Essential Human Torch

Rating:
Summary: THE TORCH GOES SOLO
Review: I've always found it strange that the Human Torch was among the first Marvel Characters to get his own solo adventures, even if it wasn't completely his own title. Appearing in Strange Tales 101 in November of 1962, this was not even a year after the debut of Fantastic Four #1. I guess Stan must have really liked the Torch since he was a holdover from the Golden Age even though it's not the SAME character.

These very early Marvel stories from the early to mid-1960's are pretty simplistic and crude. The Torch battles a fairly ridiculous array of villians like The Beetle, Paste-Pot pete, The Eel, Plantman, etc...but there were still some interesting team-ups that included his teammate The Thing, Spider-man and Iceman.

This Volume which collects Strange Tales 101 - 134 collects all of the 12 page stories that appeared in those pages as well as Annual #2. The Stories are by Stan Lee, Pencilled by the Great Jack Kirby and inked by his long-time partner Dick Ayers. These are marvel comics of a simpler time...owing more to the Golden Age than to the revolutionary comics that Marvel would be making in just a few year.

Great nostalgic fun!