Thing #12
Rocky Grimm Space Ranger Part II (of XII): Doom!
Ben Grimm is traveling along the strange alien landscape of the Battleworld when he comes upon an environment that reminds him greatly of Earth. While walking through a mountain impasse he literally crosses swords with a barbarian rider known as Hanrak of Leenn. Hanrak swings his sword at him and Ben is forced to transform into the Thing. Upon seeing him, Hanrak faints and falls to the ground. The Thing then meets a female barbarian named Tarianna. Tarianna is Hanrak’s betrothed, and together they have been struggling against the efforts of an evil wizard.
At first, she mistakes the Thing as one of the evil wizard's demon creations, but Ben soon convinces her that he is not. Before long, the wizard makes his presence known – it is Doctor Doom! Or rather, it is a cleverly lifelike simulacrum of Doom.
The Thing fights off against this version of Doom who is easily several stories tall. But after the first blow, Doom splits himself into several smaller variants and they begin pummeling the Thing one by one. Eventually, the Thing drives the false Dooms away.
Tarianna and he collect the unconscious Hanrak and continue towards the Wizard's castle. Ben now wants to discover how Doom's likeness can exist on this world. As they emerge from the trees, they find Doomstadt. The mountain castle looks the same as it does on Earth.
Recurring Characters
Thing, Tarianna, The Wizard, Hanrak
Continuity Notes
This story takes place after the events of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12. In the second issue of that series Ben discovered that he could change back to human form. By the end of the series he believed it was something to do with Battleworld and decided to stay behind. In reality, as Mister Fantastic deduced in Fantastic Four #245, a mental block in Ben's mind associated with his relationship with Alicia Masters has prevented Ben from willingly being able to change back and forth. A fact that Reed keeps secret from Ben until Thing #23.
Ben's believes that his surroundings were the product of the Beyonder creating Battleworld in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1. However his surroundings are actually being shaped by his subconscious mind, as revealed in Thing #22.
Also discovered in Thing #22, Tarianna is the image of Ben's ideal woman. It's later revealed in Thing #27 that Tarianna's appearance is based off of a female adventurer named Sharon Ventura.
