Fantastic Four #25: Flame On 61

Fantastic Four #25, page 7, panel 7

fantastic four #25: flame on 61

Sensational Story by: Stan Lee

Astonishing Art by: Jack Kirby

Incredible Inking by: George Roussos

Lighthearted Lettering by: S. Rosen

After such a long time, I'm finally starting to hit panels from the final comics covered in our first year. Fantastic Four #25 is the first of a two-part story pitting the Incredible (and title-less) Hulk against pretty much the entire Marvel universe that exists at this point. The plot involves the Hulk deciding to travel to New York to seek revenge on The Avengers for fighting him in the early issues of their title, and drawing the attention of the Fantastic Four along the way.

It all starts here as Johnny, flying Reed in the Fantasticar across town to a hospital, notices the Hulk's path of destruction, and heroically dives into battle with a glorious and selfless 'Flame On'.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #25 on our twenty-fifth episode: It'll Be Our Little Secret, with special guest-host Michael Bailey

Fantastic Four #24: Flame On 60

Fantastic Four #24, page 22, panel 4

fantastic four #24: flame on 60

Lovingly written by Stan Lee

Tenderly drawn by Jack Kirby

Heroically inked by George Roussos

Neatly lettered by Sam Rosen

22 pages, eh? Almost unheard of today, at least without adding another dollar to the cover price. This is one of the longest regular issue Fantastic Four stories, clocking in at an astonishing 23 pages. Our current issues (late 70s) are 20 pages each, and it won't be long before we drop down to 19 pages, and have to deal with those awful half-pages thrown in to increase the amount of advertising that could be sold in the issue.

Here, the three members of the team in combat manage to break free of an airtight bubble that the Infant had entrapped them in. Johnny immediately ignites, having extinguished his flame to conserve the oxygen available to the heroes. Note once again, the catchphrase rendered as a sound effect, rather than a speech bubble.

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

Fantastic Four #24: Flame On 59

Fantastic Four #24, page 14, panel 5

fantastic four #24: flame on 59

Lovingly written by Stan Lee

Tenderly drawn by Jack Kirby

Heroically inked by George Roussos

Neatly lettered by Sam Rosen

I'm rather glad that we've gone from page 1 to page 14 without hitting any tropes of the title, and that this panel is so generic that I don't have to write anything about the plot. This issue is the 'Enfant Terrible' issue, a story that is right up there with the first appearance of the Molecule Man for uninspired plotting and generic running around until the page count has been completed. Both Fantastic Four #20 and, especially, this issue are effectively retreads of the Impossible Man story from Fantastic Four #11, with the team going up against an adversary who can do absolutely anything. In theory, this should allow Jack Kirby to go wild with his artwork but, as the late 1960s and early 1970s would show, the best results from Kirby come when there's a strong narrative to complement his visuals. When working with the weak story presented in this book, Kirby's art seems rushed and uninspired.

I strongly suspect that the 'Flame On' in this panel was an afterthought, put in at the request of Stan once the rest of the dialogue had been put in. 'Flame On' as a sound effect (that is, not contained in some form of speech bubble, and not appearing to come directly from Johnny) is a fairly rare occurrence, and this one feels like it was put in to make the unusual story feel a bit more like a Fantastic Four plot.

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

Strange Tales #117: Flame On 58

Strange Tales #117, page 12, panel 6

strange tales #117: flame on 58

Written by: Stan Lee

Illustrated by: Dick Ayers

Lettered by: Art Simek

Silly Eel. His asbestos grease has rubbed away, meaning that Johnny can easily save himself from the shark tank that he was about to be dumped into. The Eel even had barrels of asbestos grease lying around nearby as well.

I genuinely hoped that The Eel had been one of the many villains killed by The Scourge at The Bar With No Name. I was surprised to find out he had been killed off several years previously in the Ghost Rider books. I doubt he was mourned...

