The small town of Benson, Arizona was the site of the ancestral home of the so-called "Black Creatures of the Dark Mists," sinister-looking imp-like creatures who, every ten thousand years, appear to show the denizens of any human community in the immediate area the inner darkness within them. Many could not handle this revelation, and thus every ten thousand years, these communities were decimated, either by the people dying of fright or fleeing the area in the aftermath. In modern times, the citizens of Benson were "tested" in this same manner, with only a relative handful both surviving the experience and willing to stay and continue the town.^[1]

Some years later, Benson was the site of a meeting between Captain America and Rick Jones at a local diner. In the midst of their meeting, they were attacked by Warstar, intending to kidnap Jones as a prelude to Operation: Galactic Storm. Cap defeated the symbiotic automatons, but other agents of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard appeared and made off with Rick.^[2]

• Black Creatures of the Dark Mists
• Carol (Deceased)
• Dame Ruth Efford
• Jacob Grimm
• Petunia Grimm
• Mike (Deceased)
• Sheriff Sam
• Wendy
• Wendy's father