Capt. Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #7
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeCapt. Savage and His Leatherneck Raiders #7 holds a firm place in Marvel's Silver Age continuity as the first comic-book appearance of Benjamin Grimm I — the man who would become the Thing — in his World War II context, establishing him as a decorated Marine ace pilot operating in the Pacific Theater. By sending the Leatherneck Raiders on a rescue mission built around a future Fantastic Four founder, writer Archie Goodwin wove the publisher's superhero mythology directly into its war-comics line at a time when Marvel was actively knitting its WWII titles and its modern universe together. The issue demonstrates a storytelling approach — depicting Grimm's stoic endurance under torture by Colonel Sakata as a clear precursor to the Thing's indomitable character — that enriched his backstory without retconning the hero fans already knew.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The series was created by writer Gary Friedrich and artist Dick Ayers as a spin-off of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, a book the same team was producing concurrently, and was launched after Marvel gained the ability to expand its output beyond a previously restrictive distribution embargo. Issue #7 marks a shift in the scripting chair: Archie Goodwin — who had just concluded a celebrated run as chief writer and editor at Warren Publishing's Creepy and Eerie — stepped in as scripter, with Dick Ayers on pencils and Syd Shores on inks, all under editor Stan Lee. The cover date is October 1968, with an on-sale date recorded by the Marvel Database as August 8, 1968.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Story title: 'Objective: Ben Grimm!' — a 36-page issue cover-dated October 1968 and published by Marvel Comics.
- First appearance of Benjamin Grimm I (Earth-616): the pre-Thing Ben Grimm appears here as a Marine ace pilot shot down over a Japanese-occupied Pacific island and taken prisoner by Colonel Sakata.
- The Leatherneck Raiders — Captain Simon Savage, Sgt. Sam 'Yakkety' Yates, Cpl. Jacques 'Frenchy' LaRocque, Pvt. Jay Little Bear, Seaman Roy 'Blarney' Stone, and Pvt. Lee Baker — are dispatched specifically to rescue Grimm due to his renown as a pilot.
- Grimm's characterization foreshadows the Thing: despite being tortured by Colonel Sakata, he conceals his injuries and fights through the pain rather than become a burden to his rescuers — a beat the story frames as an expression of innate heroism.
- Script by Archie Goodwin (a guest scripter on the title, better known at the time for his Warren horror work); pencils by Dick Ayers; inks by Syd Shores; cover also by Ayers and Shores.
- The series was a spin-off of Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos, created by Gary Friedrich and Dick Ayers, and ran for 19 issues from January 1968 to March 1970 before cancellation.
- This issue is one of the clearest examples of Marvel's Silver Age practice of tying its modern superhero universe retroactively into its WWII war comics through shared characters and continuity.
- No superhero or Not Brand Echh backup feature has been corroborated in this issue by any source consulted; the issue appears to be a single self-contained war story.
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Reprints
Reprinted in El Sargento Furia y Sus Comandos #62 (1969), Choc #23 (1977)
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