Original Thing artwork from Andrea DiVito!

Did you know that the Thing will be getting his very own series once again this November? Walter Mosley and Tom Reilly are creating a five-issue limited series for the Idol O' Millions in a story titled "The Next Big Thing," and I, for one, can't wait. It's been too long since Ben Grimm has had his own solo series. In fact, you'd have to go back to 2006 and the Dan Slott/Andrea DiVito series for the last time the Thing had his own continuing series, even though that one only lasted eight issues.

Speaking of this series, I finally managed to get my hands on two pages of DiVito Thing original art, and it's time to take a look at both!

There's a lot going on in this page, for sure. But here it is.

The page comes from the third issue of the series, in which Ben and a few others are trapped by the X-Men villain Arcade - so the Hulk melee you see on the cover consists of Hulk robots. The Thing can beat them up, too.

It's easy to miss the Thing and some of the other detail on this page with a giant gorilla and dinosaur looming over everything, but rest assured, Ben Grimm is there, leading other prisoners to safety.

Also trapped in Arcade's word is the Constrictor, a villain who, uh, constricts things, presumably very hard.

The pencils on this page are incredibly tight and detailed. DiVito's Thing is a classic rendition with a prominent brow and and big, flat fingers, and I love it. Perhaps his Ben Grimm is a bit rounder than some others - his style always seemed to be the perfect mix between an on-model 1970s Thing and more modern interpretations. His proportions are a bit more realistic while also maintaining his comic book essence.

The next page comes from an issue of the Black Panther from a few years later. 

This comes from a period when Reed and Sue briefly left the team and were replaced by the Black Panther and Storm. In addition to appearing in the main Fantastic Four title, this team also had a story arc in the Black Panther book, traveling to a classic gangster Skrull world from a previous Lee/Kirby FF story.

It's been over a decade since I read this story, so I was surprised to learn that DiVito didn't pencil this page - he inked it over the pencils of Spanish artist Francis Portela. Still, it's obvious that DiVito had a big influence on this page. The Thing looks almost just as he does a few years prior in the Thing main series.

This page also features a lot of action, as the Thing battles various challengers in gladiator-style combat. It does not, however, feature the Black Panther, but what can you expect? The Thing is the most popular character in whatever book he appears. There's nothing you can do about it.

I might like the first page a little better than this one, but there's no denying that there's a lot going on here, and the Thing appears in almost every panel. Is that a power-dampening collar? How do those things work??

Here's one more piece of Thing pinup artwork I got at around the same time. This one's by artist Armando Carrillo, and it's a new piece even though it's drawn in the style of the 1994 Marvel Action Hour cartoon. This is probably more intimidating than cartoon Ben ever looked, and it makes a nice addition to my collection!

Original Curt Swan artwork from Superman #310!

Curt Swan in undeniably one of the most influential Superman artists of all time - I would say that the only artist who can compare is Joe Shuster, the character's co-creator. Swan was a DC stalwart for decades, churning out thousands of pages for any number of titles, but he's rightfully most well known for his work on the Man of Steel. After Swan died in the mid-'90s, DC continued to use some of his unpublished pages for anniversary stories, such as Superman's Wedding Album issue and, more recently, 2018's Action Comics #1000.

The market for Swan's work is pulled in two directions. His pages are in demand because of his classic take on comics' most recognizable character, but since he was so prolific, there are simply a lot of pages, especially from the 1970s onward. Generally speaking, an in-costume Superman appearance means you'll pay a bit more than one without. I was recently able to purchase two very affordable pages from 1977's Superman #310, both with pencils by the legendary Curt Swan.

The pages, interestingly enough, are ones published subsequently: story pages 8 and 9. 

The first page is undeniably the better of the two, because this one features none other than a bespectacled Clark Kent, looking dapper in his business-professional suit (but, sadly, no hat). Also featured is Steve Lombard, a character who pops up every so often in the book.

Steve is a former jock who sometimes picks on Clark, still thinks of himself as the star quarterback, and is often kind of a joke - he's a guy whose best years are behind him, but he doesn't realize it. His type is probably familiar to most folks and he's someone we should probably pity. Sometimes he and Clark have an inter-office rivalry, but it often ends with Clark, like, secretly using his super-breath to blow his chair out from under him so he dumps his sandwich on his shirt of something.

