The Thing #12
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Thing #12 is the opening chapter in the creative heart of Ben Grimm's first solo series: it delivers the first appearance of Tarianna, the barbarian warrior woman who becomes his companion and love interest across the twelve-part 'Rocky Grimm, Space Ranger' saga. Tarianna is not merely a supporting player — she is later revealed to be a psychic projection of Ben's own subconscious, shaped in the image of his ideal woman, and her appearance foreshadows the physical design of Sharon Ventura, who would debut fifteen issues later and eventually become She-Thing. The issue also marks the point at which the Thing's solo title fully commits to its most ambitious storytelling gambit: a year-long planetary adventure running concurrently with Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, exploring Ben Grimm's psychology in a sword-and-sorcery register that was unlike anything the character had previously headlined.
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John Byrne scripted the issue as part of his opening run on The Thing Vol. 1, with pencils by Ron Wilson and inks by the veteran Joe Sinnott — a creative pairing that defined the book's visual identity throughout the Battleworld arc. The 'Rocky Grimm, Space Ranger' storyline was constructed under the unusual editorial constraint of running simultaneously with Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars (1984), meaning the book had to advance Ben's story on Battleworld while carefully avoiding spoilers for the main crossover event that was still being published. Jim Shooter was editor-in-chief at Marvel during this period, and the coordination between the Secret Wars limited series and the ongoing Thing title required the Battleworld chapters to function as both a tie-in and a self-contained adventure.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Tarianna, a barbarian warrior woman on Battleworld who becomes Ben Grimm's central companion across the 'Rocky Grimm, Space Ranger' twelve-part arc (Thing #12–#22).
- First appearance of Hanrak of Leenn, Tarianna's betrothed, also introduced in this issue.
- First appearance of the Wizard of Battleworld (a distinct character from the Earth villain of the same name), the antagonist who manifests as a simulacrum of Doctor Doom.
- The issue is Part 2 of 12 of the 'Rocky Grimm, Space Ranger' saga, titled 'Doom!' — continuing directly from Thing #11, which itself followed the conclusion of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars.
- Written by John Byrne; pencilled by Ron Wilson; inked by Joe Sinnott — the core creative team of the series' Battleworld run.
- Tarianna is later retroactively established (in Thing #22) to be a psychic projection of Ben's subconscious ideal woman, and her physical appearance is the template that informed the character design of Sharon Ventura (who debuted in Thing #27 as a real person whose looks matched Tarianna's).
- The story takes place on Battleworld, the planet created by the Beyonder, and the book was being published concurrently with Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, creating a notable editorial synchronization challenge.
- Exists in both a direct edition and a newsstand edition, with a Canadian edition also produced — standard for Marvel's distribution variants of the mid-1980s.
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Reprints
Reprinted in The Thing Classic #2 (2012), Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #[3] (2015), The Thing Omnibus #[nn] (2022), Die Fantastischen Vier #25
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