Ben Grimm, aka the Thing, has always had a rough time with being a superhero. Although he’s a founding member of the Fantastic Four, Ben has always resented the fact that his powers come with being a giant orange rock monster unable to revert back to human form. Over time, Ben came to adjust to his condition, but not all Thing creatures like him were so fortunate.
Take, for example, Jacob Grimm, Ben’s son in the alternate MC2 future timeline. Although Ben began life as an ordinary man, Jacob was born a rock-creature, which gave him some unique challenges – even for the son of the Thing.
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Jacob’s origins go back to a point in the mainstream Marvel Universe where Ben briefly took over as the leader of the Fantastic Four when Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman left the team to help raise their son in a “normal” environment. Realizing that the team needed additional members, Ben recruited the Inhuman Crystal (the ex-girlfriend of the Human Torch) and his friend Sharon Ventura, aka Ms. Marvel, a beautiful woman with superhuman strength. Ben and Sharon shared an attraction that became complicated when they were both exposed to cosmic rays that mutated Ben into a spiky Thing and turned Sharon into a female version of the Thing.
While Sharon was initially horrified by her condition, Ben helped her adjust and they eventually became romantically involved. Eventually, Doctor Doom managed to transform Sharon back into her normal human form – only to cruelly transform her into an even uglier “She-Thing” later on. In the alternate MC2 timeline, however, Sharon managed to become human once more. She also married the Thing (possibly during her She-Thing phase), but later divorced him and tried to put her superhero years behind her.
But there was one issue – or actually, two. Ben and Sharon had had two children, twin siblings Jacob and Alyce. Thanks to their parents’ altered genetics, both kids were born with powers, with Alyce gaining the power of energy projection and flight, while “Jake” inherited his father’s strength. However, while Alyce looked human when she wasn’t using her powers, Jake’s natural form was that of a lumpy, orange creature. This naturally made it hard for Jake to adjust to living in the “normal” environment his mother wanted for him and Sharon confessed that he was having problems in his new school.
Eventually, both Jake and Alyce decided to join the “Fantastic Five” (which now consisted of Reed, Ben, Johnny, Lyja – Johnny’s Skrull wife – and Reed and Sue’s son Franklin). Jake took on the codename “Grim” and proved a capable fighter, battling alongside his team and Spider-Girl. When Reed Richards was placed in a comatose state while battling Doctor Doom, Sue chose to retire from the team and “Grim” stepped up as a full-time member.
While his appearances were few, Jake Grimm appeared to be an easy-going teenager who displayed much of his father’s sense of humor. He also liked showing off his strength and seemed comfortable with his appearance – at least with other superheroes. In truth, readers never got to learn how Jake really felt about looking the way he did while he was with “normal” people (although his father had serious misgivings). Although it would be nice to believe that Jake enjoyed a life of total acceptance in a world that saw people like the Fantastic Four as heroes, it’s very possible living as a rock creature from day one had a few downsides as well.
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