In a previous movie, we traced The Thing’s history from 1121 AD through the events immediately following 1982. To give you a quick recap, The Thing’s narrative began with the comic The Northman Nightmare, in which a gang of Vikings come across the Thing and manage to bury it beneath the ice.
After thousands of years and two live-action films, the 1991 comic The Thing From Another World resurrects MacReedy and sends him on an adventure against a new creature that has absorbed a US marine. The Thing from Another World: Climate of Fear followed, in which The Thing invaded an Argentinian base and MacReedy was present to rescue the day with the assistance of others.
The Thing from Another World: Eternal Vows, published in 1993, took a step further and set The Thing on a busy island town, and MacReedy followed suit. However, the comic we’ll be discussing today, Questionable Research, functions as a sequel to the 1982 picture while ignoring the other volumes’ chronology.
That’s why, in a separate film, we decided to go deeper into this fantastic comic. So, let’s take a closer look at this scenario, in which a crew of scientists arrives to extract the frozen alien’s biomatter following the incineration of US Outpost 31.
Part One
Another helicopter arrives at what used to be US Outpost 31, but this time it’s a team of academics, not a Norwegian chopper with American military personnel. Only the burned ruins of the outpost and a few frozen bodies remain. Things were dispersed over the station’s length and width. Douglas, the team’s leader, splits the men and women into two groups.
While one of them goes to salvage information and data, the other is tasked with gathering biomatter from the remains of The Things. As they lay their eyes on the alien symbiote for the first time, horror and shock filled them.
Hooper was taking one of the larger ones into the helicopter when he mistreated the frozen body, cracking and separating a portion of its fingers. Despite the fact that the snapped part arrived onboard, the team was unaware of the situation. As is the norm with most of The Thing comics, one small mistake turns into a massive butterfly effect that threatens the existence of humanity itself.
Hooper wasn’t bothered by the Thing’s size. He was concerned by the notion as well as the alien’s method of gaining control of creatures. It was only natural for Hooper to think this way; who wouldn’t be concerned about an extraterrestrial that shape-shifted into your companions and then tried to murder and multiply after the assimilation was complete?
Douglas, on the other hand, was a wise guy and a capable leader. He comforted Hooper by saying that he shouldn’t worry as the Thing will become completely harmless once they reach their research vessel base, Donachek.
But Douglas was not entirely bereft of worry and concern as he wished that his wife Barbara and his assistant Arlene didn’t take long to find the information and records they were looking for. Luckily, it wasn’t long before the two returned, and the research crew left the place en route to Donachek.
On the helicopter, Barbara and Douglas discuss each other’s activities, and Barbara reveals how successful her search was. She discovered someone’s side notes and videotapes, but the most significant find was a simulator module with notes on simulation and other infection testing.
The person who backed up this crucial piece of information was astute enough to store it in such a way that it survived Outpost 31’s explosion and subsequent destruction. She also discovered the audio log of another US Outpost 31 member, which was carefully stored in a drawer.
Fans of the film will be pleased to learn that the audio log was provided by none other than MacReedy. Barbara and Douglas seemed to be very excited about the entire discovery, with little regards towards the men who lost their lives.
This fact didn’t go unnoticed by Hooper, who didn’t believe Barbara and Douglas talked about the situation the way they did. When Douglas asked what he was going on about. Hooper said,
When they arrived at their location, it was time to unload the monster and place it in a nitrogen tank. If you recall, John Carpenter’s picture had an all-male cast, but the prequel and comics included female characters. Questionable Research follows suit, with a number of female characters, notably Marion, who looks to have a crush on Douglas, making Barbara loathe her.
Meanwhile, the Finger Thing grows legs from one of its ends to explore the area and find prey. It manages to target an unwitting rat and assimilates with it. The Rat Thing then went on to uncover a crew member of Donachek. It revealed its true nature, and several tentacles that ended in maws came out of the Rat Thing.
Part Two
The crew of the Donachek conducts the latest of their experiments on The Thing by feeding it an innocent rabbit in the second half of the comic. The team is apparently defrosting little bits of The Thing they took with them and is now attempting to merge it with a variety of animals in order to understand as much as possible about its physiology.
However, they don’t let the process of assimilation complete and freeze The Thing with liquid nitrogen just before it can finish its shapeshifting. With every experiment that they conduct, they increase the assimilation duration a bit.
Barbara listened to R.J. MacReady’s audio journal while the current experiment with the unfortunate rabbit was going on (Mac-Reedy). Marion was one of the scientists assisting Donachek in his analysis of Blair’s data. She came to the conclusion that, while Blair’s data was excellent, it did not account for rising temperatures.
According to Marion, if The Thing was given to a population in a temperate environment, it wouldn’t take more than 3000 hours for a worldwide disaster to occur.
Furthermore, she believes that it is only in the first 100 hours that humanity would have a chance to fight back and avert global assimilation, and past that point, all fauna would get wiped off the face of the Earth. So, if, by chance, the crew of Donachek was not careful enough, they would be responsible for worldwide loss of life.
Hooper becomes increasingly anxious and worried as a result of Marion’s figures, and he begs Douglas to take the situation seriously. Hooper proposes that the entire experiment be halted immediately, and tries to reason with Douglas.
He knows that The Thing is nothing more than a ticking time bomb, eagerly waiting to detonate and destroy the whole planet. Douglas, on the other hand, does not appear to share Hooper’s viewpoint.
Hooper tells him that as humans, they are bound to make mistakes, and one such mistake would cost a lot more than anyone can imagine. He believes that they should not only stop their work at Donachek but also return to US Outpost 31 and ensure that none of The Thing remains in existence.
