Thing... Together!

Ok, so Steve Gerber's gotta figure out a way to get Benjy & Manny together for the inaugural issue of Two-In-One. Hey, what if ol' Ever Lovin' Blue Eyed gets annoyed that another monster's stolen his moniker? Huh? And double huh? Couldn't he just be in the Everglades collecting rare plants for Reed or something?
Well, I guess even Gerber had the occasional off day.
Once past this fairly shaky start though, this is more fun than should be strictly legal, as Steve brings in the more complicated than he first appears Son Of The Molecule Man, dispenses with the obligatory team-up fight scene in less than a page, puts in a needlessly creepy scene with a ( sort of ) Reed, and is much more interested in the two man-monsters reverting to their human selves.
And doesn't Ted Sallis take the news that he's been a galumphing man-beast for the last couple of years well? Me, I'd be screaming like a maniac.
Still, how typically Gerber that our heroes win completely by accident. And the art's by Gil Kane and Joe Sinnott, which is pretty much as good as it gets.