The Grimm Ben record label

The Thing shows up in some random places, but one of the strangest places for ol' Ben Grimm to appear, in my opinion, has been on a vinyl 45 for a Jamaican reggae label. And thus, we shall briefly discuss the Grimm Ben record label, or as I see it, that one time Ben and Johnny had a wild idea to become music executives, only to somehow uncover a nefarious plan by Doc Doom to destroy the Fantastic Four once and for all with reggae.

In the 1970s and early '80s, reggae DJ and record producer Jah Thomas oversaw the Grimm Ben label that released a couple dozen records, each bearing the image of the Thing on the vinyl discs. I was able to grab the above 45 with "Pants and Blouses" by Ranking Toyan on one side and "Major Disease Dub Part 2" on the other. Hey, do we want to listen to "Pants and Blouses"? Why not:

The label is obviously unauthorized, but that didn't stop our friends from Jamaica from not only using Ben Grimm's full name, but also slapping his face on the records as well. Give the people what they want, and what they want is the Thing, Marvel approved or not!

I'd love to know who drew the image that adorns this label. Also, according to a random '80s issue of Dazzler, the Thing knows how to play the saxophone. Do with that what you will.

It's worth pointing out that there is also a soul band named the Fantastic Four that was active around the same time, but as far as I know, wasn't connected to the Grimm Ben label. What a Marvel Two-in-One that could have been!

ALSO! My friends, I have moved on from Twitter.

This is for a few reasons. First, let's face it, Twitter has been swirling the drain for the last few years (if only we could determine what happened a few years ago), and in recent months, interactions there have just been terrible. I joined Twitter over a decade ago and it has helped my comic book career by connecting me with a lot of great artists, creators and publishers, but it was time to go.

Next, Twitter is making some rather aggressive moves to force all of its users to allow their content to be used to train their AI program. That's dumb, and I hate it, and that's a good enough reason to leave in and of itself.

I've love to spend less time on social media in general, but for now, I've migrated to Bluesky, and I hope you'll follow me there if you'd like!

One last thing about Twitter's AI plans - I made sure to delete all of my previous tweets (a bittersweet moment, but what can you do) by using the program Redact. It took a really long time, but in the end it wiped my page clean.

As Tobias Fünke would say, I've made ANUSTART.

This Ink Runs Cold at the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con

I've got a short story set for publication in This Ink Runs Cold, an upcoming anthology from Allen Spiegel Fine Arts! I just got an update from Scott Morse, the creator of the project, with finished art from our sci-fi/crime noir story, titled "Blood Brothers." HERE'S A PREVIEW:

The book is set to come out in the spring of '25, with contributors like Dave McKean, Jim Mafood, Fabio Moon, Stan Sakai, Paul Pope, Mike Allred and a bunch more!

One of the really cool things about this book is that Scott drew parts of it on the show floor at this summer's Comic-Con in San Diego, and he invited his fellow collaborators to stop by as he drew. I thought it'd be fun to document the whole process, and I recently uploaded the whole 26-minute affair to YouTube. So let's watch, shall we?

I really think that this book, with its unique concept and list of creators, is going to be up for some awards in '25 and '26. I'm excited for it to come out!

The world has waited long enough: here are some pictures from the 2024 Comic-Con International

I've had this blog since 2008, which is a long time in blog years, and also, I guess, the last time the Steelers won the Super Bowl. Sometimes I post a bunch of pictures from Comic-Con in San Diego, and I wonder what kind of Google Image search results they show up in, and if they make any sense without the context of this wonderful blog. I guess we'll never know, but here are 22 more pictures for Google to sort through. Here are some of the things I saw in San Diego this past July!

DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

This year's offsite events were as big and immersive as they've ever been, especially along the harbor, behind the convention center. ABC's Abbot Elementary had a carnival with rides and a drum line and a line to get in that went for hours each day.

This must have been fun for two people to go as Batman and Alfred in tandem. Did they ever separate over the weekend? Would it have made sense just to see a guy with a phone and an umbrella? Did they feel the pressure to stay in character the whole time?

Comic-Con is fun for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is that you can walk down an aisle and see a to-scale Mechagodzilla walking toward you.

You can also see the Statue of Liberty with a chicken man, but I guess you can see that anywhere.

The Hulu booth had a number of signings on the floor over the course of the weekend. Here's the cast of What We Do In The Shadows!

