Greetings, Groove-ophiles! One of the wildest concepts of the Groovy Age had to be Bill Mantlo's
Woodgod.
Woodgod only appeared three times (not counting an hallucination) during the Groovy Age: his debut in
Marvel Premiere #31 (May 1976) and
Marvel Team-Up #'s 53-54 (October-November 1976). Think that's ca-razee? You ain't seen nothin' yet, baby!
Woodgod, a genetically engineered hybrid clone of man and animal made to look like a mythological satyr with a child-like mind (yeah, all'a that!) was a wild enough concept--especially when envisioned by the singular stylings of artists Keith Giffen and Klaus Janson--but no, Mantlo was going for something even more far-out. Through his amazing mish-mash of sci-fi, mythology, and super-heroes, Mantlo was looking to create a character who would be able to "make sense of our world". How to do that? Make
Woodgod insane! That's right, with a concept called "Scream", which would be the thing that
Woodgod would base all of his judgements on,
Woodgod would himself define right, wrong, good, evil, and everything else--on his own limited terms. Don't take Ol' Groove's word for it, here's Mantlo being interviewed on the creation of
Woodgod for
FOOM #13 (Spring 1976)...
...and here's his explanation of "Scream" from the letters page of
Marvel Team-Up #53.
Like Ol' Groove said, "wild!" And here's the dyn-o-mite debut of our woeful woodland changeling courtesy of (who else?) Mantlo, Giffen, and Janson!
As I mentioned,
Woodgod appeared again with
Spider-Man and the
Hulk in a couple issues of
Marvel Team-Up, drawn by John Byrne...
After that,
Woodgod would show up post-Groovy Age in a few issues of the
Incredible Hulk (when Mantlo was the mag's writer, natch). Mantlo changed
Woodgod up quite a bit in succeeding appearances, making him "The Lawgiver" for an entire group of human/animal hybrid clones.
Hey Groovster!
ReplyDeleteI thought you covered Wood-God already. Other wise I would have asked to do this article on him. I forgot about the interview in FOOM#13. I guess as a teen, I really dug those off beat reject type characters. Wood-God, the 3-D Man,Manphibian,etc.
I really dug the art by Keith Giffen/Klaus Jansen & of course Byrne short run on MTU. Bill used Wood-God in the early 80's also in the Hulk. With a group of circus type freak/mutants like himself called the Changelings. Not sure if Marvel ever used him again. I think this would had made a great SF novel even. Minus the other Marvel superheroes.
If written more like a genetic engineering gone wrong. Along the lines of Logan's Run, Soylent Green,etc. I hope Marvel starts doing some of their lessner known heroes as movies or TV movies. Love to see this story brought to the big screen or small screen.
I love Woodgod!
ReplyDeleteWoodgod just made a cameo appearance in HULK #30, along with Impossible Man.
ReplyDeleteI thought Mantlo was rocking on all cylinders at that time. He produced some wonderfully Gerber-esque material that I loved
ReplyDeleteMan, that does take me back. I thought I was the only one with a soft spot for ol' woody. Wait a minute, that doesn't sound right!
ReplyDeletewood god had a good start.Ihope he appears again.
ReplyDeleteI've been wanting to re-read this issue of Marvel Premiere for ages now, so thanks for making it available. I found this issue of Woodgod fascinating as a kid, even though I didn't understand what the hell was going on with the whacky narration and the whole "scream" concept. I mean, I recall thinking at the time that it was probably a random word that Woodgod had appropriated and that it's meaning to him was different than how it was normally used, but it was confusing nonetheless. With the additional materials you provided - putting it all in context - it all makes a whole hell of a lot more sense to the adult me now.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Woodgod, I was really liked the design of the floaters in this issue and the hazmat suits worn by the agents. Everything really tied together to create the quintessential weird 1970s sci-fi comic.
Thanks again!