By Andrew A. Smith (from CBG #1677, May 2011)
Spoiler Warning: The following column discusses recent events in Fantastic Four as well as revelations of events throughout the team’s history.
A Human Torch has been snuffed.
Let us now bow our heads and shed a tear for Jonathan Lowell Spencer Storm, first introduced in Fantastic Four #1 (Nov 61) and summarily bounced from this mortal coil in Fantastic Four #587 (Mar 11). Alas, poor Jonathan, we hardly knew ye.
Maybe that’s because, despite being around for 50 years, he never got out of his early 20s. (Some would argue that, emotionally, he never grew out of adolescence. But I digress.)
Anyway, now that we’ve got the obligatory hand-wringing, teeth-gnashing, hair-tearing, and garment-rending out of the way, inquiring minds want to know: Why? Why kill off a founding member of Marvel’s First Family?
None of us can know the mind of another — in this case, Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, Marvel Editor in Chief Axel Alonso, Fantastic Four Editor Tom Brevoort, or FF writer Jonathan Hickman — but I have a few ideas:
I: Johnny won’t be dead for long
I doubt there’s a fan out there who really buys a death in comics any more. There’s always been a revolving door to the afterlife for comic-book characters, but in recent years it’s become a spinner rack. I mean, we older fans used to say “There’s ‘dead,’ and there’s ‘Bucky dead’ ” to indicate the likelihood of a character’s return — with the latter being more or less permanent.
You can see how well that worked out for us.
So Johnny will be back, and the only question is when. My chips are on FF #12 (Apr 12) … which also happens to be Fantastic Four #600.
As to why, how about …
II: To shake things up
Like most businesses, Marvel likes money. And Fantastic Four wasn’t making much.
While Spider-Man, X-Men, and (especially) Avengers have become quite the franchises lately, poor ol’ Fantastic Four — Marvel’s first and once-most-important title — languished in ignominy. In January 2010, Diamond reported Fantastic Four selling a measly 41,284 copies. It came in at #35, below even Dark Wolverine and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
But what a difference a year (and a death) makes! Fantastic Four #587 was January 2011’s top-selling issue, with numbers that will continue to rise as orders for variant covers and additional printings come dribbling in, followed by more ka-ching from trade paperbacks and the like. Death is boffo box office!
Cynical? Yes. But also a successful publishing strategy. Plus …
III: Johnny needed a vacation
Let’s put aside cynicism for a second and consider that Hickman might have thrown Johnny under the bus for a good story. After all, as Legionnaire Chris Fluit wrote on my website, “The Fantastic Four are a unit. They’re not only a team, they’re a family. As a team and a family, they have certain interpersonal dynamics. For a writer, it’s interesting to ask, ‘How do those relationships change when you remove one member of team?’ It’s exciting to explore those changed dynamics.”
This principle has certainly been applied a zillion times before, not only in other titles but also in Fantastic Four. Every member has been absent for lengthy sabbaticals, where he or she was formally replaced on the team — every member, that is, except for Johnny Storm.
• When The Thing reverted temporarily to human form, Ben Grimm was replaced by Luke Cage (Fantastic Four #168-170, Mar-May 76). When Ben elected to stay on Battleworld after the first Secret Wars, he was replaced by She-Hulk (Fantastic Four #265-300, Apr 84-Mar 87). And, when he temporarily lost his powers, his place was taken by Sharon “She-Thing” Ventura (Fantastic Four #327-350, Jun 89-Mar 91).
• Scott “Ant-Man II” Lang (and Sub-Mariner) replaced Reed Richards when the FF leader was thought dead (Fantastic Four #384-412, Jan 94-May 96).
• While on maternity leave, Sue Richards was replaced by Crystal of The Inhumans (Fantastic Four #81-95, Dec 68-Feb 70). When Reed and Sue were having marital difficulties, Medusa of The Inhumans took Sue’s place (Fantastic Four #132-159, Mar 73-Jun 75).
• Reed and Sue were replaced by Crystal and Sharon “Ms. Marvel II” Ventura, when the Richards twosome left to raise Franklin (Fantastic Four #307-327, Oct 87-Jun 89).
• Black Panther and Storm of The X-Men took the duo’s place when the couple was working on their marriage following the events of “Civil War” (Fantastic Four #544-550, Mar-Sept 07).
The Human Torch's desertion of the team in Fantastic Four #3 (recapped above) led to the revivial of The Sub-Mariner in FF #4 (below).
Johnny Storm has left the team on occasion, notably in Fantastic Four #3-4 (Mar-May 62), when he found the amnesiac Sub-Mariner in New York’s Bowery district, and in 2007, when he was hospitalized during “Civil War.” And Ghost Rider, Hulk, Spider-Man, and Wolverine briefly replaced the whole team (Fantastic Four #347-349, Dec 90-Feb 91), but that turned out to be a hoax.
So The Human Torch has never been formally replaced for any length of time, meaning perhaps he needs a break. Especially since …
IV: There are too many Human Torches
Although Marvel has three Human Torches (four, if you count Frankie Raye, which I don’t), no two have been active at the same time in the modern era … until now.
The original Human Torch and Toro were a team in the Golden Age, of course, and in the mid-1950s Atlas revival. But after Johnny Storm was introduced in 1961, those two — who hadn’t appeared since 1954 — were kept more or less in limbo.
Yes, the original Torch was revived in Fantastic Four Annual #4 (1966) — only to be deactivated again. He was revived in Avengers West Coast #50 (Nov 89) but subsequently lost his powers and operated flameless until he sacrificed himself in New Invaders #9 (Jun 05). Meanwhile, Toro reappeared in Sub-Mariner #14 (Jun 69) but was killed by the end of the issue.
