Plot: Stan Lee
Script: Larry Lieber
Art: Dick Ayers
Lettering: Art Simek
It's a shame the remit of this blog doesn't allow me to cover the brief trend for giving Namor ridiculous powers that started with this issue. Just prior to today's panel, Namor was seen hurtling unstoppably towards an iceberg. To survive, he employed the powers of a puffer fish and inflated his body to three times its original size, embedding himself in the ice. He then shrank down to his normal size and easily escaped. Yes, he was pretty much Aquaman crossed with Animal Man.
Namor is scavenging around for things to use in his battle with the Torch. He grabs a statue from an ancient Atlantean ruin, and a torn bit of asbestos, presumably from an ancient Atlantean insulated wall. The statue is to mesmerise the Torch, the asbestos to wrap around his fist so that he might wail on the teenager without burning his knuckles.
Its origins aside, this is probably one of the most sensible uses of asbestos seen so far.
And as an aside, I really like Dick Ayers' depiction of Namor in this panel. It's very recognisably Namor without being a carbon-copy of Jack Kirby's rendition.
Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #107 in our eleventh episode: Red? Yes! Communist? Yes! Russian? No!
[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_11.mp3]