Line #40 ComicBook/TheThing


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thing_vol_2_8.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The cover to volume 2, issue 8: in the center, Ben Grimm, and surrounding him, his friends.]]
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4	The Creator/MarvelComics character of the Thing has had three self-titled books so far:
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6	''The Thing'' Vol 1 (1983–1986) was initially written by Creator/JohnByrne, with art by Ron Wilson. It begins with Ben pondering his childhood on Yancy Street and then goes into the aftermath of Annihilus's attack, with Ben visiting Alicia Masters in the hospital and getting into various misadventures. ''Thing'' #10 leads directly in ''ComicBook/SecretWars1984''. For the next twelve issues, Ben is on Battleworld, having stayed behind because he could change back and forth between his Thing and human form. After the Battleworld saga came to an end, Byrne left the book, replaced by Mike Carlin. Leaving the FF due to Alicia being in a relationship with Johnny (it was actually a Skrull posing as Alicia), Ben goes on another series of misadventures while WalkingTheEarth. Eventually, Ben joins the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation and becomes involved with the stuntwoman [[ComicBook/MsMarvel Sharon Ventura]]. The book ended with thirty-six issues.
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8	''The Thing'' Vol 2 (2006) was written by Creator/DanSlott, with art by Andrea [=DeVito=]. Ben has recently come into a lot of money (like, say, ''billions'' of dollars) and has decided to do the things he's always wanted to do. Like date a famous actress and go to fancy parties. Too bad Arcade and his new Murderland get in the way. The book ended with eight issues.
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10	''The Thing'' Vol 3 (2021) was written by Walter Mosely, with art by Tom Reilly. Trapped in a vibraniums prison cell with Hercules. Cursed by an eldritch specter. Getting a free month of membership for a supernatural dating service. And that's just in the first chapter of this six-issue story titled "The Next Big Thing".
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12	----
13	[[foldercontrol]]
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15	[[folder:Volume 1]]
16	* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: The Thing versus the Puppet Master inside Ben's mind.
17	* CallBack: The early issues take place after the attack by Annihilus in ''Fantastic Four'' #251-256 and Ben visits Alicia in the hospital, since Annihilus tortured her.
18	* DownerEnding:
19	** The end to the twelve-part "Rocky Grimm Space Ranger" saga: after finally finding some semblance of peace and even love with Tarianna on Battleworld, Ben learns that everything is actually a projection of his own mind and then, with the death of Grimm the Sorcerer (the part of him that couldn't reconcile his two sides), everything fades away. With nothing left, Ben teleports back to Earth and Battleworld explodes.
20	** The entire book ends with Ben mutating further, becoming more grotesque and unable to stay with the UCWF, and thinking everyone is better off without him.
21	* DreamApocalypse: After Tarianna stabbed Grimm the Sorcerer, everything on Battleworld (including her) started to fade, since Ben seeing his human form die meant he could no longer transform in it (and thus no longer had the psychic powers that made everything on Battleworld). With nothing left on Battleworld except himself, Ben leaves...and the planet literally explodes.
22	* IdenticalStranger: When Ben meets Sharon Ventura, he realizes she looks exactly like Tarianna, his lover on Battleworld. This is because Tarianna was a mental projection whose appearance was based on Sharon's.
23	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: After Ben easily defeats a bank robber named Goody Two-Shoes, the writer of the InUniverse Marvel comic ''Fantastic Four'' (which is officially licensed and supposed to report on the FF's actual adventures) John Byrne decides that this wasn't exciting enough and embellished it for the next issue. Ben visits his office and gives him a piece of his mind. Of course, in the actual comic, we are presented with the InUniverse comic first and then with what actually happened.
24	* PsychicPowers: Everything, every being that Ben encounters on Battleworld is actually just a psychic projection of his own mind. That includes his love interest, Tarianna.
25	* {{Retcon}}: Issue #3 establishes the retcon that Lockjaw isn't actually a dog, but an Inhuman that just looks like a dog. This was quickly retconned to just be Quicksilver pulling a prank on Ben to minimize human dog implications.
26	* ShadowArchetype:
27	** Similar to how Ben looks like a {{golem}}, when the Puppet Master comes back, he is made of living clay. When Ben finally defeats him in his mind, his clay body can't handle it and collapses.
