When a figure from his past comes looking for help, Ben Grimm is compelled to return to the old neighborhood and deep into his past. Your Major Spoilers review of The Thing #1 awaits!
THE THING #1
Writer: Tony Fleecs
Artist: Justin Mason
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Darren Shan
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: May 21st, 2025
Previously in The Thing: Ben Grimm has been fighting threats from all across the universe with his family, The Fantastic Four. But before all of that, he was just a kid growing up on Yancy Street, getting into scraps and just trying to survive being a kid in a world full of bullies.
YANCY STREET CALLS
The Thing #1 opens with a radio DJ putting out the call that a bounty has been put on Ben Grimm and that anyone who thinks they’re tough enough should step up. Things then flash back to the previous day as Ben and the rest of The Fantastic Four are fighting a monster in The Negative Zone. Afterwards, just as he’s about to head to bed he’s interrupted by the arrival of someone at The Baxter Building. It turns out to be one of his old bullies from Yancy Street who needs help because his niece has gone missing. Ben reluctantly agrees and they set out to meet a person named Mel who might have some information. They arrive at a bar and The Thing discovers that the Mel in question is Melvin Potter also known as The Gladiator. Ben tries to speak to him, but Mel is in a state and is speaking cryptically and the two begin to tussle. A sucker punch knocks The Thing’s mind back in time for a moment and we get a glimpse of his past. In the present, the two continue to fight, but little do they realize, some curious eyes are watching.
BACK TO THE STREETS
The Thing #1 takes doesn’t take long at all to establish its tone and feel. In the first couple of panels you see some of the influence movies like The Warriors have on this issue. This sort of grounded urban tale feel carries throughout the issue. While of course The Thing will always be known as part of The Fantastic Four and is often found on their cosmic adventures, it is nice to see him get a good old-fashioned street-level adventure, complete with all the familiar faces of these types of tales like Turk, Melvin Potter, and Kingpin. We also get a great character moment from The Thing with the whole fight with The Gladiator. They make it very clear that Melvin is outmatched, but The Thing lets him wail on him as he tries to pull some iota of info from the raging man. It’s a great display of how while The Thing is known for clobberin’, he’s equally known for his heart. What works best in this issue though is the simplicity of the plot. While it already has laid the groundwork for things to ramp up and get far more complicated, what we get here is a simple thing “A little girl has gone missing from your old neighborhood, find her”, this simple premise gives the whole thing a nice detective story tint, without having to go full noir.
MAYBE GOING TOO FAR BACK
I really liked most of the art and visuals in The Thing #1. It definitely kept with the throwback feel that the whole issue has with some of the costuming and background elements looking like they’re pulled out of the past. We even get a glimpse at The Kingpin in his old yellow vest and purple pants. Also, there’s a lot of onomatopoeia usage that’s not just there for utility purposes but are integrated into the scene in bold ways. There’s only one section of this issue that I didn’t really care for and that’s when we get a little flashback to Ben Grimm’s childhood. During this section the art gets thrown back even further with heavy Ben Day dot usage. It’s a cute little thing to make it seem like an earlier time period, but it mostly comes off as cheesy and sort of gimmicky.
BOTTOM LINE: SHOWCASING DONE THE RIGHT WAY
The Thing #1 is a comic that just works. In terms of it being an interesting start to a series, yep it has that covered. As a fun detective style story that utilizes its setting well? Yep, does that too. But the thing it does the best is that it puts the spotlight on its main character in a way that not only makes him seem cool in these pages but also highlights his place in the universe as a whole in a subtle but understandable way. 4.5 out of 5 stars.
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The Thing #1
The Thing #1 is an effective opener to this series that has a fun tone with some cool influences. It also manages to highlight The Thing’s more subtle qualities and not just its strength and fighting abilities, but we do get plenty of that as well.
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Writing10
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Art10
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Coloring8
At a young age, Jonathan was dragged to a small town in Wisconsin. A small town in Wisconsin that just so happened to have a comic book shop. Faced with a decision to either spend the humid summers and bitter winters traipsing through the pine trees or in climate controlled comfort with tales of adventure, horror, and romance, he chose the latter. Jonathan can often be found playing video games, board games, reading comics and wincing as his “to watch” list grows wildly out of control.