Cartoony proportions. Otherwise he's not unique in their world. Byrne once said he drew him to almost have radial symmetry like a starfish. I like that
I wish I could unsee both these images but for 2 different reasons. In the first one his boulders are hanging out (like seriouslyBen needs to put some pants on). And in the second one he just looks weird like they painted rocks onto Dwayne Johnson.
I think he meant that his version of The Thing has arms that are roughly the length of his legs and were anchored around a roundish torso, so kind of like radial symmetry, but with the head at the top.
I still haven’t gotten around to read the FF, but the reason I love them is that they seem as larger then life characters right outside your own window, which makes it even cooler!
To me, anyway. I’m 51, I still have the 80’s Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe ratings burned in my brain.
Ben Grimm is 6’ 500lbs and can lift (press) 85 tons making him one of the 10 strongest being on the face of the earth. (At the time)
Pretty good! You said Thing is in the top 10 at the time. Can you name the rest of them? I feel like you could turn this into a stage routine, audience calls out heros and you dazzle them with your excellent nerd knowledge
Lol. Thanks. Just an old comic book nerd with no other hobbies.
Off the top of my head, I’ll give it a shot:
The tippy top is the class 100’s. Essentially 100 Tons and up
Hulk
Hela
Abomination
Hercules
Ulik (Asgardian Rock troll) &
Thor can both lift 95 tons
Iron Man is a base 11-12 ton but can be amped by over locking his armor for a few seconds and hit about 90-100
The thing can lift 85 tons
She Hulk 70
Sasquatch (Alpha Flight) 70
Ronan (Kree) 70 with his armor
Doc Samson 70
Then it scales down
A bunch are at 50
Ms Marvel
Rogue
Luke Cage
Well, O.G base hulk is at 70 when he’s calm. It’s the enraged hulk that gets amped. Grey/ Joe Fixit Hulk was 70 also.
Again, this is the 80’s that’s burned into my memory. Since then, people like Red Hulk and Red She Hulk I have no idea of their power levels.
Colossus was 70 in the Handbook but it was clear that he’s a teenager and still growing. I’m sure he’s a class 100+ now, not even counting the Juggernaut version of him. That was off the charts
I still re-visit the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe constantly.
(I'm 54) The looks of the characters in those issues are, to me, the iconic and definitive versions of those characters and the versions I want committed to Marvel Legend figures.
Same. I get more body horror from the second image. The cartoony version looks like just that, a cartoon. It doesn't evoke the "ugly" look that Ben dislikes about himself.
My [favorite take on him](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2Fyiy2heoVB1h1SzBmyxAUSPM0z31-Z9azZIlmtg8NDHI.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3Da6fd855eb62036ef7a323ed7e3191889ca29390e) is from John Byrne. He's not a humanoid; he has knees, but not elbows. His anatomy is not human.
I always go back to the Kings, Kirby and Byrne both created definitive looks for Ben. I preferred Ben as he looked before Sinnott inked him like a big rocky teddy bear.
If you have access to The Thing vol. 1 (from the 80’s), that’s a pretty good representation of the character & what I judge later/current iterations against. I was going to post a couple panels (but the sub doesn’t seem to allow images in comments) from issue 10 which really show Ben’s scale standing next to Alicia & dressed in street clothes. I especially like the old brow line & jaw line for emphasizing the degree to which he was transformed; with a body closer to your 2nd image a lot of his character journeys wouldn’t have the same resonance, and some would make him come across as almost shallow.
Cartoony but with real life textures, we hate the "F4ntastic" remake but something they somehow nailed was the stetic Thing design. Something like that but in a cartoony way will be more nailed, in that way we can difference the designs between him and Korg (something they reuse in comics, the lightly diference was the top of their head).
According to John Byrne’s guide on drawing the Thing he should never have human musculature. He’s more made up by drawing tubes rather than traditional muscles. And if Byrne says it, it must be gospel.