Check our our coverage of Strange Tales #117 on our twenty-third episode: (Asbestos) Grease Is The Word

Strange Tales #117: Flame On 57

Strange Tales #117, page 1, panel 3

strange tales #117: flame on 57

Written by: Stan Lee

Illustrated by: Dick Ayers

Lettered by: Art Simek

It's back to Strange Tales for a surely-unasked-for sequel to Jerry Siegel's The Living Bomb in issue #112. With Stan back on scripting, the story wastes no time in getting going. Panel one is the news broadcast 0f the Eel's escape. Panel two is the Torch reacting to the broadcast, leading us to the title panel, with a full-body shot of Johnny igniting and heading for the window.

This larger gives us a rare opportunity to look at Dick Ayers' artwork on a larger scale. Ayers was a decent enough penciler, and a fairly decent inker, but his best work always came in collaboration with another artist. Compare this panel to his inks over Jack Kirby in Fantastic Four Annual #1, or with his pencils when they are inked by John Severin in Sgt Fury and his Howling Commandoes. That's where you'll see the true strength of his work. Sadly, this work remains collected, whilst his phenomenal work in Sgt Fury with Severin remains untouched.

Check our our coverage of Strange Tales #117 on our twenty-third episode: (Asbestos) Grease Is The Word

Fantastic Four #23: Flame On 56

Written by: Stan Lee

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: S. Rosen

Following the raptor shenanigans, the team decide to hold elections for a new leader. Well, Ben, Johnny and Sue decide to, because Reed is far too busy with science to get involved. Because these are hot-headed superheroes, and not electoral officials, the rules of the election do not preclude voting for yourself, resulting in a three-way tie that put Florida in 2000 to shame.

Things descend from there into a typical Ben and Johnny fight, with this rather lovely panel of Johnny deciding to escalate the conflict. One of the best things about George Roussos' brief tenure as inker was the expressions he brought to the faces of the team, more exaggerated and cartoony than, say, Sinnot, but capturing an energy that really helped the pacing of these scenes.

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]

Fantastic Four #23: Flame On 55

Written by: Stan Lee

Illustrated by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: S. Rosen

Another day, another issue of the Fantastic Four. I get to present the first page of Fantastic Four #23, one of my favourite opening splash pages from the series.

For no reason at all, and certainly for no reason connected to the plot, Reed has unleashed a miniature raptor in the Baxter Building, and chaos reigns as the team try to contain it. It's so completely crazy and full of energy that it's impossible not to love.

And, of course, Johnny get to yell his catchphrase and ignite, because there's no way that a time-displaced dinosaur won't be panicked by fire.

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 36

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: Steve Ditko

Lettered by: S. Rosen

Our final excerpt from Amazing Spider-Man #8 continues the tedious and pointless fight between the Torch and Spider-Man. This is before the completely arbitrary moment where the rest of the team show up and decide to fight Spider-Man just because.

Apparently, this giant fire-ball is some kind of net. Even though it looks like some kind of flame-anemone.

I'm very glad this issue is over...

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]

Amazing Spider-Man #8: Flame On 54

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: Steve Ditko

Lettered by: S. Rosen

The seldom-used team of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko reunite for this 6-page backup strip in Amazing Spider-Man #8. It's an unusual strip, where Spider-Man acts like a massive dick for no reason other than to mess with Johnny Storm. Marvel seemed pretty keen to push the idea that their two teenage super-heroes were not-so-friendly rivals, but never really came up with a reason why they would be so antagonistic towards each other.

So, we have Spider-Man gatecrashing a party hosted by Johnny, before goading him into a four-page wacky fight scene where he manages to piss off pretty much everyone at the party to prove how he's so much better than the Human Torch. Yeah, right...

Anyway, we get an unusual Flame On, where it seems that Johnny is unbuttoning his shirt whilst igniting. I guess his party shirt wasn't made from unstable molecules...

