JACOB GRIMM

Real Name: Jacob Grimm

Identity/Class: Human, civilian

Occupation: Physician, general practitioner

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Argo, Delia, Dame Ruth Efford, Fantastic Four (Human Torch/Johnny Storm, Invisible Girl/Susan Richards, Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Thing/Ben Grimm), Alicia Grimm, Human Torch (Frankie Raye), Rabbi Lowenthal, Franklin Richards, Valeria Richards, Rikki, Sam (Benson's sheriff), Wendy

Enemies: Wendy's Friends (they're not really enemies, but they're not allies either)

Known Relatives: Benjamin Grimm Sr. (father), Mary Grimm (mother), Petunia "Penny" Grimm (wife), Alyce Grimm (wife, deceased), Daniel Grimm Sr. (brother, deceased), Sophie Grimm (sister, deceased), Benjamin J. Grimm (nephew), Daniel Grimm Jr. (nephew, deceased), Elsi Grimm (sister-in-law, deceased)

Aliases: Jake, Uncle Jake (nicknames given by the Thing)

Base of Operations: Benson, Arizona;
   formerly New York City

First Appearance: (Seen) Fantastic Four I#238/1 (January, 1982); (identified) Fantastic Four I#239 (February, 1982)

Powers/Abilities: Jacob Grimm doesn't possess any superhuman powers. He is an intelligent, caring and determined man who, despite his age and partial paralysis, continues to service the medical needs of a small rural community.

Height: 5'6" (by approximation, slightly stooped because of the crutches)
Weight: 148 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Blue
Hair: White (blond in youth)

History:
(Thing I#1 (fb)) - Jacob Grimm grew up on Yancy Street in New York City. Unlike the other members of his family, he managed to escape the crushing poverty and the gang violence, putting himself through medical school to become a doctor. Jacob married his wife Alyce and the two lived in a posh uptown apartment.

(Fantastic Four I#238/1 (fb) - BTS) - Jacob worked in a New York hospital for twenty years.

(Thing: Freakshow#1 (fb) - BTS) - Jacob and his wife took Ben Grimm for a visit to the local carnival as a child.

(Infinity Crusade#2 (fb) - BTS) - Jacob's sister Sophie was diagnosed with a fatal form of cancer and succumbed to the disease.

(Thing I#1 (fb)) - When his brother Daniel and his wife Elsi died, Jacob became the legal guardian of their orphaned son, rebellious street-punk Ben Grimm. Despite Jacob and Alyce's best intentions, their nephew remained spiteful and aggressive towards them for quite some time. However, after a few months of relentless love and care, Ben grew to realize his uncle wanted the best for him and started using the chances Jacob and Alyce offered him, like going to college.

(Fantastic Four I#239 (fb) - BTS) - Jacob survived a car accident that killed Alyce and left him partially paralyzed. The loss of both his wife and the use of his legs left him bitter and remorseful.

   During his convalescence period, Jacob met a young student-nurse named Penny. They fell in love--despite their age difference and the objections of everyone except Ben Grimm--and got married. The couple moved to the small town of Benson in Arizona, where they started a small medical practice.

(Fantastic Four I#238/1 - BTS) - Famed archeologist Dame Ruth Efford came to Benson to excavate a historic site. The dig awoke a band of ancient, supernatural entities who secretly befriended a local girl named Wendy, but attacked and killed several adults by literally frightening them to death.

(Fantastic Four I#238/1) - Jacob and Penny were confounded by the mysterious deaths. While Jacob gave Sam the sheriff a perfectly valid medical reason for the deaths (a massive collapse of the cardiovascular system brought on by extreme nervous distress), he couldn't explain what brought it on. Penny told Jacob this was out of their league and that he already knew what they had to do. Initially resisting the idea of calling in his nephew because they hadn't spoken in years, Jacob ultimately gave in and sent Penny to New York City in order to seek out the Fantastic Four.

(Fantastic Four I#239) - When Penny arrived with Ben and the other members of the FF, Jacob's bond with his nephew was instantly rekindled. The FF investigated the deaths, with some help from Jacob, Dame Ruth Efford and the small, local girl Wendy.

   When Wendy's Friends came to Benson that night to test everyone's inner resolve by subjecting them to untold horror, mayhem and fear. Jacob withstood the ordeal.

   The next morning, Jacob, Penny and 26 other inhabitants decided to remain in Benson while everyone else left.

(Fantastic Four I#257 - BTS) - Jacob traveled to New York to personally oversee Franklin Richards' medical treatment at Mercy General Hospital, following the severe injuries the child had sustained at the hands of Annihilus.

(Thing I#2) - Jacob and the Invisible Girl were at the hospital, returning from a visit to Franklin's room. He informed Reed and a newly arrived Ben Grimm that, while the young boy's injuries were severe, he seemed stable.

(Fantastic Four I#257 - BTS) - Suspecting she might be pregnant, the Invisible Girl asked Jacob to examine her. Jacob was happy to report Sue was indeed expecting her second child.

(Fantastic Four I#257) - After several weeks, Jacob informed Reed, Sue and Ben that Franklin was going to be fine and that the danger had passed. When Ben happily lifted Reed and Sue into the air, Jake urged him to treat the Invisible Girl a little more delicately, considering her condition.

(Thing II#8) - Jacob and his wife Penny participated in their nephew's bar mitzvah, celebrating the 13th anniversary of him becoming the Thing. They sent out personal invitations to most of Ben's friends and associates, ranging from Dum Dum Dugan to Willie Lumpkin and Alicia Masters; he and Penny attended the ceremony as well.

SECRET WARS III HAPPENED

(Fantastic Four VI#5 (fb) - BTS) - Jacob and Petunia set up an area in the desert for the wedding of Ben Grimm and Alicia Masters.

