The last issue of the Thing's first solo series (second if you count Marvel Two-in-One, I guess), finds him in a bad way. He's been the big draw of the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, but many of the other wrestlers got their super-strength from the Power Broker. Of course there's a catch. Unless they get regular supplies of a drug, they'll die from side effects of the procedure.
Dennis Dunphy (aka Captain America sidekick D-Man) already nearly died, and Ben's friend Sharon Ventura (calling herself Ms. Marvel while I Carol Danvers is out in space being Binary) just took the strength enhancement herself, so they need answers before she ends up the same way. Unfortunately, all the other wrestlers are after Sharon and Ben so P.B. will keep supplying them.
Power Broker's hideout is empty when Ben and Sharon arrive, the desperate wrestlers on their heels. Ben could normally cream these guys (one guy hits him in the head with the old interlaced fingers punch and barely staggers him, then Ben casually shoves the guy into a wall with one hand), but he's under the weather for unknown reasons, and distracted because Sharon isn't interested in him the way he is in her. He starts to mutate after Sharon tries to get him on his feet (by slapping him), pink boils or blisters appearing between his rock plates. One of the wrestlers describes him as feeling 'clammy' and 'gross', which is hard to picture, but disturbing to be sure. From that point on, Neary and De LaRosa draw Ben in shadow. You just see his misshapen outline and your imagination does the rest. All the wrestlers panic, thinking this is going to happen to them, too.
The Fantastic Four's origin has to be common knowledge, right? So they thought he was doping on top of being bombarded with cosmic rays? The ever lovin' blue-eyed idol of millions, a cheat? Never.
Meanwhile, She-Hulk's seen a news report about Ben running amok in L.A., and maybe feeling odd about how she got his spot on the Fantastic Four, and nobody's really talking about what happened when he returned from Battleworld, decides to go see him. Jarvis has to book her a commercial flight since the Avengers aren't in good standing with the government at the moment and can't launch Quinjets in Manhattan. Jen seeks out Ben's boss in the UCWF, who is stonewalling the press about what's going on with the Thing and all the wrestling being canceled. As soon as She-Hulk shows up, he blabs about the Power Broker, swearing he knew nothing about it. Which is about the time he gets a call Ben's in the hospital.
Ben ends up in the same hospital as Dunphy, who is already recovering. D-Man thinks the drugs weren't really necessary, Power Broker just told them that to get them addicted. Good news for Sharon, who hasn't had time to take them. Doesn't help Ben, since he never took them, and the doctors aren't sure how to treat him.
Just mentioning calling Reed Richards makes Ben flip out, so when Sharon spies She-Hulk headed their way, she figures he won't want to see his replacement, either. That might seem a curious leap of logic, but she's right. Ben figures Jen will just laugh at his current state. I mean, Joe Fixit would, he's a dick.
Despite the pain he's in, Ben starts trying to escape while Sharon tries to keep She-Hulk out. She's outclassed and Jen keeps casually pushing her aside until Sharon trips her and tries to put her in a chinlock. Patience exhausted, Jen decides to smash, and Sharon's on the run (She-Hulk decides she's near Captain America in athleticism). Considering Sharon only got super-powers last issue, not getting killed by a Hulk is pretty impressive.
Finally, Sharon suggests calling Ben's room to see if he wants to see Jen. Which is about when they hear his escape. By the time they get upstairs, Ben's gone. Sharon worries it's her fault for only liking him as a friend, which he never understood. Not your problem, lady. Ben gets mad about the friend zone, that's on him. Jen concludes Ben's always running away from whatever bothers him, and hopes he finally escaped it.
Meanwhile, Ben's tumbling off a dump truck down to the ocean, determined to find someplace quiet to die. But first, he's gotta make a brief guest appearance in West Coast Avengers #10 to save their butts, and then the storyline picks up over in Fantastic Four. I think. Haven't read those issues. Feels like this is the story where Ben gets his "spiky rocks" look, but he definitely doesn't have it in Fantastic Four #296, the 25th anniversary issue where he tries to move to Monster Island, that comes out about five months after this.
Honestly, the timeline seems screwy. I figured D-Man's hospitalization would be from what happened to him in Captain America #330, when Cap finds him and Sharon both receiving treatments from the Power Broker, and D-Man flips out and attacks Cap, then nearly dies. But as far as I can tell, that comic came out in summer of 1987, and this comic, WCA #10, and that FF story all came out summer of 1986, when Captain America was busy hunting the Scourge.
[11th longbox, 85th comic. The Thing (vol. 1) #36, by Mike Carlin (writer), Paul Neary (artist - breakdowns), Sam DeLaRosa (artist - finishes), Bob Sharen (colorist), John Morelli (letterer)
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