So Johnny Storm was really the only flaming torch extant for the bulk of the Marvel Age. Until 2009, that is, when Toro was revived by a Cosmic Cube in Avengers/Invaders #12 (Aug 09) and The Mad Thinker revived Jim Hammond in The Torch #2 (Dec 09). Suddenly, Marvel had three Human Torches at once … and then killed Johnny. Conspiracy or coincidence? You be the judge!
And if those aren’t reasons enough, let’s address the giant village idiot in the room …
V: Johnny Storm is a full-blown moron
Of all the Torches, Johnny Storm is obviously the dumbest. His career is punctuated by bad decisions, puerile behavior, adolescent temper tantrums, and just plain stupid moves. There are so many head-slapping Johnny moments, a comprehensive list is out of the question. So I asked The Legion of Superfluous Heroes from my website to narrow it down to Johnny’s greatest hits:
• Dagwan of Tallahassee, Fla., wrote, “marrying a shape-changing alien who was impersonating his best-friend’s ex-girlfriend pretty much tops everything else I can think of” (Fantastic Four #300, Mar 87).
• Philip Portelli of College Point, N.Y., wrote, “Marvel Team-Up #9-11 (Mar-Jul 73), ‘The Tomorrow War,’ had a major conflict between Kang the Conqueror and Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, and The Avengers were captured and helpless. Johnny appeared in the middle issue but, when the trail led to Attilan and The Inhumans (the co-stars of #11), he bailed out because he didn’t want to run into his ex-girlfriend Crystal again. Don’t worry about the space-time continuum, Johnny! We don’t want you to feel awkward!”
• Our own Craig “Mr. Silver Age” Shutt nominated Fantastic Four #99 (Jun 70), when “Johnny, ticked off and confused by Crystal deciding to stay with her family The Inhumans rather than be with his magnificent self, burst into The Great Refuge and confronted Crystal. After being rejected yet again, Johnny accused her of being brainwashed and then of leading him on. Crystal gave him what-for, elementally. Johnny got even more royally ticked off and built a gigantic fireball to trap The Inhumans in their Refuge forever, but the other FFers appeared and put the kibosh on this mammoth tantrum.”
• Luke Blanchard of Australia wrote, “Most typical would be his sparring with Ben. Wasn’t there a story in Marvel Fanfare where he played an elaborate [April Fool’s Day] prank on Ben only to find out he had the day wrong?” Yes, he did, in Marvel Fanfare #15 (Jul 84).
• Doc Beechler of Indianapolis suggested one bad move was “buying the skin mag with the ‘color-corrected’ photos of She-Hulk and a pair of green-tinted sunglasses … and then telling her about it.”
• Mark Ogilvie of Westford, Mass., wrote, “Dumping Namor into the water comes to mind [Fantastic Four #4, May 62]. Later on, challenging Namor to a fight.” Mr. Silver Age added, “Oh, if only he hadn’t left the team! Or at least flown to The Bowery. Or at least not talked to one of the inhabitants. Or at least not given him a shave.”
Then there’s my favorite, from “The Coming of The Plantman!” in Strange Tales #113 (Oct 63), when The Torch was beaten by plants shaking dew on him. Yes, defeated by dew! Later in the same issue, he was subdued by seaweed and a barrage of acorns. No wonder Paste-Pot Pete thought he had a chance!
Also, it should be noted that Johnny Storm is the only member of the original Fantastic Four who has never been accepted as an Avenger. The Thing joined in West Coast Avengers #9 (Jun 86) and the Richardses in Avengers #300 (Feb 89). Heck, even most of the substitute members mentioned above — Ant-Man II, Black Panther, Crystal, Luke Cage, She-Hulk — are Avengers, but not Johnny. And this is a team that accepted Demolition Man!
When you add it all up, the question isn’t why Marvel is benching Johnny Storm — the question is why it took so long.
Andrew “Captain Comics” Smith has been writing professionally about comics since 1992 and for CBG since 2000. He can be reached at capncomics@aol.com or on his message board, http://captaincomics.ning.com.
The Magazine
I have to agree with this. Johnny Storm will be back. It’s not going to be another Gwen Stacy situation, where there will be any clones by Professor Warren (The Jackal). I do remember in the early issues Spidey somehow went to the Baxter Building and wanted to be a memeber. Correct me if I am wrong; but didn’t the powers that be insist that Spiderman was a lone wolf and couldn’t be part of a team? Back in the 1970′s it was unheard of to have Spiderman as part of the Avengers or Defenders. I do remember he was part of the Avengers for a time, but it wasn’t a lasting change.
I would like to see how long Spiderman will continue to be part of the team. If it will have any lasting power and how it’s going to affect the Spidey monthly comic book.
Another comment on the Human Torch: Why does Marvel always have to get rid of characters this way? The readers are smart enough to know that the Torch will return. If the readers demand it, we can expect the same status quo. Why couldn’t Johnny go off and do something else? Couldn’t he switch careers? Couldn’t he decide that he wants to race motorcyles or race cars?
The same thing happened with Spidey’s alien costume. Once the gimmick wears off and sales drop to the point of the book becoming canceled, we’ll probably see a different torch, or the same one repackaged.
Depending on who was writing the title, the torch really never got the chance to shine. Back when the FF began,he had his own title. He wasn’t known as the team member that the FF could do without. Writers have used Torch as a way to make the story more interesting by making him an idiot.
This wasn’t the orginal plan from the early issues of the FF. Sure, Johnny Storm was more prone to make mistakes, but that was what made him a good character.
Looks like it is happening sooner than later!