File:Thing Vol 1 1 001.jpg

Description
The Thing wanders past his old stomping grounds on Yancy Street. He stops by the tenement building where he used to live only to find that it is now a condemned, abandoned building. Going inside, he wanders down to the old superintendent's office. He bursts through the door where he finds a group of juvenile delinquents. This is the new Yancy Street Gang. The leader of the gang begins swearing and throwing debris at the Thing, calling him a traitor. Ben puts the punk in his place and tells the group the story of his origin. Ben grew up in this building and worshiped his older brother, Dan. But what he didn't know, was that Dan was the leader of the Yancy Street Gang. But as a gang leader, he was the only bringing in any money into the Grimm household. One night, little Ben snuck outside to see what his older brother had been up to. The Yancy Street Gang were rumbling with a rival gang. Ben watched as his older brother was stabbed through the stomach and killed. This was one of the most defining moments in Ben's life. A few years later, his parents died, and Ben went to go live with his uncle Jake and aunt Alyce. As Ben became a teenager, he took over his brother's slot as leader of the Yancy Street Gang. But his uncle Jake eventually talked him out of that way of life, and Ben went off to Empire State University. There, he met Reed Richards and Victor Von Doom. He learned that Reed was going to one day build a rocket ship, and Ben jokingly volunteered to fly it should that day ever come. After a brief stint in the US Air Force, Grimm found Richards again, and Reed convinced him to pilot a test flight into outer space. Along with Johnny Storm and Susan Storm, Reed's rocket passed through a region of cosmic rays, which ultimately turned them into the heroes known as the Fantastic Four. After telling the story of his life to this kid, Ben feels as if nothing he said is really sinking in. But he holds hope that maybe this kid will one day abandon the Yancy Street Gang and forge a new life for himself.