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108-585: The five-issue series is written by Jeph Loeb , with Leinil Yu , Ed McGuinness , John Romita Jr. , David Finch , and John Cassaday each illustrating one of the issues. The premise for this limited series was created by J. Michael Straczynski during a Marvel retreat in New York. (The book credits Straczynski with the initial concept.) He suggested the structure of five issues, each based on Elizabeth Kubler Ross' Five Stages of Grief : denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Loeb lobbied hard to write

216-550: A 1973 try-out in two issues of Marvel Feature , the Thing starred in the long-running series Marvel Two-in-One . In each issue, Ben Grimm would team up with another character from the Marvel Universe , often an obscure or colorful character. The series helped to introduce characters from Marvel's lineup, by way of teaming up with the more recognizable Thing. In 1992, Marvel reprinted four Two-in-One stories (#50, 51, 77 and 80) as

324-541: A Canadian actor of Japanese descent who played recurring villain Nobu Yoshioka on Daredevil , suggested that Loeb forced the show's writers to drop proposed storylines fleshing out Nobu and fellow recurring villain Madame Gao . Shinkoda accused Loeb of explaining to writers that "there were three previous Marvel movies, a trilogy called Blade that was made where Wesley Snipes killed 200 Asians each movie. Nobody gives

432-419: A big part of the success a show with eight Emmy nods and a win this year for NBC.com. I will miss the superb cast and writing staff and wish everyone the best." At the time, Loeb had completed writing and producing the third-season episode, " Dual ". On June 28, 2010, Marvel Entertainment, as part of its expansion into television, appointed Loeb to the position of Executive Vice President, Head of Television of

540-506: A bomb. The young man dies and the Thing verbally blasts both sides for not caring about the civilians caught in the conflict. He announces that, while he thinks the registration is wrong, he is also not going to fight the government and is thus leaving the country for France. While in France, he meets Les Héros de Paris (The Heroes of Paris). Ben returns to New York as both sides of the SHRA battle in

648-536: A boy named Sam serves as the inspiration for Clark Kent to later become Superman. During Loeb's tenure as the head of Marvel Television, the Netflix shows Daredevil , Iron Fist and The Defenders were criticized for promoting negative stereotypes of East Asians and East Asian culture . Following the controversy surrounding Iron Fist ' s casting , Loeb defended the casting of white actor Finn Jones , emphasizing that Danny Rand 's status as an "outsider"

756-545: A ceremony usually reserved for the president), and many thousands are in attendance, not to count the people watching on TV. Among the audience and speakers are Tony Stark , Sam Wilson , Hank Pym , Janet van Dyne , Ben Grimm , and a number of other heroes both old and modern, as well as their loved ones and the people Cap inspired. Tony is given the first opportunity to speak, but a wave of emotion renders him incapable of speaking anything besides "It wasn't supposed to be this way...". Sam then gets up and takes over, starting with

864-463: A coastal missile base. Tiger Shark has stolen the so-called "Horn of Gabriel" from Atlantis, which can summon terrible sea monsters to his side. During the fight Tiger Shark boasts that he'll finally gain the respect he deserves and a furious Ms. Marvel begins to savagely beat him until the Sub-Mariner arrives to calm the raging monsters. Condemning the brutality used by them against both Tiger Shark and

972-485: A condition like having a cannon shot through one's stomach, leaving a hole that has a tendency to reopen again and again, though the hole heals back faster each time it is reopened. Spider-Man asks if the pain ever goes away and Wolverine explains that you never 'get over' a death. You simply have to learn to live with the pain, and life will get better... someday. Captain America is given a funeral with full military honors (in

1080-452: A four-issue miniseries written by Evan Dorkin and illustrated by Dean Haspiel , The Thing: Night Falls on Yancy Street . The story was more character-driven than the stories that usually feature the Thing. Tom Spurgeon found its outlook on relationships "depressing". After the success of the 2005 Fantastic Four feature film and events in the comics series that resulted in Grimm becoming

1188-501: A four-issue miniseries written by Geoff Johns and illustrated by Scott Kolins , in which the Thing travels across the United States by train, inadvertently stumbling upon a deformed gypsy boy he once ridiculed as a teenager, who is now the super-strong main attraction of a troupe of traveling circus freaks . He later discovers a town full of alien Kree and Skrull warriors fighting over a Watcher infant. In 2003, Marvel released

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1296-428: A history of the names Cap was once called by, and pointing out that despite that, it was always Steve Rogers who really mattered. He speaks of how soldiers and heroes of yesteryear were inspired to be what they are simply by watching Cap in action. He asks them to stand up, and recounts the events that froze Cap and helped him survive to the modern day. He mentions—with emphasis on why he couldn't be in attendance—how Namor

1404-512: A limited extent in Captain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders #7. While in the military, Nick Fury sends him, Logan and Carol Danvers on a top secret surveillance mission into Vladivostok . Following this, he becomes an astronaut for NASA , taking part in attempts to reach the Moon, occurring at a time before any crewed spaceship had escaped Earth's orbit. In keeping with an early taboo in

1512-639: A millionaire, the Thing was once again given his own series in 2005, The Thing , written by Dan Slott and penciled by Andrea Di Vito and Kieron Dwyer . It was canceled with issue #8 in 2006. The Thing was a member of The New Avengers , when that team debuted in their self-titled second series in 2010. He appeared as a regular character throughout the 2010–2013 New Avengers series, from issue #1 (Aug. 2010) through its final issue #34 (Jan. 2013). The Thing had another solo series in 2021, written by Walter Mosely and illustrated by Tom Reilly, which lasted for six issues. A new limited series, Clobberin' Time ,

