project-gladiator-at12-externalproject-gladiator-at12-internalPROJECT GLADIATOR

Membership:  (Dr. Paul Allen, Dr. Wilma Calvin, Dr. Barbara Morse, Dr. Ted Sallis (later the Man-Thing), Dr. Wendell, Jim, unidentified man, unidentified woman; unidentified nurse
    possibly Hamilton; although I think he was probably S.H.I.E.L.D., US Army, or other US government, rather than working out of Project Gladiator Base

Purpose: To develop a process that would change an ordinary soldier into an indestructible warrior (re-creating the lost "Super-Soldier" serum that created Captain America/Steve Rogers);
    Ted Sallis modified his SO-2 formula for this project, although many stories refer to the serum that created the Man-Thing as the SO-2 formula (see comments)

Aliases: Project: Gladiator is sometimes confused for Project: Sulfur (see clarifications)

Affiliations: S.H.I.E.L.D. (Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-enforcement Division), US Army;
    Belasco apparently facilitated the final development of Sallis' serum.

Enemies: A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics; ) A.I.M. group seeking results from Project Gladiator (Dr. Paul Allen, Jasper Petrie, Alan and his unidentified associate; agents Q-5, R-17, T-14, the agent who fell in the pit, and at least five others; the group that shot down the helicopter carrying in Allen, Ka-Zar, Morse, and Zabu; and presumably  Detail Three) and the group involved with Dr. Calvin's shooting (including the mob leader and the shooter, as well as 3-4 others who may have been locals manipulated by the mob leader, or who may also have been A.I.M. agents)

Base of Operations: Project Gladiator base in the Everglades swamps outside Citrusville, Florida

First Appearance: (Unidentified US government associated agency) Savage Tales I#1/3 (May, 1971);
    (as Project Gladiator) Astonishing Tales I#12 (June, 1972)

History:
project-gladiator-savt-sallislab(Spider-Man: Curse of the Man-Thing#1 (fb) - BTS) - Sallis asked for help from Curt Connors, a colleague from Empire State University, in developing the formula he needed for the super-soldier serum, but neither man seemed to have success.

(Savage Tales I#1/3 (fb) - BTS) - Employed by the U.S. Army, Sallis developed a process that would change an ordinary soldier into an indestructible warrior.

(Savage Tales I#1/3 (fb) - BTS / Astonishing Tales#12 (fb) - BTS / others (see comments)) - Ted Sallis was employed in Project Gladiator, a S.H.I.E.L.D. research program based in the Florida Everglades (unknown to all involved to be the Nexus of Realities) and aimed at re-creating the lost "Super-Soldier" serum that created Captain America.

(Astonishing Tales I#13 (fb) - BTS) - An agent of AIM, Paul Allen came to head a group with the mission of obtaining the results of Project Gladiator, a S.H.I.E.L.D. research program tasked with creating a process that would change an ordinary soldier into an indestructible warrior. To this end, he infiltrated and became a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. 

(Astonishing Tales I#8 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Paul became engaged to fellow S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and scientist Barbara Morse.

(Astonishing Tales I#12) - Drs. Barbara Morse and Paul Allen joined Project Gladiator, working with project head Dr. Ted Sallis, as well as Dr. Wilma Calvin and Dr. Wendell.

(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - S.H.I.E.L.D. agents warned the members of Project Gladiator about A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) who sought to obtain their super-soldier process.

(Astonishing Tales I#13 (fb) - BTS) - At some point, Barbara suspected that Paul was A.I.M.'s group leader.project-gladiator-at12-calvinexterior

(Savage Tales I#1/3 (fb) - BTS / Astonishing Tales#12 (fb) - BTS / others (see comments)) - Working separately from his colleagues, Sallis modified his SO-2 formula as the basis for a new Super-Soldier serum.

(Spider-Man: Curse of the Man-Thing#1 (fb) / X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing#1 (fb)) - Desperate to complete the project, Ted Sallis performed a mystic ritual and made a deal with the demon Belasco to solve the SO-2 formula: "A solution today for ruin tomorrow."

(Savage Tales I#1/3 (fb) - BTS) - Tired of being cooped up in a government lab, Sallis relocated, along with his girlfriend, Ellen Brandt, to a remote swamp cabin/lab in Citrusville; bringing Ellen violated security.

(Savage Tales I#1/3 (fb) - BTS) - Sallis met with his contact Hamilton multiple times, and Hamilton was consistently punctual.