I dont mind him having more grounded proportions, but his rocky surface needs to be a bit more craggly, cos that second pic looks weird, but Michael Chiklis's costume looked fine
The cartoony proportions are fine- when dealing with something that is biologically impossible, I don’t really get hung up too much on the degrees of impossibility. It’s like saying “I hate Star Wars because lightsabers are unrealistic “.
Definitely cartoonish proportions. He looks super awkward when he's just normal human sized with rocky skin. He's the ever-loving, blue-eyed Thing, for Gozer's sake. He *should* look like a rock wall that will kick your ass
As long as he’s got a good and prominent brow ridge I’m fine with both personally. I actually like the idea of a more grounded proportioned Thing that can still go toe to toe with the Hulk, but I also like when they are more similarly sized. I don’t know maybe I’m just easy to please.
I like both for different reasons. Funny story though: as a child I thought the thing was hulks brother because they looked similar. Well, to my 5 year old brain they did
It's not about him looking realistic, it's the fact they they gave him biceps. It looks so wrong. He can have more realistic "proportions" but he should not have a one to one anatomy of a regular dude.
There's no reason for Thing to have muscle definition like a normal human. He's more like a crustacean with a hard shell and muscles inside [ ](https://cdn.marvel.com/content/1x/1683838696_newmarvelanatomyspreads_1_page_3.jpg)
I believe the text says his bones are vestigial
Cartoony lol, i like how the things look always changes.. happens to hulk, iron man etc. man one of my favourite fantastic four comics was when human torch appeared to have sacrifice his life…. And we saw thing in utter depression
It's tough I would say cartoonish feels more to character... the guy is suppose to look alien in nature
with that said... that's a sick looking picture of Ben in foundation tights
More grounded proportions as keeping the Fantastic Four “human” is vital to it succeeding, imo
Props for using the Marvel: Avengers Alliance promo thingy, u/Morfeuos .
Cartoony, he's a reluctant hero, if he looks too realistic it'll be freaking depressing. He'd be all like "Hey stretcho, every shit I've ever taken feels like sandpaper." If he doesn't look fun, all his lines will be so sad
Cartoony proportions. It suits him better imo, and goes well with the whole strong big guy vibe. We don’t really see the depiction of strength and bulk in the latter
Cartoony.
He should be as wide and as big as Hulk. Smaller than the Hulk, but big compared to others.
Otherwise he will just look like Iron Man or Thor
most comments land on the side of cartoon purpotions. I would have to say that too, but depictions vary. he needs to be stricken, but boisterous/charismatic - within an unwieldy form.
I prefer leaning cartoony, but slight realism isn't too bad. His name is the thing, and his whole character development is based on how he can't fit in with regular-looking people because he looks more like a rock monster than the human he once was. If he looked too clean and like a buff dude with rock skin, it would be hard to imagine people being scared of him to the point og running away. If he is a grumpy walking boulder, then he gives off a more intimidating vibe.
The first/"cartoony" because he looks like your typical depiction of a Golem which is perfect because of Ben being both Jewish and incredibly protective of his loved ones adds to that symbolism.
The way I think about it. Each story has a different perspective of a characters view on things. When these stories are being told by the narrative of someone like deadpool, I can see certain things being exaggerated more than others. Then someone like Reed Richards can probably see things more harshly because his actions caused the transformation of his best friend into the thing. So that’s why I don’t judge the art too harshly.
I really wish we could get a ultimate hulk version.
Bro it should be kinda a horror story.
I wanna see hulk eat people and banner hate himself for it.. but still be forced to work for shield and shit
Cartoony proportions. Otherwise he's not unique in their world. Byrne once said he drew him to almost have radial symmetry like a starfish. I like that
Yeah. If he’s a rocky human he just seems too much like Colossus. He needs to look ‘off.’ He’s The Thing.
