The Thing #5: Give till it hurts...


Writer: Dan Slott
Penciller: Andrea Di Vito
Inker: Andrea Di Vito
Letterer: Dave Lanphear
Colorist: Laura Villari
Editor: Tom Brevoort

Guest Shots:
      Lockjaw, Hiram Sheckerberg, Alicia Masters, Arlo North, Bunny, Yancy Street Gang

The Villain:
     Maggia, Trapster, Sandman

The Set Up:
     Two months ago, clad in his best tux Ben attended a New York premiere of a major Hollywood movie (where he met Carlotta LaRosa). The red carpet was crashed by Hiram Sheckerberg, who told Ben that he intended to hold him to his earlier promise to come and work at his shop on Sundays; Ben dismissed him as crazy. Back in the present, Ben has come back to a less money-centric view, and returns to work for Sheckerberg, reacquainting himself with Yancy Street in the process.

Clobberin' Time?:
      Swearing revenge on the Yancy Streeters only to find his foot glued to the ground by the Trapster, we get an interrupted "It's Clobberin' Ti -- What?"

Petunia's Patch:
     No Petunia is present.

Things of Interest:
     As seen in our flashback, Carlotta LaRosa headlined the movie "Diary of an Angel" co-starring Joseph Trebbiani (apparently Slott or Di Vito is a Friends fan).
     Ben, with his millions, is living in Atlas Towers, a swanky penthouse off Central Park West.
     Hiram Sheckerberg (misspelled here on his shop window as Scheckerberg) previously appeared in Fantastic Four III#56, an instant classic where Ben returns to Yancy Street, remeets Hiram, and officially confirms his Jewish religion.
     There are some nice history touches relating to Ben's long-dead brother Dan; it reassures one that Slott knows his Thing history, not that this was really ever in doubt.
     The stories dealing with Ben's Yancy Street upbringing have been few and far between (I recommend the aforementioned FF v3 #56 and Thing #1 (original series)), and its nice to see Ben back there again even though the issue sets up a whole lot of threads and thus feels a little disconnected.