Strange Tales #108: Flamin' 'Eck 21

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Robert Bernstein

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Terry Szenics

It's flashback time at the Fantastic Flame On. The villain of the piece - The Painter, aka Wilhelm Van Vile - is relating his multi-part origin to the gang of crooks that he's taken up with. Unluckily for him, his origin involves trying to pass off his dodgy counterfeit banknotes on a teenage boy in a bookstore, taking him hostage when his forgeries fail. Why unluckily? Because that young man was none other than The Human Torch.

So, at the flashback-crooks' hideout, Johnny reveals himself and restrains the criminals in a hoop of fire. Once again, Johnny decides that his fire is substantial and self-renewing enough to provide an extended period of incarceration. And, once again, those caught in his fiery prison believe this as well.

Fools.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #108 on our twelfth episode: HYPNOFISH!!!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_12.mp3]

Strange Tales #108: Flamin' 'Eck 20

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Robert Bernstein

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Terry Szenics

Oh dear. Four posts from three pages of material. I suspect Strange Tales #108 is going to divert our attention for a while...`

Is it me or is there something ridiculously archaic about robbing a masked society ball, stuffing the loot into oversized bags that really need to have the word 'swag' written on them? It reminds me somewhat of the Dennis Moore sketches in Monty Python's Flying Circus. (Skip to 5:50 for the exact scene, but the entire sketch is a blast)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLkhx0eqK5w

Anyway, Johnny deals with these crooks in the only logical way - using his flame as giant scissors to gut the necks of the sacks. Not burn them. Cut them. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to suppress a rant about the physical properties of fire...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #108 on our twelfth episode: HYPNOFISH!!!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_12.mp3]

Strange Tales #107: Flamin' 'Eck 19

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Given that there are people with serious nut allergies who have less severe reactions than Johnny does to water in later issues of Strange Tales, it does seem rather unlikely that even with his nova blast going, he would be able to dive into the sea for several minuets without his flame going out.

But that's not what today's panel is really about. It's been two issues since Dick Ayers has assumed both pencilling and inking duties for this book, and yesterday's panel and today's really highlight the differences between his art and that of Jack Kirby. The biggest criticism that can be levelled at Ayers is the lack of detail in his art. Other than in the light patterns on Namor's hair, pretty much everything in this panel is rendered with one thickness of line, a pretty heavy one. Johnny and his flame are depicted in outline only, and the previous panel only used a few sparse triangles to suggest his all-over body flame. When compared to Jack Kirby being inked by Steve Ditko in Fantastic Four  this very month, there really is no competition - Jack wins out by a country mile.

That's not to say that I don't like Dick Ayers - in the context of the Sgt Fury comic, on which he would again replace Jack Kirby, his artwork strikes a deft balances between miltaristic realism and great cartoon influences on the characters, each face saying as much about the personality of the Howlers as Stan's hilarious dialogue. However, there he was normally inked by someone else, suggesting that he had the time to put the detail into his pencils. Here, assuming double-duty, his artwork falls short of what Kirby had established for the Fantastic Four and Strange Tales.

Fantastic Four #12: Flamin' 'Eck 18

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Come on Reed, get stretchin'! Johnny's crazy power usage is getting out of control!

And if we ever needed an explanation of why Johnny's power usage could be classed as 'unlikely', then this is it. Banner's assistant has dropped his wallet on the floor, and instead of walking over to it and picking it up, Johnny decides to try and use a 'flaming lasso' trick that he's been thinking of.

It really is rather lucky that instead of setting fire to the flammable wallet and incinerating everything within, Johnny manages to pick it up from afar and bring it over to him. The reason for this being lucky? Without the evidence contained within (a Communist party membership card, making the assistant a literal card-carrying Communist), the finger of suspicion would never have moved away from the Hulk.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #12 in our tenth episode: Hulk? Smash!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Fantasticast_Episode_10_Final.mp3]

Fantastic Four #12: Flamin' 'Eck 17

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Reed's gonna have to get his body a-stretchin' if he doesn't want to be overtaken by his young companion for the second time. By my count, one more inexplicably unlikely application of Johnny's powers will put him tied with Reed for second place on this blog, behind his catchphrase.

Of course, you could argue that it wouldn't be close if I didn't include imaginary instances, such as this one where Johnny tries to counter Ben's delusions of Hulk-smashing with the idea that his flame is substantial enough to prevent the Hulk from walking through it, and that he's intelligent enough to design a maze that the Hulk could not escape from. But it's because he believes that such a plan would be a success that this instance gets included.

