Quest For The Ring

Being a wrestling fan, every time I hear or see the phrase "it's clobberin' time," I can't help but think of CM Punk. However, Ben Grimm of the Fantastic Four has been starring in his own comic series entitled "Clobberin' Time," which is the phrase that originated by Marvel's Thing. With a guest hero appearing in each issue, the third installment welcomed Doctor Strange along for the ride, with Tuvah Tu chronicling the adventures that take place.

Grimm is very appreciative of his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Jake. After all, they took care of Ben after the death of his brother Danny. While presenting his Aunt and Uncle with a sizable check at a restaurant, Doctor Strange came crashing through the building with a dragon following him. While the restaurant owner is preparing his insurance claim, Uncle Jake decides this is a perfect selfie opportunity!

The dragon was sent by Mekron, a wizard dealing in dark arts, because of a ring that Grimm gave Strange to check out. Grimm took the ring from Ogdu Fraize during their last battle, which initially was stolen from Mekron. Mekron's children are even weirder than this whole situation. After leaving Strange in a bad way, Fraize (aka Psychopomp) regains possession of the ring. His evil plans include using today's technology to help advance his technological plans in the future.

At one point in the story, Grimm's Aunt and Uncle are wondering if he is on drugs. I think it is pretty safe to say that if any drugs were involved, they were taken by Steve Skroce to come up with this extremely creative use of the multiverse and time travel. Skroce not only handled the story but also contributed the very cartoon-like artwork within these pages, given an extra pop by Bryan Valenza's colorwork.