Douglas didn’t like Hooper’s advice and essentially told him to pick up his principles and hurl them into the water. “There is no space for morals in research,” he claims. Morals contaminate findings and obscure judgments. Unwanted biases are defined by morals.
Douglas is insulted by Hooper, who claims that he has thrown his common sense out the window. Douglas retorts and tells Hooper that he wouldn’t be on board Donachek if not for him. Hooper had had enough by now and slapped Douglas. They got into a physical brawl and knocked down the case that contained the frozen Thing from the latest experiment.
This section finished on a terrific cliffhanger, but the character growth of Hooper and Douglas was the most fascinating portion. They not only bring their various points of view to the fore, but they also reflect the two most important features of every scientific advancement.
Douglas thought this was a once-in-a-century find, and he wanted to learn more about it so that mankind could have a greater chance of defeating The Thing. But as Gandhi once said, “If one takes care of the means, the end will take care of itself.” So, although the end of Douglas’s actions might remain good, his means to reach that end were not.
Part Three
After the crate housing the frozen Thing cracked, the crew of Donachek sprung into action. Douglas requested some hand gloves from Hooper, which he gave among others. They grabbed the Thing’s frozen biomatter before it could defrost and refreeze it.
Marion’s studies, on the other hand, revealed that even a single Thing cell might cause infection and eventual absorption. The Thing’s cells travel through blood, which is the most potent vector because it feeds every cell in the body with oxygen. The cells may transfer into the bloodstream through minor cuts and bruises, and the victim would never know.
Meanwhile, in Donachek’s hangar, a crew member called Karl discovers a handmade spaceship. Arlene was constructing the spaceship from recovered helicopter parts on Donachek, much to his amazement.
As you may already know, the Thing’s natural and visceral shape isn’t revealed until the cover blows apart. Karl, on the other hand, had seen the UFO, and Arlene Thing’s cover had been blown.
It’s worth noting that the Arlene Thing was created by the Rat Thing, who infected a member of the crew towards the conclusion of the first half of the comic. Arlene Thing revealed its monstrous and tentacled body to Karl and attacked him.
Everything happened so quickly that Karl could not even call for help. In the intervening period, the researchers in the lab realized that Karl and Arlene were missing from the spot and were not tested. Douglas being Douglas, said that there was no need to test them as they were nowhere close to the mishap.
However, they heard a couple of gunshots from the hangar at that very moment. Marion, Douglas, and Hooper decide to investigate, only to discover that their worst dread has come true. The Thing had broken free from the confines of its Frozen Nitrogen Cage.
Karl, who had to have fired the rounds, was integrating with Arlene Thing. In a fit of passion, Hooper blamed Douglas for what had transpired and proceeded to assault him. But this was a fatal mistake that sealed Hooper’s fate because he had turned his back to Arlene Thing.
She charged on him with her long, sharp tentacles, and Hooper became what he feared the most. Marion and Douglas flee from the spot and reach the lab but find it empty. Not only were Barbara and another scientist missing, but all the samples were gone.
As we previously stated, in The Thing’s universe, it is always one minor error that leads to exquisite mishaps. In Part One, Hooper was the one who wasn’t careful enough when carrying The Thing’s body. He managed to tear a splinter off of it, and this is what infected the rat, and then Arlene.
Part 4
Douglas begins to yell Barbara’s name, but she is nowhere to be seen. Marion advises him that their first objective should be to locate a safe spot from which they can plan their next steps.
Arlene rips through the deck and assaults Marion before merging with her before they can do so. Douglas retaliates by hurling a tank of liquid nitrogen at the alien before fleeing. He ran into his wife, Barbara, who accused him of being a creature as he tried to flee.
To prove his innocence, Douglas took out one of the portable testing kits and showed his blood not fighting the heat generated by it. Barbara claims that it was the other scientist Tamara who was the Thing, and Barbara was forced to kill her. It now seems that Douglas and Barbara are the only survivors.
Barbara proposes that they go right now, and Douglas agrees. However, before they can board the chopper, Douglas grabs her flare pistol and points it at her, demanding that she do the exam.
She attempted to stay out of it, but Douglas was having none of it. Barbara passed the test and was discovered to be the Thing. She subsequently turned into a terrible beast and attempted to merge with Douglas, who managed to flee and shoot the helicopter’s fuel tank.
The resultant explosion destroyed Barbara Thing and started a huge fire in the Donachek. Douglas realized that the fire would soon reach the fuel tanks of the vessel, and so didn’t waste any time looking for a lifeboat. He threw himself into the sea before it could blow up.
Douglas chats to a seagull while alone in the water and clinging to some debris, telling it how he wouldn’t last more than twenty minutes in the freezing water. However, he discovers the seagull’s crimson eyes and understands that The Thing has infected it, much to his despair.
Douglas lay in the water while the seagull sailed into the sky, apparently waiting to succumb to the icy waters. He was unmistakably the architect of his own misfortune. The situation would have been much different if only he had listened to Hooper and his warnings.
Douglas almost wanted to play God and experimented on something that he didn’t quite understand. This particular Thing is an organism that has existed in the universe for millions and millions of years. Who knows how ancient its species might be!
The Marvelous Comic Review
In terms of setup and character development, Questionable Research got off to a great start. We see some very authentic and realistic arguments on how scientists conduct experiments and how Douglas acted like a not-so-crazy yet mad scientist who had no regard for the consequences of his actions, whereas Hooper was a sentimental man who failed to persuade Douglas, or anyone else for that matter, to stop.
While the love triangle was unnecessary, the story is pretty efficient as a stand-alone sequel, and it wouldn’t hurt seeing something of this sort as an episode of The Thing TV Show.