Plot: Stan Lee
Story: H. Huntley
Art: Dick Ayers
Lettering: S. Harold
We're back to Strange Tales today, in a story that features the debut of a villain that seems completely natural to appear in this strip, and one who really should have gone on to be the Human Torch's greatest nemesis: The Asbestos Man!
A brilliant scientist who felt his talents were going unappreciated, the Asbestos Man attempted to steal from the company's safe, only to overlook the presence of an alarm. A chance encounter on the street made him realise that if he were to defeat the Human Torch, criminals might want to share their expertise with him.
Thus, he takes normal sheets of asbestos and chemically treats them to make them extra... asbestos-y... Clad in the material, he prepares to do battle with the Torch.
Of course, he's a completely ridiculous villain, encased in a suit that is far more likely to do him harm than anything the Human Torch could do to him, and stupid enough to not even consider the presence of an alarm on a safe. It's not surprising he barely resurfaced following this issue...
Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #111 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos
[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_15.mp3]