Recently in The Thing Category

The Thing pinup by John Byrne, featured in the Fantastic Four Special Edition that I yakked up two weeks ago.  Byrne portrayed Ben Grimm as he appeared in the early issues of the FF, somewhat lumpy in places, rather than his modern rocky design.  Nuff said!

John Byrne originally gave this tutorial as a pinup page in the Thing #5 (1983).  Byrne's third and fourth rules were especially important to artists who followed him:  Avoid the Fozzie Thing!  He is a monster, not a teddy bear!  Keep him craggy! Nuff said.

Here's a charming pinup of the Thing and his nephew Franklin Richards that Mike Deodato drew, somewhere around 2007.  Doesn't it just make you go awwwhhhhh?  Nuff said.

I have a fond attachment to Marvel’s reprint titles from the 1960s and 1970s.  This is where I was schooled in Mighty Marvel History, after all.  Marvel’s Greatest Comics was the home to Fantastic Four reprints, and issue #39 contained the story that originally appeared in FF #52, the debut of the Black Panther.

The reprint cover was by Jim Starlin and Joe Sinnott.  At first glance, you can’t determine the identity of the penciller, because Sinnott always managed to make these characters look consistent.  But if you look at the Thing, his expression and his stance, it is unmistakably a Starlin Thing.

Here’s the original art to the cover.  My apologies to the owner or gallery, I totally forgot where I found this scan!  Nuff said.

I featured Chris Stevens’ Doc Strange illo last Sunday, and his Thing really rocks as well:

Thing- Marker Illo by *chriss2d on deviantART

I love not only how he uses the markers to indicate shadow and texture, but this is a fairly classic portrayal of Benjamin J Grimm as well.  Nuff said.

How many Fantastic Four covers did Jim Steranko produce in the 1970s?  Only three to my knowledge.

Fantastic Four #130 was produced during Steranko's flurry of 1972 covers for Marvel.  This issue featured the return of the Frightful Four, with an interesting twist.  Medusa, once a member of the Frightful Four in 1960s, had switched sides and become a member of the FF.  Taking Medusa's place?  Thundra, the Femizon who wanted to make babies with Benjamin J. Grimm.  The Thing looks great on this cover.

Fantastic Four #131 featured the answer to a mystery that began in Avengers #104--whatever happened to Quicksilver?  The last we had seen of the silver speedster, he had heroically sacrificed himself to defeat a Sentinel.  Seriously injured, Pietro saw something horrible approaching him.  Then he vanished, leaving the Avengers and his sister Wanda to wonder where he had disappeared.

This issue gave us the answer!  Quicksilver had been approached by Lockjaw, the teleporting giant bulldog from the Inhumans.  Lockjaw brought Pietro to Attilan, where he was nursed back to health by Crystal.  Crystal melted Quicksilver's icy exterior and he fell in love.  Naturally, when Johnny Storm discovered them together, a massive fight ensued.

It was a pretty darn good soap opera moment in the Marvel Universe.  Unfortunately, it had the side effect of removing Quicksilver from the Marvel playground for a number of years.

While the 1972 FF covers are good, they don't seem like iconic Steranko.  But the cover to the Fantastic Four Marvel Comics Index in 1977 is really groovy and psychedelic, man.  Nuff said.

Let us begin a week of celebrating the Presidents of the Marvel Universe.  And what better President to start with than numero 37—Richard Milhous Nixon!

In Fantastic Four #103, the Atlanteans attacked New York City—again!  As this was 1970 and early in Nixon’s administration, naturally he’d be concerned about a city full of liberals getting overrun by mermen.  The Thing is pretty excited to see the commander in chief on Reed’s big screen TV.  I suspect Ben’s really elated to have a device that is decades ahead of its time!

You’re going to see one line over and over again in these Nixon appearances: “Let me make one thing perfectly clear!”  This was Nixon’s signature line in speeches and press conferences.  The Thing’s pretty sure this will be over as soon as he gets his hands on Namor.  Only the problem isn’t just “fish-face”, it’s the evil mutant Magneto behind the attack on NYC!

When the Fantastic Four fail to defeat Namor, Nixon gets on the horn a few hours later.  He’s pretty quick to smackdown Reed for his failure to stop the armed hordes running around Manhattan.  “This is a sad day for Amahrica!”  Love how Stan Lee writes that Nixon accent.  I have to admit, seeing the Sub-Mariner lining up his troops in the Big Apple, that Nixon may have been justified in his frustration.

Nixon lets Reed off the hook one last time.  What’s he gonna due, nuke New York?  He might prefer getting rid of those liberal voters.

My favorite Nixon line seems to be a prophetic one: “We’ve never lost a war before—and I don’t intend to lose one now!”  That’s a not-so-subtle reference to the real-life Vietnam war, which we did lose under Nixon.

The Thing’s reply is classic: “Why worry?  There’s lotsa wars!  Ya lose one—ya find another!” 

I’ll bet anything that Stan voted for Hubert Humphrey. Nuff said.

Fantastic Four had a great run during the mid-1970s, when Roy Thomas wrote the series and was joined by artists like Rich Buckler and George Perez.  During one of these stories, the Thing lost his powers and reverted back to Ben Grimm.  Who replaced him in the FF?

You got it baby: Luke Cage, PowerMan!  Hired at a really good hourly rate by Reed Richards to fill out the team’s roster.  You’d think Ben Grimm would have been happy about getting a break and being able to schwing with his girlfriend, Alicia Masters.  Oh no!

Ben’s feeling left out and jealous when the FF goes off to fight the Wrecker.  It’s kind of ironic, in this 1975 story, Luke Cage fights the Wrecker for the second time (the first was in Defenders #17-19 in 1974).  In New Avengers #7-8 he helps defeat the Wrecker once again, but steals his Asgardian forged crowbar, which he uses to escape the Dark Avengers in New Avengers #49.

Luke Cage only stays with the FF for three issues.  By issue 170, Cage is under the thrall of the Puppet Master and fighting Ben Grimm, who is inside a robot suit that resembles his former rocky self.

There’s gotta be great What If or Exiles material in here somewhere.  What If Cage stayed with the FF and Reed Richards was killed and Cage married Sue Storm?  What If Cage stole Alicia Masters from Ben Grimm?  What If Cage Became the Herald of Galactus?  Sweet Christmas, it’s time to get off this planet!  Nuff said.