Hulu's offsite event was also a big deal throughout the weekend. I'm not sure why Bender is being shuttled along this conveyor belt, but I am apparently very concerned about it.

My friend Jennie Wood had a panel and a rooftop book signing at the San Diego Public Library one afternoon during the show!

The Young Avengers!

Just don't...don't turn around, Hank.

This might be the best costume I saw all weekend. Kudos to this guy for pulling it off expertly.

I was lucky enough to get a ticket to Paramount's offsite Lodge event, and this is the best picture I took inside. They had a TMNT arcade machine and free pizza, too.

I'm not sure if this vehicle is street legal, or if you are allowed to drive it wearing a Muppet mask, but we'll make an exception for Comic-Con.

If it's a mashup, I like it. These were great.

I was somehow able to get into the Futurama cast signing on Saturday at the Hulu booth.

I recently watched both Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra for the first time, and suddenly these costumes make sense.

A new issue of Sister Powers came out for the show, and I got to spend some time with my friend and series artist Mario Wytch signing over the weekend.

The show isn't limited to the convention floor. These poor souls died, presumably, waiting in line for something.

At some point, it's time to go home.

Public transit has its perils, but it's cheaper than Uber and sometimes you've just got to make do.

This felt like the first "normal" Comic-Con since 2019. It was expansive and intense and I slept very little. I'll be back next year.

Thing sketchbook, part 28

Whenever I'm behind on work and think, "oh, I haven't updated the blog in a while," my thoughts immediately go to, "well, what if you post some pictures of the Thing?" And then I think, "what if I ever run out of Thing sketches to post?" and I cry a bit, but then I remember that I will never run out of Thing sketches, because I have a lot and will never stop getting them.

Anyway, I'm definitely behind on work, and I guess the Comic-Con pictures can wait a little longer, so here are five more sketches from my Thing sketchbook! These are all...really great? I mean, they're all wonderful, but this group is particularly solid. Here they are!

Agnes Garbowska - New York Comic Con 2021

The 2021 New York Comic Con was the first big convention to return out of the pandemic. Thinking back to it, this was...probably a bit too early and I bet a lot of people got covid from this show? Then again, I bet a lot of people got covid from the 2024 San Diego show. I suppose I went (to both), so I have no room to judge. I do remember this show being smaller than most, and the people attending being more cautious than most shows that have taken place since.

I did get some Thing sketches, starting off with this one from Agnes Garbowska, an artist who has become a staple of comic convention artist alleys in recent years with a really great, fun style. This Thing (complete with Thing nipples) comes with a subtle glitter color wash that doesn't show up as well in the scan. I was so excited to get a new sketch in person, and this was a great way to start out.

Dane Ault - New York Comic Con 2021

Dane runs Monkey Minion Press and has a really swell booth at a lot of different conventions. Dane designs prints and stickers and other ephemera that I really like - and even got to do some design work for the AppleTV+ show, For All Mankind. I'm really happy that I was able to get him to draw in the book. I want to say that if the Thing has to pay for takeout in Manhattan, after saving the city and the world over and over, then something isn't right. Well, maybe he crashed through the wall at one point during a superhero battle and just took off afterwards. I guess we'll never know.

Jake Smith - New York Comic Con 2021

Jake Smith is a really dynamic artist who made a name for himself with Blood Force Trauma and then went on to do some work on a few Godzilla books. He also drew a cover to Planet Comics #4, which I was really lucky to get!

This pugnacious Thing is notable because Jake used a ben day sticker over top of his lines, which is how he created the greyscale effect that looks so cool!

Joe St. Pierre - Rhode Island Comic Con 2021

After NYCC, I got invited to the '21 Rhode Island Comic Con, where I sat next to Joe St. Pierre and got to chat with him for a while. Joe is a great artist who has drawn a bunch of stuff, but most historically significantly SPIDER-MAN 2099!! As we all know (everyone known this), the Fantastic Four 2099 all pretty much look just like their present-day counterparts, so drawing the Thing 2099 doesn't stand out among the other sketches in the book. Joe was kind enough to draw a flying car and "2099" in the background to help us all distinguish one from the other. Thing 2099! Yes!

Matt Smith - Rhode Island Comic Con 2021

I know Matt from his time on his Barbarian Lord comic, and he worked on quite a few FUBAR projects around that same time. Matt now does a lot of work on the Hellboy titles, which is really great for a fantastic creator with a beautiful style. Matt drew this dour Thing in the book that made the trip to Rhode Island worth it just from this.

