Happiness Is a Warm Alien!

With Ben due for an art show of Alicia's most recent sculptures, Reed Richards finds the Thing working away in the exercise room. He reminds Ben of the show before departing to go out on a date with Sue. After spending time reflecting on his life before becoming the Thing and once more wondering what Alicia sees in him, Ben decides to get ready for the art show and hops into the shower. It is interrupted by the Impossible Man who is bored and wants to follow Ben about. When Ben gets ready for the show, the Impossible Man turns into a top hat for Ben to wear and promises that he won't be a nuisance, although Ben knows better he resigns and allows the alien from planet Popup to follow along.

Along the way, the Impossible Man grows bored and changes his form into various other kinds of hats for his own amusement. When Ben goes to pick up Alicia, Impossible Man attempts to present himself to her almost accidentally blowing his cover. However, Imp is unaware that Alicia is blind and Ben manages to quietly convince him to change back into his hat. Later, as the couple are walking down Yancy Street, the Impossible Man protects Ben from a prank launched by the Yancy Street Gang.

As Alicia and Ben attend the function, Alicia hob-nobbing with the art community and the Thing dealing with their snooty attitudes and the Impossible Man's antics, they are unaware that Ben's old foes the Terrible Trio are acting as the events caterers in order to get revenge against the Thing.

Using his special mental talents, Yogi Dakor allows himself and his comrades to take possession of statues of their choice. Harry taking possession of a statue of Dr. Doom, Bull a statue of Blastarr, and Dakor a statue of Diablo. Ben is attacked by the Dr. Doom and Blastarr statues, and when he is forced to smash them to bits, the resulting destruction knocks both Bull and Harry out, allowing Ben to realize what is going on.

However, he is too late to stop Yogi Dakor's statue, which grabs Alicia and takes her hostage. However, Dakor is defeated when Impossible Man turns into a water balloon and bursts on the mystic, distracting him enough for Ben to get close enough to easily knock his old foe out.

With the battle over, the Impossible Man observes the love that Ben and Alicia have for each other and feels inspired. Wanting to learn more about human relationships, Impossible Man creates an Impossible Woman, and the two decide to travel the world to learn how human relationships work.

Recurring Characters

Thing, Impossible Man, Alicia Masters, Terrible Trio (Bull Brogan, Handsome Harry Phillips, Yogi Dakor), Impossible Woman, Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, George Perez

• Continuity Notes

• Ben reminisces about how he first met Reed Richards in College. This was first depicted in Fantastic Four Annual #2.

• The narrative of this story explains that the Impossible Man has recently been plaguing the Fantastic Four. The Impossible Man first met the group back in Fantastic Four #11. At the time of this story, the Impossible Man was hanging around the Fantastic Four after he agreed to sacrifice his homeworld of Poppup to Galactus back in Fantastic Four #175. Recently he had been hanging around the group from Fantastic Four #176-188.

• The Yancy Street Gang shows animosity toward the Thing because he used to be a member of the gang in his youth, as revealed in Thing #1. When he left the gang it was seen as a betrayal.

• Among the guests at the art gallery are Marvel Comics staffers Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio, and George Perez. Unlike most real-life individuals that appear in stories, Marvel creators are not considered subject to the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616, in that they are considered as appearing in the Modern Age while still in their prime.

• The Puppet Master has been incarcerated since Fantastic Four #170 he eventually is released from prison in Marvel Two-In-One #74.