1620-517: A miniseries under the title The Adventures of the Thing . The series was cancelled after 100 issues and seven Annual s to make way for a solo series. The cancellation of Marvel Two-in-One led to the Thing's first completely solo series, which ran for 36 issues. The Thing was originally written by John Byrne and later, Mike Carlin . The series also featured art by Ron Wilson and later by Paul Neary . It elaborated on Ben Grimm's poor childhood on Yancy Street in its early issues, and chronicled

1728-420: A shit so don't write about Nobu and Gao." Shinkoda also claimed that he and Gao's actress Wai Ching Ho were not invited to the season 2 premiere of Daredevil and received less payment than the extras. Co-star Tommy Walker said that Daredevil and Defenders showrunner Doug Petrie had previously pitched a multiracial Asian American version of Iron Fist to Marvel Television in early development, but

1836-551: A soft spot. During this unauthorized ride into the upper atmosphere of Earth and the Van Allen Belts , they are pelted by a cosmic ray storm and exposed to radiation against which the ship's shields are no protection. Upon crashing down to Earth, each of the four learn that they have developed fantastic superhuman abilities. Grimm's skin is transformed into a thick, lumpy orange hide, which gradually evolves into his now-familiar craggy covering of large rocky plates. Richards proposes

1944-484: A space rocket to explore the regions of space around Mars; Grimm jokingly agrees to fly that rocket when the day comes. The details of his life story have been modified over the decades. Prior to the stories published in the 1970s, Grimm, after earning multiple advanced degrees in engineering, serves in the United States Marine Corps as a test pilot during World War II . These exploits are chronicled to

2052-498: A steadfast member of the Fantastic Four. In a Fantastic Four comic published in 2005, Ben learns that he is entitled to a large sum of money, his share of the Fantastic Four fortune, which Reed Richards had never touched, as he had the shares of the other teammates (who were family members) to pay off various debts of the group. The Thing uses his newfound wealth to build a community center in his old neighborhood on Yancy Street,

2160-496: A supervising producer and has written many episodes since then. He signed a three-year contract, and although producers Miles Millar and Alfred Gough offered to keep him on for future seasons, Loeb left to care for his son, who had cancer ( See Comics career below ). Loeb later became a writer/producer on the ABC TV series Lost during that show's second season. Leaving Lost , Loeb went on to become Co-Executive Producer and writer on

2268-506: A three-year battle with bone cancer . In June 2006, Sam had a story published in Superman/Batman #26, which was nearly completed before his death. His father finished the work with the help of 25 other writers and artists, all of whom were friends of Sam, including Geoff Johns , John Cassaday , Ed McGuinness , Joe Madureira , Rob Liefeld , and Joss Whedon . The issue also featured a tale titled "Sam's Story", dedicated to Sam, in which

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2376-986: Is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics . He is a founding member of the Fantastic Four . The Thing was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby , and he first appeared in The Fantastic Four #1 ( cover-dated Nov. 1961). Known for his trademark rocky appearance, he has superhuman strength, a sense of humor, and the battle cry and catchphrase "It's clobberin' time!" Thing's speech patterns are loosely based on Jimmy Durante . A key feature throughout his character arc has him struggling to accept his newfound powers, which often culminates in his returning to his human form before going back to his mutated form. The Thing notably appeared in other media, including live-action films , with Michael Bailey Smith and Carl Ciarfalio playing

2484-514: Is a reluctant member of the pro-registration side of the controversy over the 2006 Superhuman Registration Act (SHRA), until he witnesses a battle on Yancy Street in which Captain America 's forces try to rescue captured allies held by Iron Man 's forces. The Fantastic Four's foes the Mad Thinker and the Puppet Master try to escalate the battle, using a mind-controlled Yancy Streeter to deliver

2592-474: Is actually Lyja , a member of the shape-changing alien race known as the Skrulls . The real Alicia, who was kept in suspended animation , is rescued by the Fantastic Four and reunited with the Thing. Ben begins dating a teacher named Debbie Green. Ben soon asks Debbie to marry him, which she accepts. He later leaves her at the altar when he realizes the dangers of the wives of superheroes . Ben and Alicia, on

2700-433: Is eight years old. This portion of his own life is modeled on that of Jack Kirby , who grew up on tough Delancey Street , whose brother died when he was young, whose father was named Benjamin, and who was named Jacob at birth. Following the death of his parents, Ben is raised by his Uncle Jake (who married a much younger wife, Petunia, who becomes a frequent reference used by the character until her death). He comes to lead

2808-729: Is eventually revealed that this Alicia was actually the Skrull impostor Lyja ). An angry Grimm wallows in self-pity for a time, later on accompanying the West Coast Avengers , and actually joining the team for a while. Eventually, he returns to his surrogate family as leader of the Fantastic Four when Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman leave the team to raise their son Franklin, at which point Ben invites Crystal and Ms. Marvel II (Sharon Ventura) to fill their slots. Soon after Sharon and Ben are irradiated with cosmic rays, Sharon becomes

2916-504: Is here, and it will rest in the Arctic forever, the rationale being that he was preserved in peace here for decades until he could be revived, and so it was the best place for him to rest forever. Tony says a heartfelt good-bye, reflecting on their past together in the Avengers , and showing that despite their conflict during Civil War , he still cared for him. Namor appears, revealing that he too

