The Thing: Freakshow #1
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThing: Freakshow #1 opens a rare character-study miniseries that steps Ben Grimm away from the Fantastic Four ensemble to interrogate the emotional core of his condition — guilt, otherness, and the childhood origins of who he became. Written at a moment when Geoff Johns was one of Marvel's most sought-after talents fresh off a critically acclaimed DC Flash run, the series uses a traveling carnival and Ben's buried shame over a boyhood act of cruelty as a mirror for the Thing's own outsider identity. The issue introduces Istvan the Accursed Albino, a new supporting character whose childhood encounter with a young Ben sets the entire miniseries' moral engine in motion, making it one of the most psychologically grounded solo spotlight issues Ben Grimm had received up to that point in his publishing history.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Johns and penciler Scott Kolins arrived at Marvel in mid-2002 as an established creative unit — the two had built their reputation together on DC's Flash — and Marvel's Icons imprint gave them an opportunity to apply that same character-driven approach to Ben Grimm. The series was published under the Icons banner (the full indicia title is 'Icons: The Thing — Freakshow') and edited by Tom Brevoort with Joe Quesada serving as Editor-in-Chief. Andy Lanning provided inks, David Self colors, and Randy Gentile lettering; the cover was drawn by Kolins and Lanning. The four-issue run was collected into a trade paperback by Marvel in July 2005.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published August 2002 (release date June 5, 2002; cover date August 2002) by Marvel Comics as issue #1 of a four-issue limited series running through November 2002.
- Written by Geoff Johns; pencils and co-storytelling credit by Scott Kolins; inks by Andy Lanning — the same core team then widely recognized for their acclaimed run on DC's The Flash.
- First appearance of Istvan the Accursed Albino (Earth-616), an albino carnival performer with whom a young Ben Grimm had a cruel childhood encounter, and whose gypsy mother cursed Ben — the narrative spine of the entire miniseries.
- First appearance of Katie Schmidt (Earth-616), seen only in shadow in this issue.
- First appearance of the Michigan town of Clarkston as an Earth-616 location, which serves as the main setting for the series' later issues involving a covert Kree–Skrull conflict.
- The Wrecking Crew (Wrecker, Piledriver, Thunderball, Bulldozer) appear as antagonists in the opening modern-day sequence, providing the action catalyst that strands Ben on the road and into the path of the carnival.
- Issue #1 is titled 'Rock Bottom' in the collected edition; a flashback to Ben's youth frames the entire series' emotional thesis around boyhood shame and the roots of empathy.
- The complete four-issue series was reprinted internationally in French (Marvel Heroes Hors Série #15, Panini France, May 2003) and in Brazilian Portuguese (Marvel Apresenta #7, Panini Brasil, August 2003), and collected domestically in the Thing: Freakshow trade paperback (Marvel, July 2005, ISBN 978-0-7851-1911-1).
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Marvel Heroes Hors Série #15 (2003), Marvel Apresenta #7 (2003), Thing: Freakshow #[nn] (2005)
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