The Threat of the Torrid Twosome
by
Stan Lee, Larry Lieber & Dick Ayers
The Human Torch spends the afternoon training at an obstacle course Reed Richards built him on the outskirts of Glenville. At home, his sister, Sue Storm, lets a strange man who wants to talk with Johnny, named Carl Zante, into their home. The Torch returns home, ducking into an alleyway to flame off so the neighbors don’t see him and get wise to his secret. Except, a couple of kids do see him.
Minutes later, Johnny arrives at his house. Inside, Sue introduces him to Carl Zante. Zante reveals that he knows Johnny is the Human Torch. Johnny wonders how he figured it out, when Sue explains that everybody already knows his “secret” identity. They were all just playing along for his own sake. With that out of the way, Sue leaves her teenage brother alone with the stranger, so the two of them can have what Sue refers to as “man talk.”
Carl Zante proclaims to Johnny that he is the world’s greatest acrobat. He propositions Johnny that he is not getting the credit he deserves as a member of the Fantastic Four. If it wasn’t for his powers, the FF would not have defeated the Miracle Man nor Namor in their first encounters. He wants Johnny to quit the FF and join him as The Torrid Twosome, with the promise to make him rich and more famous. Johnny considers it, but wants to talk it over with Reed Richards first.
Johnny flames on to fly over to the Fantastic Four’s headquarters in Manhattan. He demands that Reed pay him a salary for his contributions to the team. Reed denies him, reminding Johnny that all money they make goes towards scientific research. Thing reiterates Reed’s point by pouring a vase of water over Torch’s head to cool him down. Johnny retaliates, using his powers to cause the smoke from Reed’s smoking pipe to fill the room. This dries him off so he can flame on again while Thing and Reed are choking from the smoke. He announces he’s had enough and quits the team.
Back home, Johnny rings up Carl Zante. He tells him he’s ready to join his team. Zante is delighted as he has more nefarious schemes in mind than his young cohort suspects. After the phone call, Johnny works on designing new costumes for the two of them; a skin-tight green top and pants, with a brown beret and shorts. As Johnny displays it to Sue, he explains they are made of unstable molecules, so they won’t burn up when he flames on. Sue tries to reason with her brother, but Johnny is having none of it.
A day later, Zante shows up at Johnny’s house again. Their first mission is to rescue a bank teller at the Glenville bank. According to Zante, the teller has accidentally locked himself inside the vault and will suffocate if they don't save him. Without any hesitation, Johnny flames on and rushes to the bank. Zante follows behind in his convertible. As soon as the Torch arrives, he melts right through the bank’s vault door. Inside he finds no one.
Carl Zante blocks the Human Torch’s exit. He pulls out a hose attached to some apparatus on his back, and sprays Johnny with a liquid fire retardant, dousing his flame. Johnny warns him about the bank guards, but Zante has already gassed them all. Before he can protest further, Zante pulls out a gun and shoots Johnny. The bullet hits him in the arm. Zante attempts to finish off Johnny, but the gun jams. He starts stealing money from the vault, when the employees start to come to. With the cash in hand, he uses his acrobatic agility to dive out of a nearby window and into his convertible.
The criminal attempts to drive away, but his car is stuck. Johnny’s teammate, the Thing, has grabbed hold of the rear bumper, keeping the car in place with his strength. Carl tries to get out of the car, but finds the roof held shut by the Invisible Girl and the doors stuck closed by Mr. Fantastic using his stretching powers to tangle his limbs around the doors. The three of them question Zante, when the injured Torch emerges from the bank. He explains how Zante betrayed him and declares he wants to fight him alone.
With a wounded arm, the Human Torch confronts Carl Zante. Zante uses his acrobatic skills to swing from a flagpole onto a ladder. As he climbs up to the roof, the Torch flies after him, but finds his balance off due to his shot arm. He lands back down among the FF to catch his breath, before resuming the pursuit. The Torch beats him to the roof and uses his flame to heat up the metal ladder. Zante lets go instantly, falling towards the ground. He maneuvers himself to bounce off the nearby telephone wires instead. He bounces off the wires, towards an open manhole in the street.
The Human Torch melts the street under Carl Zante’s feet before he can hide in the sewer. The loose, melting tar starts to mesh together with Zante’s boots. Stuck in place, Zante admits his defeat. The rest of the Fantastic Four congratulate the Torch on his victory. Johnny seems surprised they all still speak to him after the way he bailed on them. He claims he never really wanted to team with Zante, it was all a ruse to find out what he was up to. With the case wrapped up, Johnny tosses his Torrid Twosome costume and rejoins the Fantastic Four.
Notes
The first appearance of The Acrobat, a seldom seen, agile villain named Carl Zante.
It turns out everybody knew Johnny was the Human Torch, they just didn't say anything to be polite according to Sue. A weird retcon that throws a major plot hole into The Wizard stories, where part of his plan was to find out who the Human Torch was. At least we are done with the "secret" identity nonsense.
This marks the 2nd time the Human Torch has quit the Fantastic Four.
The first time in a Marvel comic where one of the heroes actually gets shot. Thus ending the short lived career of The Torrid Twosome.
Review & Rank
This is not a good issue by any means. It’s kind of amusing in a B-movie way. Whether on purpose or accident, it highlights one of Johnny Storm’s character traits, that he is kinda stupid. Not in a “he’s lame” way, but as being a bit gullible/naive. Kinda like Karl Pilkington or Butters from South Park. This might just be what the creators think teenagers are like, because Rick Jones shows similar traits. Sue is not a very good guardian for Johnny. She lets this stranger come into their home and then leaves him and her young, teenaged brother alone with him.
I can't figure out if Johnny's stupidity is on purpose or not because of his belief that the rest of the FF don't take him seriously as a teammate and he doesn't get anything out of it, yet this whole thought process is undermined by the fact that in the very beginning of the story he is using an obstacle course that Reed built him to train on. And at the very end of the story, Johnny claims he was just going along with it to trick the villain, but the look on his face says otherwise.
Another completely nonsensical Human Torch story from start to finish. This is in the same ballpark as Strange Tales 105 with The Wizard. There’s a little bit more going on in here, and while the action sequences aren't all that impressive, at least there are action sequences compared to 105. Also, Johnny actually gets shot! They wave it off as the bullet just winging him, but still this is the most danger any of the Marvel characters have been in so far. The explanation of Johnny's "secret" identity is amusing, but incredibly convoluted and problematic for previous Strange Tales stories. I'm placing it right above ST 105.
Next Time: A solo Human Torch faces off against Namor, the Sub-Mariner!
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