Strange Tales #134

Featuring: Human Torch and Thing
Release: April 8, 1965
Cover: July 1965
12 cents
Soul-stirring script by: Stan Lee
Breath-taking art by: Bob Powell
Eye-popping inking by: Wallace Wood
Heart-rending lettering by: Artie Simek
12 pages

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Strange Tales #133	Reading order	X-Men #11
Strange Tales #133, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #134, Story B

All good things must come to an end. And so must this.

Hulk’s series only lasted 6 issues. But then he started showing up all over the place. Avengers, Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man, and finally he got his own series back, this time to last for over 50 years and counting.

The Wasp had a back-up feature in Tales to Astonish behind the main feature she shared with Giant-Man. It started with her narrating science fiction tales, but then she started going on her own adventures. They were short-lived; she was the second character to lose a series.

The Watcher had a back-up feature behind the Iron Man stories in Tales of Suspense. It started with him narrating science fiction tales, but then he started going on his own adventures. They were short-lived; he was the third character to lose a series.

This month, two long-running features get cancelled. We’ll talk about the other in due course. (We’re reading this one a little early to get the Fantastic Four chronology in line.)

For the moment, let’s reflect on the history of Strange Tales…

When the series began in 1951, its focus was actually on strange tales, usually involving horror, fantasy, or science fiction. Often with a twist ending.

Most issues had a short prose story in addition to the comic stories. The prose stories were discontinued after issue 125.

I’ve only read a smattering of the old Strange Tales stories. Unsurprisingly, favorite ones tended to be by Steve Ditko.

Starting with issue 101, this series added a recurring feature which wasn’t particularly strange, a spin-off series from Fantastic Four, featuring Human Torch.

When not with the FF at their Manhattan headquarters, Sue and Johnny live together in Glenville, a town on Long Island, where Johnny attends school.

Despite it being frequently made clear the FF did not have secret identities, including Johnny often being entirely cavalier about his identity, in this series Johnny zealously protects his secret identity, often risking others’ lives to do so. Stan soon noticed that fans demanded more consistency than this, and wrote out the secret identity subplot in issue 106.

Strange Tales #110 introduced a sporadic back-up feature, Dr. Strange. Despite getting no billing or marketing, Dr. Strange would eventually prove quite popular and outlast the main feature on this book. He became a regular back-up feature starting with issue 114.

The cover of Strange Tales #117 was the first to acknowledge the existence of the Dr. Strange feature with a text box. And issue 118 gave him a small picture box. By 122, Dr. Strange had joined Human Torch in the corner character box. Dr. Strange got a full half of the cover in issue 123. And finally the feature spot on a cover in 130. But the illustration was from Kirby, not Dr. Strange creator Steve Ditko.

Human Torch got a co-star starting with issue 123. From now on, the main feature would be about the partnership between Human Torch and Thing, sharing the title billing.

Probably the most notable Human Torch story was Strange Tales #114. Which purported to bring back Marvel’s long-forgotten Captain America. Of course, Captain America did not return. It was all part of a clever ruse by the Acrobat. But the feint gave Stan Lee a chance to gauge audience reaction to the idea of Captain America returning for real.

There are other examples where this title is used to test the waters on things that will become later plot points. Notably, Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver consider leaving Magneto and reforming in Strange Tales #128. A misunderstanding causes them to change their mind, but they will soon do exactly that. Again, a feint hinting at a plot point to come. Quite imminently, in fact.

The Human Torch adventures introduced many notable villains, particularly the Wizard in Strange Tales #102. The Wizard had a very intriguing look by Jack Kirby, and a lot of cool sci/fi gadgets to his name. For about a page or so, it seemed like he’d be a good villain in a good comic. But that idea was quickly spoiled.

Other enduring villains from this series include Paste-Pot Pete, Eel, Plantman, and Beetle.

