Fantastic Forward for the
Thing
Benjamin Jacob Grimm, alias the “Ever
Lovin’, Blue Eyed Thing” of the Fantastic
Four, was a guy who’d known some pretty sad times in his
life. He’d grown up in a life of poverty on the mean streets of New
York, and had once been involved with a bunch of delinquents called
the Yancy Street Gang, whose leader he’d once been, but was rejected
after moving out of the neighborhood when his parents died to live
with his uncle Jake, who’d risen from his own poverty stricken life
to become a successful physician, and after awhile of being
reluctant, he came to appreciate their kindness towards him.
He moved on to become a successful football player in college and a
test pilot and astronaut in the USAF, and during his time in
college, he met Reed Richards, today known as Mr. Fantastic, the
leader of the Fantastic Four, whom Ben is part of today.
And it was on their first mission into space, to test Reed’s
starship, lest the government stop funding from their end, that
courtesy of the cosmic ray storm they ran afoul of, that Ben was
turned into the orange stone freak he’s usually drawn as nowadays.
Something that is both a blessing and a curse to him, as it granted
him with superhuman strength and a fair amount of invincibility, but
also made him into the rock-like creature he is today, fighting to
defend humanity from the evil both within and without, but never
fully accepted by it. Even so, for plenty of people everywhere, he's
become the "idol 'o millions", as he for one puts it, and it's also
possible that he could be though of as being another Rupert Murdoch,
if looked upon by today's standards.
Though he’s never reached the same kind of solo popularity that his
darker counterpart of the hefties crowd, the Hulk, has enjoyed these
many years, he’s still one of the most appealing superheroes born
through tragic circumstances ever since Jack Kirby and Stan Lee
first created him in the FF back in 1961. A guy who shares some of
the best wisecracks next to Spider-Man, including one of the most
classic battle cries – “IT’S
CLOBBERIN’ TIME!” And a guy with a heart of gold too.
In the early 1960's, when many Marvel characters were just getting
warmed up, Ben often began to share a lot of the Human Torch's
adventures in Strange Tales,
where Johnny Storm had gotten a special spot. But Ben's personal
tragedy and problems won over the hearts of readers, and he soon
moved ahead in the fan polls, becoming a frequent co-star in that
title in 1964. Then, during the 1974-83 period, he got a team-up
title to rival that of Spider-Man's own Marvel Team-Up, called Marvel Two-In-One, in which he teamed up on
various adventures with other notable characters in the MCU that ran
for 100 issues and a couple of annuals. But it was during the
mid-1980’s, at the time of Secret
Wars, that he actually got his own solo book to replace
that, written for starters by John Byrne, who’d been writing the FF
for five years then, and even wrote some of the 
issues of MTIO in its latter years. This particular
solo series only ran about three years and 36 issues, but it was
still a pretty good book, detailing the Thing’s own solo adventures
and his travels across the US when he left the FF for awhile
following his heartbreak at girlfriend Alicia Masters’ leaving him
for fellow team member Johnny, whom we all know he maintained a
“friendly” rivalry with. After his own book ended, he took up a
membership for a short time with the West Coast Avengers before
returning to work full time again with the FF. Until then, his place
in the FF had been filled by Jennifer Walters, the She-Hulk, with
whom he’s had an on-and-off romance with as well.
In recent years, during 2002, his Jewish background was more clearly
revealed. This is something that Jack Kirby, a very respectable
Zionist himself, was mainly in charge of working on back in the
Silver Age, though to say clearly that he was Jewish was never
actually done until the 21st century. But now that that’s been done,
it’s a very impressive addition to help define Ben Grimm, who also
naturally takes a bit from the Golem of Prague as inspiration.
This website is devoted to Ben Grimm as a character, and some of his
various adventures, both solo and team-related, his lady loves and
affairs, and the other various characters besides the FF’s other
members who round out his world. And I certainly hope that all
visitors will enjoy my efforts to bring you as great if simple a
fansite for the MCU's tough guy with a heart of gold.
About the fansite's creator
I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and immigrated to Israel in late
1983. I read plenty of comic books when I was young, beginning my
readership at the early age of 6, and the Fantastic Four was probably the first comic I
read, and I enjoyed it very much, and also enjoyed Ben Grimm as a
character.
When I began practicing on building websites, I had the idea of
building a special fansite where Ben could be the main star. He did
after all enjoy his own special popularity as a solo character for
at least a decade during the Bronze Age of comic books, and even
today, while he's been far from appearing as a solo act for many
years now, why not build a fansite for him that could spotlight him
in almost the same way?
So here it is now, my very own website dedicated to the Ever Lovin',
Blue Eyed Thing of the Fantastic Four, and the many other characters
surrounding him in his adventures over the years, and I hope you'll
enjoy what I've provided here. It was a pleasure and a labor of love
to work on, and I certainly hope it'll turn out to be one of the
best fansites available for everybody.
Copyright Avi Green. All rights
reserved.
