Strange Tales #101

The Human Torch/The Flaming Fury Strikes Back!!
Release: July 10, 1962
Cover: October 1962
12 cents
Writers: Stan Lee and Larry Lieber
Penciler: Jack Kirby
Inker: Dick Ayers
13 pages

I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch vol. 1. I don’t see any credits within the issue. The collection’s table of contents gives the credits I list above.

In his first solo outing, Human Torch must battle the Destroyer in Glenville, while preserving his secret identity…

Wait? What?

He wasn’t that concerned about his secret identity when he flamed on in front of his mechanic friend… Or talked to his friends about his Fantastic Four problems… Or went to Congress to get awards and his photo taken… Or when he decided his costume didn’t need a mask. (Yes, I realize Superman thinks the same)

How important is his secret identity now? Important enough that he is willing to repeatedly risk the lives of others to protect it. More than once, people are falling to their death and he has seconds to act. He wastes precious time figuring out a diversion to protect his identity.

And this comes up twice just in this story. Note how everybody is clear the victims are seconds away from death. Yet, in both instances, the sequence is: people falling to death; Johnny worried about his identity; Johnny creates diversion; Johnny becomes Human Torch and saves the day.

Some of this can be explained away because Johnny is a dumb teenager.

Though he’s not all that dumb. Note the diagrams of his house. They include his chemistry set, where he experiments on his own powers, seeking to make his flame last longer. Sounds like a bit of a science whiz, as teenagers go. I was a smart teenager, but I neither invented web fluid nor a formula to make superpowers last longer.

However, his secret also depends on being in flame form. And we see in this issue that the time it takes him to fly to the top of a rollercoaster and back almost uses up the time limit on his powers. So he has something like a mask which seems to last a minute or so and then disappears.

His friends seem eager to learn his secret as well; they vow to do it one day. I have some recommendations for them. They could pick up a paper with photos of the recent FF visit to Congress. They could connect the dots given what they know, including that Johnny’s sister is one of the Fantastic Four, and that Johnny always seems to disappear when the Torch shows up. Also, they could press Johnny about it, since they know his sister is the Invisible Girl.

The opening narration and editors’ notes partially acknowledge the difficulties in claiming Johnny has a secret identity, but press forward. They allow that Sue’s identity is in fact public, but claim people don’t know her brother is her partner. They also allow that Johnny told some friends, but tells us those friends have been sworn to secrecy, and anyway have already graduated high school and moved away.

Both the cover and title page seem to be thanking the FF magazine for the use of the Torch character. But that is just the creators thanking themselves, as the same people are writing and drawing both.

Originally, the Fantastic Four lived in the fictional Central City. Within a few issues, it was quite clear they lived in Manhattan. Perhaps they moved, or perhaps the narrator in the first 2 issues referred to Manhattan as Central City for some reason. Then where is Glenville? The FF seem decently affluent, so it’s not a stretch to believe the Storms also have a home outside of their Manhattan building. There are several Glenvilles in the area, including in Pennsylvania and New York. but the narrator tells us Torch flew over Long Island to land in Glenville, which suggests it’s very close to Long Island. That makes it Glenville, Connecticut, which is just across the bay from Long Island and a 10 mile flight for the Torch. Since we see in the beginning that Torch can outrace a missile, he should be able to cover that distance in seconds.

Despite some continuity roughness, this is significant for being the first example of interconnected titles in the Marvel Age. It’s clear these stories are intended to be set in the same world as the Fantastic Four stories. And so a universe is forming…

Thing pays a visit, here to help. It’s a significant character moment, as it is a rare example of Thing showing he really cares about Johnny, despite the constant fighting. However, it’s a little hard to take his speech about the Destroyer being too much for Johnny seriously. The Destroyer is some dude who sabotaged a roller coaster. He’s up against the Human Torch.

The story reminds me very much of an episode of Scooby Doo. A masked villain trying to get an amusement park to stop building rides. Ending with an unmasking. He even uses the word “meddling” when cursing how he would have gotten away with it. The motive is a bit different. Here we have a Soviet spy and Cold War stuff. That will be less of a thing when the Scooby Doo cartoon debuts a decade later.

Unfortunately, my character listing below spoils the secret identity of the Destroyer, so avoid it if you haven’t read the issue. But I’ll give you a hint: it’s the only other character they bother to name.

We’ve seen this format a few times now. This is Strange Tales #101. They took an existing fantasy anthology, and made it so each issue will have a lead story by a recurring superhero character. Thor now headlines the Journey Into Mystery anthology. Ant-Man headlines the Tales to Astonish anthology.

Other stories in this issue are: “The Impossible Spaceship”; and, “What is X-35?”

Rating: ★★☆☆☆, 38/100
Significance: ★★★★☆

Wonky story, continuity issues, lame villain. Not Kirby at his best, but it’s still Kirby.

Characters:

• Human Torch
• Charles Stanton/Destroyer
• Thing

Story notes:

• Johnny and Sue live in town of Glenville
• Publicly known that Sue Storm is Invisible Girl. Johnny’s identity is secret.
• In Fantastic Four, we saw evidence of Johnny being repeatedly unprotective of his secret identity. Flaming on in front of mechanic friends, talking to other friends, getting picture taken at Congress…
• The editor notes the friends we saw him talk to in FF issue have been sworn to secrecy, and have anyway graduated high school, one to the army, two to college, and one working in Chicago
• Why write off the only Torch supporting cast members we know?
• Geography of Glenville: Story notes Human Torch flies over Long Island until reaching Glenville. Glenville, NY about 175 miles from Long Island. Glenville, PA about 200 miles. Closest point to Glenville on Long Island about 10 miles for Human Torch. Note this means he can hold his flame to fly at least 10 miles.
• Johnny’s asbestos room: asbestos bedspread and carpet, etc… Did Johnny have any issues before?
• “Less publicity, the better,” says Torch. This is inconsistent with a flashy attitude we see in the pages of Fantastic Four.
• Torch experiments with chemicals that will help prolong the burning of his flame
• Torch keeps fantastiflare in secret alcove
• origin recap
• Johnny can control any flame near him
• Torch can unflame just his arms
• “Can’t keep my flame on much longer,” says Johnny. He’d been flaming on for seconds… at the beginning of the issue, he flew from Long Island
• “Again I have just seconds to divert the attention of the crowd…” Sounds like Johnny risking a life to preserve his ‘secret’
• Another: “He’ll have to save one or two and let the others die”
• Another: “Another few seconds and we’d have been finished”
• Can use powers to make decoy Torch
• Daily Chronicle headline: Destroyer challenges Human Torch to battle
• We saw the Daily Chronicle in Amazing Fantasy #15
• Thing offers to help battle the destroyer, but Torch refuses
• Common trope: pride in facing a villain alone
• Torch friends: “Some day we’ll find out who he really is…”
• “Your days of MEDDLING are over,” says Destroyer.
• No apparent connection between Destroyer and later Thor villain of same name

#21 story in reading order
Next: Tales to Astonish #36
Previous: Fantastic Four #7