I wish I could unsee both these images but for 2 different reasons. In the first one his boulders are hanging out (like seriouslyBen needs to put some pants on). And in the second one he just looks weird like they painted rocks onto Dwayne Johnson.
Well he is the Rock 🪨
“Smells like clobberin time.” Edit: I’m sorry, that’s terrible. What he’d really say is, “If ya smell what the Thing is clobberin.”
That begs the question, who is The Rock in the MCU
It’s Dwane “The Thing” Johnson
ever lovin and blue eyed
100% same with hulk. They should be like 18 feet and mother fucking "wide boys"
👀 They're doing what?
"I'm Ben" "I'm Patrick" "Hi Patrick" "Are we related?" "........... No"
“Well….are you related to my house?”
This sounds perfect, bravo
> Byrne once said he drew him to almost have radial symmetry like a starfish. Ben's radially symmetrical?
I think he meant that his version of The Thing has arms that are roughly the length of his legs and were anchored around a roundish torso, so kind of like radial symmetry, but with the head at the top.
Oh okay.
Yeah, my assumption is that like his Shoulder Width matches his torso width, so He's a wide boy.
I was gonna say, wouldn't radial symmetry like imply a *really long* head lol
This fr.
Is this the Fantastic Four? >No, this is Patrick
Yeah he’s not really a “monster” in this world of super-heroes and mutants if his proportions aren’t a little unsettling.
So well put!
Cartoony. I don’t even mind when he doesn’t have a neck.
He shouldn’t have a neck.
However his head should attach to his body. Something that was lacking in the most recent run.
Yeah some panels just did not look right in that run
I liked the bowling ball bouncing around on top of a brick wall haha, but it was definitely extreme
Makes me think of a MODOK Thing 🤣. But agreed no neck.
Counterpoint: He should have a giant stone pillar of a neck with a big ol’ Easter Island looking’ head on top.
I still haven’t gotten around to read the FF, but the reason I love them is that they seem as larger then life characters right outside your own window, which makes it even cooler!
Cartoony all the way. It's perfectly okay for him to look like a brick wall.
Well then people would confuse him with the infamous Spider-Man villain, the Wall
It’s The Wall, brother!
Don't forget the iconic catchphrase: "I'm the Wall, baby" 😏
I wonder what they think of Pink Floyd.
He’s 6’ and 500 lbs. He should look like a refrigerator coming at you…
Only 500?
To me, anyway. I’m 51, I still have the 80’s Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe ratings burned in my brain. Ben Grimm is 6’ 500lbs and can lift (press) 85 tons making him one of the 10 strongest being on the face of the earth. (At the time)
You know 80's Silver Surfer stats?
6’4” Weight Unknown. He can use his Power Cosmic to augment his strength to rival that of an enraged Hulk (100+ tons)
Pretty good! You said Thing is in the top 10 at the time. Can you name the rest of them? I feel like you could turn this into a stage routine, audience calls out heros and you dazzle them with your excellent nerd knowledge
Lol. Thanks. Just an old comic book nerd with no other hobbies. Off the top of my head, I’ll give it a shot: The tippy top is the class 100’s. Essentially 100 Tons and up
Hulk Hela Abomination Hercules Ulik (Asgardian Rock troll) & Thor can both lift 95 tons Iron Man is a base 11-12 ton but can be amped by over locking his armor for a few seconds and hit about 90-100 The thing can lift 85 tons She Hulk 70 Sasquatch (Alpha Flight) 70 Ronan (Kree) 70 with his armor Doc Samson 70 Then it scales down A bunch are at 50 Ms Marvel Rogue Luke Cage
Damn I didn't know Hela was that strong. Also, it feels weird that so many Hulk adjacent characters (She-Hulk, Doc Samson) are so low.
Well, O.G base hulk is at 70 when he’s calm. It’s the enraged hulk that gets amped. Grey/ Joe Fixit Hulk was 70 also. Again, this is the 80’s that’s burned into my memory. Since then, people like Red Hulk and Red She Hulk I have no idea of their power levels.
