With the Fantastic Four now making their appearance into the MCU, interest in Marvel’s first family has never been higher. Of course, the FF wouldn’t be who they are if not for Benjamin Grimm, aka The Thing. And while there are hundreds of incredible issues over the course of his epic career, in this list we’re looking purely at the best the Thing comic covers of all time. In other words, we chose these issues because of their fantastic cover art featuring everyone’s favorite ever-lovin’ blue-eyed Thing, and not necessarily because they feature a key moment in Ben Grimm’s long and complicated history. To keep it simple, we’ve listed the issues in order of publication date, along with current prices and our reasons for why we chose each book.
But enough talk. It’s clobbering time as we smash into.. the 20 best the Thing comic covers ever made.
1. Fantastic Four #51
- Published: June 1966
- Estimated Price: $300 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: First mention of the Negative Zone and second appearance of Wyatt Wingfoot.
- Why We Picked It: When it comes to classic comic covers featuring the Thing it’s hard to top this Jack Kirby masterpiece, which beautifully captures the tortured nature of Ben Grimm as a man trapped in the body of a monster.
2. Fantastic Four #55
- Published: October 1966
- Estimated Price: $550 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Iconic battle between the Thing and the Silver Surfer.
- Why We Picked It: Another work of classic Jack “the King” Kirby art, this issue is both an epic in the annals of the Fantastic Four, but easily one of the best the Thing comic covers ever created. Nuff’ said.
3. Sub-Mariner #8
- Published: December 1968
- Estimated Price: $375 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Classic battle of the Thing and Namor
- Why We Picked It: While Jack Kirby may have brought the Thing to life with his stunning artwork, the mantle was later picked up by the legendary John Buscema. Case in point: this iconic cover featuring the Thing and Sub-Mariner throwing down.
4. Fantastic Four #112
- Published: July 1971
- Estimated Price: $725 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Classic battle between the Thing and the Hulk
- Why We Picked It: Another iconic cover by John Buscema, this simple black background bring the epic battle between two of Marvel’s strongest superheroes to life and today remains an incredibly sought after issue among collectors, not to mention being one of the best Hulk comic covers ever made.
5. Marvel Two-in-One #1
- Published: January 1974
- Estimated Price: $80 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: First issue in a series that teams up The Thing with different Marvel characters.
- Why We Picked It: In many ways the Thing really came into his own in the Marvel Two-in-One series from the early 70s (each of which featured a unique adventure starring Ben Grimm and other popular superheroes), but we added this book to our list of greatest the Thing comic covers because of the jaw dropping art by the great Gil Kane.
6. Fantastic Four #159
- Published: June 1975
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Iconic cover.
- Why We Picked It: With his work clearly influenced by Jack Kirby, artist Rich Buckler also managed to bring his own style and sensibilities to the Fantastic Four and other Marvel characters. That’s exactly the case with this gorgeous cover featuring the Thing getting his clobber on.
7. Marvel Two-in-One Annual #7
- Published: October 1982
- Estimated Price: $40 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st appearance of the Champion of the Universe
- Why We Picked It: There are plenty of iconic covers featuring the Thing, but for our money few come close to hitting the mark of this classic cover by the great Ron Wilson, which features Ben Grimm preparing to step into the ring along with some of Marvel’s greatest sluggers.
8. The Thing #1
- Published: July 1983
- Estimated Price: $15 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Origin of a young Ben Grimm and his early days on Yancy Street in New York City.
- Why We Picked It: As arguably the most popular member of the Fantastic Four, it was inevitable that the Thing would eventually get his own solo series, and that’s exactly what happened in the early 1980s. We picked this book, however, because of the epic cover by comic book legend John Byrne.
9. The Thing #6
- Published: December 1983
- Estimated Price: $5 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Iconic cover.
- Why We Picked It: There are plenty of comic covers featuring the Thing ready to pummel his opponents into oblivion, but this simple yet stunning cover by artist by Ron Wilson is easily one of our favorites and one we absolutely had to include on this list.
10. Fantastic Four #350
- Published: March 1991
- Estimated Price: $5 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 350th issue
- Why We Picked It: This rare (and criminally undervalued) issue is not only a key milestone in the publication history of the Fantastic Four, but also features an amazing cover by legendary Marvel artist Walt Simonson (who is perhaps best known for his groundbreaking run on Thor).
