The Thing [2025] #3 - Marvel Comics

THE THING No. 3, September 2025

Simply pairing sweet Aunt Petunia's favourite nephew up with a little girl for the vast majority of a twenty-page publication packed full of gun-happy triggermen and super-powered villains might have struck some within this comic’s audience as an odd choice for Tony Fleecs; especially when Ben Grimm has so many notable New York City-based allies with which he can ordinarily turn to in times of trouble. But in doing so, the author rather surprisingly generates a palpable sense of danger throughout this narrative, which genuinely should make most readers uneasy as to whether the faint-hearted adolescent is actually going to survive the book intact.

Indeed, just as soon as Mary’s niece makes a shocking appearance amidst the burning ruins of a dockland warehouse, it arguably seems almost certain that a stray bullet from one of Hammerhead’s goons, or a projectile thrown by the deadly Bullseye, may well end her young life before this mini-series’ titular character has had the chance to rescue her. Such a concern really does stick to the storytelling throughout too, and even increases once the vicious gangster’s threat has been replaced by that of the crowbar-wielding Dirk Garthwaite and his murderous Wrecking Crew; “You four are about to find out that it’s a bad idea to pick on little kids when I’m around.”

Adding to this growing sense of Grimm’s inability to protect the understandably distressed child is Fleecs’ knack to also imbue one of the founding members of the Fantastic Four with his own physical vulnerabilities – such as being completely exhausted from not having slept in days. This fragility is debatably seldom shown in one of the Marvel Universe’s most popular power-houses, and helps highlight that despite all the slugger’s extraordinary strength, he is in reality just one man fighting off a veritable army of criminals – all of which desperately want to claim the ten million dollar bounty on his head.

Sadly, what does slightly let this comic down though is some of Justin Mason’s pencilling, which every now and then depicts the Thing as being disconcertingly smooth and circular in appearance. Obviously such a drawing technique is well-known to help artists work out the composition of their panels, and the location of any figures within it. However, the illustrator seems to incorporate this technique into his actual finished work, and resultantly presents Ben as an unnervingly fluid, ball-headed bruiser, as opposed to his much more irregular, chitinous-covered appearance.

Writer: Tony Fleecs. Artist: Justin Mason & Color Artist: Alex Sinclair