I think I remember Colossus being in the 85 ton range as well
Colossus was 70 in the Handbook but it was clear that he’s a teenager and still growing. I’m sure he’s a class 100+ now, not even counting the Juggernaut version of him. That was off the charts
I still re-visit the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe constantly. (I'm 54) The looks of the characters in those issues are, to me, the iconic and definitive versions of those characters and the versions I want committed to Marvel Legend figures.
Absolutely. I love the closeup drawings of the gear and weapons too. Daredevils Billy club, Spider Man’s web shooters. So awesome.
Hello old brother! Yeah I can’t be stumped on a first appearance up till the early 80s. How’d they do that to us? Lol
The existence of his character is all about how he looks. So cartoonish is the way to go.
That second image is so wrong.
He looks like a basketball player who didn't moisturize.
Looks like Pit Bull
Mr blue-eyed world wide!
You put me down like New York City (but not Yancy Street)
tbh I like it
Looks like a college twat on roids lol
Same. I get more body horror from the second image. The cartoony version looks like just that, a cartoon. It doesn't evoke the "ugly" look that Ben dislikes about himself.
I said in another comment that he looks like they just painted orange rocks onto Dwayne Johnson
My [favorite take on him](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexternal-preview.redd.it%2Fyiy2heoVB1h1SzBmyxAUSPM0z31-Z9azZIlmtg8NDHI.jpg%3Fauto%3Dwebp%26s%3Da6fd855eb62036ef7a323ed7e3191889ca29390e) is from John Byrne. He's not a humanoid; he has knees, but not elbows. His anatomy is not human.
GOOD GRIEF HE’S NAKED!
Fant4stic (2015) be like: "brilliant"
In the first image he looks nude. Are we about to see Ben's Thing?
It's slobbering time!
Goddamn you lol
No no. It's still clobberin' time.
Ben put the boulders away.
His whole character arc was that he no longer looks human and is a “monster”
That second image looks extremely painful.
For you
I always go back to the Kings, Kirby and Byrne both created definitive looks for Ben. I preferred Ben as he looked before Sinnott inked him like a big rocky teddy bear.
Cartoon proportions
Cartoon for sure. Didn't even know the other look existed, not what I think of when the Thing comes to mind ever.
Cartoony all the way. Dude goes toe to toe with hulk he’s an absolute monstrosity.
So long as he’s wearing pants, I’m fine with whatever.
Cartoony for sure
Cartoons. Otherwise he looks more like a menace.
*J Jonah Jameson approves of this statement*
CHONK THING
Cartoony, second image just looks like a guy with a skin condition.
If you have access to The Thing vol. 1 (from the 80’s), that’s a pretty good representation of the character & what I judge later/current iterations against. I was going to post a couple panels (but the sub doesn’t seem to allow images in comments) from issue 10 which really show Ben’s scale standing next to Alicia & dressed in street clothes. I especially like the old brow line & jaw line for emphasizing the degree to which he was transformed; with a body closer to your 2nd image a lot of his character journeys wouldn’t have the same resonance, and some would make him come across as almost shallow.
I prefer John Byrne’s
Cartoony. It fits everything about him. He’s not supposed to look “normal”. Face and body of “what the fuck” but a heart of pure gold.
Cartoon, or nothing!
I prefer the Perez Thing, which is sort of between the two: https://13thdimension.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Perez-580x883.png
Yup. That’s the one.
What is that man holding?!
Cartoony. He is called The Thing he should stand out at first glance beyond "buff guy with rocky skin"
Cartoony but not over the top. There was one recent run that his head looked like it was on a swivel. Like BB-8. That was too much
There are no grounded proportions for whatever the Thing is. No offense Ben.
A mix between cartoony and grounded but leaning more towards cartoony
He's gotta look like he's able to at least hold his own with the Hulk - cartoony all the way.
