THING'S POP ART DEALER
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human, citizen of the United States
Occupation: Art dealer
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny
Storm, Invisible Girl/Sue Storm, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben
Grimm) Jalopy driver
Enemies: None (well, maybe good taste)
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New York City, New York
First Appearance: Fantastic Four Annual I#2
(September, 1964)
Powers/Abilities: The art dealer possessed no known
superhuman abilities. A quick thinking business type with a talent for
capitalizing on the latest fads, he was able to sell junk as high priced
art. The dealer was rich enough to have well over 1000 dollars on
him.
Height: Unrevealed (approximately 5'9")
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 180 lbs.)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(Fantastic Four Annual I#2 (fb) - BTS) - The dealer made a living
capitalizing on and catering to the latest trends in the ever changing
art world. Always on the look out for new talent, he had his eye on
people specializing in the new pop art craze.
(Fantastic Four Annual I#2) - The art dealer happened to pass by when
Thing accidentally rear ended the owner of an old jalopy with the
Fantasticar. He watched how Thing tried to reattach the vehicle's broken
fender only to cause even more damage to the car. The driver was
furious, claiming he'd come to the city to visit the World's Fair and
now this happened. The dealer broke up a fight between Ben and the man
by offering him a 1000 dollars for his automobile. The man accepted,
claiming he'd been wanting to sell it anyway.
(Fantastic Four Annual I#2 - BTS) - The other members of the Fantastic
Four got the Fantasticar ready for take-off while Ben was approached by
the dealer.
(Fantastic Four Annual I#2) - Much to Thing's surprise, the dealer
invited him to really wreck the car, even offering him 100 dollars if he
hurried up and did a good job. Still thinking the man was out of his
mind, but curious to see what he wanted with the wreck, Ben agreed and
proceeded to turn the old car into a pile of bent metal. Pleased, the
dealer explained he was going to sell the "pile of nuts 'n bolts" as a
new type of pop art. Calling it a "Clobber Creation" by the famous
Thing, he expected to make a fortune.
(Fantastic Four Annual I#2 - BTS) - Fed up with the man's craziness,
Thing rejoined the FF and flew off to the Baxter Building in the
Fantasticar.
Comments: Created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Chic
Stone
I'd like to dedicate this profile to the memory of George Olshevsky
(1946 - 2022). Olshevsky was the driving force between the various
indexes published in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The Marvel Index provided
extensive synopses and tracked the appearance of every character, object
and location. Stumbling across a copy of The Official Marvel Index
to Fantastic Four I#3, which included a review of FF Annual 2,
changed my way of thinking about comics. This wasn't just a passing
fancy, there were people who took this seriously. That opened a whole
new world for me. Thanks George!
The incident between the FF, the jalopy driver and the art dealer is a
prime example of what made Lee and Kirby's Fantastic Four so
wonderful. These neat little crossovers between real life, the 60s
zeitgeist and the world of superheroes gave the book and the entire
Marvel Universe a sense of grounded, relatable wonder.
The mention of the World's Fair is a topical reference:
From 1964 through 1965 New York City hosted the World's Fair. During the
summer months, millions of people would flock to the 140 pavilions
filled with the latest innovations in (aerospace)technology,
architecture, food and culture. The fair was officially opened on April
22nd, 1964 and FF Annual I#2 was released in early July 1964,
so the connection seems obvious.
Profile by Norvo.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Thing's art dealer should not be confused with:
Driving his old jalopy into New York City to see the
World's Fair, the driver was shocked when he got rear ended by the
Fantasticar that made a crash landing due to a piloting error. The minor
collision did damage the car's fender, causing the man to grow furious
at the apologetic Thing. Ben offered to fix things by manually
reattaching the fender, but wasn't aware how fragile the car was. His
attempt caused even more damage, which gave the driver reason to want to
sue. The incident was resolved when the owner was approached by an art
dealer who offered 1000 dollars for the damaged automobile. The driver
happily accepted, admitting he'd been thinking of selling his car
anyway.
- Fantastic Four Annual I#2
images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four Annual I#2, p3, pan4 (main image)
Fantastic Four Annual I#2, p3, pan2 (buys the car)
Fantastic Four Annual I#2, p2, pans2&3 (Jalopy driver)
Appearances:
Fantastic Four Annual I#2 (September, 1964) - Stan Lee (writer/editor),
Jack Kirby (pencils), Chic Stone (inks)
First Posted: 03/16/2022
Last updated: 03/16/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099
Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you
should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com
Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!