(Savage Tales I#1/3 (fb) - BTS / others (see comments)) - The subversive organization A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics) wanted the serum and conspired with a bitter Ellen Brandt, whom Ted had neglected since their honeymoon, to obtain it.

(Savage Tales I#1 (fb) - BTS / Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - After Sallis completed the process and prepared to deliver it to Hamilton, Alan and another A.I.M. agent slew Hamilton. When Hamilton failed to show up for their meeting, Sallis sought him out and was confronted by the AIM agents. Having burnt his notes upon suspecting treachery, Sallis fled and injected himself with the only sample of his formula. Sallis was ultimately transformed into the monstrous Man-Thing who slew the two A.I.M. agent and burned and scarred Ellen's face.

(X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing#1 (fb)) - Having mixed "interdimensional magic" with his blood, Sallis' wreck unleashed the magic, tearing open a rough, little portal in space-time, creating the Nexus of All Realities.

(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Reports of the monstrous creature prevented locals from helping scouring the glades for evidence of Sallis, and it was feared that the same creature that had burnt Brandt had also killed Sallis.

    AIM agents further stirred up the local townspeople of Citrusville, accusing Dr. Wilma Calvin of being a witch and the project of building monsters.

project-gladiator-at12-calvininbase(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb)) - Feeling vague recognition that she could help him, the Man-Thing watched as Dr. Calvin trudged through the swampland. Seeing Jasper Petrie following Calvin with the intent to harm her, Man-Thing blocked Petrie, and when the terrified man pulled a gun, the Man-Thing grabbed and burnt his hand, causing Petrie to flee.

    Back to the Project Gladiator laboratory, an angry mob of five men led by an A.I.M. agent appeared, threatening to kill Barbara Morse unless they delivered Calvin -- whose experiments they blamed for creating the monster in the swamp -- to them, the Man-Thing felt anger and attacked. Smashing the bone and cartilage in one man's face with its fist, it picked another of the hostile group and threw him into two others before grabbing and fatally burning the face of the frightened agent who was holding Morse.

    Calvin was then shot in the back by one of the former mob that had hidden out in the wooded area.

(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - Calvin was stabilized at Project Gladiator, but she remained nearly comatose, occasionally reviving enough to murmur "Ted Sallis" or "Man-Thing."

(Astonishing Tales I#8 (fb) - BTS) <several weeks before Astonishing Tales I#12> - Seeking to recover Sallis before A.I.M. (who had orchestrated Sallis' betrayal) could do so, Paul and Barbara resolved to recruit the hunter-warrior Ka-Zar (Kevin, Lord Plunder) to accomplish this.project-gladiator-at12-int-calvinbed

(Astonishing Tales I#12) - Allen and Morse returned to Project Gladiator base with Ka-Zar and his sabre-toothed tiger, Zabu.

(Astonishing Tales I#12) - Man-Thing lurked outside Project Gladiator's base, stepping on and snapping a branch, leading Ka-Zar to investigate. As it wandered off, the Man-Thing fell into a pit-trap created by A.I.M. agents. As the Man-Thing hurled rocks and tree branches out of the pit, the A.I.M. agents were confronted by Ka-Zar, whom they ultimately knocked into the pit.

(Astonishing Tales I#13) - One of the A.I.M. agents blasted the Man-Thing with a laser weapon that (presumably dehydrated and ) incapacitated it. Ka-Zar's companion Zabu arrived and attacked the AIM agents, causing them to flee. The Man-Thing was then carried back to Project Gladiator base on a horse-driven wagon and placed within a cage.

    Recovering and hearing the mention of Dr. Calvin, the Man-Thing passed its muck-form around the bars to escape the cage.

    Later, at the AIM base, after Paul Allen revealed his true nature as A.I.M. project leader, took Barbara Morse hostage, and threatened to kill Dr. Calvin, the Man-Thing smashed its way into the building. Unharmed by Allen's bullets, the creature picked the terrified terrorist, frying his face and apparently killing him. Ka-Zar tried to save Allen, but the Man-Thing slapped him away. Still retaining some memory of his past life, the Man-Thing grunted and pointed to the exist, leading Ka-Zar, Zabu and Barbara Morse to flee with Dr. Calvin, after which the Man-Thing pulled a self-destruct lever, blowing up the building with it still inside.

(Astonishing Tales#20 (fb) - BTS) - Dr. Calvin recovered and went back on the job.

