Strange Tales #118: Flamin' 'Eck 40 / It's... ASBESTOS 21

Strange Tales #118, page 9, panel 3

strange tales #118: flamin' 'eck 40 / it's... asbestos!!! 21

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

It's a two-fer, which is always fun. Kidnapped by The Wizard, Johnny and Sue find themselves trapped in a cell. Johnny manifests a guided fireball to orbit the room, looking for an air opening. Not only is this fairly silly, but the fireball exposes the fact that they are trapped in The Wizard's asbestos cell, previously seen in Strange Tales #102. Of course, in that comic, Johnny burst his way out of there, seemingly wrecking the joint, but I guess Bentley's been using some of his time since escaping from prison to rebuild and reinforce.

If you're wondering why Sue has a plastic bag over head, it's actually her force-field to protect her from the heat of the fireball. Of course, if there was no suitable air supply and the fireball was burning hotly enough to harm Sue, then the available oxygen in the room would have been consumed pretty quickly...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #118 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Strange Tales #118: Flamin' 'Eck 39

Strange Tales #118, page 1, panel 3

strange tales #118: flamin' 'eck 39

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

The flaming nuttiness continues, as Johnny spins a flaming bullseye target in the sky, and flies right through it. It's at times like this that I'm very glad I'm not one of Johnny's neighbours in Glendale. I really don't think I could afford to coat every flammable item in asbestos, yet not having done that and seeing Johnny pull stunts like this would hardly give me peace of mind.

Johnny's paraphrasing the old maxim that old soldiers never die, they just fade away. What a wonderful coincidence that he should come up with such wisdom the page before the Wizard returns, in a story promoted as featuring the return of the Wizard. It's almost like he's reading his own comics...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #118 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Strange Tales #118: Flamin' Eck 38

Strange Tales #118, page 1, panel 1

strange tales #118: flamin' 'eck 38

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

It's another first page/panel from Strange Tales, somewhere that is becoming the natural place to showcase the Human Torch in all of his glory. I rather like this one, Ayers' depiction of Johnny Storm has something elfin about him, both in the face and in the way he holds his body. There's a lot of energy to this panel, and it's one of the best examples of Ayers both pencilling and inking.

What's less great is the way Johnny's fire balls are bouncing off the target. Either that target should be in flames, or, more sensibly, the target should have a hole for a bullseye for the fireballs to pass through.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #118 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Fantastic Four #24: Flamin' 'Eck 37

Fantastic Four #24, page 14, panel 7

fantastic four #24: flamin' 'eck 37

Lovingly written by Stan Lee

Tenderly drawn by Jack Kirby

Heroically inked by George Roussos

Neatly lettered by Sam Rosen

It feels like forever since we've seen Johnny attempt to use his flame as a non-lethal, non-incendiary, completely-solid method of restraining someone. Arguably, the crook pictured isn't terrified because he's going to be caught and sent to jail, but because he's being surrounded with ever-burning fire and that every sense in his body is expecting immolation at any second.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #24 on our twenty-fourth episode: An Enfant Terrible Is Not Literally A Terrible Infant

Fantastic Four #23: Flamin' 'Eck 36

Written by: Stan Lee

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: S. Rosen

The fight between Johnny and Ben over who would make a better leader of the Fantastic Four continues, with Johnny pulling this particularly unusual move. He generates a gigantic cold-flame fly swatter.

Now, I could go on about the physical properties of flame, that attempting to move fire itself that quickly through the air is most likely going to dissipate the flames, but what's more interesting is the description Stan gives the fly swatter: Cold flame. Did he feel that having Johnny directly attacking Ben with super-hot fire was a step too far, and inserted a quick description to keep things on the 'friendly tussle' side?

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #23 on our twenty-third episode: (Asbestos) Grease Is The Word

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_23.mp3]

Amazing Spider-Man #8: Flamin' 'Eck 35

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: Steve Ditko

Lettered by: S. Rosen

The completely spurious battle continues, with Jack and Steve using visual imagination to create interesting-looking things for the two heroes do, and Stan doing his best to keep up (and over-writing a little).

