Ben Grimm get something of a raw deal in the Fantastic Four. Where the rest of the team got some pretty sweet powers - turning invisible, stretching, flaming on - and got to keep their regular appearances, he was transformed into a terrifying rock monster. Doesn't do wonders for a guy's self esteem. Especially when your best friend and team mate is one of the greatest minds on the planet, but he's too preoccupied with making flying bathtubs to try and turn you back to normal. Finally Ben thought he'd found respite from his living hell when Reed finally put him out his misery. Well, actually Mr Fantastic was forced to kill him because The Thing had been possessed by Doctor Doom. Somewhat guilty about the whole murdering his best friend thing, Reed keeps a hold of his body and puts his big brain to use trying to figure out how to bring him back. When all conventional sciences fail they instead turn to faith, and they travel to heaven to retrieve Ben's soul and return him to life. When they meet god, he looks suspiciously like Fantastic Four co-creator Jack Kirby, who resurrects The Thing by drawing him. Like that one Looney Tunes cartoon, except with actual consequences.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
