2:12 PM
Brad
Cover Date: February 1963
Plot Overview: The Wizard becomes a model prisoner so that he can get access to the hospital wing. He uses several chemicals to eat a hole through his cell wall which allows him to escape. The Wizard challenges the Human Torch to a rematch.
Johnny Storm sees the challenge and gets ready to head off but Sue forbids it. So Johnny makes a fake version of himself to distract her long enough for him to escape. The Human Torch arrives on the scene and the Wizard uses a variety of attacks that the Torch foils. The Wizard figures out that Sue has entered his home and sneaks off and captures her after exposing her with a spray.
The Wizard tells the Torch that there's a bomb in the room but he will let the Torch enter if he turns off his flames. The Torch agrees. Sue and Johnny are now trapped with the bomb and the Wizard reveals that if the temperature rises the bomb will go off. Sue and Johnny can't reach the bomb so Johnny takes a gamble and uses his flame powers to disable the bomb before it can go off. Johnny becomes the Torch and launches the bomb into the sky where it explodes harmlessly. The Torch then uses his powers to escape the room. The Wizard tries to escape but the Torch sets off the sprinklers which causes the Wizard to slip. The Wizard has been captured. The issue ends with Sue throwing something at Johnny after he made a sarcastic comment about her help.
My Take: I enjoyed this issue quite a bit. It was essentially a direct continuation of the battle they were having last time. The Wizard was using his gadgets to try and best the Torch. The art felt a lot better this time as the Wizard didn't look quite as ugly as I remember. Overall, I found the story to be fun and it even developed the relationship between Johnny and Sue a little.
It was nice seeing other members of the Fantastic Four in the book. I like seeing their relationships develop and it's an added bonus that this book is mostly about how they interact with Johnny. I've been surprised that there haven't been more appearances by FF members so far but I guess Lee wanted the Torch to stand on his own a bit too.
I found this to be a fun story. It was mostly action and a death trap and that's just fine with me. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby really seem to pour a lot of attention into this book. Strange Tales just seems to have better overall stories and art than the other two anthology books have on a monthly basis. I'm guessing that's because it's a Fantastic Four spin-off and the cash cow for the company at the time. They probably put that extra bit of effort in so that it retains the same amount of quality as the FF book does. Where with a few of the other titles I feel like they just throw things together some months.
My main complaint with this book is that the prison people would even let the Wizard anywhere near the hospital wing. He might be a model prisoner but I would like to think that a competant staff would keep a guy like the Wizard away from chemicals just to be safe. Okay, so maybe a real prison would probably make the same mistake. Let's move on...
Good overall issue here. I'm really surprised by Strange Tales as I never thought a Johnny Storm solo title would entertain me. I'm glad to be wrong with this so far.
I'd give this ** out of *****
Notes: This is the second appearance of the Wizard. He last appeared in Strange Tales #102.
Next Issue: Fantastic Four #12
Posted in: Human Torch,Reed Richards,Strange Tales,Sue Richards,Thing,Wizard
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