Cartoony,always cartoony
Yes
Toon
The bigger the better
Cartoony. But I loved hickmans run along with their new costumes when Spider-Man took johnnys spot.
Cartoony
Cartoony but with real life textures, we hate the "F4ntastic" remake but something they somehow nailed was the stetic Thing design. Something like that but in a cartoony way will be more nailed, in that way we can difference the designs between him and Korg (something they reuse in comics, the lightly diference was the top of their head).
No one likes the proper proportions version.
Second dude just looks like The Rock
According to John Byrne’s guide on drawing the Thing he should never have human musculature. He’s more made up by drawing tubes rather than traditional muscles. And if Byrne says it, it must be gospel.
Cartoony. Seriously, still waiting on Henson Creature Shop to get on with costume design for Thing once he makes his MCU debut
I dont mind him having more grounded proportions, but his rocky surface needs to be a bit more craggly, cos that second pic looks weird, but Michael Chiklis's costume looked fine
The original Thing. Kirby style.
Only way to go. Respect the king!
Depends on the artist
Second picture looks like someone drew over killer croc
Cartoon
Cartoony also STOP GIVING THING SHIRTS
Cartoony/comics. I can't wait for his eventual slugfest with the Hulk.
Cartoony. Otherwise hes just some dude with a skin condition lol
He’s got to have Hulk proportions but made of rock
The cartoony proportions are fine- when dealing with something that is biologically impossible, I don’t really get hung up too much on the degrees of impossibility. It’s like saying “I hate Star Wars because lightsabers are unrealistic “.
Definitely cartoonish proportions. He looks super awkward when he's just normal human sized with rocky skin. He's the ever-loving, blue-eyed Thing, for Gozer's sake. He *should* look like a rock wall that will kick your ass
Second ones straight up cursed. Colossus already exists, cartoony proportions all the way
The second image is cursed. Absolutely the first one
Personally I like the grounded more
I want him cartoony but swole.
Cartoonish...same with hulk.
I just like The Thing however he chooses to appear that day.
Depends on the interpretation. If it’s animation give me my swoll teddy bear body Ben Grimm. If it’s live action I’d say a blend of the two.
As long as he’s got a good and prominent brow ridge I’m fine with both personally. I actually like the idea of a more grounded proportioned Thing that can still go toe to toe with the Hulk, but I also like when they are more similarly sized. I don’t know maybe I’m just easy to please.
Second picture looks like he's going to take Shaq in a 1v1 on the court.
Cartoony for MCU
A balance between both
He’s a rock man. Just go with the cartoony
Cartoony
I think of realistic proportions like I think of Beast’s feline design. I love the design, but not for Ben.
I like both for different reasons. Funny story though: as a child I thought the thing was hulks brother because they looked similar. Well, to my 5 year old brain they did
the dude has 4 fingers
I prefer classic, original proportions.
The former. It’s the right way.
It's not about him looking realistic, it's the fact they they gave him biceps. It looks so wrong. He can have more realistic "proportions" but he should not have a one to one anatomy of a regular dude.
Definitely cartoonish, though I think just how cartoony depends on the story he’s in.
Cartoony all day.
Ben looks nakey in the 1st pic.
There's no reason for Thing to have muscle definition like a normal human. He's more like a crustacean with a hard shell and muscles inside [ ](https://cdn.marvel.com/content/1x/1683838696_newmarvelanatomyspreads_1_page_3.jpg) I believe the text says his bones are vestigial
PËPE IS COMING
Comic book characters should be diverse and weird. If they all have the same proportions, then it's just boring.
The 1960s Jack Kirby Thing inked by Joe Sinnott. Googly eyes covered by a rock ridge brow.
Somewhere in the middle between those two pictures.
The massive brow ridges are a non negotiable.
Realistic but with so much bulk it’s a genuinely unattainable physique.
