63. The Thing vol 1 #19 ... Marvel

The oddest thing about comics and reviewers is that sometimes with the passing of time what was once favoured can be the subject of ridicule or put down and vice versa. No difference with this title or rather this particular saga in the ongoing life of Benjamin Grimm aka the Thing of the Fantastic Four

You see, during the 80s, the first major company crossover event in comics history occurred ... called Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars. A being from another dimension whisked away a bunch of earth superheroes to a planet he created called Battleworld. Here the good guys and bad guys fought while discovering new things about themselves and the world along the way

Needless to say the good guys won and when it was time to go back to Earth, Ben Grimm decided not to join them. The reason is that while on Earth, he remained as the Thing (more or less full time) since his transformation years ago. But on Battleworld? He has the ability to switch between human and Rocky Orange form

So he embarks on a journey through the varied lands of this world in predominantly human form while sometimes transforming into his rocky alter ego. Of course as a safety he has a device that allows him to go home to Earth should he need to

In this arc, it's a first time crossover with the regular FF Series. In this story, we see Ben travelling across a horrendous landscape in search of his travelling mate, a girl and encountering spooks that look more like movie monsters than anything else. Naturally with his hide, he was a sufficient match for them though he was hardpressed to defeat the Frankenstein monster. At the end of the adventure he was close but not close enough to find out who has been sabotaging his entire journey here. He has no suspicions as to the identity although sure that there is a mastermind behind all this

Ratings: 7/10