Ben Grimm is Working, Building a Mystery in The Thing #2

With one hell of a hook, we saw something new. You read, I reviewed The Thing #1, now I review: The Thing #2. Written by Walter Mosley, drawn by Tom Reilly, colored by Jordie Bellaire and lettered by Joe Sabino.

I was at a play sometime last week. It was, unfortunately, in Hindi, a language I still do not speak. I had ample time to pay attention to all the other choices the play was making as I had no way of keeping up with its plot. It was a little abstract, a little silly, a little lost, but I do appreciate how much they experimented with what they could do. One particularly memorable scene had no lights but for the ones in front, on the floor, casting large shadows on the wall behind it. I watched those shadows, larger than life, that gave me a bolder, more dramatic performance than actors who were casting them. I feel like shadows aren’t used nearly enough anymore – everyone has to be seen, close up, perfectly lit, ever in the spotlight. They miss out on how dramatic a good shadow can be, body language distilled to its purest form.

The Thing knows exactly how powerful an impact a shadow can be, thrown against the backdrop as powerfully as, well, a villain throws a tire-covered fist – it’s the opening page. I may not have enjoyed the play, but I do appreciate its timing, because it’s given me one more reason to marvel at how well this creative team knows just how it wants to present the story it’s telling.

Shirt Rippin’, Stage Wreckin’ Action

When we last saw the ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing, he was taking advantage of the services of an otherworldly dating service hoping to use him as proof they could find anyone true love. Ben’s first meeting with the enchanting fashion expert Amaryllis Dejure is interrupted, however, by a jealous fan granted superpowers by a strange, Death-like being. It’s clobberin’ time.

It’s a heck of an opening. Well-colored, smooth and decisive action lines. Hard impacts, blurs of motion for especially hard hits. The Thing and tire-armed Brusque wreck the stage as terrified crowds run screaming from the fight. Ben punches Brusque up the page so hard his shirt is shredded to scraps. Brusque has more than just super-strength on his side, though – he’s got a mysterious light that numbs Ben every time Ben comes in contact with it.

Light plays a big part in this issue, actually. Not just as a plot device, but in the way the coloring moves from the vibrant oranges and yellows of Dejure’s fashion show venue to the more faded colors of the latter half of the book as the Thing wanders into a world seemingly drained of all color. The bright flashes as Ben comes in contact with the light vial, splashes of white on the page that feel blinding. It’s a sickly light, pale and all consuming. Death may be traditionally associated with darkness, but this light? It’s decay.

With this numbing light on his side, Brusque wins his initial bout with Ben, taking Dejure captive and leaving the Thing to wake to the company of a young boy named Bobby. Now, Bobby seems to have a firmer grasp on the plot than the poor Ben does, and I find that interesting. Bobby technically fills out the role of deuteragonist [Ed. Note: No, I’m not going to define that for you, readers. You can look it up. Research is good for the soul.] nicely, serving as Ben’s companion, guiding him from one plot point to the next, but he’s written with so much agency it almost feels like Bobby’s book, guest starring the Thing. It’s interesting because there are a lot of characters I feel work best as supporting characters, or as members of a team book. The Thing may be the most noticeable guy in the room, but he doesn’t want to be. If he had any say in the matter, I’m sure he’d object to the idea headlining his own solo – unlike the rest of his teammates. And here we are, in that very comic, but Ben’s natural humility – for good and for ill – make him sometimes feel like a secondary character in his own story.

Just How Deep Does This Mystery Go?

Bobby leads Ben to “New Manhattan” – a secret city deep beneath New York (one I’m like, 40% certain is the same “Under York” first introduced in 2019’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and am 60% sure is pure coincidence brought on by nobody involved with this comic having read 2019’s Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man) filled with New York’s outcasts hoping to build a better dream for themselves. I want to know more about the history of this place, the stories of the people who live here, but here’s the thing about this issue – it’s gorgeous, it’s haunting, its characters are as charismatic as all heck, but one thing it’s short on?

Answers.

And hey, I’m on board for this. It’s a very second-issue thing to do. First issues have to do a lot of work, making an impression, hooking an audience in, making sure they’re familiar with the setting while also building up a mystery – it’s a lot to juggle. With that out of the way, we get to focus more on the mystery. There are a lot of little details that get barely a mention – but just enough page space to leave you wondering. What’s Bobby’s deal, really? Where did he get that glove? What’s happening with all these heart attacks? 

Not that Ben’s asking any of these questions. World’s Greatest Detective, he ain’t. Ben Grimm continues to feel like he’s a little lost, trying to hold himself in place while mysteries flow all around him. Any other protagonist, it would be easy as a reader to be overwhelmed by these mysteries, but while the finer details escape Ben’s notice, it’s easy to let his focus become the reader’s. Ben’s unshakeable moral core guides his every decision, whether it’s to rescue a kidnapped hostage or to make sure a man gets the respect he’s owed in death, even if his life was one filled with wrong-mindedness.

It feels to me that that’s what a Thing comic should be. Overwhelmingly weird, centered on a man whose only guide is his ability to do the right thing when it matters the most. The Thing #2 ramps up the feeling of being lost in a world that’s impossible to understand – but with Ben Grimm guiding the way, it’s a story you feel safe following for the heart at the center of it all.

Armaan Babu