Oh, and have we seen the leaked video of the Thing from Fantastic Four: First Steps? Comic accurate Thing, everyone!!

🎥 | New look at The Thing on the set of ‘THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS’ pic.twitter.com/Zz2q8sQt4D

— Fantastic Four Updates (@F4Update) August 28, 2024

This Ink Runs Cold and the 2024 San Diego Comic-Con

 

Well, hey, I guess it's time for my yearly "yes, I'm going to Comic-Con" post. This year seems like it'll be a return to the enormous shows of 2019 and earlier, with lots of star power and big, flashy events both on the show floor and outside of the convention center. And it looks like Marvel will bring their Fantastic Four cast to Hall H in anticipation of next year's film. Am I excited? Yes! Do I think I'll be able to get into Hall H to see the Thing? No! But you never know what Comic-Con magic will be in play.

Unlike most previous years, I won't be stationed at a specific booth for this show, but I will be making a few stops to sign books on different days.

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Z2 Comics is debuting their new Motörhead graphic novel, No Remorse: The Illustrated True Stories of Lemmy Kilmister and Motörhead at Comic-Con, and I...somehow? have a story in the book that I worked on with artist Jeff McComsey. I'll be signing copies of the book with other contributors on Sunday at 2pm at booth 1529.

 Sister Powers: Summer Vacation will also debut at Comic-Con this year, from Keenspot Entertainment and artist Mario Wytch! Keenspot has booth 2635 on the show floor, and I'll be at their booth most days to sign copies with Mario.

Artist Scott Morse recently announced This Ink Runs Cold, a sci-fi/crime anthology that he'll be drawing, in part, on the show floor at Comic-Con, while the convention is taking place. I submitted a story and found out earlier today that it made the cut when Scott posted the above image. Don't worry that my last name is misspelled (or perhaps we're just using the historic spelling). It's...it's me, I promise.

We're still working out the details, but Scott has asked those of us who'll be at the show to stop by while our pages are being drawn. This'll happen between Friday and Sunday at the Allen Spiegel Fine Arts booth, #4701 on the show floor. I'm hoping that there'll be a livestream or some other documentation happening as the pages are created, because this is a really fun idea and I hope others want to watch it come to life.

My contribution will be a story titled "Blood Brothers." There are plans to publish the book shortly after the convention, so I hope to see it in print before too long.

I've got about 24 hours before I have to head out to the airport, so I'm glad that I'm using some of this precious time to update the ol' blog. It's important!! I believe it! See you in San Diego!

Is Mega Minion Jerry...just the Thing?

Okay, so I'll admit that I don't get the Minions. I recognize that they're a cultural phenomenon, part of a blockbuster movie franchise, and in ten years, kids who grew up watching the characters will write academic papers on them, but my eyes just get a bit glossy every time a commercial for their latest appearance comes on. That's okay, because not everything has to be made for me, but I've generally done my best to ignore Despicable Me and any of the offshoots of the last however many years.

But when I see the Thing, I take notice, and let me tell you, the Thing appears in the new Despicable Me 4 movie that comes out...when does it come out? Soon? I'm assuming it comes out soon. The point is, one of the Minions is clearly the Thing.

Thirty seconds of searching tells me that the Thing in this movie is called Mega Minion Jerry, and that he is part of the Mega Minions, a group that forms a superhero team after gaining powers from an experiment. One of Jerry's powers is apparently the ability to eat lots of things (suspiciously also like the Thing). So, okay, we have a rocky superhero with blue overalls and a slightly lighter than orange complexion. This is the Thing.

The Minions also have a pretty good presence in the toy aisle. Your friend (and mine) Larry sent me this image from a recent shopping trip:

Jerry also, apparently, barrels things over. He clobbers them, if you will.

So the only question that remains, then, is how official is this connection? The Minions have that gobbledygook speech pattern, right? Will this one say "it's clobberin' time" or something like it? Does one of the other Mega Minions stretch? Will Jerry develop a terrible smoking habit?? Do I have to actually watch this movie to find out?!

I haven't bought any of the toys yet. I'm considering it.

