I'm winding down a busy, hot Sunday with a recap of the thirty-fifth issue of the Thing. The cover depicted Sharon Ventura as the new Ms. Marvel, with Ben Grimm and a cadre of other characters in the background. The story was named "Power Play!" The issue had a publication date of May 1986.
The tale began with Ventura walking down a street in a seedy section of New York, unaware that a trio of crooks was eyeing her as their next victim. She held her own in the ensuing fight, but a hit on the back of her head made Sharon start seeing what she thought was her father. When her senses cleared, she realized that it was a different man in uniform fending off the attackers.
The soldier helped Ventura to her feet and identified himself as Lieutenant Michael Lynch. She begged off further assistance, and as Lynch walked away, Sharon thought back to her father, another military man who drove her to excellence. Ventura put her all into everything she did. One day at the military academy she was attending, Sharon was asked by her superior to indict a friend and fellow roommate for cheating. She refused and was expelled for failing to obey that order.
That incident formed a rift between Ventura and her father. They barely talked in the year that followed, before the older Ventura's passing. At his funeral, Sharon vowed to be the best she could be at anything she pursued. That determination drove her to pursue some rather dangerous professions.
As Sharon was about to enter the Power Broker's domicile, Ben and his wrestling partner Demolition Dunphy were talking about their upcoming plans. Grimm was still experiencing dizzy spells at times, even after being given a clean bill of health by his physician. Dunphy took a few nerve pills to help calm himself before their video shoot. The two left the hotel room after Ben grabbed the Power Broker's card that he had taken from Sharon (in issue #33).
Meanwhile, Ventura waited in a reception area before being directed to a back room that was pitch black. A spotlight filled the room, obstructing Sharon's vision of the man who sat at a desk before her. He claimed to be the Power Broker and described the upcoming radiation and enzyme treatments that she would undergo, which would be followed by an additional treatment so that she'd be on the same level as the Unlimited Class Wrestling Foundation's female Grapplers.
The first part of the process was administered by Dr. Karl Malus, as Ben and Dunphy were in the middle of their video recording in Burbank. Afterward, Grimm started feeling dizzy again. Once he was feeling better, he was determined to follow up on the Power Broker, someone whom Dunphy knew better than his colleague.
Sharon started to hallucinate while attached to the table during the first session. Malus neared her, and was about to begin the second step, hypodermic needle ready in one hand. She refused, and broke free from the restraints. Ventura ran in terror, while Grimm exited a cab a block away and ran into the same thugs that Sharon had encountered at the start of this story.
Ventura was still inside the Power Broker's complex, and she avoided his henchmen and automated traps. She finally reached an area that contained people who had been locked away in cells, their bodies mutated by the villain's experiments. Sharon jumped through a window, only to land outside in the hands of multiple super-powered men.
By then, Ben had met Lt. Lynch, and the pair were drawn to Sharon's screams. They burst onto the scene to save her. While the Thing took on the brigands, Sharon and Michael ran to Auntie Freeze's hotel room. She had a costume ready for Ventura, which made Sharon look like a superhero after putting it on.
Freeze excused herself for a moment, stating she had an important call. Lynch and Ventura barely had time to breathe before the female Grapplers headed directly for them. The Power Broker wanted Sharon dead and had dispatched more underlings to accomplish that goal.
Ben was back in the hotel, trying to console Dunphy, who was in pain without the nerve pills, but admitted to his friend that the Power Broker had called, wanting Ventura to be eliminated. Ben entered the fray once more and escaped with Sharon and Michael.
Grimm stopped momentarily to call an ambulance for Dunphy before guiding his friends into an empty alley. The angry mob of male and female wrestlers ran past. Ben knew that the posse had relied on the Power Broker to augment their abilities, and some were suffering ill effects without those treatments. That was how he exerted power and control over them. Sharon confessed to having visited the Power Broken, which meant that she was still in danger.
I'm glad that we finally learned more about Sharon's history in this issue. We don't know anything about the rest of her family, but at least we can understand why she was willing to engage in dangerous situations. The character was groomed as the next Ms. Marvel and did wear this costume in issues of Captain America and the Fantastic Four before being mutated into a female Thing.
That's it for today. Tomorrow, I'll cover the thirty-sixth and final issue of the Thing. Ben and Sharon continue to search for the Power Broker, even as they're being followed by his loyal recruits. It's a tale that also involves the Thing's replacement in the Fantastic Four. Until then, have a great week and don't forget to be kind to one another.
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