Strange Tales #110

Cover Date: July 1963

Plot Overview: The story opens with the Torch trying to study and ultimately going over old cases. He remembers his battle with the Wizard and his battle with Paste-Pot Pete and how both men came close to beating him. The scene shifts as Paste-Pot Pete has returned and he's out for revenge against the Human Torch. He's decided to break the Wizard out of prison so that their combined power can defeat their common foe.

They manage to escape prison and things start to go south almost immediately as the Wizard bosses Pete around much to Pete's disgust. The Wizard wants to discredit the Torch before they defeat him and has just the plan. Stories of the Torch committing crimes starts to hit the papers and public sentiment slowly turns against him.

Finally the Torch decides it's time to strike. He poses as a rich man and when the Wizard and Pete show up, he springs the trap. The bad guys flee to their house with the Torch close on their heels. The Wizard was ready and traps the Torch in a house of mirrors. The Torch unsuccessfully tries to escape until the Wizard and Pete appear. The Wizard explains that he's going to flood the area with a liquid that evaporates oxygen. Pete pastes the Torch to the floor and they head off to prepare the Wizard's liquid.

The Torch makes a double of himself and then burns his flames as hot as they'll go and melts through a mirror. The Wizard and Pete flood the chamber and at the last moment realize it's a fake. The Torch reveals himself and traps the two men with his flames. Johnny ends the issue upset that he now has to stay up all night doing homework.

A man is troubled by the same nightmare on a nightly basis and visits Dr. Strange for help. Strange agrees to enter the man's dreams to help him out. Strange enters the dreams and it is revealed to him that the man he is helping has committed crimes. Just then he is confronted by the creature Nightmare. Nightmare threatens to kill Strange. The man wakes up and decides to kill Strange because of what he's learned. Strange reaches out to his Master who hypnotizes the man from afar. This allows Strange to leave the dream and disarm the man. The man admits his crimes as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: The Human Torch part of this issue was absolutely ridiculous. I liked the idea of his former enemies teaming up to take him down but the rest of the stuff was just unnecessary. Why did they need to try and frame him for crimes? It didn't really add anything to the story. It really felt like it was tacked on for the sake of it. This issue would've been a lot better if they had just committed a bunch of crimes and had their face off with the Torch at the end. Honestly, Pete didn't even really play into this issue much. The Wizard could've easily done all of this on his own. Also the liquid that evaporates oxygen? Really? Wouldn't flooding the room with water have gotten you the same result as some special liquid?

I think they overthought this issue and got too cute with the story. A much more simple story would've been more enjoyable. Despite, the gaping huge flaws with the story, it wasn't actually a terrible read. It wasn't boring and it wasn't a tedious read. It was pretty quick and light which I always find to be a good quality with Silver Age books. I hate when you feel like you're just crawling through pages of text instead of enjoying the story.

The art was pretty good for the Human Torch part. I didn't like the look of the Wizard as much in this issue as I did in Strange Tales #102. He just seemed too normal looking here while I remember him being a little more troll like in the previous issue. But that's really a minor complaint. The art was rock solid for this issue.

I'd give the Human Torch story * out of *****

The Dr. Strange story was a 5 page backup in this issue. A lot happened in those 5 pages. It was a fun little tale of magic and a different feel from the other Marvel books. The art was pretty solid, though they quickly change th7e appearance of Strange in the coming issues. This wasn't a bad start for a new character. It was interesting, left a touch of mystery and left you wanting to see more of him.

I'd give this ** out of *****

Notes: This issue has the first appearance of Dr. Strange who really needs no introduction. He carves out his own little niche in the Marvel Universe. He'll be a key member of the Defenders in the 70s and he'll have his own title pretty consistently well into the 90s. This issue also has the first appearance of Wong. Though he only appears in one panel and is not named. When Dr. Strange appears, Wong won't be far behind. This issue also has the first appearance of Nightmare who is a recurring villain over the years but I wouldn't call him an A list guy or anything.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #17

Strange Tales #104

Cover Date: January 1963

Plot Overview: Johnny Storm is at the bank when Paste-Pot Pete enters the scene to rob the bank. Storm can't turn into the Human Torch because it will expose his secret identity. Pete makes his escape and Storm uses his flames to have a fake Human Torch chase him. Pete escapes on a motorcycle until Storm can finally become the Human Torch.

Pete arrives on a military base and uses his paste to subdue the guards. He steals a top secret missile and plots to sell it to the highest bidding nation. The Human Torch arrives and makes several failed attempts at stopping Pete's truck and the stolen missile. Storm flames expire and Pete glues him to a missile. The missile accidently fires with Storm still attached. Storm regains his flames and manages to escape the missile.

The Torch melts the truck around Pete and ruins his tank with his flames. Pete has one last shot and uses it to grab on to a plane. The Torch runs to the radio tower and warns the plane that Pete has attached himself to the wing. Pete bails out as the plane turns around.

Pete climbs aboard a getaway boat and escapes into the fog. The government thanks the Human Torch for his help and he wonders if Pete will return as the issue comes to a close.

My Take: Paste-Pot Pete as presented in this issue is completely ridiculous. He is the worst excesses of Silver Age super villain creation. I would actually have expected him to show up in a DC book the way he's presented. He comes across like a Batman villain from that era.

The art was really poor in this issue. It felt really rushed and there were no real backgrounds to speak of. Considering the art in some of the other issues from this month it was easily the worst issue to come out.

The story was typical for an anthology title. Quick paced and a lot of action. It works even if Pete is really lame as a villain. The Human Torch is actually working really well as a solo character. I have to admit that I'm surprised by that. I always thought that he needed the other members of the Fantastic Four to play off of to be interesting. I do hope that the Thing starts to show up a little more in this title though. I like the way the two interact with each other.

Back to the story. It was very typical of the early 60s. Bad guy wants to sell top secret military plans to the Communists and the hero foils him. I don't think Paste-Pot Pete was right for this story in that regard though. It was a little ridiculous seeing a guy break into a military base using only glue. They did sort of reference how ridiculous it seemed in the issue but it was still pretty ridiculous to me. Even with Pete's flaws it was still a fairly fun little read and I only rolled my eyes a handful of times.

I'd give this ** out of *****

Notes: This is the first appearance of Paste-Pot Pete. He'll eventually assume the identity of the Trapster and become an iconic C list super villain. Okay, I might be exaggerating there slightly. For me, the Trapster is the poster child for your C or D list Marvel villain. His primary targets as a villain are the Fantastic Four and Spider-Man. He'll have a stint in the Frightful Four and the Sinister Six. He's also appeared on several of the Marvel cartoons.

Next Issue: Fantastic Four #11