Appearing in "The Painter of a Thousand Perils!"
Featured Characters:
Antagonists:
- Painter (Wilhelm van Vile) ⏵ (First appearance) (Main story and flashback)
- "Scar" Tobin (First appearance)
- Scar's Henchmen
- Painter's Living Paintings
- Three-Headed Six-Armed Gorilla (Living Painting)
- "Creatures from Outer Space"
- Three Unidentified "Creatures" (Living Painting)
- Fantastic Four (Living Painting)
- Mister Fantastic (Reed Richards) (Living Painting)
- Invisible Girl (Susan Storm) (Living Painting)
- Thing (Ben Grimm) (Living Painting)
Other Characters:
- Leonardo da Vinci (Referenced)
- Satan (Referenced)
- NYPD (Main story and flashback)
- Unnamed Lieutenant
- Ellen (Johnny's Date) (First appearance)
- Wizard (Bentley Wittman) (Only in recap)
- Destroyer (Charles Stanton) (Mentioned)
- Paste-Pot Pete (Peter Petruski) (Mentioned)
- Zemu (Only in recap)
- Abraham Lincoln (Drawing)
Races and Species:
- Humans (Main story and flashback)
- Fifth Dimensioners (Only in recap)
- Gorillas (Living Painting)
- Unidentified alien species (Drawing)
- Fireflies (Referenced)
- Cows (Invoked)
Locations:
- Earthspace (Main story and flashback)
- Sol (Main story and flashback)
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- North America (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- Unidentified Charity Masquerade Ball
- Manhattan
- Scar Tobin's Headquarters
- 7th Street (First appearance) and Main Street
- Unidentified Jewelry Store
- Glenville (Only in recap)
- Wizard's House (Only in recap)
- New York State Prison (Only in flashback)
- Secret Cavern (Only in flashback)
- Unidentified Carnival
- Unidentified Beach
- New York City (Main story and flashback)
- New York (Main story and flashback)
- United States of America (Main story and flashback)
- North America (Main story and flashback)
- Earth (Main story and flashback)
- Sol (Main story and flashback)
- 5th Dimension (Only in recap)
Items:
- Painter's Paints and Brushes (First appearance) (Main story and flashback) (Destruction)
- Fantastic Four Uniforms
- Wizard's Chemical Cannons (Only in recap)
- "Mona Lisa" (Mentioned)
- "The Blue Boy" (Mentioned)
Vehicles:
- Magic Carpet (Living Painting)
- Fantasti-Car (Living Painting)
Synopsis for "The Painter of a Thousand Perils!"
With the Human Torch cracking down on "Scar" Tobin's crime operations, Tobin has become desperate to find a way of dispose of the Torch once and for all. He ended up hiring The Painter, a former counterfeiter who was caught by the Human Torch when the Torch noticed that his counterfeits had obvious flaws. The Painter has a set of paints that turned whatever he painted into reality.
The Painter explained that when he escaped from prison he had found a secret cavern where he found hieroglyphics from an alien race explaining how the paints left behind work. The Painter then used his paints to create various traps to try and stop the Torch. His final plan involved creating fakes of the other members of the Fantastic Four to lure the Torch into a room where he is seemingly destroyed by a grenade.
However the Torch managed to avoid his fate because he realized that he was dealing with fakes when he noticed several flaws in the Painter's "artwork" including that none of the other FF members had the famous Fantastic Four insignia on their uniforms. Tracking the Painter back to Tobin's lair, the Torch burned all the paints and took all the criminals to jail where the Torch revealed to the Painter how he saw through his traps.
Appearing in "The Heat's On"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Races and Species:
Synopsis for "The Heat's On"
When a young boy builds a fan to help his family get through a heat wave it brings down the flying saucer that caused the heat.
Appearing in "The Silent Giant"
Featured Characters:
- Ben (Hermit)
Supporting Characters:
- Unnamed Doctor
Antagonists:
- Unnamed Redwood Tree
Other Characters:
- Doctor's Horse
Races and Species:
Locations:
- Earth
- Ben's Shack
- Unidentified Redwood Forest
Items:
- Ben's Axe
Synopsis for "The Silent Giant"
He was the only man of all time to achieve... immortality! But oh, the way he did it!! 
An old hermit is frustrated that the redwood tree on his property gets to live thousands of years while he's about to die, so he decides to chop it down. Just as he started, he has a heart attack and dies, but the tree drips sap on him and he becomes a redwood identical to the first.
Appearing in "The Iron Warrior"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Sir Mogard
Other Characters:
Races and Species:
Locations:
Items:
- Enchanted Armor
Synopsis for "The Iron Warrior"
Like tales of black magic? Like action tinged with the supernatural? Like villainous villains and heroic heroes? Well then, settle back and READ! Because this story is just for YOU! A knight of King Arthur's court resents the favor shown Merlin and so challenges him to a battle. Merlin's champion is a black knight who does succeed in winning the competition. The envious knight still sneers at Merlin and claims he has no true magic for the black knight bested him by force of arms whereupon Merlin makes a mystic pass and the empty suit of armor falls in pieces upon the ground.
Notes
Continuity Notes[]
The Painter of a Thousand Perils![]
- Johnny mentions his battles with the Wizard (Strange Tales #102), Paste-Pot Pete (Strange Tales #104), and Zemu of the Fifth Dimension Strange Tales #103).
The Iron Warrior[]
- This story takes place prior to Merlin recruiting Sir Percy of Scandia to become the Black Knight, as seen in Black Knight #1.
Chronology Notes[]
The Painter of a Thousand Perils![]
A flashback in this story affects the chronology of the following characters: