Thing is Big Ben Vol 1 11

The Thing has agreed to star in a science fiction film called "Mechagrub Meets Goddangit" a film produced by Silver Screen Productions with the proceeds going to the local children's hospital. The Thing is excited about the prospect and tells his teammates in the Fantastic Four and Alicia all about it over breakfast. Reed is suspicious, but after looking over the contract it appears to be legitimate to him.

Elsewhere on the set of Silver Screen Productions, producer Ted Silverberg is struggling to finish his latest production "Sump Thing", however, the low budget and clumsy actors are leaving prospects looking grim, even for drive-in fodder. Silverberg recalls how he had a great production going on until it was ruined when the Thing interfered with it, however, he believes that he has a means of making up for it. He has called in inventor Professor Frankheimer who has produced a new Holoflex projector that can project realistic holograms of objects it views from past eras. To demonstrate the device, Frankheimer uses the special projector to make a prehistoric lizard appear on Silverberg's desk. Impressed by the invention, Silverberg agrees to purchase it. Before leaving the professor warns Silverberg not to leave the projector running too long as it might overheat. After the elderly scientist has left, Silverberg explains to his assistant that he intends to use the device to make the Thing look foolish on camera by tricking him into attacking fake threats, and because Ben Grimm signed off on a release form, nothing can stop Silverberg from releasing the damaging footage after the fact. After marveling at his plan, Silverberg notices that the lizard from the projection has disappeared from their vantage point, but dismisses it as nothing important, unaware that the projector has been left on too long and the lizard has been pulled forward in time.

The following day the Thing has arrived at the set of Silver Screen Pictures dressed to the nines and acting like a Hollywood star, spooking the security guard from his morning paper. While not far away Iron Man flies onto the set and changed into Tony Stark under the cover of bushes. On his way out he runs into actress Bo Drip who asks him if he is the lead in the film "The Ape Man Gets a Hicky". When Stark tells her he is not, Tony is spotted by the Thing. The two are happy to meet each other and Ben learns that Stark is on set because his investors at Stark International suggested he put some money into the production company and he has come to check on his investment. As the two walk off for Ben's make-up call, they are unaware that they are being observed by Silverberg who is looking forward to getting the last laugh against the Thing.

After being put through make-up, the Thing is brought to a set designed to resemble Tokyo for his first scene. In order to try and humiliate the Thing, Silverberg uses the Holoflex to summon the images of Dinosaurs. When a scene calls for the Thing to jump on the back of a pterodactyl, he passes through the Holoflex image and smashes through a billboard. He is later tricked into charging a triceratops and ends up crashing into another set piece, a noodle shop, getting covered in noodles in the process. Hearing the producer laughing his head off, the Thing is shocked to find that he has been working for Ted Silverberg the whole time. The Thing is furious to realize that this entire shoot was a set up to make him look bad. When Ben gets into Silverberg's face, Ted reminds him of the contract he signed and that Silverberg has full rights to any footage captured for the production. When the Thing tries to take his frustrations out on a Holoflex generated tyrannosaurus rex, Silverberg, and his assistant are surprised when the Thing's kick actually strike the dinosaur instead of passing harmlessly through it. Quickly they come to the realization that because the camera has been on too long the dinosaurs have been transported to the present and are now running amok across the studio.

Hearing the ensuing chaos, Tony Stark slips into a trailer in order to secretly change into Iron Man and lend a hand to the Thing. The two heroes work together to try and contain the rampaging dinosaurs, but they end up wrecking many of the other productions before they realize that the creatures are unacceptable to the cold. Tricking them onto the set of John Carpentry's The Mess, they use the sets snow cannons to freeze the dinosaurs. With the creatures rendered inert, Tony Stark arranges to have the dinosaurs transported to the Savage Land. With his studio in ruins and nothing to show for his revenge, Silverberg is forced to hand over the footage of the Thing to Tony Stark he would consider making everything a tax write off. With no other choice, Silverberg hands over the footage. As Tony and Ben walk away, they destroy the footage, leaving Silverberg to wonder if filmmaker Steven Spielberg ever had days like this.

