Fantastic Four #112
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFantastic Four #112 delivers the second sustained, solo Hulk-versus-Thing battle in Marvel history — the first having appeared in FF #25–26 more than seven years earlier — and it stands as the Bronze Age benchmark for the rivalry, devoting nearly its entire page count to the fight rather than splitting the action across a crossover. Stan Lee added a wrinkle absent from the Silver Age version: Ben Grimm is already mentally impaired and rampaging when the Hulk arrives, making him simultaneously a victim and a menace, which gave even veteran readers something new to weigh emotionally. John Buscema's kinetic pencils, polished by Joe Sinnott's steady inks, produced one of the most visually arresting battle sequences of the era, and the stark black cover — two brawlers, a bold tagline, nothing else — became a touchstone image for the Hulk–Thing dynamic that Marvel would revisit for decades. The issue's cliffhanger ending, in which Johnny Storm believes Ben is dead and blames Reed, also advanced the team's internal drama in ways that resonated through subsequent issues.
In "Battle of the Behemoths!", the Fantastic Four face their most chaotic showdown yet as the Thing and the Hulk clash in the heart of New York City, their furious fight threatening to level the streets. With Mr. Fantastic and the Human Torch scrambling to intervene, the team must find a way to stop the titans before the city is torn apart. Written by Stan Lee and brought to life with dynamic art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott, the issue's cover by Buscema and Frank Giacoia captures the sheer scale of the mayhem.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was produced by the title's regular Bronze Age creative team: Stan Lee as both writer and editor, John Buscema on pencils, Joe Sinnott on inks, and Sam Rosen on lettering, with the cover inked by Frank Giacoia rather than Sinnott. One detailed retrospective analysis suggests Lee may have inserted the Hulk's appearance relatively late in the production of the arc — possibly after the preceding issue (#111) was largely complete — because the story offers almost no foreshadowing of the Hulk's arrival, though this remains an editorial inference rather than a documented production record. The issue appeared on newsstands in July 1971, placing it at the very opening of comics' Bronze Age, when Marvel was transitioning away from the Kirby era while leaning on Buscema to maintain the visual energy readers expected.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published July 1971 (cover date) by Marvel Comics; story title 'Battle of the Behemoths!'; cover tagline 'Hulk vs. Thing — Nuff Said!'
- Creative team: script by Stan Lee (also editor); pencils by John Buscema; inks by Joe Sinnott; cover inks by Frank Giacoia; lettering by Sam Rosen
- Designated by key-issue databases as the second major Hulk-vs.-Thing one-on-one battle in Marvel history — the first sustained solo bout having occurred in Fantastic Four #25–26 (1964), over seven years earlier
- The Thing enters the fight already suffering a personality disorder and rampaging through New York City, adding an emotional dimension absent from earlier matchups; Reed Richards works on a cure for Ben throughout the issue while the fight rages
- The battle's turning point comes when debris strikes Alicia Masters, distracting Ben long enough for the Hulk to land a decisive blow; the Hulk then reverts to Bruce Banner when Reed completes his device
- Supporting cast includes Agatha Harkness and baby Franklin Richards (at Whisper Hill), J. Jonah Jameson (making a televised editorial calling the public to act against the FF), and Walter Collins (the Baxter Building's owner demanding the team vacate)
- The story was reprinted in Marvel's Greatest Comics #92 (September 1980, with one page removed), and has since been collected in Hulk vs. Thing (1999), Marvel Selects: Fantastic Four #6 (2000), Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 6 (2007, black and white), True Believers: Fantastic Four – Hulk vs. Thing #1 (2018), Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema (2019), and Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 4 (2021), among others
- No new character first appearances occur in this issue; all principals — the Fantastic Four, Hulk/Bruce Banner, Alicia Masters, Agatha Harkness, Franklin Richards, J. Jonah Jameson, and Walter Collins — are established figures in the Marvel Universe by this point
Cast · 11 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Hit Comics Die fantastischen Vier #237 (1972), The Mighty World of Marvel #49 (1973), I Fantastici Quattro #110 (1975), Captain Britain #5 (1976), Captain Britain #6 (1976), Une Aventure des Fantastiques #18 (1979), Atlantic-serien [Fantastiske Fire] #7/1979 (1979), Atlanticserien #7/1979 (1979), Marvel's Greatest Comics #92 (1980), Marvel Superhelden #1 (1981), Hulk vs. Thing #[nn] (1999), Marvel Selects: Fantastic Four #6 (2000), Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema #[nn] (2006), Essential Fantastic Four #6 (2007), All-New Wolverine #25 (2017), True Believers: Fantastic Four - Hulk vs Thing #1 (2018), Marvel Visionaries: John Buscema #[nn] (2019), Fantastic Four Epic Collection #7 (2021), Fantastic Four Omnibus #4 (2021), Οι 4 Φανταστικοί #14, Οι 4 Φανταστικοί Τόμος [The Fantastic Four Volume] #5, De Vier Verdedigers Classics #58, Die Fantastischen Vier #108, Los 4 Fantásticos #139
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