3024-566: Is later seen captive in Madison Square Garden, which the Hulk has turned into a gladiatorial arena, with an obedience disk fitted on him. Released from his imprisonment, Ben, Spider-Man , and Luke Cage attack the Warbound , with Ben fighting Korg . Their battle is brought to an abrupt end when Hiroim repairs the damage to Manhattan Island, drawing the energy to do so from Ben and Korg. In

3132-522: Is represented by a particular Marvel character and also ends with a transition phase leading into the following stage. Denial deals with Wolverine , Anger deals with the two Avengers teams ( Mighty Avengers & New Avengers ), Captain America himself is dealt with in Bargaining , Spider-Man is the focus of Depression and Iron Man comes under the spotlight in Acceptance . Wolverine confronts

3240-452: Is standing—it shouldn't be a sad day, but one of celebration of all the things Steve Rogers would have wanted. Three days later, in the arctic, Iron Man, Wasp and Yellowjacket land in a S.H.I.E.L.D. ship with Rogers' casket. Tony mentions that the body in Arlington isn't really Cap's, but a decoy to please the public, and that this funeral would have been what Steve really wanted. The real body

3348-478: Is the blind Alicia Masters, and he is intensely protective of her. When Johnny starts a relationship of his own with Alicia and they become engaged, Grimm is upset. However, he has to concede that, unlike himself and his stone-covered body, Johnny can "be a man". He agrees to act as best man at their wedding. The relationship between Alicia and Johnny ends with the revelation that the Alicia that Johnny fell in love with

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America - Misplaced Pages Continue

3456-399: Is touched by the death, and that as long as he rules the oceans, Steve Rogers will rest in peace. Janet then asks Tony whether everyone must now accept that the old era is finally over and a new one is beginning. The casket sinks slowly into nothingness without an answer. An issue of Volume 7 What If? titled What If? Fallen Son asks "What if Iron Man died instead of Captain America?". It

3564-632: The New York Times Best Seller list , includes work on many major characters, including Spider-Man , Batman , Superman , Hulk , Captain America , Cable , Iron Man , Daredevil , Supergirl , the Avengers , and Buffy the Vampire Slayer , much of which he has produced in collaboration with artist Tim Sale . Jeph Loeb was raised in a Jewish family in Stamford, Connecticut . He began collecting comic books in mid-1970. His stepfather

3672-795: The Secret Invasion : Fantastic Four miniseries, the Skrull Lyja, posing as Sue, sends the Baxter Building , with Ben, Johnny, Franklin, and Valeria inside, into the Negative Zone . Not long after their arrival, Ben has to protect Franklin and Valeria from an impending onslaught of giant insects. With the aid of the Tinkerer , who Ben broke out of the Negative Zone Prison, they, with the exception of Lyja who stayed behind, were able to return to

3780-499: The Marvel Universe . In the 2004 Fantastic Four story "Hereafter Part 1: A Glimpse of God", the Thing is killed by an energy weapon wielded by Reed Richards, but is brought back to life in one story by the hand of God. Out of universe, Jack Kirby featured the Thing on his family's 1976 Hanukkah card. Some years later, Reed Richards, now a successful scientist, once again makes contact with Grimm. Richards has built his spaceship, and reminds Grimm of his promise to fly it. After

3888-600: The New Avengers along with Young Avengers Patriot and Hawkeye at the Sanctum Sanctorum. Tensions are running high and conversation soon turns to Cap's death and recent events caused by the Civil War. Sensing how close things are to boiling over, Patriot and Hawkeye leave the game to take out their frustration on some bad guys just as Wolverine returns from his quest aboard the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier . Wolverine informs

3996-737: The People's Choice Award for Favorite New TV Drama, as well the Saturn Award for Best Network Television Series. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Dramatic Television Series. Loeb and Tim Kring were presented with the Jules Verne Award for Artistic Achievement at the Jules Verne Festival in Paris , France, on April 22, 2007, for their work on Heroes . Loeb himself

4104-453: The Red Hulk . In 2006, Loeb chose his hometown of Stamford, Connecticut , to be subject to superhero destruction in the first issue of the 2006–2007 Marvel miniseries Civil War , the central title of the crossover storyline of the same name. That same year, Marvel announced an untitled Spider-Man series by Loeb and J. Scott Campbell , to be released "sometime in 2007". The series

4212-609: The Sandman and manages to escape the prison with the aid of a plan coordinated by the She-Hulk and Ant-Man , allowing him to rejoin Sue and Johnny to investigate Reed's recent abduction, revealing that the dead Puppet Master came from the alternate Earth Franklin had created. As the Fantastic Four disbanded in the aftermath of the " Secret Wars " storyline, the Thing is working with the Guardians of

4320-555: The She-Hulk to fill in for him. Mister Fantastic did leave him with the device needed to return to Earth when it comes time. The Thing's time on Battleworld lasted until Ben eventually decides to return home after defeating Ultron and slaying his manifested dark side Grimm the Sorcerer. Once he left, the planet had no more reason to exist and so it broke apart. On returning to Earth, he learns that Alicia had become romantically involved with his teammate Johnny Storm during his absence (it