Both of these pages had dialogue that was pretty heavily edited, as seen above with all of the blue editor's pencil marks. But both pages came with the margins trimmed, so I couldn't see what most of the lines pointed to.

Anyway, Lombard is a character who has been around for decades, but most people aren't familiar with him. On this page he takes the company's new camera in an attempt to get an inside scoop. Oh, it should be noted that in the '70s, Clark, Lois and company moved on from the Daily Planet to WGBS, a television news station. I guess they thought that the newspaper industry wasn't relevant anymore? NEVER!

The second page in my bundle is, unfortunately, sans Clark, as we follow Lombard on his ill-fated operation. But we do come across another Superman staple - STAR Labs! I guess it's S.T.A.R. Laboratory on this page. What did "STAR" ever stand for? Anyway, Steve meets up with a robotic menace and is down for the count.

I know henchmen when I see them! This crew is actually smuggling Metallo out of storage, where he'll later do battle with Superman, and Lombard will be used as bait.

Sorry, Steve!

These pages were inked by Tex Blaisdell. I don't necessarily think his inks went particularly well with Swan's famously clean lines. Blaisdell's inks seem to roughen up the artwork a little much for my tastes - he's no Murphy Anderson.

The back of both pages comes with a stamp that indicates copyright information. 

The back of one page comes marked with two possible names: GR and Swan. The second is obviously a reference to Curt Swan, but I have no idea what GR stands for. The issue was written by Martin Pasko, Inked by Blaisdell and edited by Julie Schwartz. Maybe it indicates that it's a GREAT PAGE! Maybe.

We can also see, scratched out, that this page was at one time on sale for $25. The first page in this set, with Clark, was at one point $55. Despite getting a really good deal, I paid a bit more for these. If you see a Curt Swan page on sale for $25, grab it!

Here's the issue that includes the pages! The cover is not by Swan, but rather Jose Luis Garcia Lopez.

And here's the two-page spread, with Clark looking on and Steve getting shot all to hell by a killer robot.

I've been on the lookout for some Swan original art, but they're usually a bit above my price range. These two rather everyday pages fit my budget and also featured some dramatic robot action and a concerned Clark Kent! I'm happy to have 'em. 

Bootleg Things

It says something about a character's reach and popularity when others are willing to take that character and make their own copy, flouting copyright law and, in some cases (as we'll see), the bounds of good taste.

Such is the case with the Thing, nothing less than a company mascot in the '60s and '70s and still one of the more popular characters under the Marvel umbrella. Bootleg action figures of the character abound, and every time I see one, I try to grab it. Over the years I've amassed a few, and I thought it'd be interesting to take a look at the ones I have.

All of the below figures, to my knowledge, originated in Mexico. It seems our neighbors to the south and Latin America in general have a taste for bootleg toys, but I'm sure that there are others out there from different continents. If you are reading this and you feel the desire to part with your faux Ben Grimm figures, I hope you'll reach out.

These four figures are the first bootlegs I bought, from a few years ago, and ever since I saw these, I've been on the lookout for more. There are some real all-time greats in this bunch - I started out strong. Let's get a closer look at a couple from this image:

This skeletal-looking Thing is one of my favorites, with his metallic speedo and tiny, individually-painted teeth. This one is also pretty big and sturdy, and is one of the few with a more well-defined figure (as opposed to a blob that came out of a cheap mold). The orange color really stands out as well. 

This second Thing from the group is, by virtue of its ski-mask-like facial features, kind of frightening to look at. It kind of looks like someone took the Thing's face and is wearing it over his own face. Ben, is that you under there?

Not all of the Thing bootlegs are even orange. I guess this neon yellow was the best they could do at the time. This one kind of looks like cauliflower to me.

Here's The Thing in the middle of a dance move, I guess? One of the features of many of these bootleg toys is a faded paint job, seen here in Mr. Grimm's powder blue trunks. The sunken eyes and mouth slit are the most we're getting with regard to facial features. Who needs a nose?

This right here is probably the most bizarre one of the bunch. It is nothing short of a Thing hand puppet; the only plastic features are the head and the Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood-style hands. Why the Thing needs to wear makeup (check out those rosy cheeks!) is also a mystery. The head mold on this one is actually pretty good, and is reminiscent of the Michael Chiklis-style Thing from the mid 2000s movies.