28	** Grimm the Sorcerer is literally a version of Ben Grimm that he made with the psychic powers being on Battleworld has given him. This version of Ben is at war with the other versions, the part of himself that was unable to come to terms with both sides of himself.
29	* ATrueStoryInMyUniverse: In issue #7, Goody Two-Shoes was a supervillain. Kinda. He appeared only once, had nuclear-powered shoes, and kicked the hell out of the Thing by himself. Then the Thing managed to defeat his terrible foe. ''Then'', the "real" Thing read the comic-book and went to the editorial [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry absolutely pissed]]. We realize then that Goody Two-Shoes was defeated with [[OneHitPointWonder a flick from the Thing]], and they made up the whole fight to make the story interesting. Then the Thing does them something... uh... ''interesting''.
30	[[/folder]]
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32	[[folder:Volume 2]]
33	* AnAesop: Issue #4 has Reed teach Franklin a lesson about money, that recklessly spending on yourself when others might need it more feels bad. This, of course, was more of a lesson for ''Ben'', as he had been recklessly spending his own money.
34	* AndroclesLion: While he was already friends with Lockhaw, removing a piece of concrete from his paw while the other Inhumans didn't notice makes Lockjaw move from the Blue Area of the Moon to Ben's place.
35	* BirthdayEpisode: Issue #7 takes place on Alicia's birthday.
36	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Carlotta, the actress that Ben was dating.
37	* CallBack: During Ben's poker tournament, Hercules manages to win back almost all the money he had lost to the Constrictor back when the Constrictor sued him in Slott's ''She-Hulk''.
38	* CoolOldGuy: Hiram Sheckerberg, a pawnbroker on Yancy Street, who demands Ben pay him back what he owe...but not in money, in ''actual help''. Yep, he forces the Idol o' Millions to ''sweep''.
39	* CrimefightingWithCash: Ben's got billions of dollars now.
40	* HeroesGoneFishing: Not fishing, but rather ''playing poker''. Ben, in celebration of his bar mitvah, decides to throw a huge poker tournament and invites everyone he knows, which is mostly superheroes.
41	* TheMafia: When Ben tries to make the Grimm Youth Center, the Maggia (Marvel's version of the Mafia) tries to get him to hire their construction workers, but it doesn't take. So they hire the Trapster to, well, trap Ben.
42	* NamedworldAndNamedland: Murderland, since Arcade already had Murderworld.
43	* TimeTravel: When Ben decides to take Alicia out for her birthday, he decides to take her back in time to touch the newly made Art/VenusDeMilo. Unfortunately, this results in a mix-up that means Ben is actually the one to destroy the de Milo's arms.
44	[[/folder]]
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46	[[folder:Volume 3]]
47	* ActionizedSequel: Though not without poignant reflections and character moments, the Thing gets at least one climactic action scene per issue if not an outright fight.
48	* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler:The Faceless One]] (singular) appears for the first time in decades and is seemingly eaten alive by a horde of dog-sized alien spiders.
49	* TheBusCameBack: One-time Avengers foe and superpowered cavemen turned heavily armored cosmic sellsword Berserker returns from the Shadow World to antagonize the Thing. Presumably, [[spoiler:Doctor Doom]] freed him.
50	* DenserAndWackier: A lot of ground and preposterous circumstances are covered in what is the shortest of the "main" books formally titled as ''The Thing''.
51	* DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu: Due to her shameless use of a FullBodyDisguise, both Ben and [[spoiler:Alicia]] wind up having protracted intimate encounters with [[spoiler:Death.]]
52	* HealthyInHeaven: Well, not ''Heaven'', but getting stranded in [[spoiler:Death's Realm]] lets Alicia see since she's technically doing so with her very soul. The fact that she's also still [[spoiler:alive]] grants her extra strength and toughness she doesn't have on Earth.
53	* TheHeavy: [[spoiler:Doctor Doom]] and Mot, as they're the characters whose minions and actions impede Ben's attempts to figure out what's going on.
54	* TagalongKid: Billy Spector, a young boy who acts as Grimm's sidekick for most of the volume and doubles as a MrExposition with his bizarre holistic knowledge of everything strange they come across.
55	* WrestlerInAllOfUs: The Champion of the Universe concludes his city-spanning battle with the Thing (Ben swung at him first) with a devastating melee combo and an earthshaking duplex.
56	[[/folder]]

Context ComicBook / TheThing