4428-496: The Shema , an important and oft-recited Jewish prayer (which, translated to English, begins "Hear, O Israel") over the dying Sheckerberg, who eventually recovers. In a later story, Grimm agrees to celebrate his Bar Mitzvah , since it has been 13 years, the age a Jewish boy celebrates his Bar Mitzvah, since he began his "second life" as the Thing. To celebrate the ceremony, Grimm organizes a poker tournament for every available superhero in

Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America - Misplaced Pages Continue

4536-467: The Winter Soldier about the improbability of Captain America dying from the gunshot wounds suffered at the court house; especially since both Captain America and Winter Soldier, the former Bucky, have both been thought to be dead at one time yet survived. Unable to get Winter Soldier to agree on a trip to S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters to see with their own eyes whether or not Cap is dead, Wolverine recruits

4644-576: The X-Men and the Avengers. During the 2011 " Fear Itself " storyline, Ben lifts one of the seven fallen hammers of the Serpent and becomes Angrir: Breaker of Souls. In this form, he then destroys Yancy Street and Avengers Tower, and battles Spider-Man, Mister Fantastic and Invisible Woman, before confronting Thor, who seriously wounds him. Franklin then uses his powers to restore Ben to his normal self, free from

4752-451: The " Heroes Reborn " version of Captain America in 1996–1997. He and Tim Sale crafted several limited series for Marvel including Daredevil: Yellow Spider-Man: Blue , and Hulk: Gray . Loeb became the writer of Superman with issue #151 (Dec. 1999). His tenure on the title, largely drawn by Ed McGuinness , included the "Emperor Joker" and " Our Worlds at War " crossovers. He left Superman with issue #183 (August 2002). At

4860-557: The "Grimm Youth Center". Thinking the center is named after the Thing himself, the Yancy Street Gang plans to graffiti the building exterior, but discovers the building was actually named after Daniel Grimm, Ben's deceased older brother and former leader of the gang. The relationship between the Yancy Streeters and the Thing is then effectively reconciled, or at least changed to a more good-natured, playful rivalry (as exemplified by

4968-452: The 142 registered superheroes who appear on the cover of the comic book Avengers: The Initiative #1. Ben once again tries to take on the Hulk within the events of the 2007 storyline " World War Hulk " to buy Reed Richards the time he needs to complete his plans for the Hulk. Ben gives his best shots, but the Hulk takes his punches without slowing down. The Hulk proceeds to knock out Ben by punching both sides of his head simultaneously. He

5076-502: The 2005 feature film Batman Begins , the others being Batman: The Man Who Falls and Batman: Year One . Other Loeb-Sale collaborations at DC include the Superman for All Seasons limited series and Catwoman: When in Rome . At Marvel Comics, Loeb worked on the " Age of Apocalypse " crossover storyline in 1995 and co-created the character X-Man with artist Steve Skroce . Loeb wrote

5184-642: The Baxter Building is now owned by a new superhero team, Fantastix, the Thing allows his teammates to use his hometown in Yancy Street as their current operation base. The Thing is generally well liked by other heroes within the Marvel Universe . Grimm's relationship with his teammates has been a close but occasionally edgy one given his temper. He and Johnny Storm (the Human Torch) often argue and clash but they do respect each other. Grimm's first love interest

5292-700: The Fantastic Four (including X-Men member Iceman ) fight the Griever at the End of All Things after Mister Fantastic persuaded the Griever to let him summon the Thing and the Human Torch. As the Thing and his teammates finally return to 616, while the Future Foundation stays behind to keep learning about the Multiverse, the Thing reveals to them that he and Alicia proposed their wedding and are about to get married soon. Although

5400-633: The Galaxy, and the Human Torch is acting as an ambassador with the Inhumans and becoming part of the Uncanny Avengers. During the 2017 " Secret Empire " storyline, the Thing appears as a member of the Underground, which is a resistance movement against HYDRA ever since they took over the United States, until the real Captain America returns, ending HYDRA's empires and defeating his HYDRA counterpart. To help

5508-530: The Hawkeye mantle to which she claims that she did so to honor him but would never disgrace his memory by attempting to copy or replace him, as she and Patriot accuse Barton of trying to do with Captain America. As Stark's Iron Man armor reboots, Barton allows Patriot and Hawkeye to escape and he immediately returns the shield to Stark, realizing that Iron Man's desire to find a replacement Cap was more an attempt to alleviate Stark's own guilt over Rogers' death rather than

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5616-570: The Hulk and was nearly killed until Captain America came to his aid. Realizing he won't be saved this time, Spider-Man wills himself to his feet and defeats Rhino much in the same way Cap defeated the Hulk. At that moment, Wolverine reveals himself and begrudgingly congratulates Spider-Man who brushes him off before heading to the Brooklyn Bridge where Gwen Stacy died. Wolverine follows him and an angry Spider-Man accuses him of being incapable of understanding what he's feeling. Wolverine then describes

5724-595: The Human Torch in Strange Tales #124 (1964), which previously featured solo adventures of the Human Torch and backup Doctor Strange stories. The change was intended to liven the comic through the always humorous chemistry between the Torch and the Thing. They were replaced in #135 (1965) with the "modern-day" version of Nick Fury , Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. , who had already been appearing in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos . After

5832-602: The Marvel Universe to the loss of the assassinated Captain America. The first issue ranked No. 1 in sales for April 2007, and the fifth and final issue, dated July 4, 2007, was the "Funeral for Captain America", which was covered by the Associated Press and The Washington Post . Loeb wrote two miniseries for the Ultimate Marvel Universe . His work on The Ultimates 3 in 2007, with artist Joe Madureira,