I can't be held responsible for Johnny being a moron even in his own mind...

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #12 in our tenth episode: Hulk? Smash!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Fantasticast_Episode_10_Final.mp3]

Strange Tales #105: Flamin' 'Eck 16

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

There comes a point when you look at panel after panel of inconsistent, scientifically implausible and, occasionally, downright lazy uses of Johnny's powers when you really struggle to come up with new and interesting ways to look at them. I could point out how ridiculous it is that Johnny can create a flaming saw that cuts - not burns - through the ceiling, causing the plaster to fall onto The Wizard's head. But you're not an unintelligent reader, far from it. Why point out the obvious?

I could talk about the overly slapstick nature of the action here, Stan and/or Jack had watched one too many Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote cartoons. I could talk about it being a weak and unsatisfactory conclusion to a story which did not do a good job of persuading the reader that The Wizard makes for a strong recurring villain. But I think I'll just point out that it's a bit crap, and move on to the next issue tomorrow.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #105 on our ninth episode: Episode 9 - Patriotic Pedestrians Proceeding from Planet Poppup Prefer Poorly Produced Podcasts!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_9.mp3]

Strange Tales #105: Flamin' 'Eck 15

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Today's madness comes courtesy of Moffatt's Own-Brand Patented Wibbly-Wobbly Timey-Wimey.

Two panels previously, The Wizard announced that Sue and Johnny had 10 seconds before the bomb went off. One panel previously, Sue noted that there were only 7 seconds to go. That means that in under 7 seconds, Johnny has come up with the idea of the flame catapult, put the bomb into it, and shot it up into the sky, all the while rushing through  about 9 seconds worth of dialogue in the four seconds allotted to the first panel shown.

And let's be clear: That's not a catapult that Johnny uses. It's a vertical cannon. With its own little flame supports to stop it from falling over. That are made from solid flame...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #105 on our ninth episode: Episode 9 - Patriotic Pedestrians Proceeding from Planet Poppup Prefer Poorly Produced Podcasts!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_9.mp3]

Strange Tales #105: Flamin' 'Eck 14

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Goodness gracious, great ball of fire!

Yeah, I fell about as good about making that joke as you do about reading it...

So, in The Wizard's asbestos-lined dungeon cell, there are multiple nozzles releasing nerve gas. Because having  a teenager hack up his own lungs in incredible, searing pain whilst dying in front of a pube-chinned genius psychopath would possibly contravene the Comics Code Authority, Stan and/or Jack as to come up with a way to allow Johnny to survive.

So, what he does is create an impenetrable dome of fire to prevent the gas from reaching him. What I'm challenging here is not the implausibility of the flame defeating the gas - it's very conceivable that intense heat would do something to the gas to negate its lethal qualities - but that Johnny have the intelligence to be able to make such a move in stressful conditions. As Andy has pointed out on numerous occasions, Johnny is a couple of brain cells short of an intelligence...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #105 on our ninth episode: Episode 9 - Patriotic Pedestrians Proceeding from Planet Poppup Prefer Poorly Produced Podcasts!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_9.mp3]

Strange Tales #105: Flamin' 'Eck 13

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Ah, it's another flame duplicate. My favourite power usage.

Actually, this one's not too bad. Unlike previous uses, which have seen near-sentient duplicates battle villains, or follow them wherever they go, this one is designed to be a brief distraction and does nothing other than stand around. Of course, there's the matter of what fuel is being used to keep the fire burning, but answers to such questions are in very short supply.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #11 on our ninth episode: Episode 9 - Patriotic Pedestrians Proceeding from Planet Poppup Prefer Poorly Produced Podcasts!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_9.mp3]

Strange Tales #104: Flamin' 'Eck 12

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

More craziness with ire today as we bid farewell to the flame duplicate and reveal Paste Pot Pete's true skill.

Johnny's caught up with Paste Pot Pete's truck after he's arrived at an army base and used paste - the supreme weapon - to hijack a missile. Once it's been launched. As the panel show, Johnny dissolves his duplicate, turning it into flaming spears that he hurls at Pete's truck's wheels.

A complete waste of time, frankly, as Paste Pot Pete's driving skills with a laden, top-heavy truck would put the Stig to shame, He effortlessly turns on a sixpence (dime for you lovely Americans) and avoids every single spear. With skills like that, surely he could have made a decent living as a stunt driver rather than devoting his life to trying to convince the world that paste is the supreme weapon.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #104 on our eighth episode: Don! Don! Don! Don-Don-Don! Don-Don-Don!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_8.mp3]

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Strange Tales #104: Flamin' 'Eck 11

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Today, we prove that Stan and Jack are better than Montgomery Scott as the laws o' physics are changed before your very eyes!

