The gem started glowing... and the monster started growing... and growing... and growing... until it had become a... (dare I say it)... Giant-Size Man-Thing! 
Appearing in "The Duck & the Muck"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Ellen Brandt (Cameo)
- Howard the Duck
- Namor the Sub-Mariner (Cameo)
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
Synopsis for "The Duck & the Muck"
Mister Termineous, having just abducted young Job Burke takes him out for ice cream. Job wants to know what the strange man has planned for him, but Termineous isn't forthright with his objectives just yet.
In the Florida Everglades, Ellen Brandt and the Man-Thing encounter the Cult of Entropy. They have in their possession, a bound and slightly ill Howard the Duck. Ellen takes off running, and the Man-Thing advances towards the cult. One of the cult members dices him with a pair of electro-coils and the Man-Thing collapses into a pile of bifurcated lumps of vegetation. He soon reconstitutes his form and finds that the leader of the cult, the diseased and malformed Mahapralaya, plans on eviscerating Howard in order to retrieve a fragment of the Nexus of All Realities. Howard is surprised to learn that he possesses such a thing and had previously attributed his illness to a bad case of gas. Mahapralaya, in his nihilistic quest to destroy all reality, believes that by destroying even a single piece of the Nexus, the Nexus as a whole cannot be repaired. The Man-Thing, chosen guardian of the Nexus, instinctively moves towards Howard. He concentrates his physical form and enters Howard's body through his mouth.
Meanwhile in Brooklyn, New York, Mr. and Mrs. Burke talk to the police about their missing son. They cannot explain his disappearance and Gwyneth fears that the authorities may blame them for some sort of wrongdoing.
Back in the Everglades, Howard the Duck regurgitates the Man-Thing's biological matter. When the Man-Thing reforms, he is twice his normal size and is now in possession of the Nexus fragment that was previously lodged inside of Howard's being. The Man-Thing attacks Mahapralaya and burns him with his corrosive touch. However, the Man-Thing's powers, working in concert with the Nexus shard, produce an expected result. Rather than burning Mahapralaya's face, it actually heals his disease-ridden body, turning him into a normal person. Mahapralaya staggers off into the swamp.
Trivia
- In this issue, the Cult of Entropy is said to recruit members through their website www.putrescence.com . The domain for sale as of 2020, and it was apparently not active back in 1998, when the comic-book was published. Between 2003 and 2008, it was the website of a Canadian metal band.