5940-450: The NBC drama Heroes , which his colleague Tim Kring had created. Loeb wrote the teleplay for the first-season episodes " One Giant Leap " and " Unexpected ". The show prominently features the artwork of Tim Sale, Loeb's longtime comics collaborator. The series was nominated for the 2007 Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, and a Writers Guild of America award for Best New Series. It won

6048-454: The Serpent's possession. In the 2014 " Original Sin " storyline, after learning from the eye of the murdered Uatu that Johnny Storm unintentionally sabotaged an experiment that could have allowed Grimm to become human again, Ben is found having apparently murdered the Puppet Master ; the crime was committed in a sealed room that even Reed Richards could barely penetrate, with Alicia Masters as

6156-459: The She-Thing, lumpy much like Ben was in his first few appearances, while Ben mutates into a new rockier, more powerful form. After being further mutated into the more monstrous rocky form, Ben is briefly changed back to his human form, and returned leadership of the Fantastic Four to Reed Richards. Grimm once more returned to his traditional orange rocky form out of love for Ms. Marvel. He remains

6264-445: The TV series Heroes . Four years later, Loeb was working on a script for The Flash as a feature with Warner Bros. While the script deal fell through, Loeb met then publisher Jenette Kahn who asked Loeb to write a comic book for DC Comics . In 2002, Jeph Loeb wrote the script for the episode of Smallville , entitled "Red", which introduced red kryptonite into the series. He became

6372-487: The Thing cope with Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman's disappearance, the Human Torch takes him on a journey through the Multiverse, using the Multisect to find them. They have not been able to find Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, as they return to Earth-616 empty-handed. The Thing and the Human Torch were reunited with Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman to help alongside other superheroes who were part of

6480-459: The Thing's later foray into the world of professional wrestling . It also featured a major storyline offshoot from Marvel's Secret Wars event, in which the Thing elects to remain on the Beyonder 's Battleworld after discovering that the planet enables him to return to human form at will. A full third of the series' stories take place on Battleworld. In 2002, Marvel released The Thing: Freakshow ,

6588-408: The Yancy Street gang at one point. Excelling in football as a high school student, Ben receives a full scholarship to Empire State University, where he first meets his eventual lifelong friend in a teenaged genius named Reed Richards , as well as future enemy Victor von Doom . Despite their being from radically different backgrounds, science student Richards describes to Grimm his dream of building

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6696-538: The aid of Daredevil whose enhanced senses would enable him to sort out the truth from the deception. Using some enchantments created by Doctor Strange , the duo make their way into the main S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier and to the holding cell of Crossbones , the man who made the first shot on Captain America. After a brief interrogation, Wolverine attempts to intimidate Crossbones into attacking him and therefore granting him an excuse to seek revenge but Daredevil refuses to allow it, stating that everything Crossbones told them

6804-513: The character first appeared in The Fantastic Four #1 (Nov. 1961). Kirby modeled the character after himself. In addition to appearing in the Fantastic Four, the Thing has been the star of Marvel Two-in-One , Strange Tales (with his fellow Fantastic Four member the Human Torch ), and two incarnations of his own eponymous series, as well as numerous miniseries and one-shots . The Thing joined his Fantastic Four partner and frequent rival

6912-617: The character in his human and mutated forms respectively in the unreleased film The Fantastic Four . Michael Chiklis played the character in the 2005 Fantastic Four film and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer , and Jamie Bell in the 2015 reboot . Ebon Moss-Bachrach will portray the character in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe films The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025), Avengers: Doomsday (2026), and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027). Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby ,

7020-436: The city. Indifferent to choosing sides, Ben focuses on protecting civilians from harm. In Fantastic Four #543 (March 2007), Ben celebrates the Fantastic Four's 11th anniversary along with the Human Torch, and latecomers Reed and Sue. The aftermath of the Civil War is still being felt in this issue, as Ben and Johnny (and even Franklin ) consider the future of the team and Reed and Sue's marriage. When Reed and Sue arrive near

7128-813: The comfort of the American people. Barton promises to mail Stark back Rogers' costume and Iron Man vows to pursue Barton if he sides with the New Avengers. Barton doesn't reply and Stark is left to stand alone in the rain. Spider-Man visits his Uncle Ben 's grave, reflecting that while a true hero's legacy is judged by the lives he's saved, his will be judged by those he's lost; citing Uncle Ben, his parents , Harry Osborn , Gwen Stacy , her father , and now Captain America . He laments that although Uncle Ben told him that there would be 'days that would test him', he does not know if he can bear it anymore. Just then, his thoughts are interrupted by his spider-sense which alerts him to

7236-416: The comic ending, with the Yancy Streeters spray-painting the sleeping Thing). Some personality traits of the cantankerously lovable, occasionally cigar-smoking, Jewish native of the Lower East Side are popularly recognized as having been inspired by those of co-creator Jack Kirby, who in interviews has said he intended Grimm to be an alter ego of himself. Initially in the 2006 storyline " Civil War ", Ben

7344-440: The comic superhero world against revealing a character's religion, the fact that Grimm is Jewish was not explicitly revealed until four decades after his creation, in the story "Remembrance of Things Past" in Fantastic Four vol. 3, #56 (Aug. 2002). In this story, Grimm returns to his old neighborhood to find Mr. Sheckerberg, a pawn shop owner he knew as a child. Flashbacks during this story reveal Grimm's Jewish heritage. He recites