It's the flaming buzzsaws, a slightly more reasonable use of Johnny's powers. These are, for all intents and purposes, fireballs with a different shape. No homing abilities, no fancy flame colours, and no intelligence. It almost - but not quite - gets a pass from me. Just how does he prevent the flames from losing the definition on the teeth of the blades?

Check out our coverage of Amazing Spider-Man #8 on our twenty-second episode: Going Underground.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_22.mp3]

Strange Tales #113: Flamin' 'Eck 34

Story plot: Stan Lee

Script: Jerry Siegel

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

If you were a hero who could generate fire across his entire body, and you found yourself up against sentient plants and trees, how would you apply your powers to the situation?

Would you:

A. go nova and incinerate any vegetable matter in a 50 yard radius, leaving the mad gardener with nothing to take control of?

B: Launch a fireball into the sky to evaporate all of the moisture out of the plants in an instant, without ever causing anything to catch fire, especially not all the dried leaves that would suddenly appear?

I know what you would choose, I know what Johnny chose, and sadly, the two are incompatible.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #113 on our eighteenth episode: Pharoahs And Plants, Spiders And Soldiers

[audio FF_Episode_18.mp3]

Strange Tales #112: Flamin' 'Eck 33

Story plot: Stan Lee

Script: Jerry Siegel

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

I wonder if Johnny has ever stopped to think about his powers, as well as the basic properties of fire and heat. He clearly seems to think that his giant flaming dome will project heat rays downwards, forcing the helicopter to land, betraying the fact that he has no idea that heat rises.

I don't blame Johnny, I blame the high school teachers in Glendale. They're the ones who have clearly failed to instil basic physics into Johnny. Education in the 1950s was clearly lacking.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #112 on our seventeenth episode: No Funny Title Springs To Mind

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_17.mp3]

Strange Tales #112: Flamin' 'Eck 32

Story plot: Stan Lee

Script: Jerry Siegel

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

Equipped with a device to pick up the Eel's body vibrations and thus locate him before he turns Marvel's faux-Riverdale into a smoking pit in the ground, Johnny emits a tracer fireball. That is, a fireball that will follow these vibrations and home in on him.

Er... right... How much is the Eel vibrating, exactly? Most people could put their hands on a wall and never feel the vibrations that they give off. So how exactly is a non-sensory ball of fire supposed to pick up the vibrations of an individual who could be over a mile away? Who knows?

Jerry sure doesn't...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #112 on our seventeenth episode: No Funny Title Springs To Mind

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_17.mp3]

Strange Tales #112: Flamin' 'Eck 31

Story plot: Stan Lee

Script: Jerry Siegel

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

"There!" cries Johnny. "A blazing version of Niagara Falls!" But the crowd give him nothing but dirty stares, presumably because the idea of flames falling out of the sky towards them overrides any appreciation they may have had towards his artistic abilities.

And yes, either Jerry Siegel or Sam Rosen have a particular problem spelling the name of the most famous US/Canadian waterfall attraction...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #112 on our seventeenth episode: No Funny Title Springs To Mind

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_17.mp3]

Strange Tales #112: Flamin' 'Eck 30

Story plot: Stan Lee

Script: Jerry Siegel

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

Let's deal with the elephant in the room first. The script for this issue and the next  of Strange Tales was written, from notes by Stan, by Jerry Siegel (credited as Joe Carter). An unfortunate figure at this time, Siegel was routinely abused by Mort Weisinger at DC, his work help up for ridicule in the offices. As suggested by Marvel Comics: The Untold Story, Stan gave Jerry these assignments almost out of pity for the creator who kick-started superhero comics. We rather liked this issue, we weren't such a fan of the next.