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]

Fantastic Four #22: Flame On 53/Reed's Stretchy Body 55

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: George Roussos

Lettered by: Sam Rosen

It's another two-fer today! Having been hounded out of town by interfering busybodies (ranging from the police wishing to check zoning permits to canasta clubs sticking their noses into other people's business), the team decide to buy a random rocky island in the Atlantic  and go for a holiday. Because nothing says relaxation like sitting on rocks miles away from civilisation for a week...

Johnny gets to cry his catchphrase as both he and Reed attempt to find a landing spot on the island for their U-car. Note how Johnny's speech bubble is coloured yellow. This is not really an attempt to add more impact to his catchphrase. A short-lived fad in Marvel comics at this time was to randomly colour speech balloons. And I mean 'random' - there was no rhyme or reason to them. It was rather distracting, which is why they stopped pretty quickly...

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #22 on our twenty-second episode: Going Underground.

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

Strange Tales #115: Flame On 52

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn  by: Dick Ayers

Lettered by: Art Simek

No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is Spider-Man crying out the catchphrase of the Human Torch as he plummets from the top of the Empire State Building.

Instead, it's the story that's deceiving you, as underneath Spider-Man's costume in Johnny Storm, having decided to switch clothes with his rival to confuse their mutual enemy, The Sandman.*

It's unusual to see such a long, thin panel, and it's a great piece of layout by Dick Ayers to convey the height of the fall. Ayers isn't someone I typically associate with panel experimentation, so it's great to see him play a little bit here.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales'#115 on our twenty-first episode: Powered By Hateful Hate From A Hate Raygun, with special guest host David Wynne.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_21.mp3]

Fantastic Four #21: Flame On 51

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: George Bell

Lettered by: Art Simek

The plot continues with Reed heading off to South America (How appropriate is it that Nick Fury's first modern appearance should feature him getting a hero to do his dirty work? That's been the basis of most stories featuring him over the past decade or so!). The rest of the team witness the Pogo Plane depart and, despite having broken up the Fantastic Four mere pages earlier, decide that they don't like being left behind. Hence, Johnny's impressive 'Flame On' here.

But of far more interest is the helicopter. The ridiculous, mis-proportioned, top-heavy helicopter. I would love to see the reference used for this panel!

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #21 on our twenty-first episode: Powered By Hateful Hate From A Hate Raygun, with special guest host David Wynne.

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_21.mp3]

Strange Tales #114: Flame On 50

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: Dick Ayers

Lettered by: S. Rosen

As the story progresses, it becomes clear even to Johnny that Captain America is not the heroic patriot of the Second World War. A lengthy tussle occurs when he finds the fake Cap robbing a bank. The fight is only curtailed when 'Cap' uses a damp mop to extinguish Johnny. Thankfully, a passing caretaker is able to focus several electric fan heaters onto our hero, drying him out and enabling him to ignite once more.

More importantly, this is our 50th 'Flame On' since Johnny coined the catchphrase, and the first 'POV' shot as well. I guess there's a level of appropriateness in celebrating this milestone with a very atypical representation of this trope.

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #114 on our twentieth episode: The (Pre-Emptive) Return of Captain America (Secret Wars II Continues In This Episode)

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_20.mp3]

Strange Tales #114: Flame On 49

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inked by: Dick Ayers

Lettered by: S. Rosen

There was very little to take from Fantastic Four #20, so we quickly find ourselves in the midst of Strange Tales #114. This issue is notable for three reasons. It's the first issue to only feature a Human Torch and a Doctor Strange story. It's the return of Jack Kirby to the Human Torch solo strip. And it's the first appearance of Captain America... sort of...

Testing the waters (something admitted at both the end of the story) to see if there was interest in the return of the most famous Timely Comics hero, this issue actually features our favourite Silver Age villain The Acrobat (aka Zante) dressing up as the Sentinel of Liberty as cover for his crime wave.

