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THING MEGA MORPH

Classification: Extradimensional (Earth-50810) terrestrial technology

Creator: Tony Stark (Iron Man) (Earth-50810)

User/Possessors: Thing (Ben Grimm) (Earth-50810)

Location: Stark Industries warehouse, secret location, USA (Earth-50810)

First Appearance: Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic (2006)

 

 

Powers/Abilities/Functions: The Wolverine model of the Mega Morph, like other Mega Morphs designed and built by Tony Stark, is uniquely tailored to the powers of its singular pilot. It also amplifies these powers.

   The exact composition and how the Mega Morph achieves such a close match with the pilot is unrevealed (see comments) and may be unique to Earth-50810, but it is able to duplicate the Thing's super strength and enhanced durability.

   It has two modes: a giant humanoid mecha battlesuit called "Thing-Bot" (see comments), which stands about 50' tall, and can transform into "Clobberin' Time Tank", a sturdy truck-like vehicle. The pilot's seat appears to be in the "4" emblem of the chest cavity and seems to have a simple neural wave interface to link with its pilot, although intuitive manual controls (such as steering wheel) are still required to activate the machine's arms, piloting, and to trigger transformations, which can be done quickly and while moving. The Thing Mega Morph cannot fly, but presumably in its battlewagon mode, it can travel much faster than a Mega Morph's running speed.

   Each Mega Morph also has a radio communications device and a tracking beacon.

   The Thing Mega Morph briefly had a power booster pack mounted on its back that amplified its strength tenfold.

 

 

History:

(Mega Morphs: Iron Man mini comic) - Tony Stark continued his work into developing next-generation super-hero battle gear with two battle modes he called Mega Morphs, each powered by the unique abilities of the super-hero pilot it had been built for.

   The villainous Venom stole and took over the Spider-Man Mega Morph. Venom also took Stark's new Transmorph Chip, which would allow the pilot to transform a Mega Morph into any type of vehicle.

(Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic (fb) - BTS) - Stark recruited the Thing (Ben Grimm) to help him chase down Venom and passed Grimm a tailored Mega Morph that amplified his strength and armor. The suit also was fitted with a power booster that gave the Thing's Mega Morph the strength of 10 Mega Morphs.

(Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic) - The Thing tested his Mega Morph's strength limits by lifting an aircraft carrier above him. Venom attacked and during the battle, the aircraft carrier was destroyed; however, Venom also snagged the power booster from the Thing's Mega Morph and raced off. Venom's power-boosted arachnid Mega Morph's speed outmatched the Thing's Mega Morph, which the pilot had transformed into its battlewagon mode, and the villain escaped. The Thing returned to Stark's base to discuss how to defeat the villain.

(Mega Morphs: Venom mini comic) - Searches finally revealed Venom attacking the Cape Citadel nuclear missile base, where the villain intended to launch a nuclear attack on New York City to kill his hated foe Spider-Man. Stark carried the Thing Mega Morph using his own Iron Man Mega Morph in jet mode. Stark dropped the Thing onto Venom, but the power booster allowed the madman to swat the Thing's Mega Morph away. Stark used the fight as a distraction while he placed a virus in the missile facility's computer. When Venom accessed the computer using his Mega Morph, the virus entered his mecha and shut down the Transmorph Chip, power booster and supposedly the Mega Morph too. However, there was enough residual power that Venom rocketed away. The Thing wanted to give chase but Stark was confident that Venom would stay away.

Comments: Developed by Toy Biz and Marvel Comics.

The two modes, "Thing-Bot" and "Clobberin' Time Tank" (cringe), were not used in-story, but came from the full-page Toy Biz advert at the back of the mini comics (see image at bottom of webpage).

Mega Morphs were a 2005 toy line developed by Toy Biz and Marvel incorporating popular Marvel characters (oddly only males), and were similar to the Transformers line of toys in that they were humanoid in shape and, with a few clicks and twists, could turn into a different machine -- but unlike Transformers, these Mega Morphs incorporated pilots (similar to Gundams and other mecha). (Catch the exciting TV ad on YouTube!) The Mega Morphs included mini comics (with nine models produced in total). However, it was not confirmed that this took place on an alternate Earth until 10 years later in Web Warriors. Interestingly, the toys often had extra weapons; case in point is the Thing's battlewagon: in the comic, it's basically just a truck, but the toy has three cannon-type attachments.

So how did Tony Stark develop Mega Morphs that could be tuned so specifically to a certain hero's powers, be they mutant, cosmic, gamma, serum or hellfire-derived? Could it be similar to the Super-Adaptoid's hypothetical composition of unstable molecules (pioneered by Reed Richards on Earth-616) to mimic the abilities of skilled human beings, albeit at a more primitive level on this Earth? Alternatively, when Dr. Octopus-50810 appeared in his Mega Morph in Web Warriors, crossing into another universe, he lamented the absence of "Funtanium" to build his "accessories" (WW#9), so maybe this hitherto unknown/unique element is the secret to the suits' adaptability (however, Dr. Octopus stole the plans from Stark and built his own Mega Morph, so it's debatable whether it applies to all the Mega Morphs).

Marvel released a four-issue Mega Morphs series tie-in with the toys, which was collected in digest form. Additionally, each toy came with a mini comic showcasing that mega Morph in action. The digest included the five mini comics for the first wave of six Mega Morphs (Series 1: Doc Ock, Spider-Man, Wolverine; Series 2: Captain America, Ghost Rider, Hulk), but not the last three (Series 3: Iron Man, Thing, Venom), which admittedly have their own short story arc (by a different writer) that sort of acts like an epilogue (or post-credits scene). Please note that the mini comics don't include indicia information, so the comic title is derived from the cover.

This profile was completed 09/12/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary's celebratory event.

Profile by Grendel Prime.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Thing Mega Morph has no known connections to:

Thing

Like his Earth-616 counterpart, Ben Grimm was transformed into cosmic rays into the super-strong rocky Thing and became a founding member of the heroic Fantastic Four. When the nefarious Venom stole and took over the Stark-designed Spider-Man Mega Morph, a giant transforming mecha, along with a special Transmorph Chip, Stark called in the Thing. Stark had him pilot a specially designed Thing Mega Morph that was powered by his unique abilities along with a power booster that increased his strength levels even more. However, in the Thing's first battle with Venom, the villain got away with the power booster. Stark and the Thing pursued Venom to a nuclear missile base and stopped the madman's plot to destroy New York.

 

 

--Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic (Mega Morphs: Venom mini comic

images: (without ads)
Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic, cover (main image)
Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic, p3, pan3 (full body from distance)
Mega Morphs: Venom mini comic, p7, pan4 (transforming)
Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic, p3, pan2 (Thing)
Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic, back cover (toy images)

Appearances:
Mega Morphs: Thing mini comic (2006) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Lou Kang (pencils), Pat Davidson (inks), John Barber (editor)
Mega Morphs: Venom mini comic (2006) - Tom DeFalco (writer), Lou Kang (pencils), Pat Davidson (inks), John Barber (editor)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

First posted: 09/12/2021
Last Updated: 09/17/2021

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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