Prisoner of the 5th Dimension!/Trapped in Another World!
Featuring: Human Torch
Release: September 11, 1962
Cover: December 1962
12 cents
Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Jack Kirby
Inking: Dick Ayers
13 pages
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch vol. 1.
Once again, we see Stan is giving full credits for the art team, including the letterer Art Simek. Stan credits himself with the plot, but I’ll add some notes based on my general understanding of the usual working relationship; they details of this have been debated by lawyers and historians for decades, so take my musings as those of a non-expert relating what he’s heard. It was very common that Kirby also usually made significant plot contributions, despite the lack of annotation in the credits. The general working arrangement would be that Stan and Jack would talk out ideas together in loose terms, then Kirby would go draw the comic, which includes most of the storytelling details, and then the script and final inks would be filled in after. The busier Stan got, the looser those initial planning conversations were, and the more plotting work was left to Kirby when he was drawing the comic.
Still the weakest series, but this is one of the better stories. Accomplishes a lot in 13 pages. The first 5 pages tell the story of a housing developer whose properties keep sinking in the swamp. Human Torch investigates.
This leads to an adventure in the 5th dimension! Johnny is taken prisoner, stops an invasion, leads a revolution, falls in love…
All in a day’s work…
Meanwhile, Johnny’s secret identity remains a huge concern to him. Even though he was just in Hollywood showing off his flame powers to girls…
I am left to reflect on just what the 5th dimension is. They appear to be in a universe much like ours, with 3 dimensions to move around in and locally linear time. A 5th dimension suggests perhaps that you reach it by travelling in a 5th direction of movement, a direction that brings you between parallel universes.
The very final scene is about Johnny’s “normal” life. A lot of the Thor stories end similarly. Just a panel or two in secret identity, with a wink to the audience that those around them just don’t appreciate what they’ve been through. Because they have a secret that the audience is in on, but their teacher or nurse isn’t. A secret that makes them special, no matter how dull or ordinary they may appear.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 50/100
Significance: ★☆☆☆☆
By the standards of the Human Torch stories so far, this is pretty decent.
Characters
- Johnny Storm/Human Torch
- George Bentley
- Mr. Fantastic
- Zemu
- Valeria
- Phineas
Minor characters:
- Theos (5th dimensional revolutionary)
- Mister Harris (Johnny’s teacher)
Story notes:
- Johnny running late for history exam, so needs to fly to school as the Torch
- Farmer tells Bentley swamp demons are destroying his property
- Mr. Fantastic notes he is busy with Ben and Sue on another case. We don’t see any FF adventures without Johnny around this time, so this must be an untold story.
- Swamp land noted in same state as Glenville, presumably Connecticut. There are swamps in Connecticut. Mill Plain is not that far from Glenville as the Torch flies.
- Electro-gamma waves responsible for house sinking
- Gun shoots anti-matter electrons
- From spot in swamp, Johnny leaves dimension of space and time and enters 5th dimension
- Potential romance between Johnny and Valeria
- Human Torch helps spark revolution against Zemu
- Later comics will refer to Zemu as Xemu.
#31 story in reading order
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