7452-413: The company after nearly a decade. Loeb had been planning his departure, however, before Feige's promotion. Loeb is known for his extensive use of narration boxes as monologues to reveal the inner thoughts of characters, though the character interactions he writes are sparse in terms of dialogue. Jeph Loeb's first comic work was Challengers of the Unknown vol. 2 #1 – #8 (March – October 1991), which

7560-540: The deserted old Avengers' Mansion and confronts him over the death of Steve Rogers. Stark then takes Barton into custody at the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier to confirm that he is, in fact, Clint Barton – back from the grave. Upon confirmation of his identity, Stark reveals Captain America's real shield and Barton has the chance to take the shield for a spin (literally) on the helicarrier deck. When he proves he can handle it effectively, unlike others who have tried, Stark makes Barton an incredible offer: to restore Captain America to

7668-591: The end of 2002, Loeb teamed with artist Jim Lee to create the year-long story arc "Batman: Hush", which spawned three lines of toys, posters and calendars, and sat at the #1 spot for eleven of the twelve months it was in publication. The following year, Loeb and McGuinness launched Superman/Batman . Loeb's run on the title spawned a new ongoing Supergirl series, and an animated film adapted from Loeb's "Public Enemies" story arc. After signing an exclusive contract with Marvel in September 2005, Loeb launched Hulk with artist Ed McGuinness, in which he introduced

7776-645: The entire Ultimate Universe and in the long run brought about its cancellation. "Over the course of just five issues, 34 different heroes and villains were murdered, often by gruesome means: Doctor Strange was squeezed until his head exploded; Magneto was decapitated; the Blob ate the Wasp and, while holding her half-devoured corpse, belched out, 'Tastes like chicken'; and so on." The review site Let's Be Friends Again described Ultimatum as "a base and insulting comic book." Critic Jason Kerouac wrote, " Ultimatum #5 could quite possibly be

7884-399: The government denies him permission to fly the spaceship himself, Richards plots a clandestine flight piloted by Grimm and accompanied by his future wife Susan Storm , who had helped provide funding for the rocket, and her younger brother Johnny Storm , who helped the group gain access to the launch system. Although reluctant to fly the rocket, Ben is persuaded to do so by Sue, for whom he has

7992-523: The issue's end, they announce that they are taking a break from the team and have found two replacement members: the Black Panther , and Storm of the X-Men . The title of the story in this issue is a quote from Ben, "Come on, Suzie, don't leave us hangin'." Ben Grimm served as one of the pallbearers at the memorial service for Captain America, along with Tony Stark, Ms. Marvel, Rick Jones, T'Challa and Sam Wilson. Ben has been identified as Number 53 of

8100-472: The miniseries The Defenders , along with younger adult shows like Runaways and Cloak & Dagger , and other live action or animated shows based on Marvel characters like M.O.D.O.K. , The Gifted , Legion , Helstrom . In October 2019, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was promoted to Chief Creative Officer of Marvel Entertainment , which includes Marvel Television, prompting Loeb to leave

8208-523: The monstrous form of the Thing, Grimm's body rejects various attempts by Richards to restore his human form, lest he lose Masters' love. Grimm has remained a stalwart member of the Fantastic Four for years. The Thing first fought the Hulk early in his career, with many such further clashes over the years. Not long after that, he is first reverted to his human form, but is then restored to his Thing form to battle Doctor Doom . Grimm has been temporarily replaced on

8316-560: The newly created Marvel Television , in which Loeb would work with publisher Dan Buckley, to create both live-action and animated shows based on Marvel's catalog of characters. During his time as the head of Marvel Television, he executive produced live-action shows within the Marvel Cinematic Universe such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. , Agent Carter , and Inhumans , shows on Netflix such as Daredevil , Jessica Jones , Iron Fist , The Punisher , Luke Cage , and

8424-541: The only witness. Although Ben claims innocence, his depression over recent events prompts him to accept incarceration in the Raft. Although power-dampeners in the Raft restrict his strength to a more manageable level, he is attacked by various other thick-skinned superhumans — including the Armadillo and Ironclad — on orders of the current 'boss' of the prison, Sharon Ventura , the She-Thing. Eventually, Ben forms an alliance with

8532-450: The other Avengers that he saw Cap's body. Wolverine and Spider-Man get into a dispute, and The Thing separates them, then points out that fighting each other won't alleviate either of their pain regarding the loss of someone like Cap. Spider-Man leaves the game and Wolverine shadows him to make sure the webslinger gets home safe while the others decide to resume playing rather than discuss it any further. Clint Barton summons Tony Stark to

8640-573: The other hand, do get married, despite an attack by Galactus. Later, in the aftermath of conflict between the Kree , the Skrulls and the Cotati, Ben and Alicia adopt two orphans, Kree boy Jo-Venn and Skrull girl N'Kala. Grimm is best friends with Reed Richards , whom he addresses with the nickname "Stretch", due to Richards' natural height and his ability to stretch his body. However, Grimm also holds Reed responsible for his condition, since Richards had dismissed

8748-555: The people of the United States. Stark takes Barton out on patrol and they discover Elijah Bradley and the new Hawkeye, Kate Bishop , defeating Firebrand . Stark confronts the duo about their violation of the Superhuman Registration Act to which Hawkeye replies by disabling Iron Man with an E.M.P. arrow. As Hawkeye and Patriot attempt to flee into the sewers, they find themselves approached by Barton as Captain America. Barton confronts Kate Bishop about her assumption of

