Strange Tales #101 — Nick Peron

Oct 12

Oct 12 Strange Tales #101

The Human Torch

Johnny Storm and his sister Sue have taken up residence in Glenville, New York, where nobody is aware that they are members of the Fantastic Four. The town has recently begun construction of a new amusement park which has been the target of sabotage, by somebody who has also been sending threatening letters to the local newspaper, calling himself the Destroyer.

Johnny, as the Human Torch, decides to get to the bottom of things and find out why this is happening. He foils a number of acts of sabotage and saves people from getting hurt. His efforts netted him a challenge being issued by the Destroyer through the newspaper. When the Thing arrives to give the Torch some help thinking that Johnny is in over his head, the Torch refuses.

Going to the meeting place, a cabin in the woods, the Torch has his flame doused with a bucket of water and is easily duped by the Destroyer who manages to escape. Johnny later decides to see why the Destroyer is targeting the amusement park. Upon closer inspection, he finds that there is a Soviet submarine off the coast. With the help of the US military, he captures the spies, and the Torch learns the hide out of the Destroyer.

The Torch easily defeats the Destroyer this time and reveals him to be Charles Stanton, editor of the newspaper company which published the Destroyer's letters. He was working for a newspaper to learn what he could about the goings on in America to report back to his superiors, and he targeted the amusement park because its construction near the waterway would have made the Soviet sub visible to others.

Recurring Characters

Human Torch, The Thing, The Destroyer, Mister Fantastic

Continuity Notes

The editor's note states that Johnny's identity as the Human Torch is secret. It is later identified in Human Torch (vol. 2) #1 that Johnny initially tried to brag about being the Human Torch and nobody believed him. The "secret identity" business was all to save his bruised ego until people couldn't deny that he was actually the Human Torch. Strange Tales #106 reveals that everyone knew about Johnny's "double identity" and were just humouring him.

Johnny recaps the origins of the Fantastic Four as the tale was originally told in Fantastic Four #1. The purpose of the space flight and the technology used here are not specified but these facts are subject to the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. Originally in Fantastic Four #1 it is stated that the Fantastic Four were trying to beat the Soviets in the space race. The reasons for this space flight have been changed regularly to fir with the times in Fantastic Four #2, 197, 236, and 358 among others. The most recent telling of the Fantastic Four’s origins in 2019’s History of the Marvel Universe #3 omits any explanation, simply stating that the four were on an “ill fated space mission”. Which is a smart move, saves you the trouble of having to constantly update the origin and this solution only took them almost 60 years!