The Thing #16

The cover of this October 1984 Marvel issue says it all with its headline: "The Thing vs. The Things!" — and Ron Wilson and Bob Layton deliver on that promise visually, surrounding a determined, human-looking Ben Grimm (in his wrestler's trunks) with a crowd of rocky, orange-hued Thing-like creatures closing in from every direction, one even brandishing a flaming torch. It's a wonderfully surreal and slightly unsettling image that captures the lonely strangeness of the "Rocky Grimm Space Ranger" saga, with Ben apparently outnumbered by distorted reflections of himself. Mike Carlin and Ron Wilson were clearly having a great time pushing Marvel's lovable ever-lovin' blue-eyed idol into some genuinely weird cosmic territory.