8856-471: The presence of the Rhino . Believing that Rhino is somehow up to something, Spider-Man attacks him and in an attempt to defend himself, Rhino accidentally breaks his mother's headstone. As he reveals that he was only visiting his mother's grave, Spider-Man realizes his mistake but is too late to prevent Rhino from going into a rage. As Rhino proceeds to beat him to a pulp, Spider-Man recalls a time when he went against

8964-662: The quartet band together to use their new abilities for the betterment of humanity, and Grimm, in a moment of self-pity, adopts the super-heroic sobriquet, the Thing . The team clashes with the Mole Man in their first appearance. Trapped in his monstrous form, Grimm is an unhappy yet reliable member of the team. He trusts in his friend Reed Richards to one day develop a cure for his condition. However, when he encounters blind sculptor Alicia Masters , Grimm develops an unconscious resistance to being transformed back to his human form. Subconsciously fearing that Masters prefers him to remain in

9072-454: The regular Marvel Universe just after the invasion was over. Following the Siege of Asgard , Luke Cage asks Ben to serve on his Avengers team. Although Ben states that his loyalty will always be to the Fantastic Four, Cage confirms that he is not asking Ben to resign from his original team, merely suggesting that Ben split his time between the two teams, as Wolverine divides his time between

9180-516: The script of Teen Wolf . The film was released on August 23, 1985, and was a notable starring role for Michael J. Fox . Loeb and Weisman then collaborated in writing the script of Commando . The film was released on October 4, 1985, and starred Arnold Schwarzenegger . His next screen credit was the film Burglar , released on March 20, 1987. The plot was based on the novels of Lawrence Block about fictional burglar Bernie Rhodenbarr . His collaborators were Weisman and Hugh Wilson . The film

9288-507: The sea monsters as an outlet for their anger regarding Cap's death, Namor takes Tiger Shark into custody and reveals he learned there are missiles hidden in the coastline of Maine. As Namor warns the Mighty Avengers that he will retaliate if Atlantis is ever attacked, Ares asks Ms. Marvel if they won and if so then that was all that mattered. Meanwhile, the Thing joins a poker game organized by

9396-436: The series' final issue a scathing review, saying, "Ultimatum is one of the worst comics I have ever read," and called it "the ultimate nightmare." Points of criticism among these reviews included the level of graphic violence, which included cannibalism , and the notion that the series was sold on the basis of its shock value, with some reviewers singling out Loeb's dialogue, characterization and storytelling, others asserting

9504-601: The series, along with King-Size Hulk #1, were collected into a trade paperback volume, Hulk: Red and Green , which made the New York Times Graphic Books Best Seller List in May 2009 (as did Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8 , Volume 4, on which Loeb collaborated). The first issue of Loeb's The Ultimates 3 continued the series' history of ranking at No. 1 in sales, though the series

9612-474: The series, and succeeded, saying that he could draw upon his own experience of having lost his son Sam Loeb . In the Spring Preview issue of Wizard magazine , Loeb said: When Straczynski [speaks] it's a little bit like the burning bush and the rest of us are Moses. He held up this yellow pad and said, 'It's the five stages of grief! Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance.' The theme of each issue

9720-516: The simple reason that he can tell the others that Steve Rogers, Captain America, is indeed dead. As he leaves, Wolverine warns Iron Man that if he learns that Stark had anything to do with Cap's death, he would kill him. As Wolverine and Daredevil infiltrate the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Iron Man contacts the Mighty Avengers who are en route to prevent the super-villain Tiger Shark from attacking

9828-520: The single worst piece of writing in recorded history." A Captain America: White limited series was announced in 2008 but only a #0 issue was published. The long-delayed project was scheduled to finally see print in September 2015. Loeb shares his writing studio, The Empath Magic Tree House, with Geoff Johns and Allan Heinberg . Loeb's son, Sam, died on June 17, 2005, at the age of 17, after

9936-722: The story's lack of originality, or opining that the series would've been better suited to someone who had previously been more involved with the Ultimate line, such as Brian Michael Bendis or Mark Millar . In 2009 Ultimates 3 and Ultimatum were included on ComicsAlliance 's list of The 15 Worst Comics of the Decade. Loeb was also awarded an honorary doctorate by St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas , and an Inkpot Award . Thing (comics) The Thing ( Benjamin Jacob " Ben " Grimm )

10044-513: The superhero community, and the world, mourning the death of Tony Stark, the Skrulls descend towards an unsuspecting Earth to start their Invasion . As Uatu looks on at the Skrull ships headed towards Earth, he says "It wasn't supposed to be this way...". Jeph Loeb Joseph " Jeph " Loeb III ( / l oʊ b / ) is an American film and television writer, producer and comic book writer. Loeb

10152-505: The team twice. First, after Grimm temporarily lost his powers and reverted to human form, Reed Richards hired Luke Cage (then using the code name "Power Man") to take his place until Richards had completed a Thing-suit for Ben (however, Ben unexpectedly reverted into the actual Thing again later on). Years later, after Grimm chose to remain on Battleworld in the aftermath of the " Secret Wars " due to his apparent control over his transformation between his human and mutated states, he asked

