Featuring: Human Torch
Release: March 10, 1964
Cover: June 1964
12 cents
Written in the sensational style of: Stan Lee
Drawn in the marvelous manner of: Dick Ayers
Lettered by: Art Simek
14 pages
Twenty issues in and this remains the most worthless series Marvel is publishing. The contrast in quality between this and Fantastic Four is mind-boggling, especially given that both are purported to be written by the same person. Basically, I’m reading these Human Torch stories so you don’t have to.
The most notable occurrence in this issue is that Dr. Strange actually gets a chunk of the cover real estate devoted to his story. He’s coming up in the world.
Anyways, Plantman returns. New costume. We finally learn his last name.
He proceeds to lock Human Torch in his closet. Human Top did the same thing to Giant-Man recently. A weird trope. But now look at the title of the comic with a new perspective. When they say, “Prisoner of the Plantman”, they mean: locked in his own closet for a few minutes by Plantman.
Honestly, nothing in the next 10 pages is nearly as interesting as Johnny getting locked in a closet. We’ll just end this here.
Rating: ★★★☆☆, 36/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆
I read this story in Marvel Masterworks: Human Torch vol. 2. You can also find it in The Human Torch & The Thing: Strange Tales – The Complete Collection. Or on Kindle.
Characters:
- Plantman/Sam Smithers
- Human Torch
- Mr. Evans
- Doris Evans
- Thing
- Mr. Fantastic
- Invisible Girl
Story notes:
- Flashback to #113.
- Plantman perfects new plant ray and makes new costume.
#193 story in reading order
Next: Strange Tales #121, Story B
Previous: Amazing Spider-Man #13
