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.