My first "Helmet Thing" original comic art (please congratulate me)

In the early-to-mid-'90s, the Thing wore a helmet. This "battle damaged" Thing redesign made him, I suppose, both more extreme and more X-TREME, which fit for the time (though the helmet was originally designed by Jack Kirby and made a very brief appearance in the early issues of the Fantastic Four series). And while I hated the look at the time, I've come to feel a bit of nostalgic appreciation for it, though, to be clear, I NEVER EVER want the character to adopt the look again.

I've never been able to find any helmet Thing original artwork - at least, nothing I've been able to afford - but that streak came to an end recently when I managed to grab a page from Marvel's Cage series, which ran from 1992-93 and starred former FF member Luke Cage. Let's take a look at it! 

This is a great page for the following reasons: it's full of action, it prominently features the Thing, all of the dialogue balloons and sound effects are still pasted to the page, and most importantly, THE THING IS WEARING HIS HELMET.

Here's the cover to the issue from which this page comes. The Cage series ended with issue 20, so this is one of the final pages from the series.

In the issue, Luke Cage has been possessed by the villainous Bogeyman, and the Thing and the Human Torch set out to free him from the nefarious influence. The battle takes the three to the piers of New York City.

If I had to guess, I'd say the Bogeyman was meant to be Venom-like in its portrayal. The villain tries to possess the Thing, but OH-HO! It's not to be because of his VERY IMPORTANT HELMET! Nice!

The page is pencilled by Scott Benefiel and inked by Frank Turner. The letters come from John Roshell and Comicraft - the company had just been founded a year earlier. This is a very early example of digital lettering in the comic book industry. In this instance, the letters were printed, cut out, and pasted to the art board. I think it really adds something to the artwork, though I understand why it doesn't happen anymore. 

In the end, our Fantastic Four duo are victorious, mostly because the Thing punched a lot (and very well). I guess Johnny keeps Luke Cage from flying off into the stratosphere by flying up to grab him.

There's just one editorial note on this page, next to the last panel, and it's a note for the colorist to make Johnny's forearms blue, as he's turned off his flame to that part of his body as he grabs his pal Luke.

This is a really great page that makes a unique addition to the collection. It's my first page of original art with the Thing in his helmet! This is a reason to celebrate.

Mezco Toyz One:12 Collective Thing figure

The Mezco Toys Fantastic Four set came out in November of '23, featuring all four members of the superhero team (plus H.E.R.B.I.E.) in a boxed collection. This was part of the company's One:12 Collective line, a series of high-quality action figures from a number of different licensed properties. I can only imagine this means that these figures are produced at 1:12 scale.

All of Mezco's sets come with deluxe features and accessories, and they are all priced at a number that will probably make your heartbeat increase a little before adding a set to your cart. The Fantastic Four set is priced at $420, which means each figure is priced at over $100. I waited a while to see if buyers were purchasing these sets to break them up and sell the figures individually, and that's just what happened. I was able to get Ben Grimm for $150, which was not nearly as high as I expected the markup to be. I love the FF and in a perfect world I'd have the complete box set, but I'm more than happy to spend a lot less and get the Thing. Let's take a look at this figure!

Okay, I don't know who this is. It's a big guy in a coat, hat and sunglasses. I ordered the Thing! WHO DO I SPEAK TO ABOUT THIS?!

After removing the coat, I found that it was all a very clever disguise that could have fooled anyone, and that it actually WAS the Thing underneath. What a relief!

The coat and hat - and all of the accessories, really - are top notch, and add some extra detail to this figure that sets it apart from a lot of the others that are out there. The coat, for example, has a small wire that runs along the seams to make it very posable. It's made of fabric and the buttons are all individually sewn on. The attention to detail is really impressive all around. This also makes me a bit anxious about breaking something, whether that's the wire or button or the tiny belt buckle. I probably have to pick a look for this figure and stick with it.

I'm usually not a fan of using fabric on figures. The Thing's shorts, for example, probably would have looked better if they were vinyl like the rest of him. They're also not attached to the leather-like belt at the top. But this is the look that Mezco is going for, so I knew what to expect. The coat is a definite exception to this rule, as it looks great.

Here's the back! The Thing stands on a blue plastic platform that has the classic Fantastic Four logo on it.

Speaking of accessories, the figure comes with a number of different and easily interchangeable heads, with various emotions. Do you want to your figure to look like the "This Man, This Monster" depressed Thing? Well, you can just swap out the "sad Thing" head and you're all set! Do you want your Thing to be in a blind, uncontrollable rage? You're also covered! The Thing comes with all kinds of unhealthy emotional states. And blue eyes, too!