Things start off with Johnny irritating everyone in Glendale by constantly showing off, exhibiting ADHD tendencies long before such a condition would become well-known. These panels get included for the idea that concentric rings of fire would burn away in the air for any time at all, remaining perfectly stationary.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #112 on our seventeenth episode: No Funny Title Springs To Mind

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_17.mp3]

Strange Tales Annual #2: Flamin' 'Eck 29 (WTF Spidey Edition)

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Steve Ditko

Lettering: Art Simek

So, how does Spider-Man deal with Johnny's flame duplicates? Why, by using his super-speed to run away really fast. And not in a straight line, either. Why run very quickly in one direction when you can rapidly change direction for no real reason at all.

Seriously, super speed? I know Spider-Man was a fairly new character at this point, but with the series artist providing inks, and the series writer writing, did nobody think to send the pages back to Jack with a polite 'thank, but no thanks' and a request for a redraw?

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales Annual #2 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals. It's the one where Steve walks out over the utter ridiculousness of the story, leaving the show in the hands of Andrew and guest-host Jon M. Wilson.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Strange Tales Annual #2: Flamin' 'Eck 29

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Steve Ditko

Lettering: Art Simek

What have I done to deserve this? I've stated time and time again that my least favourite crazy power of Johnny's is to create fire duplicates of himself to confuse an enemy (or, once, to track an enemy). Here, he not only does this, but he states the plan - to confuse Spider-Man. Presumably this will work until Spidey hits one of them and his fists pass right through them. Of course, if Johnny doesn't shut up, it'll be pretty easy to work out which is the real one.

Thankfully Johnny is the only person displaying crazy powers in this issue and there definitely won't be a post tomorrow detailing Spider-Man's new powers.

Oh no.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales Annual #2 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals. It's the one where Steve walks out over the utter ridiculousness of the story, leaving the show in the hands of Andrew and guest-host Jon M. Wilson.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Strange Tales Annual #2: Flamin' 'Eck 28

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Steve Ditko

Lettering: Art Simek

It's training day at the start of this annual, and a rare Sue and Johnny scene. Considering they're brother and sister, surprisingly little time is given to this relationship, to the two characters interacting as siblings, rather than as heroes or team-members. It's a source of drama and story that future writers would mine far more successfully than Lee and Kirby. Of course, Sue refuses to acknowledge this relationship, referring to her brother as 'Torch'.

But all of that aside, we're here to take a look at Johnny's training. See how he successfully shapes his flame into that of a key. Presumably the right key, as well. Marvel at how his flame totally doesn't melt the tumblers and pins into molten slag, forever buggering up the locking mechanism, and most likely incinerating whatever was inside the safe.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales Annual #2 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals. It's the one where Steve walks out over the utter ridiculousness of the story, leaving the show in the hands of Andrew and guest-host Jon M. Wilson.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Flamin' 'Eck 27

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Even more Johnny, as we kick off another year of semi-regular bursts of posting!

Here, the idea is that Johnny has enough raw power and control over his flame to be able to burst down through quite a deep part of the ocean to a dormant undersea volcano, heating it up until it explodes. The resulting explosion showers Namor with rock and lava, giving Johnny an advantage in the fight.

Again, this is one of those uses of flame powers where I struggle to find a starting point with the ridiculousness of it all. How does Johnny know exactly where the volcano is? How can a hero who struggles with a light coating of dew summon enough power to blast down through a large volume of water (Namor has a submarine, so it can't be shallow water) as well as rock to cause the volcano to erupt? How does he justify the environmental impact of a forced volcanic explosion?

As we've become rather fond of saying on the show... it makes no sense!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Flamin' 'Eck 26

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

More Johnny today, as he continues to use his flaming powers in ways that defy belief, credibility, and science.

He's on the search for Namor, who has kidnapped Sue. Needing to locate a submersible device beneath the ocean, Johnny remembers how Reed had showed him how to create a probing device with his flame. Presumably, the idea is to use his heat in a similar fashion to the use of sound in sonar and radar devices.

