The Marvel Universe has a long history of superheroes and supervillains. And one of the earliest of Marvel's superheroes is James Hammond, the Original Human Torch.
Jim Hammond has blazed his way through this blog before. Back in November of last year, I took a look at the first issue of his first mini-series: The Saga of the Original Human Torch. The mini-series was a retelling of his life up until 1990, when he had been revived and joined up with the West Coast Avengers...even though his body had also been used to build the Vision. Yeah, that was confusing. To see how that got cleared up, check out my review of Avengers Forever #8 right here.
When we last left off in this miniseries, Jim Hammond angrily flew off, unknowingly leaving the home of Phineas Horton to burn. So, where do we go from here? What happened next to the man credited for igniting the Age of Marvels? Let's find out in The Saga of the Original Human Torch #2!
The cover is a Rich Buckler and Danny Bulanadi piece. It basically depicts the Original Human Torch and his partner Toro kicking Nazi butts. And that's always awesome.
"The World on Fire!"
Writer: Roy Thomas
Penciler: Rich Buckler
Inker: Dan Bulanadi
Letterer: Janice Chiang
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Editors: Ralph Macchio, Mike Rockwitz
Editor-in-Chief: Tom DeFalco
The story begins with our man Jimmy flying through the sky, like a blazing comet shooting past the stars. It's September 1939, and the press is decrying about this strange "Human Torch".
 |
| “…where did all these newspapers come from?! I am confused and scared!” |
The Torch needs to hide. He can shut off his flames, but he still can't walk around in his red bodysuit. He needs some proper threads. As such, he sneaks into a clothing store and steals some clothes.
Thanks to his donning a sharp suit and equally sharp fedora hat, people on the street don't give him a second look. He finds some money on a sidewalk and uses it to buy a newspaper. He learns that Horton survived the fire the Torch unintentionally caused when he left his home.
The Torch is relieved to hear that Horton is alright, but still decides that he doesn't want anything more to do with the man. After all, Horton only saw Jim as a steppingstone to fortune and fame. He then finds himself hungry.
Yeah, it's funny that a being presumed to be an artificial life form needs to eat. I think it's been explained that Hammond is a being created with artificial organs, but then why make him a stomach? Eh, it's a Golden Age hero, comes with the territory.
Anyway, Jim has some money left over, so he buys himself a hot dog. Mmmm...hot dog...
Jim's enjoyment of the meat is interrupted by a thief making off with a woman's purse. Jim is about to do his fiery thing, but a cop takes care of it. This gives Jim a bit of inspiration.
Sometime later, he's managed to acquire the human identity of James "Jim" Hammond (he picked the name from a phone book), and has become a rookie cop himself. On his first night on the beat, he encounters some bank robbers. He goes after them, but ends up activating his powers, scaring them into surrendering.
 |
| “Oh God, fire! Doctor says I'm not supposed to be on fire!” |
Jim flies off, thinking about how the criminals quivered in his presence. It gives him a bit of inspiration as to how to serve man more directly. He goes to visit his boss, Chief John C. Wilson. It's then that a certain female officer walks into the room.
 |
| “Call me…Lt. Obvious!” |
Yup, it's Betty Dean, a woman who will be an important part of another Golden Age legend: Namor the Sub-Mariner. Anyway, it's then revealed that Wilson had his eye on the android ever since he and Horton met the commissioner in the last issue. Jim wants to continue being a police officer, using his powers to help catch criminals. Amazingly, Wilson is cool with it. A few days later, Jim Hammond flies to Queensboro to the home of a pair of scientists named Fred and Nora Raymond. They are experts on asbestos and radium, respectively.
 |
| “HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAYYYY…and burn down the house. Oops.” |
They're being accosted by a villainess known as the Asbestos Lady. The Torch easily takes down her men, but is forced to let her get away to save the Raymonds' home from his own flames. Ahhh, don't worry about her, Jimmy. The mesothelioma will take her out in a few years. The two show Jim their sleeping son Thomas...who, unknown to the Torch, has a strange immunity to heat and fire. At the time, the Torch was unaware they were both dying from exposure to the substances they had expertise in. Not long afterwards, the Torch had his infamous fight with the Sub-Mariner in New York City.
 |
| “TORCH HUNGRY! TORCH WANT FISH STICKS!” |
His meeting with the Raymonds, as well as his battle with Namor, caused Jim to realize how lonely he truly was. At least Namor had his fellow Atlanteans. As far as Jim knew, he was the only one of his kind, no peers or even family. Well...somewhat. This leads him to reunite with Professor Horton, his creator and "father of sorts". The two talk, and Horton reveals that Fred Raymond was once an associate of his. Raymond left because of failing health, which Horton feared was connected to his experiments with asbestos. Later on, the Raymonds died. Not because of their illnesses, but because of a train wreck the Asbestos Lady caused.