(Fantastic Four VI#5) - Jacob and Petunia welcomed the guests, Rabbi Lowenthal and bridal couple at the airport in Benson, Arizona for the wedding ceremony. Jacob was shocked at how much Franklin and Valeria had grown up since he last saw them, but Franklin explained to him that they had been in space for five years outside time. Jacob agreed to walk Alicia down the aisle for the wedding. Jacob walked Alicia down the aisle, but the wedding was interrupted by a worldwide broadcast sent out by Doctor Doom that revealed the return of Galactus, Reed Richards used a chronal displacement device to keep the couple, himself, Johnny Storm, the two bridesmaids and Rabbi Lowenthal in a four-minute time bubble so they could finish the ceremony. The Fantastic Four left right after the wedding to stop Galactus and left their children, Alicia and Wyatt with Petunia and Jacob.

(Fantastic Four VI#6 - BTS) - Petunia, Jacob, the kids, Wyatt and Alicia were having dinner.

(Fantastic Four VI#6) - Jacob watched Doom on TV with the others.

(Fantastic Four VI#7) - Jacob cut the wedding cake when Petunia told him to.

(Fantastic Four VI#8) - When Franklin ran away Petunia picked up the keys for Jacob to go looking for him alongside Wyatt and Alicia in the van.

(Fantastic Four VI#9) - Wyatt used a locator to find Franklin and picked him up at Wendy's home while Jacob, Petunia and Alicia stayed in the van. He ran from Wendy's home with Franklin over his shoulder while they were hunted by Wendy's Friends and screamed for Jacob and Petunia to start the van. Petunia and Jacob begged Franklin to use his powers against the creatures attacking the van, but he wanted to save his remaining powers for something more important. As soon as they arrived back home Valeria tested her new portal on the Friends to teleport them to Latveria and then use it again to bring the Fantastic Four back to Benson. Ben gave Petunia, Jacob and Alicia a big hug before Petunia asked their visitors to return home again.

Comments: Created by John Byrne.

Just how anyone expected the town of Benson to survive after over 98 percent of its population moved out was never explained. You'd think a smart man like Jacob Grimm would figure that a medical practice needed more than 26 patients.

Curiously enough, it took over 20 years for one of the Fantastic Four's most popular members to get a proper backstory and some actual relatives. John Byrne took the notion of Aunt Petunia, never more than a minor recurring gag, and gave her life as a hot young nurse who had married Ben's elderly Uncle Jacob. That lucky guy!

Since he was Ben's surrogate father, he was probably given the first name of "Jacob" in honor of Jacob Kurtzberg, better known as Jack Kirby. -- Ron Fredricks

Image updates by Ron Fredricks.

Profile by Norvo. Update by Markus Raymond (2019).

CLARIFICATIONS:
Dr. Jacob Grimm has no known connections to:

Alyce Grimm

Jacob's first wife who, along with her husband, became the teenage Ben Grimm's legal guardian after his parents died. By all accounts, she was a kind and understanding woman, patient with her troubled nephew who kept refusing her and Jacob's attempts at showing him love and affection. Eventually, she helped Ben adjust to his new life, cheering him on as he went to college. Alyce and Jacob got into a car accident shortly before the Fantastic Four's first spaceflight. Alyce didn't survive the crash, which threw a partially crippled Jacob into a deep depression.


--Thing I#1 (fb)

images: (without ads)
Fantastic Four I#238, p13, pan4 (Main Image - Jacob Grimm)
Thing I#1, p16, pan2 (younger Jacob consoles Ben)
Fantastic Four I#238, p13, pan5 (Jacob with Petunia)
Fantastic Four I#239, p7, pan5 (Jacob reunites with Ben)
Fantastic Four VI#5, p44, pan5 (Jacob, post-Secret Wars III)
Thing I#1, p16, pan5 (younger Jacob introduces Ben to Alyce)

Appearances:
Fantastic Four I#238 (January, 1982) - John Byrne (writer, pencils, inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Fantastic Four I#239 (February, 1982) - John Byrne (writer, pencils, inks), Jim Salicrup (editor)
Thing I#1 (July, 1983) - John Byrne (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils), Joe Sinnott (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Thing I#2 (August, 1983) - John Byrne (writer), Ron Wilson (pencils), John Byrne (inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Fantastic Four I#257 (August, 1983) - John Byrne (writer, pencils, inks), Al Milgrom (editor)
Infinity Crusade#2 (July, 1993) - Jim Starlin (writer), Ron Lim (pencils), Al Milgrom (inks), Craig Anderson (editor)
Thing: Freakshow#1 (August, 2002) - Geoff Johns (writer), Scott Kolins (pencils), Andy Lanning (inks), Marc Sumerak (editor)
Thing II#8 (August, 2006) - Dan Slott (writer), Kieron Dwyer (pencils), Andrea Di Vito (inks), Molly Lazer, Andy Schmidt, Aubrey Sitterson (editors)
Fantastic Four VI#5/3 (February, 2019) - Dan Slott (writer), Aaron Kuder (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four VI#6 (March, 2019) - Dan Slott (writer), Aaron Kuder (artist), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four VI#7 (April, 2019) - Dan Slott (writer), Aaron Kuder & John Lucas (artists), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four VI#8 (May, 2019) - Dan Slott (writer), Aaron Kuder, Stefano Caselli, David Marquez & Reilly Brown (artists), Tom Brevoort (editor)
Fantastic Four VI#9 (June, 2019) - Dan Slott (writer), Aaron Kuder, Stefano Caselli & Paco Medina (artists), Tom Brevoort (editor)

First posted: 11/30/2013
Last updated: 05/01/2023

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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