Written by: Stan Lee
Drawn by: Jack Kirby
Inking: Steve Ditko
Lettering: Art Simek
I walked out of the coverage of this annual in protest at the levels of ridiculousness achieved in the story. Of all the issues of Strange Tales, this is the one I want to re-read the least. And so, I'm sitting here, writing about this panel without a single clue as to why Spider-Man and the Torch are ready to beat the tar out of each other.
I think it's something to do with a bank robber, but let's face it, there are more than enough of those even in the nascent Marvel universe. I was reading Daredevil #25-26 and Amazing Spider-Man #46 for my ancillary reading for the show, and in all three issues we get super-villain origins that involve breaking into safes or bank vaults.
Anyway, there's some sort of tenuous plot that leads to Johnny crying out his catchphrase.
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]