The Thing #15

History

The Thing (1983–1986) was born out of the cancellation of Marvel Two-in-One and launched as Ben Grimm's first completely solo ongoing series, initially written by John Byrne with art by Ron Wilson. The Battleworld arc — which occupies roughly a third of the series' 36-issue run — grew directly out of the 1984 Secret Wars crossover event; Thing #10 fed into Secret Wars #1, and from issue #11 onward Ben stayed behind on Battleworld after discovering he could freely toggle between human and Thing form there. When Byrne departed the title, Mike Carlin stepped in as writer, inheriting the Battleworld setting and its cast of supporting characters including the alien companion Tarianna; editor Bob Budiansky oversaw the issue, with Ron Wilson on pencils, Joe Sinnott on inks, Bob Sharen on colors, and Jim Novak on letters.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published September 10, 1984 by Marvel Comics (cover-dated September 1984); part of The Thing Vol. 1, the character's first solo ongoing series (1983–1986).
• Written by Mike Carlin, pencilled by Ron Wilson, inked by Joe Sinnott, colored by Bob Sharen, lettered by Jim Novak, and edited by Bob Budiansky.
• First appearance of Gruhl of Shalfbut, a Battleworld alien who attacks Ben with a Tantorian P-Z Lanta — a target-seeking weapon that can be redirected by thought; Ben defeats him by mentally willing the weapon toward Galactus, causing it to teleport away.
• First appearance of the alien Yancy Street Gang analogue — a group of alien youths on Battleworld whose pranks on Ben directly mirror the earthbound Yancy Street Gang's harassment, and whose name phonetically resembles 'Yancy Street Gang.' The issue makes explicit that Ben marvels at the cosmic coincidence.
• Per the Marvel Database, every Battleworld inhabitant in this arc is a product of the Thing's own subconscious — meaning Gruhl and the alien gang are externalized aspects of Ben's own memories and psychology, a metatextual layer Carlin sustains across the arc.
• Issue #15 is the fifth installment of the 12-part Battleworld saga (issues #11–22), continuing the subplot of the alien Llrrllllnnllyyrrl and the Takers searching for a missing dowry — the Takers inadvertently uncover the Tantorian weapon in this chapter.
• The story runs two concurrent tales titled 'Yancy Street!' and 'It Started on [alien world name],' reflecting the dual Earth/Battleworld structure the series used throughout its off-world chapters.
• Available in multiple 1984 print editions: direct edition, newsstand edition, Canadian edition, and a Mark Jeweler insert variant — the full set of standard Copper Age distribution formats Marvel used at the time.

Full credits

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Variants (2)