But before all of that begins, the car show at which 'Captain America' is due to appear is attacked by thieves, who steal a vintage car. Johnny's response is to bust out the flames, and Kirby nicely captures the mid-ignition moment. One assumes that Reed has made Johnny's shirt, pants and tank-top (sweater vest for the American readers) out of unstable molecules...

Check out our coverage of Strange Tales #114 on our twentieth episode: The (Pre-Emptive) Return of Captain America (Secret Wars II Continues In This Episode)

[audio http://traffic.libsyn.com/ffcast/FF_Episode_20.mp3]

Strange Tales #113: Flame On 48

Story plot: Stan Lee

Script: Jerry Siegel

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

The second of Jerry Siegel's scripting contributions to Strange Tales takes the form of the completely barmy Plantman story, whereby a gardener, armed with a pair of techno-shears, believes that, contrary to all scientific evidence, plants have intelligence and his shears can increase their IQ. Lightning strikes his shears, and suddenly he can command any plant matter to do anything he bids, no matter how impossible or lethal to those plants. Naturally, he decides to become a criminal, and terrorises the town's parks.

10 pages into the 13 page story and Siegel manages to include one of the tropes of the series, having become rather distracted with plants. Here, in a fairly underwhelming heroic moment, Johnny races towards the door, dropping his catchphrase like it's an afterthought.

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: Flame On 47

Story plot: Stan Lee

Script: Jerry Siegel

Art: Dick Ayers

Lettering: S. Rosen

Across several pages that didn't involve any of our tropes, a plot has developed. A broadcaster has been whipping up anti-Johnny hatred, whilst the Eel accidentally steals a miniature atomic bomb and irradiates himself. Hiding out in town, he is relatively unaware that he or the bomb (it's not quite clear which) could explode at any moment and destroy everything.

Being a moral conundrum in the early 1960s, Johnny's decision as to whether he should continue as the Torch in the face of public opposition is an easy one to make. Extra-easy, considering that if he doesn't the entire town is going to blow up. So, he flames on, and turns off his television set. Which presumably had an asbestos coating.

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]

Fantastic Four #18: Flame On 46.5

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

After ten pages, Stan and Jack serve up what we've been waiting for - the Fantastic Four vs the Super Skrull. We start off with a Torch vs Skrull fight. Unlike in Fantastic Four Annual #4, which features two Human Torches, very little effort is made to distinguish the two combatants. Other than some work on the head of the Super Skrull's flame form, there is no point of differentiation for the reader. It's mildly unsatisfying, although considering that the Super Skrull is a shapeshift, perhaps unsurprising as well.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #18 on our seventeenth episode: No Funny Title Springs To Mind

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

Fantastic Four #18: Flame On 46

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

All this talk about bringing in water cannons to the UK to quell any rioting seems like our politicians are missing the point - simply get a teenager to burst into flames! As shown here, it's a fairly effective method of crowd dispersal. Well, more like it turns a single-minded crowd into a mass of panicky individuals. But still, they're likely to have forgotten about up mobile phone shops in their terror...

It's also a rare instance of Flame On being rendered as a sound effect, devoid of speech bubble. A part of me like to think that Johnny made the letters appear in flame above his head... and then I remember that I rather dislike that sort of thing, and go take a cold shower to calm down.

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #18 on our seventeenth episode: No Funny Title Springs To Mind

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

Fantastic Four #18: Flame On 45.5

Written by: Stan Lee

Drawn by: Jack Kirby

Inking: Dick Ayers

Lettering: Art Simek

Today's not-quite-a-Flame On comes from the first appearance of the Super Skrull. He gets a half point for this, because if I was to run around trying to get everyone in the Marvel Universe who used the words 'flame' and 'on' consecutively in a statement, I think I'd lose my mind...

Fun fact: Anticipating many appearances from the Super Skrull, I made an 'evil' version of the Flame On clip that Micheal Leyland generously gave us. I've only used it once...

Check out our coverage of Fantastic Four #18 on our seventeenth episode: No Funny Title Springs To Mind

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

Strange Tales Annual #2: Flame On 45

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]