Latest / Vigilante Vibes Podcast / Ep. 111. Who is Ben Grimm, AKA The Thing, From Marvel Comics?

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Ep. 111. Who is Ben Grimm, AKA The Thing, From Marvel Comics? · Vigilante Vibes Podcast

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Hi. Hi guys, it's Megan Vid
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Vigilante vibes and I am coming to you with another breakdown of
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a Marvel character from the comics and one I think we're all
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very involved with. But with Fantastic Four first
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steps coming, well, what better time is it to talk about the
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Fantastic Four members, the Marvel's first family?
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So we're going to be starting with Ben Grimm AKA The Thing,
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and I hope you learned something, or at least I hope
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you like what I have to say. So let's talk about who Eben
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Moss Bacharach is playing. Ben Grimm AKA The thing is a
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founding member of the Fantastic Four and 1st appeared in
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Fantastic Four number one in 1961.
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Ben Grimm is the original tough guy of the Marvel Universe, but
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underneath all that muscle and attitude, he's also the most
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tragic member of the Fantastic Four.
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He used to be a top notch test pilot, but after getting hit
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with cosmic radiation after that Space Flight, he was turned into
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a rock skin powerhouse. His body's tougher than stone,
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which makes him seem rough and grumpy on the outside, but deep
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down he's got a heart of gold. Ben Grimm grew up tough on the
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rough streets of New York's Yancey St.
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He was a bit rough around the edges but had a good heart and
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his way out of that life came through a football scholarship
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while attending Empire State University.
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He became best friends with a young genius named Reed Richards
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and promised to one day pilot the spaceship Reed was dreaming
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of building. After college, Ben joined the
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military chasing his dream of becoming a pilot and even got
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some experience in the astronaut program, something that would
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come in handy later. Eventually, Ben reconnected with
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Reed, who convinced him to help test fly his new spaceship.
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Ben agreed, though he wasn't shy about his concerns with the
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ship's shielding. Sure enough, once they were in
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space, Ben, Reed, and siblings Sue and Johnny Storm were hit by
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the cosmic rays. Ben managed to crash land the
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ship safely back on Earth, but all four of them came out
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changed. Ben got the absolute worst of
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it, transforming into a massive rock skinned brute soon known as
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The Thing. From that moment on, the four of
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them stuck together not just as a superhero team, but as a
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family. The Fantastic Four, The Thing,
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is easily one of the strongest people on the planet, probably
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second to only the Hulk, probably.
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Thanks to his unique rocket body, he can lift close to 100
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tons, tank extreme heat and cold, and shrug off explosions
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and energy blasts like they're nothing.
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His skin is nearly impossible to break unless you're working with
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alien tech or magic, and even though he looks like he's made
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of solid rock, his body is actually flexible enough for him
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to move around pretty freely. That said, his big rocky fingers
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make it tough for him to use most machines or controls unless
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they're specially built for him. Over the years, Ben's looks have
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changed from a bumpy, uneven hide to a more defined structure
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that looks like he's made of linked together stone plates.
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At one point, he even had the ability to switch back to his
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human form whenever he wanted, but that power's long gone.
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Still, after living in his rocky skin for so long, he's come to
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terms with it as a pilot. Ben's one of the best out there,
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and his natural leadership skills, shaped by his time
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running with a street gang on Yancey St. and serving in the
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military, make people want to follow him.
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Even if he can be a little grumpy sometimes.
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He's fiercely loyal and has earned the respective heroes all
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around the world. Ben Grimm sees the Fantastic
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Four as his real family, with Reed Richards being his best
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friend. They've been tight since their
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college days, and even though their friendship has been tested
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more than a few times during their wild adventures, it's held
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strong. Back in the early days, Ben had
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a bit of a crush on Sue Storm, but she saw through all the rock
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and roughness to the kind loyal guy underneath and they ended up
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building a deep sibling like bond.
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As for Johnny Storm, him and Ben bicker like crazy, but when it
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really counts they're they absolutely have each other's
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backs. They're all very much ride or
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die. The real love of Ben's life
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though is Alicia Masters. She won his heart early on with
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her kindness, calm spirit, and the way she truly sees people
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even though she's blind. Their relationship has had its
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ups and downs, but they have always found their way back to
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each other. Not long ago, Ben finally
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proposed and the two are now happily married.
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Across the superhero world, Ben's known as someone you can
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count on. Loyal, dependable, always ready
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to step up. He's built strong friendships
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with big names like Spider Man, Wolverine, Captain America, and
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Luke Cage. And somehow, despite his rocky
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appearance, Benz had a surprising amount of luck with
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the ladies, something that tends to leave his friends both
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impressed and a little confused. As one of the original members
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of the Fantastic Four, the Thing has faced off against more
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villains than most heroes. His main nemesis is more than
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likely probably Doctor Doom, who he first met back in college
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when Doom was just Victor Von Doom, a brilliant but arrogant
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scientist and future ruler of Latveria.
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Every time they cross paths, Ben's ready to throw hands, but
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Doom tends to underestimate just how tough and determined he
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really is. Ben's also got a long running
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beef with Namor the Submariner, mostly because of Namor's thing
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for Sue Richards and his not so secret hatred of Reed, Ben's
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best friend. That tension has led to more
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than a few brawls over the years.
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Then there's the Yancey St. gang, basically a bunch of local
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punks who've kept messing with him ever since he left the
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neighborhood for college. Every new generation seems to
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pick up the torch just to mess with him, but when it comes down
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to it, a lot of people would say Ben's biggest enemy is himself.