This Thing comes with a surprise. No, it's not that he is apparently nude...

...this one lights up! It kind of looks like his chest is exploding. Anyway, there are a few similar bootleg Thing figures with he same light-up feature (this is the only one I have a picture of). I guess it added an extra incentive to buy the toy? It seems kind of odd to me.

Here we have perhaps my favorite bootleg Thing toy of all time. It's a solid figure that reminds me a lot of the 1960s cartoon Thing, with his lumpy mouth and the relatively large rock segments, especially in his chest area. When I get a bootleg Thing figure, I often store it away, but I keep this one out on my desk. It's ugly and weird in all the right ways.

I've got a couple bootleg figures that never made it out of their packages. This one even comes with a friend, and I have to say that I might like the inverse color Spider-Man more out of the two. Spidey also comes with a giant spider accessory, just like in the comics.

This one is probably the most official-looking bootleg I've got, but the shiny trunks and the seemingly hand-painted "4" on the belt give it away. Still, this is high quality as far as these go!

I've never seen another like this one, with its exaggerated, giant head and long arms. The pants seem to indicate that it's also from the 2005 movie era.

This is the most recent bootleg figure I've bought, and it's another gem. It's kind of Mego-esque with its Thing-style head on a more generic action figure body. This one comes with a screw right through his waist, and there's a lever on the back that makes the figure's arms move up and down. He also comes with a slightly deformed head.

Here's one more oddity for today. This blue-green figure is similar to the above "cauliflower" Thing, but what makes this one special is the packaging. It's a bootleg within a bootleg, as the "Go see a Star War" card inserted into the plastic sleeve adds another dimension. It also looks like Ben Grimm is getting ready to go on a job interview and has decided to wear a tie.

I don't know what it is about these things. They're ugly and poorly made and often misshapen, and also I absolutely love them. I've got a few more packed away somewhere, but these are a pretty good representation of the bootleg figures I've got. I'm always excited to see 'em.

A veritable slew of props from Amazon's Tick series

Last year, Heritage Auctions sold off a number of props from the gone-too-soon Amazon Tick series. As I wrote around that time, a lot of the items - and especially the costumes - went for big bucks. In the year that has followed, though, the items that were left over have become more and more affordable, to the point where I have been able to get some really great items for not that much cash.

I recently got a lot of them together and made this post to show some of 'em off!

First up, and most impressively, I think, is a lot that contains actual pieces of one of The Tick's season one costumes. These are all labeled as "back panels," but most of them are arm segments.

Here's a closer look at this exterior piece, where you can see the textured nature of the material.

Some of the pieces were labeled on the inside, such as this bicep piece. The sections were all slightly rubbery and felt like they might fall apart if I touched them too much, so they'll remain in the bag in which they were shipped!

All of the pieces came with certificates.

So what else did I get? Nothing else can really top the costume pieces, but I did get a few very cool items, including:

Goggles from the Lobtercules costume!

Lenses from Arthur's season two costume!

Griffin Newman's Arthur spent a part of the second season with cracked helmet lenses, and I got one of them here. It's not actually cracked, but there's a metallic tape on the inside of the lens. It looks pretty convincing!

Here are some patches from the City police uniforms!

Now here's a prop from one of the scenes I was in when I was an extra during the first season. It's a Flag 5 memorial staff card!

These glass eye props are about as weird as you might expect, at least without some context (and even then...). These are, of course, props for the Miss Lint character, who had many options when putting in her false eye. These are just a few. I can confirm that they are made from glass.

This is one of Peter Serafinowicz's daily scripts for a season two episode. Which episode?

Two, in fact: episode 209 and 210.

This is a Brown Tingle Cola executive summary report for the Terror's soda company, filled with charts and the like.

Here's another item that went for a ton of money when other copies sold last year. The City Chronicle is one of the fine journalistic endeavors in The City, and this one even comes with a picture of Lobstercules on the front. If you zoom in on the articles, you can read some fine word salad.

The Chronicle front page section was just placed over a real-world copy of the New York Times from April of '18.

I feel like I have enough props to start a Tick-themed museum now, or at least to set some up at the New England Comics booth at conventions (this will never happen). 

