Fantastic 4: The Thing VS The Immortal Hulk! - Team Up’s Comic Corner
Fantastic Four (2018) : The Thing VS. The Immortal Hulk
Issues 12-13
Hi and welcome to Team up’s Comic Corner where each week I highlight a comic issue or series, past or present, that everyone should check out to make the most of nerd culture going on around us. The past few weeks we have been trying to bend our minds around different versions of time travel, so this week I thought we would take a bit of a vacation with Marvel’s first family: The Fantastic Four!
Ever since Marvel’s Company wide crossover Secret Wars (2015) (not the good one from the 80’s…the other one), most of the fantastic family has been out of sight and universe. While Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm hung around the Marvel Universe with various roles in other books, Reed, Sue, and the kids have been traveling the multiverse and fixing what Dr. Doom broke. But in 2018, Marvel decided to bring back the Fantastic Four in their own ongoing series. While the series itself has been pretty middle of the road, there has been one quick story arc that sticks out because it finally solves the age old question: Who would win in a fight? The Thing or The Hulk?
The story opens up with The Thing getting ready for his honeymoon with his new wife Alicia Masters. They were married during his annual shedding of his rocky exterior for human skin for 1 week to their tropical vacation. Everything is going great as they arrive to their destination with only a few hours until Ben sheds his skin and becomes fully human, when in the last hour before his transformation a raging Hulk shows up and starts a fight. While the personal drama of why the hulk is throwing down is good and drives the human elements of the story forward, we all know why we are reading this story. The action is amazing and the full page spreads are beautiful. I haven’t read a fight between two power houses like this in while, let alone ones who are so iconic, so this is a real good reminder of what brought some of us into comics in the first place!
The version of the Hulk currently running around the Marvel Universe is one of my favorite on going series right now (look out for that recommendation in the coming weeks). The Immortal Hulk is a great force in this story and the perfect version to bring into a fight like this. The ending is masterfully done, and the trademark humor of the big orange guy and his slew of bad luck is on full display in the end. This makes me want to read more of this series to see what else Dan Slott and the others working on the book bring to the table. I cant in good conscience ruin this ending, but just know you are in for a great time!
This quick two issue arc is a great vacation from all of the brooding and build up going on in other books and I for one am happy to see things like this every once in a while. While im not one for filler issues, this is one set that I think anyone who loves super hero comics will enjoy for sure. See you next week and don’t be afraid to crease the corners on a good panel!