The Thing #30: Above And Beyond

Writer: Michael Carlin
Breakdowns: Ronald Wilson
Finishes: Dennis Janke

The Beyonder is still in depression over his apparently incurable incompleteness, and now seems to be sleepwalking through life on autopilot.

All the beer probably isn't helping.

Once again taken advantage of by the nearby lowlife, he finds himself booked as a professional fighter. (it's tricky to beat someone who's omnipotent) His opponent is the titular Thing, who's also the Marvel hero with the biggest grudge against the One From Beyond. I won't even begin here on the catalogue of mind-warping inhumanities that the Beyonder's indirect actions have cruelly dealt upon ol' rock-face, but his obsession with payback is something that can at least be understood.

On the face of it, the obvious question is why the Thing doesn't petition the god-like Beyonder to just fix his life for him, but therein we would find some of the Beyonder's limitations. He can't control someone's free will, only overpower it. He can't bring someone back from the dead, if they've been gone for too long.

And yet, I reckon he should be able to.

In Secret Wars II #2 the Beyonder snatched Power Man and Iron Fist from out of the past and brought them to the present, so he ought to also be able to do that to anyone who was on point of death, and heal them, maybe leaving a duplicate body behind to fool those who witnessed it.

If the Beyonder can travel in time, can he change history? If he's really omnipotent, and if time actually exists, then the answer should surely be yes, even if he had to change the nature of time in order to do it.

Ultimately the real triumph of this issue is its willingness to paint its 'hero' in such an unpleasant light. There's no beating around the Beyonder here - the Thing is 100% commited to murdering this guy, purely for revenge.

Narration: "As the Thing marshals all his strength for one final, pulverizing blow, a jumble of thoughts assault his brain... Is he a KILLER? Is REVENGE worth his CAREER... his REPUTATION... his SELF-RESPECT?

YES!"

[THING PUNCHES THE BLOODY, DYING BEYONDER IN THE FACE]

Do comicbook super heroes have a reputation for being squeaky-clean?

Sure, the Thing doesn't finally kill him at the end, but the remorse only kicks-in after someone else has intervened to stop him.

The Thing's heart may be in the right place, but it's still only a human heart in there.