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Mebbe he ain't no Hulk... but what's not to like about Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew?
I mean, Marvel's The Thing of course!
Myself, I've never really been a big fan of the Fantastic Four... dunno why really... Let's just say it "didn't work" with me...
Mister Fantastic's maybe too fantastic, Sue Storm aka the Invisible Woman not that interesting as a character probably and I only liked the Human Torch guest starring alongside or teaming up with Spider-man not as the nervous annyoing FF cool brat...
Anyway, the Thing's always been a favorite of mine, great original character with a great personality.
Let's check out some of the very rare Trade Paperbacks printed about the guy'.
The Thing is one of the members of the Fantastic Four comic book series from the Marvel Universe.
He was co-created by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee.
And to this day, in the hand of good writers, always has this old school vibe, this nostalgia of Marvel comics' golden age.
His personality is pure Stan Lee-ism.
He always seems a bit depressed, thinking about the good old days or even a bit lost in the Fantastic Four more cosmic tales.
Ben Grimm was one of the four pilots who was irradiated by Cosmic Rays and was transformed into a superhero, one of the very first with the rest of the FF superheroes of the Marvel U.
Unlike the others, Ben can't "turn off" is super powers and lives most of the times (when Reed Richards or a bizarre turn of events doesn't change him back/worse) as our orange big giant fellow.
His skin and most of his flesh was turned into a rock-like texture.
Ben gets along with most of the others Marvel U heroes and had a long time rival/friendship with Bruce Banner aka The Hulk.
He doesn't like being treated as a monster and seems to prefer solitude to the big celebrity life the FF live on, since they don't use secret identities nor a secret lair and are as much public as superheroes go.
Let's dig in the comics, okay? :'3
Comic title: The Thing: Freakshow Written by Geoff Johns (Todd DeZago for the one-shot)
Art by Scott Kolins (Brian Hitch, Ivan Reis, Paul Neary and Randy Emberlin for the one-shot)
Format: Trade collecting The Thing: Freakshow #1–4 and Thing & She-Hulk: The Long Night
Our grumpy hero takes some time off the Fantastic Four.
Why does his life suck so much? No luck, no girlfriend, no cool powers...
But one ugly mug and being insulted as a monster every day...
Ben decides to go around, have his little journey, finds and old carnival he almost forgot about.
Then he finds monsters just like him... and ends up stuck in an alien war between Skrulls, Krees and Watchers!!
Overall: One of the very few books Geoff Johns, one of my favorite writers, did at Marvel! Just for that fact alone you should get this book!
But the story is very original, fun and different from other superhero comics as well.
Scott Kolins art is A-MAZING!!
The Thing rediscovers the hero beneath the rocks in such a crazy tale!
Plus a one-shot, The Thing & She-Hulk, is collected in here for the first time finally. It's not as epic nor original but it shows some Ben and She-Hulk interaction, which doesn't happen that much.
Check it out~
I give this one a: 2.5 / 3 Score!
Comic title: Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks Written by Bruce Jones
Art by Jae Lee
Format: Trade collecting Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks #1–4 plus GIANT-SIZE SUPER STARS #1
The Thing and The Hulk meet again to fight it out one more time...
Or not really..?
The two long time friends/rivals have a little chat in the middle of nowhere, retelling the good golden years and letting the punches fly at the same time.
Overall: This is quite a unique story.
More about their relationship, as giant monsters and "ugly" brothers than the fight itself.
The story is decent, not great, but decent.
The real winner of this book is the artwork for me. Jae Lee art is...well, art!
Ben doesn't look very rock-ysh, but both giants are quite impressive and spectacular in size.
Though I gotta warn you, it may not be for everyone, not everbody likes Jae Lee's style, check preview online before!
There's also a reprint of an old school fight, the greatest of them all, between the Jade Giant and Aunt Petunia's favorite nephew! Fun and better written than the principal feature. (there! I said it!)
I give this one a: 2 / 3 Score!
Comic title: The Thing: Idol of Millions Written by Dan Slott
Art by Andrea Divito, Kieron Dwyer and Laura Villari.
Format: Trade collecting The Thing #1–8
The Thing brand new series! Well, short series, Marvel canceled the show before it reached it's peak of popularity at issue 8...
Anyway, in this new chapter of Ben Grimm's life, our ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing becomes rich!
He tries to live the life he couldn't afford before, meets tons of new people, encounters some villains and has a look back on the place he grew up.
Ben goes back to his roots, Yancy Streets. There he gets back to where he should have been, helps back the people that made him who he is today (the man beneath the rock, not the rock itself!).
Alongside his adventures he has some guest stars pop up in his book.
Pokes fun at Spider-man current status quo.
And at the end of the day, has a truly epic competition, a Marvel superhero poker tournament with ton of great cameos. (and let me just say Great Lakes
Overall: This is a truly fantastic book!
I'm still mad at Marvel (editor in chief Joe Quesada & co specially) to have canceled this on-going title!
At least, it still works as a 8 issues book.
Dan Slott knows his Marvel U stuff and loves the characters. He has a blast showing the Thing on these misadventures and even takes the occasion to bring some of his favorite - the GLA - back. Awesome.
The Thing is perfectly in character, fun and a great deep character at heart, behind is simplistic design & powers.
The art changes for the last arc, but it doesn't annoy nor detract from the story.
Spidey makes quite a fun cameo in there!
This is a fantastic book and a must read/have for any FF, Marvel or Thing-fan out there!
And you won't be lost in continuity issues if you have been kept up-to-date with the Marvel Universe.
Great story that looks back on the Thing character, uses fun obscure cameos for fans and in such an enjoyable story.
Get this one, if you should only have one FF book in your library!
I give this one a: 3 / 3 Score!
And that is all for this time!
Sure, the Thing appeared in a ton of Fantastic Four, Avengers and other Marvel comics, but those were the ones I wanted to shine some light on.
Thankfully this isn't all of the Thing comics that have been released over the years. But the only ones to have been reprinted and collected over the years....
There was an on-going comic book series called simply The Thing (1983–1986).
And in 2003 a 4 issues miniseries called The Thing: Night Falls on Yancy Street as well.
The on-going series one was cancelled due to...no real reasons :/
ReplyDeleteIt got solid sales, from what I've read... Probably Marvel making some space to better include Thing in the FF epic storyline maybe... Oh well :/
Have you read Spiderman/Human Torch?
ReplyDelete