(Astonishing Tales#19 - BTS) - Victorius (empowered by another Super-Soldier serum variant of his own design), allied with the Plunderer and Gemini (Damian & Joshua Link), kidnapped Barbara Morse to learn S.H.I.E.L.D.'s progress in re-creating the Super-Soldier serum. Fury sent Ka-Zar to rescue her, and he gave Ka-Zar their Super-Soldier serum to take with him in case he needed it to rescue Morse. As he approached the kidnappers' castle base, Ka-Zar decided he was better off using his own abilities and foolishly tossed the Super Soldier serum-containing vial into a field.

(Astonishing Tales#20 (fb) - BTS) - A.I.M. agents recovered the vial.

(Astonishing Tales#20) - Freed by Ka-Zar, Barbara recovered the vial from the A.I.M. agents and reported this to Fury. Aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Dr. Calvin was pleased to hear Barbara's report, but she asked if Ka-Zar was still OK, and Fury instructed her to "tuck that vial away in some safe unmentionable, leave your transmitter on, and git your tail in there and bring 'im out!" When Barbara came upon the scene where Victorius prepared to battle Ka-Zar, Barbara tossed him the vial so he could fight Victorius on equal terms, but he denounced it as unnatural and threw it into the fire , then defeated Victorius on his own.

    With the only existing serum sample destroyed and herself being the only one alive who knew the formula, Dr. Calvin decided that she agreed with Ka-Zar and refused Fury's orders to make a new sample.

(Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#4) - After the Man-God (Maa-Gor), who held Ka-Zar and Barbara prisoner in the Savage Land, made an extortion threat to S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury told Dr. Calvin that this was exactly why she had to come up with a new sample of the Super-Soldier serum. Dr. Calvin explained that she saw the serum as a double-edged sword that could be used against them, and that Barbara would have to handle things without the serum.

(Hawkeye & Mockingbird#6 (fb)) - Following up a rumor of a regular modern-day fountain of youth, aging adventurer Dominic Fortune discovered the abandoned Project Gladiator lab in Florida. Though most of it had been blown up, he uncovered some files and a few sealed vials. One file caught his eye, marked Super-Soldier and written by Doctor Barbara Morse. Fortune had a scientific buddy recreate the formula as best he could, then drank it. It de-aged him, though it also induced temporary amnesia.

(Weapon Plus: World War Four (fb) - BTS) - The paramilitary organization Blackgrass somehow stole from Ted Sallis' research, and Andrew Plimpton, a former Department of Defense official was the scientist in charge, seeking to replicate the Weapon IV super-soldier. All of his previous test subjects died.

    Investigating toxic runoff and disposal from Blackgrass' lab causing deformities in the flora and fauna in the surrounding area, Jackson Strode was captured and became Plimpton's lab rat. Strode survived, eventually becoming a sentient, Man-Thing like creature known as Man-Slaughter.

(Mockingbird: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary#1 (fb) - BTS) - Fury had Dr. Calvin's S.H.I.E.L.D. funding cut and as a result she lost her position at Georgia Tech.

Comments: Created by Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas, and Gray Morrow;
    fleshed out by Len Wein, Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, John Buscema, and Dan Adkins.

The Whole Deal:

    I don't have all references for all of the ret-con information that's been added to the Man-Thing's origin. The initial story in Savage Tales referenced the creation of a "super-soldier," but there was no mention of the Super-Soldier serum, S.H.I.E.L.D., A.I.M., Project Gladiator (or Calvin or Morse or anyone else), Project Sulfur, the Nexus of All-Realities, or any of the other elements that showed up later in his stories. I'm starting a lengthy (probably at least a few years) project of profiling the Man-Thing (Ted Sallis), and I'll try to sort out all of the original references to all of those things as I go.

    In Astonishing Tales I#12, A.I.M. was identified as the business that hired Ellen; the project Sallis was working was identified as Project Gladiator; the project was identified as working under S.H.I.E.L.D.; and the term "super-soldier" was used.

    (Adventure into) Fear#16 (September, 1973) has the Man-Thing briefly recall Ted Sallis' memories, where Sallis was considering that he had found "a serum to alter humans -- make them able to breathe pollutants."

    In Man-Thing I#3 (March, 1974), the Foolkiller (Ross G. Everbest) was targeting Ted Sallis because he was "...invented Serum SO-2. The fool tried to play God -- by creating the means to make man a pollution-breathing creature."
    As far as I can tell, that's the first reference of the SO-2...I'm not honestly certain whether it is S0-2 or SO-2, or what it was supposed to stand for...

