MRL - Strange Tales (1951) #107-110

[sonotadream]

Strange Tales (1951) #107-110 - Stan Lee/Larry Lieber/Dick Ayers and others

More Human Torch solo adventures, now with less “must keep my identity a secret” and more “must prove myself to the other members of the Fantastic Four.”

He starts by challenging Namor to a fight, which he actually wins by trapping Namor in an underwater cave. It helps that Johnny can conserve heat and avoid getting wet and go supernova even underwater.

Johnny also fights a guy whose paintings come to life. He's not very important, what's important is Ancient Aliens in the Marvel Universe. See, painter guy was digging a tunnel to escape from a prison and fell into a cave. There, he found a mural that he dated to be one million years old, depicting aliens visiting Earth. I just think it’s funny that Jack Kirby read Chariot of the Gods, and now that’s just embedded in the Marvel universe  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also, the Wizard and Paste Pot Pete team up to take down the Human Torch. It doesn’t go very well - Johnny’s on to them from the start, and doesn’t even have to wait for the two bad guys to turn on each other to take them down.