Appearing in "Knightmare"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Iron Man #150

Featured Characters:

Iron Man (Tony Stark)

Supporting Characters:

Knights of the Round Table
- King Arthur
- Sir Gareth
- Sir Malcolm

Antagonists:

Other Characters:

Eleonora
Cynthia von Doom (Only in flashback)
Merlin (Only in flashback)
Nimue (Only in flashback)
Charon
Reed Richards (Mentioned)

Locations:

Items:

Vehicles:

Synopsis for "Knightmare"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Iron Man #150

Iron Man and Doctor Doom find themselves stranded in the past in the kingdom of Camelot. A band of knights of the roundtable confronts the duo and they skirmish when Dr. Doom refuses to acknowledge their authority, but Iron Man makes Doom agree to go with them to Camelot. The duo present themselves to King Arthur, but Doom's royal pretensions do not impress the king. Doom forces a servant to give him the location of Morgan Le Fay's castle and requests the witch's aid in rescuing his mother from hell. She agrees if Doom will help her kill King Arthur. Using a chip from Excalibur, Le Fay raises an army of undead soldiers with Doom to lead the battle. Iron Man joins King Arthur's forces to combat them and finally drives them away. Doom promises to have revenge on Iron Man someday, but in order to return to their own time they form a temporary truce; with components from their armors they manage to juryrig a makeshift time machine. After returning home safely they part ways, Doom still vowing revenge.

Appearing in "Luck and Death"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Power Man and Iron Fist #63

Featured Characters:

Heroes for Hire

Supporting Characters:

D.W. Griffith

Antagonists:

Senor Suerte (Jaime) (First name revealed)
Senor Muerte (Phillip) (First name revealed)

Other Characters:

Tony (Death)
"Cecil" (Death)
Captain America (Steven Rogers) (Only in recap)
Wendell Rand (Only in recap)
Heather Rand (Only in recap)
Lei-Kung (Only in flashback)
Shou-Lao (Only in recap)
Maggia (Mentioned)

Races and Species:

Humans
Dragons of K'un-Lun (Only in recap)

Locations:

Earth
- North America
  - United States of America
    - New York
      - New York City
        Manhattan
        Times Square
        42nd Street
        Gem Theater (Destruction)
        
        Park Avenue
        Heroes for Hire, Incorporated
        
        Riverside Drive
        Daniel Rand's Brownstone Apartment
    - Chicago (Mentioned)
    - Las Vegas (Mentioned)
- Asia (Only in flashback)
  - Tibet (Only in flashback)
    - Himalayas (Only in flashback)
      - Kunlun Mountains (Only in flashback)
        K'un-Lun (Only in flashback)
- Europe (Mentioned)

Items:

Captain America's Uniform and Shield (Only in recap)

Synopsis for "Luck and Death"

Reprint of the 1st story from
Power Man and Iron Fist #63

After Power Man and Iron Fist have smashed up a number of Senior Suerte's gambling operations, Suerte decides to get revenge against Power Man for these actions, and for the death of his brother the original Senior Suerte. While Power Man and Iron Fist are gaining a lot of popularity regarding their latest case.

The next day, Power Man wakes up and starts his normal routine, when he suddenly recognizes a repair man that was in the Gem theater as one of the men at the gambling operation that managed to get away. Power Man goes after the man to find mortally wounded after his job is complete. Before dying the man tells him that he planted a bomb in the Gem for Senor Suerte. Rushing back to the Gem Theater with Iron Fist, they arrive too late as a bomb inside goes off.

Bursting in, Power Man and Iron Fist rescue D.W. Griffith who is trapped inside. Bringing him to the hospital, they learn that D.W. is going to live and Power Man vows to get revenge on Senior Muerte.

This story is continued next issue...

Appearing in "Donald Dogfly"

Appearances not yet listed

Synopsis for "Donald Dogfly"

Synopsis not yet written

Links and References

References