Straw Man (comics)

Straw Man
Publication information
Publisher Marvel Comics
First appearance Dead of Night #11 (August 1975)
Created by Scott Edelman (writer)
Rico Rival (artist)
In-story information
Notable aliases Scarecrow, Skirra Corvus
Abilities Superhuman strength
Invulnerable, except from fire
Fear inducement
Plant manipulation
Portal creation
Weather manipulation

The Scarecrow, later named the Straw Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The Scarecrow was created by writer Scott Edelman and artist Rico Rival and first appeared in Dead of Night #11 (August 1975).[1] Gil Kane and Bernie Wrightson provided the cover art.[2] Artist Bill Draut was to have drawn the first appearance of the Scarecrow but did not complete the assignment.[3] The Scarecrow was originally scheduled to appear as a feature in Monsters Unleashed and Giant-Size Werewolf but both of those series were cancelled before the Scarecrow feature could appear. It was then rescheduled for Dead of Night[4] and after that series was cancelled as well, the character was to have a self-titled Scarecrow series but it was not published.[5] Edelman and artist Ruben Yandoc produced a follow-up story which appeared in Marvel Spotlight #26 (February 1976),[6] and was eventually concluded by Bill Mantlo and Ron Wilson in Marvel Two-in-One #18 (August 1976).[7]

Many years later, he was brought back in the pages of Dr. Strange, Sorcerer Supreme #31 (July 1991)[8] in which he took on the name "Straw Man" to differentiate himself from the costumed killer the Scarecrow. He subsequently appeared in issues #38[9] and #40 meeting Daredevil in the latter issue.[10]

The Scarecrow did not speak in his early appearances, but in his later appearances he did and he pretended to be a newscaster named "Skirra Corvus", Latin for "Scarecrow."

Fictional character biography

The Scarecrow is an extra–dimensional magical entity, possibly a demon, which takes vengeance on its enemies. He lives inside a palimpsest painting of a laughing scarecrow purchased by Jess Duncan and opposes the centuries-old Cult of Kalumai.[1] The Scarecrow battled demons at a police station to recover the Horn of Kalumai, which would have allowed Kalumai to travel to Earth.[6] Kalumai later spread his influence through the painting into a man who was mutated into a fiery creature and then fought the Thing and the Scarecrow.[7] The Straw Man was invited by the Dweller-in-Darkness to join the Fear Lords, but he betrayed them to Doctor Strange.[10]

During the Fear Itself storyline, the Straw Man fought against Nightmare's attempt to use the fear brought by the Serpent to become the King of Fear.[11]

Powers and abilities

Straw Man possesses superhuman strength, plant and weather manipulation, the ability to command crows, the ability to create portals and induce fear in others. He is also invulnerable to anything except fire.[12]

Reception

The Straw Man was ranked #30 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 Edelman, Scott (w), Rival, Rico (p), Rival, Rico (i). "Enter: The Scarecrow" Dead of Night 11 (August 1975)
  2. ↑ "Dead of Night #11". Grand Comics Database.
  3. ↑ Edelman, Scott (April 18, 2015). "In which a trip to Hell's Kitchen reveals who was supposed to draw The Scarecrow first". ScottEdelman.com. Archived from the original on October 23, 2016.
  4. ↑ Edelman, Scott (w). "A Bit of Rag and a Clump of Straw (text article)" Dead of Night 11 (August 1975)
  5. ↑ Edelman, Scott (w). "letter column" Marvel Spotlight 26 (February 1976)
  6. 1 2 Edelman, Scott (w), Yandoc, Ruben (p), Yandoc, Ruben (i). "Death Waters of the River Styx" Marvel Spotlight 26 (February 1976)
  7. 1 2 Edelman, Scott; Mantlo, Bill (w), Wilson, Ron (p), Mooney, Jim; Adkins, Dan (i). "Dark, Dark Demon-Night!" Marvel Two-in-One 18 (August 1976)
  8. ↑ Thomas, Roy; Thomas, Dann; Lofficier, Jean-Marc (w), Alexander, Larry (p), DeZuniga, Tony (i). "TBOTV: A Gathering of Fear, Part 1" Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme 31 (July 1991)
  9. ↑ Thomas, Roy; Thomas, Dann; Lofficier, Jean-Marc; Lofficier, Randy (w), Isherwood, Geof (p), Sanders III, Jim (i). "Fear Itself The Great Fear, Part 1 of 3" Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme 38 (February 1992)
  10. 1 2 Lofficier, Jean-Marc; Lofficier, Randy; Thomas, Roy; Thomas, Dann (w), Isherwood, Geof (p), Sanders III, Jim (i). "From Hope and Fear Set Free...The Great Fear, Part 3 of 3" Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme 40 (April 1992)
  11. ↑ Denning, John (w), Elson, Richard (p), Elson, Richard (i). "The Terrorism Myth Conclusion" Journey into Mystery v4, 636 (June 2012)
  12. ↑ Christiansen, Jeff (May 22, 2012). "Straw Man". Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015.
  13. ↑ Buxton, Marc (October 30, 2015). "Marvel's 31 Best Monsters". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. This Scarecrow only had three Bronze Age appearance but he was bursting at the seams with potential (and with hellspun demonic straw).
  • Straw Man at the Comic Book DB
  • "Marvel Two-in-One #18". Marvel Two-in-One The Thing and The Ever-Lovin' Blue-Eyed Home Page!. n.d. Archived from the original on July 26, 2015.
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