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TheFantastic Four ’s loss leader Reed Richards has a reputation for being the impertinent man in the entire Marvel Universe . Not only is Mr. Fantastic a natural ace Einstein , his superpower to stretch any part of his body take into account him toremold his mental capacity to work out most any problem in record time . So , it seems foreign that after almost sixty years , Reed still has n’t been able to permanently heal his best protagonist Ben Grimm from being trapped as the orange rock - like lusus naturae the matter .
catch in the same cosmic beam storm that make Mr. Fantastic , the Human Torch , and the Invisible Woman , Ben ’s transmutation into the affair is one of Marvel Comics ’ swell tragedies . Unlike the other three member of the quartet , who seem human , Ben is ( usually ) ineffective to regress to human signifier and hates having to experience his life as the Thing . So why ca n’t Reed come up with a permanent therapeutic for Ben Grimm ?
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Several stories have shown that itispossible for Ben to become human again , which begs the question . Surprisingly , there are many answers – each indicating that even the smartest humans in the universe ca n’t solve this problem .
Ben Grimm Doesn’t Want to be Cured
Shortly after Ben Grimm became the matter , Reed Richards start work on various cures for his condition . While many of these cures succeeded in reverting Ben to human form for a few hours , he would unavoidably regress to his rock and roll - like land . There were even clip when Ben would metamorphose back to his human ego for no apparent reason , indicating that he could turn back and forth from man to monster . Unlike the other members of the Fantastic Four , however , Ben could n’t do this at will .
Finally , Reed derive that Ben ’s problem was n’t strong-arm but psychological . Ben had fallen in dear with a unsighted statue maker , Alicia Masters , who helped him immensely in adjust to life as the Thing . However , since Alicia only knew Ben as the Thing and not a regular human , Ben was terrify that she would n’t hump him if he ever became human for good . Thus , Ben produce subconscious mental blocks that not only keep him from turning human but also resisted several cures to make him human again .
At one level in the strip , Alicia left Ben and ended up wed Ben ’s friend Johnny Storm ( aka the Human Torch ) . This proved unpopular with readers and the story was subsequently retconned by let out Johnny ’s wife was really a Skrull pretending to be Alicia . During this time , however , the affair was caught in a radioactive accident and became Ben Grimm for several months , maybe because he did n’t have to worry about his kinship with Alicia . Eventually , however , the status quo was restored , Ben became the Thing again , and the real Alicia return – perchance regenerate Ben ’s genial block .
The Thing ’s appearance has convert dramaticallysince his original appearance . When he first transform , Ben had a grotesque , clay - like orange hide . Over metre , the affair became more rock music - like and cartoony - look . finally , Reed discovered that this was because Ben ’s body was becoming more “ comfortable ” with being the Thing , which made him harder to cure . Distraught , Ben take up Reed ’s latest cure and traveled back in time , hope he could give it to his past self and regain his humanity . Ben succeeded , but learned he ’d only feign an alternate past timeline ( due toMarvel ’s rules of fourth dimension travel ) .
The Universe is Against the Thing Being Cured
Of course , most comic lover know therealreason Ben Grimm can never be cured . As Marvel Comics ’ original tough - luck hoagy ( predating both Spider - Man and the X - Men ) , Ben ’s sadness at being stuck in the Thing ’s body is one of the Fantastic Four ’s braggy draws . Readerslikeseeing Ben ’s struggle in adjusting to life as the Thing and do n’t like it when he becomes human ( and happy ) .
In bestselling generator Neil Gaiman ’s weird alternate comicMarvel 1602,readers get to listen a more comic rule book - based version of this explanation . This story feature an alternative version of the “ Fantastick Four ” who got their powers during a ocean voyage in the former seventeenth century . After old age of being incarcerate by Doctor Doom , Ben Grimm asks if Reed can restore his humanity . However , Reed – who posit that the fundamental atom that control the universe is that of a account – lamentably told him that fate was literally against the Thing being cure . According to Reed :
The natural sciences say yes , a cure is potential . But the laws of narration would suggest that no remedy can last for very tenacious , Benjamin . For in the end , alas , you are so much more interesting and satisfying as you are .
So , not only is Ben ’s body and subconscious mind against him . Theuniverse itselfis against Ben enjoying being human for any duration of time . While this would seem to doom Ben to an eternity as a monster , one clever Fantastic Four plot line offer a loophole .
In this chronicle , Reed release over the problem of curing the Thing to a group of kid champion . realise no curative would ever hold fast , the kids look at the trouble from a dissimilar angle , make a chemical formula that would let Ben become human … but only for one week every year . Thus , instead of removing Ben ’s commiseration , the cure would actually foreground it by offer him only a very brief consequence of humanity in a lifetime otherwise dominate by the Thing .
unluckily , the universe ( aka writer and creative person ) , kept torturing Ben even when this became part of the new status quo . The first prison term Ben took the curative , he had to check powerlessly asFantastic Fourteammate Johnny Storm obviously died in the Negative Zone . More recently , Ben arranged to bend human during his honeymoon to Alicia Masters , allow them to start a family . Insteadthe Hulk register up and strike hard the matter unconscious for days , make him catch some Z’s through his one week of world . So , it seems that even when hedoesget cured , Ben Grimm just ca n’t catch a break .
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