What Happened Every Time The Thing Fought The Hulk?

9. Fantastic Four #25-26

What better place to start than at the beginning?

The initial run of Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby is nothing short of legendary, due to how much groundwork it laid that Marvel writers are still building on today. So, of course, this is where Ben Grimm's rivalry with the Hulk had its explosive beginning.

Granted, they technically first met back in Fantastic Four #12, but that fight was cut short by shenanigans leaving a winner undecided. When fans complained, Lee and Kirby made it up to them with an explosive two-parter where the Hulk and the Thing square off for a proper round two, tearing down half of Manhattan in the process with an efficiency that would make Robert Moses feel incredibly anxious.

The fight ends with Ben coming out on top thanks to his more level headed and stubborn nature giving him an edge against the animalistic Hulk.

If Lee and Kirby had left their interactions in that previous story, these two most likely would not be the bitter rivals they are today. But this two-parter showed Marvel's readership that them coming to blows was the coolest damn thing ever, and the rest is history.