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Peter Martin
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 6:43pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

He's shaped more like a starfish than a human being.
------------------------------------
This is flat out not true and you know it.
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Marc Baptiste
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 7:00pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

Peter,

I think he just means that with the THING there just aren't really pronounced elbows and knees giving his appendages a kind of starfish look around his very ample torso.

Marc
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 8:49pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply





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Peter Martin
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 8:57pm | IP Logged | 4 post reply

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Michael Roberts
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 9:03pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

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Peter Martin
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 9:07pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

I would contend that the Thing, in his classic form, is more frequently portrayed with anatomy that corresponds to thighs, calves, shoulders, forearms, biceps and so on, even ignoring fingers and toes.

It's simply not true to say he is more like a starfish than a human.
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 9:09pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Yes, Michael, that is probably where it stems from. And that is not how Kirby drew him. Nor how he has been most commonly depicted.


That guide is how JB drew him in a particular moment in time.

Check out more recent commissions and he has pecs, shoulders, forearms, calves.

And even in the image you posted above, the legs are far more akin to normal human legs than a starfish's appendages.


Edited by Peter Martin on 16 January 2021 at 9:11pm
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Rebecca Jansen
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 9:18pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

I thought maybe he was more like a buncha waffle cones stuck to an orange or sumpin!

Did someone actually ever buy a comic because 'the Beyonder' aka Korvac II was in it? Guy with a perm in a white disco suit... cosmic! But a step up from the Hamptons tennis pro in shorts look I guess. Now Annihilus, there's a decent looking cosmic character... not to mention Galactus and Darkseid, or even Terrax, they don't get perms or wear shorts... well except maybe Galactus on that Thor #226 cover, oops, almost looks like he's got Dad socks on too. :^/

It's not a really great FF story unless it has Ben Grimm kvetching somewhere in it, even for just one panel. That's my feeling on that. Did I use that Yiddish right?
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 9:24pm | IP Logged | 9 post reply

I think people bought Secret Wars II #1 because of that great cover and to find out more about the Beyonder, Rebecca.

If they stuck with it, it was probably in spite of the Beyonder... And I think buyers of the regular titles had no choice.

I quite liked the Daredevil story where he got his sight back, I'll give Shooter that. The rest of Secret Wars II (for some reason I keep wanting to write Star Wars) was like a visiting relative that you really wished had just stayed home.
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 9:26pm | IP Logged | 10 post reply

(and, hey, the cover for that Daredevil issue wasn't bad either).
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Michael Roberts
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 9:48pm | IP Logged | 11 post reply

And even in the image you posted above, the legs are far more akin to normal human legs than a starfish's appendages.

———

I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the Thing is literally shaped like a starfish, so I don’t understand this argument. I thought the starfish thing was just a guide to avoid drawing the Thing with human or simian proportions. 
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Wallace Sellars
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Posted: 16 January 2021 at 9:49pm | IP Logged | 12 post reply

I dig JB’s recent depiction of Mr. Grimm in ELSEWHEN. I really like
the way(s) he drew Ben back during his FF run though. (This isn’t a
case of JB’s older stuff being better; I just prefer that look.)
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