Probably tough to hit a Thing title that hasn't been done; I would've thought "One Thing Leads to Another."

I had it in my head there was some Ben Grimm merch out there with this look: a Minimate, a mini-bust, maybe a Heroclix, something. So to speak! But the search function for everything is terrible now. And I can't fathom why the cover straight-up spoils this one: from 1988, Fantastic Four #310, "Things to Come!" Written by Steve Englehart, pencils by Keith Pollard, inks by Joe Sinnott.

Ben's tenure as leader of the FF hits a rough spot, as he and current Ms. Marvel Sharon "Shary" Ventura have been captured by Fasaud; who had a clever name and interesting powers but was also a bit of a cliche Arab bad guy. He was basically "living television," and also had the surprising backing of the American ambassador to his country: space shuttle flights had publically been grounded since the Challenger explosion, but the military had to get payloads in space somehow, so they were launching secret missions out of "Aquiria." And Ben and Shary were chained up beneath the next launch...When the ambassador gets a bit handsy, Shary rages against the power-draining shackles, but couldn't free herself: she couldn't stand men, except for Ben, who she really didn't see as a man, which wasn't doing him any favors.

Ben manages to break the chains, freeing them both, then they smash their way through assorted guards and robots. Ben considers escaping, but Shary realizes they could take down Fasoud: his electronic transmissions would be line-of-sight, so he had to be using a satellite. They hijack the shuttle, then fight the satellite's defenses and Fasaud's attack within the shuttle. Ben's skill as a pilot carries them through, as they destroy the satellite, and Ben finally manages to kiss Shary without her shoving him away; but Fasaud attempts to take over the shuttle's electrical systems. Ben shorts them out, apparently killing Fasaud (he wouldn't be seen again, for like 18 years!) but the shuttle was headed in fast, then gets hit by cosmic rays! Ben seems to recognize the familiar sound from Fantastic Four #1, but also comes in for a harder landing this time, a flaming wreck.

Pulling himself from the wreckage, Ben quickly realizes he had mutated again, to a larger, spiky form. He only has a moment to complain, before trying to find Shary, who herself had become a Thing, albeit a smoother-lumpy one like Ben had been when he first changed. This would set up a relatively short status quo: Reed and Sue would return to the fold before too long, Ben's spiky form would come and go, and Shary would be phased out early in DeFalco's run around 1992. She wasn't always written consistently: somewhat inexplicably, she was in prison in James Robinson's run, framed for the murder of the Power Broker but still portrayed as a villain...?