    Daredevil I#113 (September, 1974) has Candace Nelson researching Operation: Sulfur, which was the work of Theodore Sallis on a serum known as "Formula SO-2...a serum which would change men into pollution-breathing monsters so that the economy and the population could continue to grow despite the inevitable result of such unchecked growth: The depletion of natural resources and the poisoning of the air and waters."

    See the Clarifications. I'll get to Project: Sulfur in the future.

    Not a huge fan of the ret-con of having Belasco being involved with the development of Sallis' formula, but it's in print, and -- other than the SO-2 formula reference being inaccurate...or having Sallis crash into a tree instead of through a fence and into the swamp...you, know, because it was in the swamp that the Man-Thing was created, not sitting in his car in front of a tree -- it doesn't contradict original it does work for an origin of the Nexus of All-Realities. As our own Loki pointed out, even if the nexus has been shown to have existed prior to the Man-Thing's creation, the portal was created in space-time, and the time portion means it could have been created retro-actively.
    X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing also refers to the project on which Sallis was working as Project: Goliath, but that's presumably a mistake...unless there was indeed some Project Goliath on which Sallis was simultaneously working...almost certainly not...

    The flashback in Astonishing Tales#12 seems pretty clearly to have been meant to be a sequel to the Savage Tales#1. It had different art from the main story in the style of the Savage Tales story.

    Thanks to Loki for identifying when Weapon Plus was first associated with the Man-Thing.
    This profile was completed 09/07/2025, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event to represent Man-Thing.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Project Gladiator should be distinguished from:

Jimproject_gladiator-man-thing-jim
    Jim was either a doctor or a technician involved with Project Gladiator and working out of their base in the Everglades swamps outside Citrusville, Florida.

    He wore a lab apron, and he was apparently experienced with the use of a shotgun (or rifle)

(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb)) - Not long after Ted Sallis' disappearance, Dr. Wilma Calvin returned to Project Gladiator base where she asked Jim if anything had yet been heard regarding Dr. Sallis.

    Jim told her that they unfortunately had not heard anything, and that Dr. Morse had gone out looking for him. project_gladiator-man-thing-jim-gun

    Jim further noted that they had their hands full just handling the crank calls from the townspeople, and he noted his suspicion that somebody was stirring them up.

    Dr. Calvin confirmed this, tell him it was A.I.M., the spy-group S.H.I.E.L.D. had warned them about. Nonetheless, she insisted they would keep working toward their goal of creating an indestructible super-soldier with or without Sallis.

    They were interrupted by a shout from outside by an angry mob of five men (the leader of whom, at least, was an A.I.M. agent) who were holding Barbara Morse hostage. They threatened to kill Morse unless those inside delivered "the witch-woman" (Calvin) -- whose experiments they blamed for creating the monster (or monsters, they said) in the swamp -- to them.

    Armed with a shotgun, Jim joined Drs. Calvin and Paul Allen outside. Jim told Dr. Calvin to let "us" (presumably Jim and Dr. Allen, whom he was unaware was secretly the leader of the A.I.M. agents who threatened the project) handle this. He further noted, "We'll shoot the first one who takes a step closer" (presumably indicating that Dr. Allen had a gun, too, although it isn't seen on panel).

    However, the man holding Morse warned that if he did, he would kill Morse.

(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb) - BTS) - However, the Man-Thing then ambushed the group, savagely beating several of them. At least one of them fled into the woods, from where he shot Dr. Calvin the back.

Note: The fact that Dr. Calvin calls him Jim doesn't give any indication of whether he's a doctor or not, because she calls Dr. Allen "Paul" seconds earlier.

    Beyond this flashback, Jim isn't seen or referenced again as far as I know.

    Unless it is listed somewhere else, we don't get a last name, either.
project_gladiator-man-thing-whoddat-guyunidentified male

    Barely noticeable, on the far right of the panel where Paul was talking to Dr. Calvin, there is a sliver of a guy's face.

    It's not Paul Allen or Jim, both of who were also in the panel in the panel (see the top right main image)

    It's not Hamilton (who was probably S.H.I.E.L.D. or other US government, rather than working out of Project Gladiator Base) who was, significantly dead before the time of this story.

    It could be Dr. Wendell, who isn't otherwise seen in this flashback. His hairline would be telling, but we don't see him above his eyebrows.

