THAT's right, it's the Man-Elephant, who got the short end of the stick with choosing his particular alias since the reverse order of the name had long since been solely associated with the 19th century Englishman Joseph Merrick; furthermore, unlike the Rhino, "elephant" wasn't something that could be shortened to informal usage.
As someone who came to be well known in public and business circles, Manfred Ellsworth Haller (get it--"Man El"? Of course you do) is looking to use his hydraulic super-suit to bring in the She-Hulk who is wanted for questioning by the police, reasoning that this new product that he's dreamed up will practically sell itself once it's used to capture his adversary for the Sheriff. But when Sheriff Walters refuses to sign off on such "vigilante assistance," Haller then takes his case to the air waves to lure the She-Hulk out of hiding, giving us a detailed rundown of this suit's capabilities.
Detachable tusks to use as weapons or grapplers may be innovative, but add to the impression that there are too many gears and channels at work in this suit that could lead to mechanical failure if it ends up taking a lot of punishment. And that time presents itself, as the perfect person to put it through its paces arrives on the scene--and with all the hounding she's received of late, the She-Hulk is feeling particularly savage today.
It certainly looks like curtains for the She-Hulk. But almost immediately, she surprises her foe and comes after him with a vengeance. Give the Man-Elephant his due (now those are words I never thought I'd be using), he makes a fight of it--but the fighting-mad She-Hulk proves to be too much for Man-Elephant 1.0.
The Man-Elephant in time would get a new name for himself, courtesy of a transformation caused by a shard of Seetorak (probably "Cyttorak") which transforms him into "the Behemoth." Much more suitable, Cy.
8 comments:
I bought this issue of She-Hulk and I recognised the cover instantly but I don't remember a single thing about the story even after reading the review!
By uncanny coincidence, I recently had access to those original Savage She-Hulk stories. That's the only way I recognized "Man-Elephant".
Those She-Hulk stories were almost unreadable. After years (decades) of the sassy, bon vivant superhero, this female caricature emulating her ferocious green cousin felt completely wrong.
Why wouldn't Haller have an elephant tie pin? He likes elephants. It's the only way to justify why he designed his suit in that style rather than some generic "Mandroid"-esque armour.
I wonder why he decided to prepend "Man" to his nomme-de-guerre? The Rhino isn't "Rhino Man" (or "Man-Rhino"). "The Elephant" has a slightly better ring, I'd say. Or is there an Elephant lurking out there in copyright land somewhere?
Kinda reminds me of Wonder Warthog!
There was a man-elephant in Woodgod's gang of changelings. No, come to think of it, I think the man-elephant was one of the evil changelings, opposing Woodgod's gang (in a Hulk story.)
Phillip
Not exactly, Phillip--that changeling was named "Elephantine," and didn't rely on a suit for his power. Good grief, now we have at least two elephant-themed characters out there, and I wouldn't be surprised if more turned up!
Colin, I'm shocked! What kind of True Believer are you? Then again, to this day I'm really not sure how Marvel defines a True Believer. Anyone have the 411 on it?
Murray, I can't say I'm partial to "the Elephant" (I'm having enough trouble with "Elephantine"), though precedent exists for that--after all, along with the Rhino there's the Scorpion, the Lizard, the Mandrill, the Falcon, et al. (There's even a few characters who call themselves the Spider, if memory serves.) For our friend Haller here, I'd vote for the Behemoth moniker.
Scott, I looked that up and was shocked to see that a character called Wonder Warthog actually made it to press! (And doubly shocked that he's referred to as The Hog Of Steel. Is the Man of Steel worried about WW stealing his thunder??)
The first time I ever read about this character was in a Marvel Superheroes RPG resource book, of all places. "Weapons Locker" gave game stats on several suits of armor in the Marvel Universe, including Man-Elephant. Gotta admire them for being thorough! I never read any Savage She-Hulk to see the fellow in action, though, so thanks for the write-up!
-david p.
I was gonna say Genesha...but no, I guess that's not too likely.
On another note, I'm glad Wonder Warthog is not completely forgotten.
More than ever, we need him now.
M.P.
Thorough indeed, David--frankly, apart from its innovative aspect, I'm surprised that among more advanced designs this gears-and-hydraulics suit made the cut! Haller may rank right up there with Fabian Stankowicz, IMO. :)
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