10260-550: Was a producer/writer on the TV series Smallville and Lost , writer for the films Commando and Teen Wolf , and a writer and co-executive producer on the NBC TV show Heroes from its premiere in 2006 to November 2008. From 2010 to 2019, Loeb was the Head of and Executive Vice President of Marvel Television . A four-time Eisner Award winner and five-time Wizard Fan Awards winner, Loeb's comic book work, which has appeared on

10368-554: Was a vice-president at Brandeis University , where Jeph met one of his mentors and greatest influences in comic book writing, the writer Elliot Maggin . Jeph attended Columbia University , where he was a member of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's degree in Film. His instructors included Paul Schrader . Loeb's debut in filmmaking was his collaboration with Matthew Weisman in authoring

10476-477: Was a vital theme of the show. While promoting the second season of Iron Fist at San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Loeb appeared on stage wearing a karate gi and headband as part of a comic bit with Iron Fist actress Jessica Henwick , who forced him to remove the costume. The stunt was heavily criticized as culturally insensitive . During the #SaveDaredevilCon panel for Comic-Con@Home in July 2020, Peter Shinkoda ,

10584-592: Was also presented with a belated 2005 Jules Verne Award for Best Writing for his work on Smallville , which he had not previously been given because his trip to the Festival that year had been cancelled due to his son's ill health. On November 2, 2008, Daily Variety reported that Loeb and fellow Heroes co-executive producer, Jesse Alexander , were no longer employed on the series. In an interview with Comic Book Resources, Loeb stated, "As of today, Jesse Alexander and I have left Heroes . I'm incredibly proud to have been

10692-405: Was atypical for the time, featuring a female comedic role for starring actress Whoopi Goldberg . His second film that year was Teen Wolf Too , a sequel of Teen Wolf , which was co-written by Weisman and Tim Kring . The film was released on November 20, 1987. The film featured teen idol Jason Bateman and veteran actor John Astin . Loeb would re-team with Kring almost two decades later for

10800-510: Was involved in bringing him back. Then he asks all those inspired by Cap's return to stand up as well, including heroes and those who supported the heroes. He references the New Avengers (not by name), who wanted to be there, but couldn't. At Dr. Strange's house, they are watching the funeral and discussing why they didn't go; Spider-Man says it would have been worth the risk. Sam concludes by saying that with everyone in attendance proving they were inspired by Cap—since by this point literally everyone

10908-468: Was launched in 2023, written and illustrated by Steve Skroce . The series sees Thing teaming up with various heroes. Born on Yancy Street in New York City 's Lower East Side , to a Jewish family, Benjamin Jacob "Ben" Grimm has an early life of poverty and hardship, shaping him into a tough, streetwise scrapper. His older brother Daniel , whom Ben idolizes, is killed in a street gang fight when Ben

11016-432: Was much less well-received critically than its predecessors. The first issue of Ultimatum ranked No. 1 in sales for November 2008. At Weekly Comic Book Review , Andrew C. Murphy gave it a B+ , praising David Finch's art, while Ben Berger gave it a C, opining that there was too much exposition , but praising Finch's art. The rest of the series, however, received more negative reviews. IGN 's Jesse Schedeen gave

11124-542: Was panned by critics for its use of transgressive sexual and violent content for shock value "without the political relevance or epic pacing of the first two volumes." In 2008, Loeb returned to the Ultimate Universe with artist David Finch for the critically reviled five-issue miniseries Ultimatum . Described in a 2015 Vulture retrospective as "one of the biggest creative disasters in comics history", Ultimatum' s gratuitous murder scenes permanently damaged sales across

11232-521: Was rejected by Loeb. Many of Loeb's books, such as Batman: The Long Halloween , Superman For All Seasons , and the Marvel "color" books ( Daredevil: Yellow , Spider-Man: Blue , Hulk: Gray ) have garnered critical praise, and have been adapted into other media. Hulk #1, in which Loeb introduced the Red Hulk , was the #1 selling comic book for January 2008. Subsequent issues sold well, but received mixed to negative reviews. Issues #7–9 of

11340-617: Was released in December 2008. In this reality, Captain America never dies on the steps of the courthouse, and is tried as normal. Shortly after a press conference detailing Steve Rogers' sentence, Tony Stark is attacked and killed by Tom Foster , blaming Stark for his uncle 's death. This action seems to only help grow support of the Superhuman Registration Act, which leads Ms. Marvel to assault Luke Cage brutally after he said he wished he could have gotten to Stark first. With

11448-425: Was subsequently cancelled and then brought back on the schedule in 2010, with a 2011 article mentioning it was "still being worked on". In 2021, Campbell confirmed that the project has been cancelled despite having two fully pencilled issues. In 2007, Jeph wrote the miniseries Fallen Son: The Death of Captain America , which used the five stages of grief as a motif to explore reactions of various characters of

11556-476: Was the first of many collaborations with Tim Sale. Their later collaborations included the "Year 1" -centered Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Halloween Specials ; Batman: The Long Halloween , a 13-issue limited series ; and Batman: Dark Victory , a 14-issue limited series set in the first years of the hero's career. The Long Halloween was one of three noted comics that influenced

11664-436: Was the truth. As Daredevil departs, Wolverine makes his way to where S.H.I.E.L.D. is keeping Captain America's body to determine once and for all the truth of the matter, only to be confronted by Iron Man and Hank Pym. Wolverine looks inside the coffin and notices to his disgust that Cap's shield is missing; accusing Stark of planning to create a replacement. Although Pym attempts to detain him, Iron Man lets Wolverine go for

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