Thing

Benjamin Jacob Grimm — better known to the world as the Thing — is one of Marvel's most enduring icons, a mountain of orange rock with a heart of pure gold. A former test pilot and college football star from the tough streets of New York's Lower East Side, Ben Grimm was forever changed when he piloted a stolen spacecraft through a storm of cosmic rays alongside his best friend Reed Richards, Richards' girlfriend Sue Storm, and her brother Johnny. The resulting transformation left the others with flashy, concealable powers — but Ben was left permanently reshaped into a monstrous, rocky-skinned powerhouse. His very first appearance in Fantastic Four #1 (November 1961) marks one of the most important debut issues in the entire hobby, representing the spark that ignited the Marvel Age of Comics and making it one of the most sought-after keys in existence.

What separates Ben Grimm from virtually every other powerhouse in comics is the raw emotional depth he brings to every story. Trapped in a body he never asked for, he has wrestled with self-image, loneliness, and the fear of being unlovable — yet he never stopped showing up for his teammates, his friends, and the city that raised him. Writers from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to John Byrne, Tom DeFalco, Dan Slott, and Chip Kidd have all found new layers in Ben, exploring everything from his Jewish heritage to his complicated romance with the blind sculptor Alicia Masters. Landmark story arcs like the Galactus Trilogy, the introduction of the Beyonder's Battleworld in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1, and the emotionally charged period when Ben temporarily lost and regained his powers during the original Secret Wars all left permanent marks on Marvel history — and on back-issue bins.

As a collector target, Ben Grimm's footprint across the hobby is enormous. Beyond the landmark Fantastic Four #1, savvy collectors pursue his pivotal solo moments: his time as the swashbuckling Blackbeard the Pirate in the classic Fantastic Four #5, his tenure in the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, his solo series Marvel Two-in-One where he teamed with virtually every hero in the Marvel Universe, and his starring role in Thing (1983). His connection to the Infinity Gauntlet era, his status as one of the Worthy during Fear Itself, and his later adventures with the Guardians of the Galaxy have only expanded his key issue footprint into modern eras.

For collectors, books featuring the Thing represent the beating heart of the Marvel Bronze and Silver Age. Fantastic Four #1 in any grade is a trophy piece, but the deeper you dig — into early Marvel Two-in-One runs, the first appearance of Alicia Masters, or high-grade copies of Fantastic Four #25 featuring his legendary brawl with the Hulk — the richer the hunt becomes. Few characters in comics have been this consistently beloved for this long, which means demand for Thing keys shows no signs of cooling. Whether you're chasing a raw reader copy or a high-grade slab, adding Ben Grimm to your collection means owning a piece of the foundation Marvel was built on.