I found this promotional item on eBay, and it's actually a promo for the original live-action Tick series, with Patrick Warburton as the blue titular hero. These plastic, branded spoons were given out at Comic-Con in advance of the complete series DVD.

Also on eBay, I found another of these Tick experience shirts from Comic-Con. They came with a variety of slogans and were printed on site. All of the others that I have are giant in size - this one is small enough that I could actually wear!

I'm always on the lookout for Tick props and I'll always think back fondly on the series. It was fun while it lasted.

Pitches that never made it: Adventure Time Comics

I should pitch more stories. One of the toughest things to do, for me, is figuring out who to reach out to when pitching ideas. Comic book editors are generally very busy and are also not necessarily worried about things they could publish when they've got what they ARE publishing on their minds. But I do still try, even though it takes a lot of time and effort and doesn't always get a good response - or even any response, as if often the case.

Below is part of a story that I pitched to Boom! Studios when they were publishing their Adventure Time comics line. At one point, there were two ongoing Adventure Time series along with a number of miniseries from a number of creators. I was never able to crack the code to get in on the publishing angle of things, but here you can see my best attempt:

My friend and frequent collaborator Pietro drew the first two pages of this story, which was going to end with Jake falling asleep just as Finn wakes up. As always, Pietro makes anything look good, as these pages are just beautiful to behold.

Pitting pitches together is always a time consuming process, and when they don't work out, you're sometimes left with pages that will never see the light of day. But if I've got 'em - especially when they're for projects that no longer have a published comic to put them in - I might as well show them to you, all of my good friends on the internet. 

Thing sketchbook, part 24

I've been thinking a lot about comic book conventions lately. I will say that after more than a year away, I am looking forward to the opportunity to go to shows once again. The New York Comic Con is preparing to sell tickets to their October show soon and others are on the horizon, as well. So with that in mind, I thought it might be appropriate to show off another five convention sketches of the Thing from my personal collection. Let's get to it!

Nathan Kane - Comic-Con International 2018

Nathan Kane, in addition to having a very comic book-y name, also works in the comic book industry. He was one of the head editors at Bongo Comics, as well as a colorist on many of their titles. I had met Nathan a few years before and would always bug him about letting me pitch some stories for different Bongo titles - he outlasted me, though, because it was at Comic-Con 2018 that they announced that Bongo would stop publishing. This is a bummer. But I did get this Simpsons-themed Thing sketch from him! I guess that's some consolation.

 

Dave Garcia - Comic-Con International 2018

Dave Garcia is a fun guy and a great comic artist who has worked on quite a few issues of The Tick - first as an inker of Ben Edlund's pencils, then as a penciler/inker on books like Paul The Samurai, also from New England Comics. I had a nice chat with Dave on the day he drew this really charismatic Thing sketch for me. I hope to see him again at the show in 2021 or '22!

Jenni Gregory - Comic-Con International 2018

I was booth neighbors with Jenni Gregory in the small press section at Comic-Con in 2018, and at the end of the show, she was kind enough to add this broad-shouldered Thing to the sketchbook. Jenni is a fantasy artist, caricaturist and comic book creator on books like Abby's Menagerie and and DreamWalker!

Ben Edlund - New York Comic Con 2018

There's not much to say about Ben Edlund that I haven't said time and again. Ben is a creative genius and a comic book hero, not to mention a really wonderful human. He created The Tick and he was a creative force behind Firefly. And he drew the Thing in my sketchbook! Good gravy.

I saw Ben at the New England Comics booth at NYCC 2018. Season two of Amazon's Tick series had recently wrapped and Ben was as relaxed as I've ever seen him; booth traffic was slow so I got a chance to chat with Ben and NEC art director Bob Polio for a while. As Ben was sketching, Bob mused that "All men struggle with the Thing," and thus this masterpiece was created. This is one of my absolutely favorite Thing sketches.

Tom Raney - New York Comic Con 2018

Tom Raney has had a long career in comics, working for both Marvel and DC as well as many smaller publishers. I love the extreme closeup sketches that I've gotten, and I love the "single crack down the middle of the mouth" look that has been so popular with the Thing in the last 15 years or so. Raney's Thing is definitely a great one!

Well, that's it for now. It's time to get more Thing sketches! Hopefully I can add a few more this year.