Fictional Group History
The gang is depicted as frequenting downtown Manhattan, and serves as a recurring antagonist of the Thing, tormenting him for typically humorous effect. The gang was originally depicted as composed only of youths, but later depictions have both youth members as well as adult members from an earlier generation, who have passed their grudge against Thing to the younger members.
The adult members of the Yancy Street Gang, all apparently blue-collar workers who still live in the neighborhood, are usually seen tormenting Thing in some way, usually by throwing things at him and shouting abuse whenever he entered Yancy Street. They were also thought to send him booby-trapped parcels, although a retcon in Fantastic Four vol.3, #61, written by Mark Waid, revealed that these packages were actually sent by the Human Torch. Ben Grimm formerly led the gang, and the others, who have retained their loyalty to it even in adulthood, seemingly resent him for having "sold out" and "abandoned" the neighborhood. However, they are generally portrayed as good-natured at heart, and have occasionally helped the Fantastic Four if a supervillain threatens the Street itself or if they think a villain is giving Thing too much trouble (they mentioned "That's our job" in those occasions). They sometimes seem to genuinely like the Thing, if only because he makes such an effective and (sometimes) good-humored target for their pranks; they were quite remorseful when he seemingly died in action, only to quickly retract the sentiment when he proved to have survived.
Read more about this topic: Yancy Street Gang
Famous quotes containing the words fictional, group and/or history:
“One of the proud joys of the man of letters—if that man of letters is an artist—is to feel within himself the power to immortalize at will anything he chooses to immortalize. Insignificant though he may be, he is conscious of possessing a creative divinity. God creates lives; the man of imagination creates fictional lives which may make a profound and as it were more living impression on the world’s memory.”
—Edmond De Goncourt (1822–1896)
“If the Russians have gone too far in subjecting the child and his peer group to conformity to a single set of values imposed by the adult society, perhaps we have reached the point of diminishing returns in allowing excessive autonomy and in failing to utilize the constructive potential of the peer group in developing social responsibility and consideration for others.”
—Urie Bronfenbrenner (b. 1917)
“The greatest honor history can bestow is that of peacemaker.”
—Richard M. Nixon (1913–1995)