Ben Grimm is a member of the Fantastic Four that everyone wishes was their best friend! And he’s getting his own mini-series starting in March 2025!
Growing up, I used to wish I was Johnny Storm! You know, he was the guy who had the great fire powers, the young fellow who got all the girls and who fussed with Spider-Man, among others. However, the member of the FF I wished I was friends with was Ben Grimm, the Thing. Let’s face it—anyone who knew Ben had a bodyguard no one could intimidate!
Well, Ben Grimm is getting his own five-issue mini-series starting in March of next year, and it is named, simply enough, The Thing. For more on this book, check out this story here at MajorSpoilers.com.
Here’s the description of the book: “Ben Grimm may be the strongest member of the Fantastic Four, but once upon a time, he was just a scrawny kid from Yancy Street. When an unexpected visitor from his past sends him on a search for a missing child, the Thing must unravel the mystery even if that means becoming a wanted man! Get ready to see the Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Thing versus every super-powered criminal and bounty hunter in New York City! (Tony) Fleecs and (Leonard) Kirk give a glimpse into the history of the Thing that reminds you why Ben Grimm is the heart of the Marvel Universe…and why you don’t want to let him hear you say that!”
In a release from Marvel, Fleecs described Ben as “just a regular hardworking guy–who happens to have super powers.” I love who the writer compares Ben to: “He’s Jack Kirby. He’s not easily impressed by all of the outlandish, cosmic stuff constantly going on around him.”
Fleecs go on to say that what this book is trying to figure out is exactly “what WOULD surprise the Thing? What WOULD catch him off guard? In that spirit, we’re throwing every villain in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe at him.” He noted that “you’re gonna see ol’ Benjy clobby some guys he’s never clobbered before.”
If you look at the same cover provided in the same release, you see some faces who just might be in this mini-series, and that includes Galactus, Doctor Doom, the Mole Man, the Sandman, Medusa, the Wizard, Klaw, and several others. Looks like Ben has a whole lotta clobberin’ in his future!
The Thing is the most tragic of the members of the Fantastic Four. All the others can pass themselves off as human, but not Ben Grimm. The crazy thing is that Ben IS the most human and most relatable of the FF. Yet he’s stuck inside this stone body that makes it difficult to be accepted by many.
Of course, anyone familiar with the origin of the FF knows how he became the Thing. Reed Richards has built a spaceship, and he reminded Grimm of his previous promise to fly it. After the government denies him permission to fly the spaceship himself, Richards plots a clandestine flight piloted by Grimm and accompanied by Sue Storm, who had helped provide funding for the rocket, and her younger brother Johnny Storm, who helped the group gain access to the launch system. Although reluctant to fly the rocket, Ben is persuaded to do so by Sue, for whom he has a soft spot. During this unauthorized ride into the upper atmosphere of Earth and the Van Allen Belts, they are pelted by a cosmic ray storm and exposed to radiation against which the ship’s shields are no protection.
Upon crashing back on Earth, each of the four learn that they have developed amazing superhuman abilities. Grimm’s skin had been transformed into a thick, lumpy, orange hide, that gradually evolves into his now-familiar rocky exterior. Richards proposes the quartet band together to use their new abilities for the betterment of humanity, and Grimm, in a moment of self-pity, adopts the super-heroic name, the Thing.
There have been several attempts to get Ben to be able to transform from human form to the Thing, but they never have stuck. That’s what makes him so much more tragic than the others in this “family.” Still, he’s able to maintain an amazing sense of humor and an ability to deal with the “fantastic” happenings he and his group must combat.
He’s an interesting hero in that he’s built so strong that he can literally punch his way through many of the worst circumstances the FF comes across. He often ends up taking on heroes and villains who many think are better fighters than he is, including the Hulk, with whom he has a long-standing feud regardless of what is going on with the “green goliath” at the time.
There was a period of about nine years in which Ben had his own title called Marvel Two-in-One, and it featured him teaming up with another character from the Marvel Universe, sometimes an obscure person I wondered if Marvel was giving a shot at getting their own series.
Ben had 100 issues and seven annuals, and he teamed up with many Marvel mighties including Man-Thing, Sub-Mariner, Daredevil, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Thor, Iron Man, Power Man, Spider-Man, Black Goliath, Deathlok, Vision, and Hercules. And it was a fun read each time! Hey, he even worked with the Yancy Street Gang!
It says something that Ben could handle challenges with all kinds of characters while taking on a variety of baddies and tough situations. Again, he’s someone good to have around when you’re in trouble!
So, could this latest mini-series be Marvel testing the waters to see if Ben deserves another run with Marvel Two-in-One? If so, I’m interested! Ben is an “everyman” who can deal with the craziest of people around him while making sure the best possible outcome takes place! So, go Ben! I hope this book serves as a launching point for more books revolving around this new incarnation of Jack Kirby!
What do you think? Does Ben Grimm deserve another mini-series where he teams up with other interesting heroes or even villains? What Marvel characters should Ben work with? Who should he avoid like the plague? Feel free to share your opinions below! I hope you are having a happy holiday season!
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Wayne Hall creates the Wayne's Comics Podcast. He’s interviewed Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo, John Layman, Kyle Higgins, Phil Hester, Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, David Petersen, Christos Gage, Mike Grell, and Matt Kindt. On this site each week, he writes his "Comics Portal" column (general comics comments and previews) and reviews comics.