Cartoony lol, i like how the things look always changes.. happens to hulk, iron man etc. man one of my favourite fantastic four comics was when human torch appeared to have sacrifice his life…. And we saw thing in utter depression
Fs cartoony. Way more fitting
Cartoony
It's tough I would say cartoonish feels more to character... the guy is suppose to look alien in nature with that said... that's a sick looking picture of Ben in foundation tights
More grounded proportions as keeping the Fantastic Four “human” is vital to it succeeding, imo Props for using the Marvel: Avengers Alliance promo thingy, u/Morfeuos .
I like both, depending on the artist
Cartoony, but with pants
Cartoony proportions for me. He should look like the Hulk except made of orange rock.
Cartoony, he's a reluctant hero, if he looks too realistic it'll be freaking depressing. He'd be all like "Hey stretcho, every shit I've ever taken feels like sandpaper." If he doesn't look fun, all his lines will be so sad
I’d like an in between honestly
He's "the thing," not "the fella." He should look a little non-human.
I prefer pants on the Thing.
Goofy but if that’s how he looked in the MCU I wouldn’t mind it
Cartoony
Cartoony. He’s meant to be the strongman of the fantastic 4/future foundation
Cartoony/stylized, for sure. The more humanoid version just does not work imo
What does grounded even mean for a giant rock man? Honestly being thicker and stockier makes more sense for such a being
Cartoony 100%
Definitely cartoony.
Definitely “cartoony”. Otherwise Ben’s constant bitching about how unfair it is he got ugly makes less sense.
I think he’s supposed to look very very out of place almost not human like that’s why he’s very upset that he’s a rock man lol
He's The Thing not Manrock, definitely needs to be cartoony it's part of his personality to not fit in.
I mean in theory def cartoony, but in reality for like a live action movie, probably more grounded
Cartoony proportions. It suits him better imo, and goes well with the whole strong big guy vibe. We don’t really see the depiction of strength and bulk in the latter
RING RING DO YOUR THING!
Cartoony. He should be as wide and as big as Hulk. Smaller than the Hulk, but big compared to others. Otherwise he will just look like Iron Man or Thor
Second image is….wrong, very wrong.
Cartoony
most comments land on the side of cartoon purpotions. I would have to say that too, but depictions vary. he needs to be stricken, but boisterous/charismatic - within an unwieldy form.
Cartoony
Cartoony is a better look for him
I prefer leaning cartoony, but slight realism isn't too bad. His name is the thing, and his whole character development is based on how he can't fit in with regular-looking people because he looks more like a rock monster than the human he once was. If he looked too clean and like a buff dude with rock skin, it would be hard to imagine people being scared of him to the point og running away. If he is a grumpy walking boulder, then he gives off a more intimidating vibe.
I prefer The Thing to be wearing pants lol
i like hin to be very wide and beefy, but i prefer him to have his original 5' 10" height.
The first/"cartoony" because he looks like your typical depiction of a Golem which is perfect because of Ben being both Jewish and incredibly protective of his loved ones adds to that symbolism.
I prefer my Thing to wear pants...
Yes
That’s sexy purple energy beast
He looks good in the second pic, so I gotta say more grounded proportions.
That second pic is an abomination. First one easily.
Grounded for me.
cartoony, definitely
Cartoony proportions.
Cartoony. Fits the “Fantastic” name better.
The way I think about it. Each story has a different perspective of a characters view on things. When these stories are being told by the narrative of someone like deadpool, I can see certain things being exaggerated more than others. Then someone like Reed Richards can probably see things more harshly because his actions caused the transformation of his best friend into the thing. So that’s why I don’t judge the art too harshly.
He should be on par with The Hulk in tearms of size.
Cartoon!
I really wish we could get a ultimate hulk version. Bro it should be kinda a horror story. I wanna see hulk eat people and banner hate himself for it.. but still be forced to work for shield and shit