User blog:20thCentFopp/The Human Torch and Youth Exploitation: Why Johnny Storm Got a Solo Title

Today’s article marks the 50th and it’s fitting that the Human Torch, my favourite pet peeve, figures as the object of my criticism.

Ask any young Marvelite, today, about Johnny Storm and they will tell you that he is a B-String character. However if you called forth the name ‘Marvel’ in 1962 these same Marvelites would retort the Human Torch. Johnny was Marvel in the 60s.

I have never warmed to Johnny. He is an arrogant pig headed bully, who is as approachable as his infamous supernova flame, yet at one time, he was popular enough to warrant the assignment of his own solo title in Strange Tales. This solo title was part of a strategy to attract teenage fans.

It's hard to believe it now, given the hordes of teenagers who flock to Marvel inspired films and television shows, but in 1962 Marvel’s readership was mostly composed of young boys and college age students. Teenagers, for some reason, did not buy the Stan Lee rags. Therefore, Stan decided to borrow from Hollywood’s ‘drive in films’ which attracted teenagers in droves. Stan co-opted the James Dean stock character who drove a Harley, had disdain for authority and a fetish for leather and injected these traits into Strange Tales’ version of Johnny Storm. In the pages of the Fantastic Four, Storm didn’t change at all. This lack of continuity is classic Stan Lee middle of the road exploitation.

Exploitation drips from the panels of this issue. There’s nothing individual about the story. Johnny is the most popular guy in school. He’s a hot rodder. For some reason he is also hiding his identity as the Torch. None of this is explained nor really given any focus. I see no connection, beyond his name, with his Fantastic Four appearances. Even Sue Storm has changed into a grey haired matron. She’s become more of a mother than a sister.These changes and dissimilarities indicate that this solo appearance is a Larry Lieber, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby experiment to sell issues.

The story itself has not changed from the standard ‘Scooby Doo’ superhero yarn:

A man named “the Destroyer” harries an amusement park roller coaster in an effort     to distract from a Soviet submarine that is hidden, in plain sight, in an alcove behind the 		park.

The story has all the markings of a rush job: Communists, a business leader in disguise scaring kids away from an amusement park, and a young blonde headed hero who gets all the girls. This story doesn’t feel like it was written in the creative bullpen of Marvel but in the accounting stacks of DC.

Jack Kirby’s artwork is a calculated rush job. Sue Storm looks nothing like she does in Fantastic Four. Her hair is white and she looks like a senior. I wonder if this is attempted early aborted retconn to make Sue Storm Johnny’s mother. Obviously the creatives, don't run with this idea in the larger universe but description of her as a J’s sister conspicuously doesn't appear in this issue.

Because Strange Tales was unpopular and a niche title — even after Johnny Storm took the helm — laziness and exploitation defines its issues. Its cult status was a double edged sword, however. The small audience allowed the creatives to experiment and without this experimentation Dr. Strange would not come about.

My dislike of Johnny Storm continues. Nothing changes, even 50 articles in.

Until time, I remain: 20thCentFopp

Story I Read: “The Human Torch” (Strange Tales #101 Oct. 1962)

Rating: 1 out of 5

Pros: The Destroyer looks cool.

Cons: Pandering, the Soviet Sub plot makes little sense, the differences and out of character changes, Jack Kirby’s rushed and undetailed art.

Previous Review: “The Challenge of Comrade X” (Tales to Astonish #36, Oct. 1962)

Upcoming Review: “Prisoner of the Wizard” (Strange Tales #102 Nov. 1962)