strange tales #123: flamin' 'eck 46
Written by: Stan Lee ('Nuff Said)
Illustrated by: Carl Burgos (Who was first to draw The Torch, way back in the Golden Age of Comics)
Inked by: Darlin' Dick Ayers
Lettered by: Smilin' Sam Rosen
It was a bit hard to work out where this one was going. The Beetle decides to defend himself against the Thing's wall-based attack by picking up a pot of hot soup, which was casually simmering away, and hurling it at Ben. Johnny decides to step in and, instead of evaporating the soup with his flame, he instead chooses to absorb the heat from the water, making it cold.
It's an unusual choice, and depicted poorly by Burgos. Is that soup, or is it lava? Is it heading for Johnny, to extinguish his flame, or to Ben, to presumably burn him? Either way, battling against a vat of Campbell's Condensed hardly makes for one of the most riveting Human Torch battles.
Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #123 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine People Personalities
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