Remember yesterday how I said that Johnny's flame duplicate was more than a mere distraction? Today we find out how.

Compelled by some unknown force, the duplicate gives chase to Paste-Pot Pete, following him wherever he goes. Burning without fuel, tracking without any form of sentience to guide him, this duplicate really can do it all. Oh, and he also leaves a heat trail behind him that Johnny is able to follow.

I guess it's lucky that it wasn't very windy that day, allowing the heated air molecules to hang more or less in the space they occupied as the flame duplicate passed them, allowing for Johnny's leisurely pursuit of his double. Because, as we all know from watching cop shows on TV where they use infra red cameras to track heat signatures, everything that generates heat leaves large heat trails behind them as they move.

On the podcast, we're over twenty issues ahead of the blog, and I am so very glad to say that this category, Flamin' 'Eck gets rarer and rarer as the books progress into the mid-1960s.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #104 on our eighth episode: Don! Don! Don! Don-Don-Don! Don-Don-Don!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_8.mp3]

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Strange Tales #104: Flamin' 'Eck 10

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

More flaming craziness, as we get the return of flame duplicates.As luck would have it, Johnny's in the bank when Paste-Pot Pete makes his first appearance as a villain. Of course, thanks to his secret identity, he can't just flame on and apprehend the crook. So, instead, he uses his finger to create a thin stream of flame that he sends forth into a flame duplicate, which hounds Paste-Pot Pete.

It's no more nuts than any use of flame duplicates beyond a not-very-convincing mirage effect, although you really do have to wonder how the duplicate manages to follow Pete as well as it does. Unless Pete did nothing but run in a straight line. Which, considering his intelligence levels in these early stories, isn't completely inconceivable.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #104 on our eighth episode: Don! Don! Don! Don-Don-Don! Don-Don-Don!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_8.mp3]

Follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook for a chance to win digital copies of every Marvel NOW Fantastic Four and FF title!

Fantastic Four #10: Flamin' 'Eck 9

Script: Stan Lee

Pencilling: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Uncredited Lettering: Art Simek

Today's triptych of panels sees one of the most ridiculous uses of Johnny's powers seen to date. And that's saying something! Confused by the bodyswap, Johnny, Ben and Sue need to find a way to prove which Reed is the real one. What Johnny decides to do is to use the abilities of heat to create a mirage of a stick of dynamite. And nothing else.

Sadly, this trick fools both Doom and Reed, proving conclusively that the superior intellect is... Johnny.

Even sadder is the fact that without a category to put it into, Doom's delusions of alternate evolution, where dinosaurs didn't outgrow their brains and evolved into spacesuit-wearing astrosaurs, sadly go unrecorded by this blog.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #10 on our eighth episode: Don! Don! Don! Don-Don-Don! Don-Don-Don!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_8.mp3]

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Fantastic Four #10: Flamin' 'Eck 8

Script: Stan Lee

Pencilling: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Uncredited Lettering: Art Simek

More imaginary heat-based hi-jinks today!Still in Johnny's imagination, which is more than a couple of leaps away from reality, we see that Johnny's understanding of how his powers work is still a little lacking. Yes, he may be able to fashion a cage out of flame to restrain Doom, but he'd never be able to sustain it for an extended period of time.

Silly bugger.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #10 on our eighth episode: Don! Don! Don! Don-Don-Don! Don-Don-Don!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_8.mp3]

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Fantastic Four #10: Flamin' 'Eck 7

Script: Stan Lee

Pencilling: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers 

Uncredited Lettering: Art Simek

I'm pushing it today by including this panel. Details after the jump.

So, yes, I'm in two minds about this. On the one hand, I'm not sure I should be including imaginary instances of tropes. Here, Johnny imagines how he might use his powers to restrain the not-so-good Doctor Doom. On the other hand, he clearly believes that he can carve a moat around an island and fill it with everlasting flame to keep Doom confined to his (presumably asbestos) tent.

Whilst Johnny's stupidity isn't a subject of this blog (we'd be here forever if it was), his lack of sense when it comes to his powers arguably is, hence this panel's inclusion.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #10 on our eighth episode: Don! Don! Don! Don-Don-Don! Don-Don-Don!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_8.mp3]

And check back with us tomorrow for the launch of our first ever competition!

Fantastic Four #10: Flamin' 'Eck 6

Script: Stan Lee

Pencilling: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Uncredited Lettering: Art Simek

Boy, page 2 of this issue is a real gold mine for this blog. It's reference-a-riffic!