(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb)) - Not long after Ted Sallis' disappearance, he was present as Dr. Calvin discussed A.I.M. stirring up the locals and vowing that they would continue their work with or without Sallis.

    He was not seen when the mob demanded Dr. Calvin and were battered by the Man-Thing; during this confrontation, Dr. Calvin was shot in the back by one of the angry mob who had escaped.

--Astonishing Tales I#12
unidentified femaleunidentified female

    Underneath Dr. Calvin's arm, we see an unidentified woman.

    It's not Barbara Morse, because she was out in the swamp alone looking for Sallis, and seconds later she showed up as a hostage to an angry mob demanding Dr. Calvin.

     It could be the nurse seen in the image by Dr. Calvin's bed.

(Astonishing Tales I#12 (fb)) - Not long after Ted Sallis' disappearance, she was present as Dr. Calvin discussed A.I.M. stirring up the locals and vowing that they would continue their work with or without Sallis.

    She was not seen when the mob demanded Dr. Calvin and were battered by the Man-Thing; during this confrontation, Dr. Calvin was shot in the back by one of the angry mob who had escaped.

 --Astonishing Tales I#12

images: (without ads)
Savage Tales I#1/3, pg. 4, panel 2 (Sallis and Ellen in his remote lab);
Astonishing Tales I#12, pg. 8, panel 3 (main facility, exterior; partially blocked by Ka-Zar's hair);
           panel 7 (Dr. Wendell with Allen, Morse, Ka-Zar & nurse by Calvin's bed);
        flashback story, pg. 3, panel 3 (Calvin & exterior of building);
            panel 4 (Calvin, Allen, Jim & unidentified male (possibly Dr. Wendell) in lab);
            panel 5 (Calvin, Allen & unidentified woman (possibly nurse) in lab);
          pg. 4, panel 5 (Jim with shotgun, by Dr. Calvin and Paul Allen)

Appearances:
Savage Tales I#1/3 (May, 1971) - Gerry Conway & Roy Thomas (writer), Gray Morrow (art), Roy Thomas (associate editor), Stan Lee (editor)
Astonishing Tales I#12 (June, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema (penciler), Dan Adkins (inker), Stan Lee (editor);
    Man-Thing flashback sequence written by Len Wein and drawn by Neal Adams.
Astonishing Tales I#13 (August, 1972) - Roy Thomas (writer), John Buscema & Rich Buckler (penciler), Dan Adkins (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
 Astonishing Tales#19 (August, 1973) - Mike Friedrich (writer), Dan Adkins & Jim Starlin (pencils), Jack Abel (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Astonishing Tales#20 (October, 1973) - by Mike Friedrich (writer), Marie Severin (penciler), Werner Roth (inker), Stan Lee (editor)
(Adventure into) Fear#16 (September, 1973) - Steve Gerber (writer), Val Mayerik (penciler), Sal Trapani (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Man-Thing I#3 (March, 1974) - Steve Gerber (writer), Val Mayerik (penciler), Jack Abel (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Ka-Zar: Lord of the Hidden Jungle#4 (July, 1974) - by Bullpen West (plot), Mike Friedrich (writer), Don Heck (penciler), Mike Royer (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Daredevil I#113 (September, 1974) - Steve Gerber (writer), Bob Brown (artist), Vince Colletta (inker), Roy Thomas (editor)
Hawkeye & Mockingbird#6 (January 2011) - Jim McCann (writer), David Lopez (pencils), Alvaro Lopez (inks), Bill Rosemann (editor)
Mockingbird: S.H.I.E.L.D. 50th Anniversary#1 (November, 2015) - Chelsea Cain (writer), Joölle Jones (artist), Jon Moisan (editor)
Weapon Plus: World War Four (January, 2020) - Benjamin Percy (writer), Georges Janty (penciler), Wayne Faucher & Marc Deering (inkers), Chris Robinson (editor), Jordan D. White (senior editor)
Spider-Man: Curse of the Man-Thing#1 (June, 2021) - Steve Orlando (writer), Marco Failla with Minkyu Jung (artist), Tom Groneman (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (editor)
 X-Men: Curse of the Man-Thing#1 (July, 2021) - Steve Orlando (writer), Andrea Broccardo (artist), Tom Groneman (assistant editor), Mark Paniccia (editor)

First started: 01/05/2020
First posted: 09/02/2026
Last updated: 08/27/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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