11. Fantastic Four #54
- Published: June 2002
- Estimated Price: $25 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: 1st appearance of Valeria Richards as a baby. One of only a few 100-page issues sporadically published in the early 2000s.
- Why We Picked It: While this giant-sized issue packs a punch due to its hefty page count, we added it to this list because of the absolutely gorgeous cover by the great Mike Wieringo; a seminal Marvel artist who has created more than his fair share of epic Fantastic Four and Thing comic covers over the years.
12. Ultimate Fantastic Four #8
- Published: August 2004
- Estimated Price: $5 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Iconic cover
- Why We Picked It: While the Ultimate Fantastic Four comics were a little hit or miss (at least in our opinion) there’s no denying that they had some incredible artwork. Case in point: this epic Thing cover by the incomparable Stuart Immonen.
13. The Thing #1
- Published: January 2006
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: First issue of second volume of The Thing standalone series.
- Why We Picked It: Over the years the Thing has continued to remain a fan favorite, despite often losing the spotlight to bigger name characters. And while this book marks the first issue in yet another solo series featuring the stone-skinned slugger, we added it to this list because of the brilliant cover art by Andrea DiVito.
14. The Thing #8
- Published: August 2006
- Estimated Price: $5 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Iconic cover.
- Why We Picked It: In the Marvel universe, the Things poker nights are a thing of legend, showing a softer and more human side to Earth-616’s greatest heroes. The epic gathering is captured in yet another amazing cover by Andrea DiVito, which was so popular it’s also been made into a series of posters and t-shirts.
15. Fantastic Four #552
- Published: February 2008
- Estimated Price: $5 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Iconic cover.
- Why We Picked It: There’s no doubt that Doctor Doom remains one of the the greatest Fantastic Four villains of all time, having thrown down with the Thing countless times over the years. Their endless struggle is perfectly captured in this stunning cover from artist Michael Turner.
16. Fantastic Four #642 (Variant)
- Published: January 2015
- Estimated Price: $20 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Variant cover.
- Why We Picked It: Artist Jim Cheung has done some amazing work for Marvel over the years, but this Fantastic Four variant cover featuring the Thing might be one of our all-time favorites. It’s a classic clobbering cover that we had absolutely had to include on this list.
17. Fantastic Four #1 (Variant)
- Published: August 2018
- Estimated Price: $5 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Variant cover
- Why We Picked It: Stanley “Artgerm” Lau has created some of the most memorable modern comic book covers and remains highly collectible. this Thing cover variant to FF #1 is no exception, perfectly capturing Ben Grimm’s legendary attitude.
18. The Thing #1 (Variant)
- Published: November 2021
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: First issue of third volume of The Thing standalone series.
- Why We Picked It: Another gorgeous modern variant cover, this stunning artwork by Lee Bermejo shows the aftermath of an epic superhero slugfest featuring the Thing, and proves why you absolutely do not mess with Ben Grimm.
19. The Thing #3
- Published: January 2022
- Estimated Price: $5 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: Thing battles the Champion of the Universe.
- Why We Picked It: A spiritual successor to Marvel Two-in-One Annual #7, this issue finds the Thing once again slapping on his boxing gloves and trunks and going toe-to-toe with the Champion of the Universe. Featuring a gorgeous art by Tom Reilly, this is a classic Thing cover we just had to include.
20. The Thing #5 (Variant)
- Published: March 2022
- Estimated Price: $10 USD (Raw High Grade)
- Why It’s a Key: First appearance of the New Watcher.
- Why We Picked It: While this book is a bit of a minor modern key (featuring the first appearance of a new Watcher), we chose it for this list because of the stunning variant cover by Dan Panosian, who absolutely killed it with his version of the Thing.
So there you have it, true believers! Our picks for the 20 best the Thing comic covers of all time. Are there any issues you think we missed? Let us know in the comments below!
See More Comic Book News & Reviews
Be sure to check out our Comic Book Speculation & Investing Guide and our guide to the Best Comic Book Covers of all Time.
*We are a member of the eBay Partners affiliate program which allows us to earn a small commission on clicks to products at no extra cost to you the consumer.