One of my favorite things about the comics is when a hero faces a villain he’s never faced before. Back in 1989 and 1990, Marvel performed one of the first huge crossovers, the “Act of Revenge.” There, most of the villains in the Marvel Universe worked together to defeat all of the Marvel heroes. Their strategy was for each villain to chase after a hero they’ve never fought before, which made it some interesting matchups. There were some rather biased battles (including Daredevil facing Ultron!) and some pretty epic things (Thor throws them away along with the Juggernaut), but they were all explosions to read.
The art by Justin Mason and the colours written by Tony Freak #3 and Alex Sinclair are reminiscent of that crossover and are equally fun reads. Desperately trying to save an old acquaintance, Nie, they face Bullseye and Hammerhead. Boy, are they going to have a bad day when the lump begins?
It’s hilarious that Bullseye and Hammerhead try to blackmail those who can destroy them with his little finger. Anyway, I always felt that Hammerhead was a Jokey character. For a while he looked like Big Man’s own serious rival, Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, but over the years he has been watered down by a parody of old black and white film gangs, and he feels the same here. Speaking of Kingpin, he works in the background, deepening the mystery of his links with an old acquaintance of Ben. He is a terrifying presence in every scene.
Amazing
The biggest challenge with this is to deal with Sara, a young girl who saves him from the clutch of a hammerhead. Alternating between hysteric and defense, she pushes Ben’s patience to the limit, and you feel his frustration when he tries to calm her down and make her safe as Kingpin puts grace on his head and fires all the villains of New York for him and the girl.
And wait until you see who explodes on the last page cliffhanger! Let’s say Ben will have far more trouble facing this villain than the long line of second and third string instruments he’s fought in the miniseries up to this point.
I loved the dynamics between Ben and the villain, and between Ben and Sarah. I felt that Ben and Sara’s relationship was very similar to classic works like The Lone Wolf and the Cub. There, the old fighters that were fought must self-reflect and perhaps change the way they deal with the world in order to protect the lives of young and vulnerable people.
Artist Justin Mason skillfully draws out the explosive warehouse and the chaos of its aftermath, lending out some great comic visuals as Ben sends Bullseye, Hammerhead and their fools in hilarious ways.
This issue (as with the two previous issues) combines the action and comedy of the two fist, deepening the mystery of the link to Ben’s old friend Kingpin. The miniseries are likely to be high gear with the remaining two issues, so if you like the lot of the action mixed with comedy, or if you like the good old Ben Grimm, grab this issue and enjoy the ride!
“The Thing” #3 Review
Things #3
This issue (as with the two previous issues) combines the action and comedy of the two fist, deepening the mystery of the link to Ben’s old friend Kingpin.
Justin Mason’s art fully captures the confusion and comedy of Ben’s dilemma.
Writer Tony Frieck gives Ben the story of feeling “a lonely wolf and cub” as he tries desperately to protect his child from Kingpin’s assassin.
The cliffhanger is amazing and I count my days until the next issue.
