“THE DAY THEY WALKED AWAY!”
Our story starts in the Silver Age of Comics (1956-1970) and it begins with a creation of Stan “The Man” Lee and Jack “King” Kirby. Benjamin Grimm, alias “The Thing”, was always the most reluctant member to join the Fantastic Four. The “Ever-loving” Thing was not loving the idea of what a trip into space with Reed Richards, Susan Storm, and Johnny Storm transformed him into. As Susan so eloquently puts in the opening pages of The Fantastic Four #1 “Run, Reed Darling! He’s turned into a—a—some sort of THING! He’s strong as an ox!!”
From the earliest pages of his silver age infancy, Ben outwardly displayed his distaste for this little group that he got roped into piloting into space to study Reed’s “cosmic rays”. Ben’s distaste stemmed from several factors, factors that in one way or another, we can all relate to. Ben was jealous of the smart guy who gets the girl that he doesn’t deserve (Reed) and he was jealous of the suave “hotshot” who got whatever he wanted out of life (Johnny). The cosmic rays turned Ben into exactly what he felt the world saw him as; a brute whose greatest asset was his strength.
If you, the reader, take a moment to dwell on this next point, I think you’ll dig what I, Jubilant Jeff V, is laying down! So I’ve just mentioned Ben; now let’s take a moment to visit the other three members of the fantastic four and think about how their powers are near perfect foils for the people that they are! Oh yes, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby are every bit the geniuses that we all think they are and let me show you why!
Let’s start with Reed Richards; alias Mr. Fantastic. Reed is a scientist, one of the most brilliant scientists in the world actually. One of the primary functions of a scientist is to stretch scientific “truths” and principles; stretching them to such a degree that new truths and principles are discovered and this cycle perpetuates itself throughout time. Now, what is the new and magnificent power that Reed Richards is endowed by the cosmic rays that he was bombarded with? Oh, that’s right, the ability to stretch to new and truly fantastic bounds that were previously unprecedented!
Now, let’s move on to Johnny Storm; alias The Human Torch. Johnny is the youngest member of the Fantastic Four and as such, designed to be the representation and voice of his era. Johnny is everything that a boy his age would have wanted to be. Johnny was debonair, slick, witty, and a ladies man (he was basically everything that Peter Parker was designed not to be). Now, also being the youngest member of the Fantastic Four meant that by definition, Johnny would be the one most sure of himself, most ready for action, and most ready for a fight. Johnny Storm was hot tempered and wanted to set the world ablaze, as any teenager could most likely relate to. Johnny’s passion burnt like a flame inside him; all Stan and Jack did was move that flame from the inside to the outside and the Human Torch was born!
Ok readers so 3 down and 1 to go. Lastly we have Susan Storm and I decided to save Susan for last because Sue’s case is different from the aforementioned cases of her other three fantastic team members. Sue was the embodiment of the modern day woman. She looked, played, and sounded the part. Often Sue would be the most rational of the four and the most cautious. Sue also enjoyed the latest fashions and enjoyed being seen and appreciated (honestly, isn’t being seen, heard, and appreciated what we all truly want?) To counter these desires, Susan’s power was one in which enabled her to become invisible, to not be seen. This power was most interesting early on as Sue did not yet know how to control her power and would fade in and out of view without meaning to do so.
With all four of these powers now laid out, and the knowledge that Stan was writing for an older audience, a target audience of teenagers as he has often said in countless interviews when asked about the origins of his most famous characters, it becomes clear that each of these powers could be looked at as a slice of a much bigger pie. Each slice of the pie comprises the search for identity and identifiableness that we all embark on at some point during our lives. Are we the logic ridden and knowledge driven Reed Richards? Are we the suave and passionate Johnny Storm? Are we the rational and voice of reason Susan Storm? Or are we Ben Grimm, the Thing, someone who feels that they cannot relate to anybody therefore hides behind a façade of pure power? In part I of The Super-Blog Team Up, “The Day They Walked Away”, I will now delve into that lastly mentioned member of the FF; Benjamin Grimm, alias The Thing, and explore just why this founding member of the Fantastic Four decided to walk away.
If somebody were to ask you why you decided to walk away from something that you had once been IMMENSELY dedicated to, what might your answer be? Perhaps you simply grew bored of it. Perhaps you did not feel appreciated for all your efforts. Or perhaps it was just time for a change. For Ben Grimm, the answer was quite simply all of the above.
Ben grew tired of playing, what he believed to be, second fiddle to the rest of the FF. Ben believed that he was being exploited, used and needed only for his strength. Ben never felt that he could be truly accepted; his “gift” left him disfigured and hideous to his own eyes. The cosmic rays left Ben as an unknown for he was no longer a man, he was now a Thing! Where would a Thing fit into this world? In a world full of niches and categories, where would this member of the FF now fall? Ben had to rediscover who he was and all that he really knew was that he was “different” from the other three and he hated them for that.
So with all of this
been said and having seen what unfolded, why would Ben return to the FF?
Sometimes we all need to take a break from something, to step back and examine
what is right there before our very eyes. When Ben stepped away from the
Fantastic Four he realized something. He realized that he WAS the Thing; it is
who he is. Ben comes to realize that his outward appearance is simply the embodiment
of all that he represents. Ben is a rock (you see what I did there) on which a team can be built upon and
the strength of his will and his heart is unparalleled. He realizes that while
he may be a “Thing”, and while he may be different, he is still loved and
valued and that is really all any of us trying to figure out who we truly are
can ask for.
The Super-Blog team up
continues on so follow the links to the next installments and read on true
believers to see what else unfolded on the “The Day They Walked Away!”
#2 LongBox Graveyard: Captain America (http://wp.me/p1yye7-225)
#3 Flodos Page: Green Lantern (http://flodospage.blogspot.
#4 SuperHero Satellite: Superman (http://wp.me/p2N3Qb-dd)
#5 Chasing Amazing: Spider-Man (http://wp.me/p1wQNx-16N)
#6 Fantastiverse: Hank Pym … COMING SOON!
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