There are also three sets of hands, and they work well with the other accessories that we can see below:

My favorite of these is a Yancy Street lamppost, complete with the street sign. This bends just a little and Ben can hold it with one of the sets of hands. This is the classic Thing!

There's also a steel beam that Ben can grab and bend a little, when he's feeling up for it.

This is without a doubt a great figure, and it makes for a really nice display piece. I'm still torn on whether or not the FF set was worth $420 plus shipping. The Thing stands at about seven inches in height, comes with a ton of great accessories, and is a welcome addition to my collection. Is it five times as good as some of my other, cheaper action figures? I suppose that's all academic at this point, since I happily bought it. I'm not sure I'd pay this much for anyone besides Ben Grimm.

And checking Mezco's website, I see that they make a Spider-Man 2099 figure. HECK!

Thing sketchbook, part 27

It's time for yet another round of "let's look at Jeff's Thing sketchbook, which has become so synonymous with Jeff himself that it's difficult to determine where one ends and the other begins." I mean, I like my Thing sketchbook, everyone. WHO WANTS TO SEE SOME SKETCHES?!

Phil Hester - 2020

2020 was a light year for Thing sketches - for the reasons we all understand - and I spent some time dropping the book in the mail and sending it to folks who agreed to draw in it at their homes. I was very nervous doing this. But it all worked out, and one of the sketches I got back was this absolute gem from Phil Hester. Phil's known for his Marvel and DC books like Green Arrow and The Irredeemable Ant-Man, which is a personal favorite of mine.

In this sketch, we not only get a despondant Ben Grimm, but also the Silver Surfer flying off with Alicia Masters. The Surfer and Alicia have a history that goes back to the classic Galactus storyline in Fantastic Four 48-50, and when the FF was stuck in the Heroes Reborn universe in the '90s, the two had a brief romantic relationship in the pages of the Silver Surfer's own book. So this scene of rejection has some pretext, even though I HATE IT. But Ben and Alicia ended up back together, so I guess it's all okay in the end.

Todd Nauck - 2020

Here's another sketch that I trusted to the postal service, from the always friendly Todd Nauck, known for his work on titles like Spider-Man and Young Justice. Todd is always thoughtful and kind, and oh man did he deliver a really incredible headshot of ol' Ben Grimm here for the sketchbook. This was done around the time that Todd was drawing a lot of headshot variant covers for Marvel, including one for the Thing's own series. The blue outline is a nice touch.

Jacob Quinn - 2020

I was really happy to have my nephew Jake draw a sketch in this book. It was 2020 and I didn't have a lot of movement with the sketchbook, so it seemed like the right time to open it up to a wider audience, I guess, but also having people I know and care about personally in the book makes sense to me at this stage as well. Jake was 10 when he drew this, and honestly, he did a really great job with it, and he added a unique version for the book. I'm really happy with it.

Anna Litofsky - 2021

The spring of 2021 rolled around and COVID restrictions were still pretty prevalent; there were certainly no conventions happening yet. I was teaching a class on scripting for comics at my current university at this point, where we met once every other week in person, and the rest of the time on Zoom. There was no requirement for artistic skill to be in this class, but Anna came in with her own polished style and a great perspective. Once the end of the semester rolled around, I asked Anna if she'd be willing to draw in my sketchbook, and she agreed, producing this as we had class.

The class would go on to produce their own full-length comic, Tales of the 399, which we funded on Kickstarter. This was a really fulfilling experience for me. Anna drew the cover for the book and we've kept in touch since. She's contributed to several issues of Planet Comics and I'm excited to see where her future takes her.

Chad Kelson - 2021

This is the last of my quarantine sketches, and it comes from Chad Kelson, who has the online persona of "Metal Al" for his death metal covers of "Weird Al" Yankovic songs, if you can believe it. I met Chad at Al's Hollywood Star induction ceremony in 2018; he's also a big comic book fan and an artist in his own right, so we became fast friends.

Chad went above and beyond the call of duty with this incredible recreation that combines the Thing and Al's 1985 "Dare to be Stupid" album cover, going so far as to adding in the background album elements, squeezing them all onto a 5x5 sketchbook page.

I managed to get six new Thing sketches in all in between conventions, which I think was pretty good, all things considered. I'm...really glad the book didn't get lost while it traveled the country.