Thing (comics)

This article is about the comic book character. For other meanings of thing, see Thing (disambiguation).

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Benjamin Jacob "Ben" Grimm aka The Thing is a fictional character from the Marvel Universe, a founding member of the superhero team the Fantastic Four under the guise of the superstrong Thing. He was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby and first appeared in Fantastic Four #1 (1961). His trademark cry of "It's clobberin' time!" is one of the most recognizable catchphrases in all comics.

Contents

1 Character biography 2 Powers and abilities 3 In other media 4 Trivia 5 Bibliography 5.1 Solo titles and lead features 5.2 Reprints 6 External links

Character biography

The cantakerously lovable, cigar-smoking native of the Lower East Side is popularly recognized as being the alter-ego of Kirby. Pilot Ben Grimm accompanied by long-time friend and scientist Reed Richards, his fiancee Susan Storm and her brother Johnny Storm took an experimental ride into the upper atmosphere of Earth where they were unluckily pelted by a cosmic ray storm. Upon crashing down to Earth each of the four learned that they had developed fantastic superpowers. Grimm had been transformed initially into a lumpy orange thing, and later into the more familiar massive orange humanoid pile of slightly jagged earthy rock. Richards proposed the quartet band together to use their new abilities for the betterment of humanity and Grimm, in a moment of self-pity, adopted the superheroic sobriquet of the Thing.

Trapped in his monstrous form Grimm was an unhappy yet reliable member of the team. He trusted in his friend Reed Richards to one day develop a cure for his condition. However, when he encountered blind sculptress Alicia Masters, Grimm developed a subconscious resistance to being transformed back to his human form. Fearing that Masters preferred him to remain in the monstrous form of the Thing, Grimm's body rejected various attempts by Richards to restore his human form lest he lose the love of Masters. His subconscious fear kept him in his rocky form and Grimm remained a stalwart member of the Fantastic Four for years. He left the team when he opted to remain on an alien planet where he could control his transformation to and from his rocky superpowered form. Upon returning to Earth he learned that Masters had become romantically involved with his partner Johnny Storm while he was absent. Grimm wallowed in self-pity for a time but eventually returned to his surrogate family and even became the leader of the Fantastic Four for a time.

After being further mutated into a more monstrous rocky form and briefly being changed back to his human form, Grimm has once more returned to his traditional orange rocky form. He remains a steadfast member of the Fantastic Four and one of the most easily recognizable characters of the Marvel Universe.

According to interviews, writer Jack Kirby had intended Ben Grimm to be sort of an alter ego of himself. However, as was usual for comic-book characters of that era, no religion was publicly mentioned. A recent issue of the Fantastic Four made the news - especially many major American Jewish newspapers - when Grimm was revealed to be Jewish in the 2002 issue "Remembrance of Things Past".

Powers and abilities

The Thing possesses superhuman strength, speed, endurance, and durability. The cosmic ray bombardment caused his musculature, bone structure, internal organ composition, soft-tissue structure and skin to greatly increase in toughness and density as a rock like substance. The Thing can exert himself at high levels for about a day before being significantly weakened by the effort. His reflexes have remained at their above average human levels despite his greater mass. The Thing's lungs are of greater volume and efficiency than a normal man, enabling him to hold his breath underwater for several times longer than a normal human. The Thing's five senses can withstand greater amounts of sensory stimuli than he could when he was a normal human being, with no reduced sensitivity.

The Thing's body is able to withstand temperature extremes for some time before feeling the effects. He can withstand the effects of armor-piercing shells against his skin with no injury. He is still susceptible to colds, disease, and emotional stress.

Unlike in the case of the Hulk, the Thing has suffered no loss in intelligence or change in personality in his transformation to his monstrous form, as he does not suffer from Banner's multiple personality disorder (which predates Banner becoming the Hulk). In addition, Ben's gruff speech, mannerism and his tendency to do the major physical labor of Reed Richard's projects hide the fact that he is an intelligent and educated person in his own right which often leads to enemies underestimating him.

In other media

Although The Thing has always been closely identified with the Fantastic Four, he did appear as a solo character in a bizarre early-1980s spinoff of the animated series The Flintstones entitled Fred and Barney Meet The Thing. For this series, the origin of The Thing was changed. Now, he was a teenager named "Benjy" Grimm who was able to change himself into The Thing with the use of a magic ring. Despite the title of the series, The Thing hardly ever encountered the Flintstones characters.

The Thing appears in the unreleased 1994 Fantastic Four movie produced by Roger Corman as well as the blockbuster 2005 film released by 20th Century Fox. He is portrayed by Michael Bailey Smith in the former and Michael Chiklis in the latter.

In addition, he has been a regular in the Fantastic Four cartoons, with a more conventional origin.

Trivia

• The Thing's alias as Blackbeard the Pirate originates with one of the first issues of the Fantastic Four comic book, in which Doctor Doom (making his debut appearance) sends The Thing, Mr. Fantastic and Human Torch back in time to retrieve Blackbeard's treasure. Through misadventure, however, it is The Thing who actually becomes known as Blackbeard.
• In Neil Gaiman's 1602, his power is associated with the classical element of earth.

Bibliography

See also bibliography of Fantastic Four titles

Solo titles and lead features

• Strange Tales (1951 series) #124-134 (September 1964 – July, 1965)
• Marvel Two-in-One #1-100 (January, 1974 – June, 1983)
• Marvel Two-in-One Annual #1-7 (1976 – 1982)
• The Thing, #1-36 (July, 1983 – June, 1986)
• Marvel Graphic Novel #29 (November, 1987)
• Thing and She-Hulk: The Long Night oneshot (May, 2005)
• The Thing: Freakshow #1-4 (August – November, 2002)
• Startling Stories: The Thing #1-5 (June – October, 2003)
• Hulk/Thing: Hard Knocks #1-4 (November, 2004 – February, 2005; also published as a trade paperback, 2005)
• What if Dr. Doom Had Become the Thing? oneshot (February, 2005)
• Marvel Adventures: Tales of the Thing oneshot (May, 2005)

Reprints

• Warlock #6 (May, 1983, also collected with #1-5 in 1992 trade paperback; reprints MTIO Annual #2)
• The Thing: The Project Pegasus Saga trade paperback (1988; reprints MTIO #53-58, 60)
• Adventures of the Thing #1-4 (April, 1992 – July, 1992; reprints MTIO #50, 80, 51, 77)
• Marvel's Greatest Super Battles trade paperback (1994; includes reprints MTIO Annual #7)
• Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine #5 (February, 1995; includes reprint of MTIO #50)
• Thunderbolts: Marvel's Most Wanted trade paperback (1998; includes reprints of MTIO #54, 56)

External links

• BeliefNet article on Ben Grimm and Jewish comic book writers (http://www.beliefnet.com/story/113/story_11303_1.html)pt:Coisa