I doubt reggae music is the first thing anyone thinks of when they think of Marvel. But Fantastic Four #1 debuted in 1961 and Jamaica declared independence from Britain in 1962, so they developed in the same sort of cultural milieu. And it shouldn't be surprising that there was some crossover influence. Well, at least in one direction.
Jah Thomas was born in 1955, and therefore would have been the perfect age for being dazzled seeing the Marvel Universe develop on a monthly basis. He started deejaying in the mid-1970s, and released his first single in 1976. Towards the end of the decade, though, he grew more interested in producing others' records and he started the Grimm Ben label. And just in case there was any confusion about where he got the name from, he slapped the Thing's big ol' kisser right on every record...
Of course, Thomas wasn't the only person interested in Mama Grimm's baby boy! Another producer by the name of Lloyd F. Campbell decided to call his label The Thing. And once again, he made a point of avoiding ambiguity in the name...
And, just to keep things interesting, there was another Lloyd Campbell producing reggae records in Jamaica at about the same time. And this Lloyd Campbell was also a Marvel fan -- he named his record label: Spiderman. And here again, he makes no bones about where he got the name from...
And one more for good measure! An engineer by the name of Delroy Thompson also liked Spider-Man so much that he not only named his record label Spiderman, but he adopted the moniker as a stage name for himself as well!
You know what? This is getting too confusing, and I haven't even touched on the Hulk or Justice League labels! Here, just listen to Triston Palmer's "Entertainment" and get yourself into a groove...
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