Of course, to get those characters, the series also introduced several now-forgotten villains: Destroyer, Zemu, Acrobat, Painter, Sorceror, Asbestos Man, Fox, Rabble Rouser, Cap’n Barracuda, and Professor Jack.

I’ve generally described this series as painful to read, an unwanted interlude between genuinely good stories in Fantastic Four and Amazing Spider-Man, but the truth is I don’t generally consider them to be awful stories. Mediocre, forgettable, of minimal value. And so consistently and stubbornly mediocre, rarely even attempting to rise to any particular bar.

We’re better off without it, and I’m excited to see what takes its place.

The issue itself gives little hint that this is the final Human Torch and Thing story. Just a subtle tease in the letters page about a big change to come.

With that, let’s look to the issue itself. For their grand finale, Human Torch and Thing are sent back in time by the Watcher to save Camelot from Kang the Conqueror.

Not a bad premise to go out on.

Plus guest inking by the legendary Wally Wood.

While not the first time travel story, it’s only the second to give a real hint of how time travel physics works. The first was Fantastic Four #5, which showed a “loop” theory of time travel, which is basically that space-time is what it is, all time travel having already been factored in. So the legend of Blackbeard leads to Thing traveling back in time where he inspires the legend of Blackbeard. His time travel didn’t change anything. It closed the loop.

But the Watcher and Merlin here suggest a different interpretation, that Kang’s travel to the past will change the present. If Kang conquers Camelot, the Avengers and Fantastic Four will never be.

This situation justifies some mild intervention by the Watcher. He can’t just stop Kang himself, of course. But he can send champions in his stead. The Watcher rarely encounters any situation that doesn’t seem worthy of bending his oath to him.

He was looking for Reed and Sue but couldn’t find them, despite his apparent omniscience. They were out apartment-hunting, perhaps related to the upcoming wedding. So the Watcher settled for Ben and Johnny.

Now, Kang, in his guise as Rama-Tut, had before traveled back in time and conquered a nation. He ruled Egypt for a good period of time. This apparently did not concern the Watcher. But Kang conquering England would have cosmic ramifications.

Kang, it should be noted, possibly made a recent television debut. In Loki, Jonathan Majors played an unnamed character living at the end of time, who may turn out to be Kang, or perhaps some variant or future version of Kang.

We’ve met Merlin plenty of times now, in appearances that seem to contradict each other. Here, he is genuinely a wizard and loyal to Arthur and Camelot, similar enough to his portrayal in the 1950s Black Knight series, but irreconcilable with his portrayal in battle with Thor, where he is basically just an evil mutant.

And with that, we bid this series adieu. Ben and Johnny will continue to appear in the pages of Fantastic Four, so they won’t disappear entirely. And they are much better written characters in much better written stories in that title. The Fantastic Four comics must have a better writer.

Now that Human Torch is out of the title, does that mean Dr. Strange will be the main feature instead of a backup? No.

Does that mean Dr. Strange will start getting spotlighted on the cover? Also no.

Rating: ★★★☆☆, 53/100
Significance: ★★★☆☆

This ties with the Beatles issue for the highest score I’ve given any of these Human Torch stories. Bonus points are given for the relief I feel at not having to read any more of these.

You can find this story in Marvel Masterworks: Human Torch vol. 2 or The Human Torch & The Thing: Strange Tales – The Complete Collection. Or on Kindle.

Characters:

• Watcher
• Thing
• Human Torch
• Merlin
• Kang
• King Arthur

Story notes:

• Watcher brings a challenge for the FF, but only Ben and Johnny are available.
• Watcher notes his race is immortal.
• Kang confronts Merlin, intending to conquer the court of King Arthur.
• Merlin sends demons at Kang, who repels them with science.
• Arthur and loyal knights sent into exile.
• Human Torch frees Merlin from dungeon.
• Reference to previous Kang appearance in Avengers #8.

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Strange Tales #133	Reading order	X-Men #11
Strange Tales #133, Story B	Strange Tales	Strange Tales #134, Story B