Featuring: Human Torch
Release: July 9, 1963
Cover: October 1963
12 cents
Story plot: Stan Lee
Script: Joe Carter
Art: Dick Ayers
13 pages
Once again, Superman creator Jerry Siegel takes on a Human Torch script under the pen name Joe Carter. His scripts seem a cut above what we are used to from Human Torch stories, but it’s a pretty low bar.
We have seen Johnny on many dates both in this title and the pages of Fantastic Four. It’s been a different girl each time. But this issue seems different. He has a date with Doris Evans, and he describes himself as her “flame”. Puns aside, this suggests something more serious than his usual dalliances. Perhaps it is because Dorrie plays a little hard to get. She is willing to go out with Johnny, but seems to dislike his Human Torch persona. She’s clearly dating him despite his celebrity. The fact that she is given a full name is another hint this one is special.
This issue also introduces Plantman. Yet another significant villain coming out of the bush league titles. We just met Porcupine and Crimson Dynamo this month. Human Torch has already encountered a couple enduring villains: the Wizard, Paste-Pot Pete, and the Eel. Plantman will go on to battle the X-Men, Sub-Mariner, Captain America…
A bolt of lightning somehow fixes Plantman’s invention and he is now able to command plant life. With this power at his control, he wants to seek out and punish the man who once fired him as a gardener. His plan is to frame Evans for a jewelry store heist.
That done, he sets his sights on more ambitious plans: conquering New York City, and then the world. His costume reminds me of several masked adventurers, notably the Shadow… except green. Green because he’s into plants. And because that’s the color of almost all the super-villains.
This issue features two weird tale backups. Dr. Strange will be returning next issue to share the title.
Rating: ★★½, 46/100
Significance: ★★★★☆
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch vol. 1. You can also find it in The Human Torch & The Thing: Strange Tales – The Complete Collection. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Johnny Storm/Human Torch
- Doris “Dorrie” Evans
- Sam/Plantman
- Mr. Evans
Story notes:
- Sam is the Evans’ gardner before Mr. Evans fires him.
- Doris insists they take the bus to Johnny’s Corvette, rather than fly.
- References to Elvis Presley.
- Torch destroys Plantman’s device.
- We never learn Plantman’s last name
#104 story in reading order
Next: Fantastic Four #19
Previous: Amazing Spider-Man #5
