Strange Tales #123: Flame On 69 / Flamin' 'Eck 48

Strange Tales #123, page 13, panels 4-6

Strange Tales #123: Flame On 69 / Flamin' 'Eck 48

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

Our look at the debut of The Beetle concludes here. Johnny gets a 'Flame On' so underwhelming that I wonder if anyone involved in that panel remembered that this was a catchphrase. Sam Rosen gets some credit for using a heavier brush stroke for these words, but it barely stands out at all.

More interesting is the unusual use of flame that comes from this, as Johnny creates a ring of fire where the Beetle is burrowing away. The wheel excavates the area, exposing the villain. I'm calling it our because earlier in the story, the Beetle had no problem flying or using the asbestos on his armour to withstand the heat. Here, because there's only one page of story left, he just decides to give up and submit to the teen hero.

Can you imagine how ineffective Zemo's Thunderbolts would have been if he'd have recruited this version of The Beetle?

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #123 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine People Personalities

Strange Tales #123: Flamin' 'Eck 47

Strange Tales #123, page 8, panel 7

Fantasticast Four #29: Flamin' 'Eck 47

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

We're currently recording episodes covering Fantastic Four comics from 1972. Strange Tales is long-gone, and despite the wildly inconsistent quality of Stan Lee's writing during his brief return to the title, a lot of the tropes from the early days of the Fantastic Four are no longer relevant. Whilst I may miss the ridiculous usage of asbestos, I really don't miss the implausible uses of Johnny's powers.

Thankfully nothing in the Air Walker saga is as insane as Johnny deciding to wrap The Beetle in a blanket made of fire to heat him up as opposed to, say, just hurling fire at him. Nice to see that the colouring appears to have been done in felt-tip as well...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #123 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine

We are eligible for nomination in the first UK Podcasters Award, in the Games & Hobbies category. Across the month of July, you can visit http://ukpodcasters.com/directory/podcast/the-fantasticast/ and click the nominate button. You can nominate us once per day between now and the end of the month, and we would be very grateful if you would be able to do this.

Strange Tales #123: It's... ASBESTOS 29

Strange Tales #123, page 7, panel 4

Strange Tales #123: It's... Asbestos 29

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

Ah, asbestos. It seems more appropriate that this should be the feature of our 500th post at this site. It's also one of the more appropriate uses of asbestos. The Beetle is very much a Human Torch villain at this stage in his career, and his suit is designed for combat with our fiery hero. If anyone could sensibly work asbestos into a functional and practical part of his armour, it's Abner Jenkins, one of the Marvel universe's most underrated engineers.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #123 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine People Personalities

Strange Tales #123: Flamin' 'Eck 46

Strange Tales #123, page 6, panel 3

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

We are eligible for nomination in the first UK Podcasters Award, in the Games & Hobbies category. Across the month of July, you can visit http://ukpodcasters.com/directory/podcast/the-fantasticast/ and click the nominate button. You can nominate us once per day between now and the end of the month, and we would be very grateful if you would be able to do this.

Strange Tales #123: Property Damage 28

Strange Tales 123 Property Damage 28

strange tales #123: property damage 28

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

There's so much to talk about today. First of all, this issue of Strange Tales heralds the very brief return of Carl Burgos to the Marvel fold. It wasn't to be a happy reunion. Lee and Burgos did not work well together, and a couple of years down the line, Burgos would see his hopes of owning the Human Torch dashed when Marvel featured him in Fantastic Four Annual #4 just before the copyright expired.

This issue also marks the point where the Thing started appearing consistently in the book, sharing the plots and actions with the Human Torch. Perhaps this was a move by Marvel to rejuvenate the troubled strip, perhaps this was an admission that the Human Torch wasn't the breakout character. Either way, from here to the end, this strip is a two-hander.

There's almost to space for me to mention that The Beetle has broken into a shop to steal the cash register, a loss of a day's takings, whilst The Thing arrived by destroying one of the exterior walls, causing the loss of the entire business to the owner.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #123 on our thirty-second episode: Now With Genuine People Personalities