Weeks later, Jim hears on the radio about a fire-eating boy called Toro at a circus. This leads Jim to believe young Thomas may have survived the wreck. And if Jim figured it out, the Asbestos Lady could, too. She tries to kill him with a gas truck filled with water, but he escapes and captures her. The Torch then flies to the circus.
 |
| Tommy Raymond learned the hard way that trying to cosplay as the Human Torch is a BAD idea. |
Toro finds himself bursting into flame around Jim but isn't sure why. The flames aren't hurting him, though. He can shut the flames off, but it doesn't explain anything. Jim asks the owner of the circus how Toro ended up under his care. His circus had seen the wreck, and two of his workers found and rescued the boy. Jim offers to help Toro understand his powers...and the boy is all for it.
Jim manages to arrange to be Toro's legal guardian, and the two fight crime together. It's eventually discovered that the Torch's presence acted like a catalyst, activating dormant powers within Toro. It would eventually be established in All-New Invaders #8 (2014) that Toro was a dormant Inhuman. Now that I think about it, why was he called Toro? In Spanish and Italian, "toro" means "bull". What does that have to do with fire?
Anyway, the two fought saboteurs, gangsters, and even the Sub-Mariner again. But in the background, the Second World War raged in Europe. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, bringing the United States into the war.
The Torch and Toro would do their part, becoming members of the wartime superteam known as the Invaders.
 |
| “Alright boys, let’s beat up that swastika!” |
During those years, Hammond and Toro fought the Nazis, and villains like Master Man, U-Man, and Warrior Woman. On April 1945, the Invaders are summoned to a hidden chamber in Big Ben to hear a sobering announcement.
 |
| "Well, that messes up the plans for the pizza party." |
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt is dead. But there's still a war on, and the Invaders still have jobs to do. The group's British members, Spitfire and Union Jack have been sent to guard Churchill. Roosevelt died a natural death, but the Allies don't want any chances taken. Namor is assigned to the Pacific, to help with dealing with the Kamikaze planes. Cap and Bucky are to watch over a drone plane base...
And the Torch/Toro combo have a very important assignment. The Russians are smashing their way through Berlin, and the two are assigned to grab Hitler so he can be tried as a war criminal. The two fly into Germany, where they blast some Nazi planes out of the sky...and get a nasty surprise.
 |
| "Oh, God! The pilot is drunk!" |
Thank goodness for Toro! He's able to rescue his partner, and the story ends with the two flying deeper into Berlin.
I did enjoy this comic, but I frankly don't have a lot to say about it. It's basically a glorified recap episode. It was pretty cool seeing Jim take down the jet plane at the end, though. I do think that it's also cool seeing Hammond's adventures in the 30s and 40s being retold in a more "modern" way. Roy Thomas's love of the character and the era shines, that's for sure.
I did find one interesting continuity error here. You see, this story claims that Cap and Bucky were sent on that fateful mission to guard the drone plane (the one what would presumably kill Bucky and put Cap in suspended animation for decades), but according to Captain America Annual #13 (1994), at the time that the Torch and Toro were going to grab Hitler, Captain America had underwent a mission alongside the Patriot and the Spirit of '76 into Berlin to find Hitler's strongbox. Now, that story was released about four years later, so maybe Roy forgot, or editorial didn't catch it. I personally would have had Cap and Bucky's mission be set after Cap's in the Annual.
And then there's Rich Buckler's art. I can't really explain it, but to me, it has this Golden Age vibe that fits the era.
If you want to read this yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2014 trade paperback Sub-Mariner and the Original Human Torch. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! Stay safe, stay healthy, stay home, wash your hands often, wear a mask, and get your vaccine/booster! See you next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment