Uncredited Writers: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber
Uncredited Artist: Jack Kirby
Uncredited Inker: Dick Ayers
Uncredited Letterer: Art Simek
I had a few days away from the blog recently to deal with some personal stuff that came up. I'm back now, and we're still in the middle of Johnny Storm's debut solo strip in Strange Tales. Join me after the jump to find out why Johnny is flaming on.
In Johnny's debut story, the big bad guy is a chap called the Destroyer. No, no the Asgardian death machine. Or the nemesis of Thanos. This guy is the publisher of Glenville's local newspaper, and also a Red spy. Who decides that the best way to bring down the ruling forces of capitalism is to unleash a reign of terror upon the amusement park in a sleepy New York suburb. Who says that Johnny's villains were a mostly pathetic and forgettable bunch?
[By the way, if you even think of describing ZANTE!!! with those words, then we'll have to have a talk. Outside. By the asbestos trashbins.]
Anyway, his first act of terrorism is to make a roller coaster go wrong a bit. So Johnny has to flame on to save him. But wait! This is one of the first 5 solo stories, and Johnny has a secret identity!
[Andrew here, with an incoherent rant. SAADSKJGSDFYGDHG"$£%*%£ADHGSGFJDF"£%$&^(*&(wersFGKJDG!]
So, we have a brilliant preamble where Johnny uses his flame-controlling powers to cause a cigarette lighter to emit huge clouds of black smoke, all in order to mask his transformation from regular, run-of-the-mill teen-ager into world famous member of the Fantastic Four.
Yeah, it's a bit crazy.
Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #101 in our fifth episode: The Strangest Tales Of All
[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_5.mp3]