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As the Fantastic Four started to come together under Reed
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Richards leadership, Ben Grimm, the Thing was still trying to
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figure out where he fit in as this big rocky monster as he
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calls it. Along the way, he got into some
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classic brawls with the Hulk, teamed up with the Human Torch
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for all kinds of wild adventures, and went through a
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bunch of changes in his strength and appearance.
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Those changes messed with his mood too, making him more prone
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to anger. He quit the team a few times
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over small things and even tried to escape his life altogether by
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hiding out in different time periods or remote places.
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In those early years, Reed worked hard to find a cure for
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Ben's condition. Sometimes he came up with a
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temporary fix for the cosmic radiation, but the only real
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piece Ben has found was in his relationship with Alicia
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Masters, the kind blind sculptor who saw the real hymn.
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After a lot of drama with the team and constant battles with
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enemies from Earth and beyond, Ben took a break and worked as
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head of security for Project Pegasus, a government research
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facility. At one point, he finally turned
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back into his human self for good, or so he thought.
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When he got frustrated about being left out of the action,
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Reed built him a special Thing shaped exosuit so he could still
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join the team. During this time, Reed started
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to suspect that Ben might actually have the ability to
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change his forms on his own, but he kept that theory to himself.
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Eventually, Ben changed back into the Thing and joined his
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fellow heroes on Battle World, a strange alien planet created by
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the Beyonder. While there, he did discover
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that he could switch between forms at will and chose to stay
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behind after the other heroes went home.
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He explored Battle World for a while, but when he came back to
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Earth, he found he couldn't turn into a human anymore.
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On top of that, he was crushed by what he saw as Reed's
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betrayal and by Alicia falling for Johnny Storm while he was
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away. After splitting from the team
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again, Ben met Sharon Ventura, a powerhouse in her own right, and
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the two got involved in the wild world of Unlimited Class
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Wrestling. They even teamed up briefly with
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the West Coast Avengers. Later, Ben's body mutated once
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more and he rejoined the Fantastic Four, this time as the
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team's leader. While Reed and Shu took a break,
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Sharon, now transformed into she Thing, fought alongside the team
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and started a romance with Ben, but eventually her mental state
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took a turn and she ended up clashing with both Ben and the
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rest of the team. At one point, Doctor Doom upped
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the stakes and actually took over Ben Grimm's body to go
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after his nemesis. Things got intense, everyone
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thought the Thing had died. Reed and the rest of the team
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weren't ready to let him go, so they literally went on a journey
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to find his soul, which led them all the way to heaven, where
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they met a mysterious being known only as the Creator.
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With some help from his late brother, Ben was convinced to
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come back to life, and the Fantastic Four had a heartfelt
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reunion that brought them even closer as a family.
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But when they got back to business, they found out that
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the US government had drained their resources.
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Suddenly, they were broke and stuck taking on random jobs just
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to pay the bills. Luckily, Ben came into a
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surprise fortune with some investments the government
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hadn't touched. He had a good time blowing
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through some of it and then turned around and gave a lot of
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way to charity. Even though he didn't like the
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idea of the Superhuman Registration Act, Ben agreed to
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help enforce it, putting him at odds with Sue and Johnny.
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After Captain America surrendered, Ben was so torn up
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by the whole civil War between heroes that he took some time
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off to get his head straight. When he came back, he stepped up
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as a team leader again, this time with Black Panther and
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Storm, filling in for Reed and Sue.
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Not long after, the team rescued the real Alicia Masters from the
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Scrolls, and Ben moved on romantically, starting a serious
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relationship with a teacher named Debbie Green.
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Especially after learning Alicia just wanted to be friends.
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Around then, Luke Cage invited Ben to split his time between
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The Adventures and the Fantastic Four.
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Things got wild again when Ben got possessed by a mystical
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hammer during a major event and became angrier.
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Breaker of Souls. Once that passed, he was cleared
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of a murder charge involving Alicia Stepdad the Puppet
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Master, and joined the resistance against HYDRA when a
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corrupted Captain America took over the US.
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He even spent time with the Guardians, the Galaxy, and
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SHIELD during the Secret Wars event.
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After the multiverse was destroyed and Doom created a
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patchwork world called Battle World, Ben ended up transforming
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into a giant living wall called the Shield.
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Eventually he helped read defeat Doom with Doom's God like
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powers. Reed rebuilt the universe but
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chose to stay behind the scenes with Sue and their kids to
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restore the multiverse. Meanwhile, Ben and Johnny used a
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device remade the multi sect to search for them across different
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realities. After a long journey, the team
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finally reunited, kicking off a bold new chapter for the
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Fantastic Four. So that is Ben Grimm in a
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nutshell. He is.
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He's like the loving uncle. He has loving uncle energy and
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the Fantastic Four, but I feel like he's I feel like at times
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he's the wise one. I know Reed is the smartest man
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in the universe, blah, blah blah, but I feel like the thing
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has it together a little bit better.
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So as always, I have some comics for you to check out to learn
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more about Ben Grimm that actually are not Fantastic Four
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comics. So starting off startling
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stories, The Thing, Hulk and Thing, Hard Knocks, Clobber in
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Time, Dan Slot's Thing solo series, 2 in one annual number
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seven Thing Freak Show, Astonishing Tales, The Thing,
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Walter Mosley and Tom Riley's 2021, The Thing limited series,
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and John Byrne's solo series of The Thing.
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So those are all, they're all pretty great to be honest with
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you. I really enjoyed all of them.
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So if you have any other comic recommendations, please let me
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know in the comics because I'm not a professional.
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I just know what I've read. So with that being said, make
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sure you like and subscribe so you don't miss any more of these
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breakdowns and have a marvelous day.