This sort of makes sense - both heat and sound radiate outwards from their point of origin. Both react to the presence of objects in their path, either reducing their passage or obstructing it totally. And both reflect off various surfaces. So, initially, this doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Johnny could be detecting the reflection of his own heat to identify where Namor's sub is.

But what is he using to detect those reflections? I see no measuring equipment, and Johnny's yet to display any evidence of being able to sense heat, especially when the reflected heat, through water, is going to be less intense than the heat being emitted.

No, sorry Johnny, even with Reed backing you up there, it just doesn't make sense.

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four Annual #1: Flamin' 'Eck 25

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

We're shifting the focus to Johnny again today, as he joins in with the fight against Namor. And his brilliant idea is to throw a number of fireballs at Namor, presumably so that they hover around him, prevent movement.  Unless, as the illustration shows, he decides to step forward.

Other than Johnny's lack of perception regarding three dimensions, what bugs me the most about this is the idea that he can control over a dozen individual fireballs, holding them in place and causing them to burn for a sustained period of time. And by bugs, I clearly mean 'annoys me for the purposes of writing this post, but will never be thought of again once I hit the publish button.'

Don't forget to let us know your feel-good Fantastic Four reading experiences!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four Annual #1 on our sixteenth episode: The Best Of Annuals, The Worst Of Annuals.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_16.mp3]

Fantastic Four #17: Flamin' 'Eck 24

 

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

After a couple of weeks break from the show and the blog, I'm back, ready to pick up where I left off. Sadly, it looks like I get to pick up with one of the most ridiculous uses of Johnny's flame powers ever seen.

Flame duplicates, sadly, are not a new thing at this point. They've been used before, sometimes as mirages, sometimes as homing devices, sometimes as seemingly sentient duplicates. But here they get completely out of control: Johnny reveals that when Doctor Doom thought he had obliterated the male members of the team with his power spheres, he had in fact only destroyed three flame replicas. Who moved individually, didn't show any sign of being comprised of fire, and most of all, who managed to fool Doctor Doom.

I'm not buying this at all, and it's a damn good thing that Johnny's flame duplicates are soon going to flicker away into the darkness, (almost) never to return.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #17 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_15.mp3]

Fantastic Four #17: Flamin' 'Eck 23

Story: Stan Lee

Art: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Thankfully, the comic-reading malaise lasts as long as it takes for a flashback scene to recap recent events, and then the team are off to look for Doom. Strangely enough, they decide that the only place he can be is in New York, so they head off to partake in some highly ineffective searching.

Heat Sonar is Johnny's useless contribution to the search. Forgetting that Doom's metallic armour is far more likely to absorb the heat than reflect it, that the temperature of his heat rays will drop the further they get from his body, and that he has no process or ability to distinguish the heat reflection of one person from the next, Johnny effectively wastes his time  and power floating uselessly above the streets of New York.

Don't forget to let us know your favourite under-rated Fantastic Four stories!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #17 on our fifteenth episode: Whence Came The Man of Asbestos

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_15.mp3]

Strange Tales #110: Flamin' 'Eck 22

Plot: Stan Lee

Script: HE Huntley (Ernie Hart)

Art: Dick Ayers

Letterer: John Duffy

Well, that was fast.

We close on a flaming lasso as Johnny apprehends the Wizard and Paste-Pot Pete. Sadly, as they couldn't be categorised, we had no way of looking at the four pages of flashback that padded out this story. Or the bit where the Wizard decided that the best thing to use to defeat a teenager whose power is to ignite himself is a concentrated blast of pure oxygen. Or the other crazy bit where he claims that he can dissolve oxygen from the atmosphere.

Don't forget to let us know your favourite under-rated Fantastic Four stories!

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #110 on our fourteenth episode: The Return of Doctor Doom

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/Episode_14.mp3]