‘The Thing’ Clobbers The Marvel Universe In March
by Tony Thornley
Ben Grimm is one of Marvel’s greatest heroes. Next year, he steps back into the spotlight in The Thing — a new limited series taking him across the Marvel Universe.
The Thing is headed for one of his biggest years in a long time. He’s going to play a huge part in the One World Under Doom event, and is returning to the big screen in Fantastic Four: First Steps. In this new limited series, he faces a dark conspiracy tracing all the way back to Yancy Street.
Written by rising star Tony Fleecs, in his second Marvel work, and longtime Marvel artist Leonard Kirk, the series will find Ben getting drawn deep into the Marvel Universe. When a search for a missing child takes an unexpected turn, Ben finds himself battling through every anti-hero, villain, and bounty hunter on Earth.
“What I love about Ben Grimm is that he’s just a regular hardworking guy–who happens to have super powers,” Fleecs shared. “He’s Jack Kirby. He’s not easily impressed by all of the outlandish, cosmic stuff constantly going on around him.
“The fun thing about this book is trying to figure out– ‘okay, then what would surprise the Thing? What would catch him off guard?’ In that spirit, we’re throwing every villain in the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe at him. Trying to pit him against some opponents that you wouldn’t expect. We’ve got Leonard Kirk drawing The Thing! Believe me, you’re gonna see ol’ Benjy clobber some guys he’s never clobbered before.”
“It’s been a decade since my run on Fantastic Four and I am thrilled as punch (pun intended) to be working on this series with everyone’s favorite orange, pugilistic paragon of heroism, Ben Grimm,” Kirk said. “The villains he goes up against range from the, let’s just say, less than serious, to the absolutely iconic, and I am very much looking forward to drawing all of them. The first issue has already been a fun romp and I know I will love the rest.”
Check out the covers for the debut issue from Nick Bradshaw and Greg Land and watch for The Thing #1 in March from Marvel Comics.