I hinted at this a couple of posts ago - Johnny's ability to melt things without generating heat. Now, whilst there are things which do melt easily with only minor changes in heat in the immediate surrounding area - check out an ice-cube any time you like - there is no way I am being sold on Johnny melting his way through the lock on the door without generating enough heat to do something nasty to the atomic pile powering that lock.

This clearly smacks of Stan skimming through a science article, possibly on a theoretical topic, and deciding to drop it into the story both as a way of showing how up to date with science that Marvel was, and of attempting to give Marvel comics credibility.

Not a fan.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #9 on our seventh episode: Don! Don! Don! Don-Don-Don! Don-Don-Don!

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_8.mp3]

Strange Tales #103 - Flamin' 'Eck 5

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

It turns out I got the job. And I started the job. Which has meant no posting for a little while. But now I know what my work schedule will be like, I'm hoping to use the wonders of scheduling posts to keep the blog on track.Regular readers and listeners to the show will know by now that one of my least favourite aspects of early Fantastic Four comics is the way that Johnny's flame appears to be fairly nebulous in its properties. Sometimes it manages to burn things without being hot. Sometimes it burns through asbestos. Most common of all, however, is the way that the flame adopts unusual physical properties and an everlasting burning capacity despite the lack of fuel.

Today's panel is a perfect example of this. Johnny constructs a flame cage to keep the dictator of the Dimension, Zemu, imprisoned. The flame cage burns through numerous panels, without Johnny doing anything to maintain it or there being a fuel base. The flame has a physical property that prevents Zemu from running through it with minimal injury. And the flame burns cool enough to not cause burn damage to Zemu, who is mere inches away from the flames.

It's all a little bit too unbelievable for me...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #103 on our seventh episode: S(&)M Studios

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_7.mp3]

Strange Tales #103: Flamin' 'Eck 4

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: Larry Lieber

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

After a short break to allow for preparation for a job interview, we're back, with gusto. And awful puns.

So, today's panels see Johnny perform a trick more suited to The Flash or Superman. He flies in a concentrated circle, causing a destructive tornado to form.

Now, Superman and The Flash, I can buy. They have speed on their side, making it at least feasible that they could achieve the speeds necessary to generate the tornado without getting dizzy. But Johnny only has flight and heat working for him. He isn't physically capable of flying fast enough to drag the air around with him and create a localised and forceful weather system.

Thankfully, Johnny won't pull this particular stunt very often.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #103 on our seventh episode: S(&)M Studios

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_7.mp3]

P.S. I got the job :)

Fantastic Four #9: Flamin' 'Eck 3

Script: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Today, we return to the category that covers Johnny's unlikely use of his flame powers. If you've listened to the show, you'll have an idea of where this post is going...

I am not a fan of the idea that Johnny can use his flames to create an accurate duplicate of himself that can fool pretty much anybody. It stems from the idea of a heat mirage, but there's a difference between a mirage and, as we see here, the best part of a dozen duplicates all acting independently, confusing multiple tribesmen each of who has a different viewpoint.

And if he's actually doing this, then Johnny gives himself away by being the only one monologuing. The tribe is fireproof, not deaf...

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #9 on our seventh episode: S(&)M Studios

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_7.mp3]

Strange Tales #101: Flamin' 'Eck 2

Uncredited Writers: Stan Lee, Larry Lieber

Uncredited Artist: Jack Kirby

Uncredited Inker: Dick Ayers

Uncredited Letterer: Art Simek

I trust that if you've been listening to the show for any length of time, you'll have an idea of where today's commentary is going...

I really dislike the idea of Johnny being able to create and control flame duplicates. It's one of those things that crosses the line from 'acceptable Silver Age goofiness' into 'downright stupid'. In fact, combine this with Johnny's desire to protect his secret identity, and you have possibly one of most ridiculous sequences in the entirety of Johnny's Strange Tales adventures.

Johnny's smug expression in the final panel at tricking the crowd with the equivalent of inflating a life-size balloon replica of himself and letting it float free just sums up how misguided the whole thing is.

As this is the last entry for this comic, I would be remiss if I moved on without briefly mentioning the climax of the story. The saboteur, obsessed with destroying tall fairground attractions, is the local newspaper editor and a communist spy, eager to cover his tracks because he's stupidly chosen a spot right by the fairground to hand over secrets to the crew of a Red submarine. There are so many things I could go for, so I'll simply ask what kind of secrets might there be in a sleepy New York suburb that Russia would commit a submarine to ensuring their safe passage?

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]