The Human Torch Profile

Real Name:

Johnny Storm

Location:

New York City

First Appearance:

Fantastic Four #1 (1961)

Created By:

Jack Kirby and Stan Lee

Powers:

The Human Torch, like his namesake, has the ability to control fire. His control is so good that he can surround his entire body in flames and use it to fly and immensely fast speeds. When he is in this flame form, his human appearances can still be seen and one can still distinguish his features.

Johnny Storm is impervious to heat and can absorb flames and heat into his body. He can use this heat energy to shoot many forms of flames like fireballs, streams of fire, waves, walls, and even constructs, like a fire in the shape of a four. The Human Torch is also able to perform a “Nova Blast” that can discharge heat in excess of a million degrees. Once he does this, his powers need to regenerate over a period of time.

Team Affiliations:

Fantastic Four

Currently Seen In:

The Human Torch can be seen in the Fantastic Four, Ultimate Fantastic Four, and often appears in the Spider-Man comic books.

Interesting Fact:

Many of Johnny’s practical jokes against the Thing were done in the name of the Thing’s former street gang, the Yancy Street Gang.

Origin:

Johnny Storm is the kid brother of Sue Storm, also known as the Invisible Woman. He has always been an independent sort of child even at an early age. When his mother died and his father slipped into alcoholism, Johnny turned his attention to cars and learning auto repair.

Johnny’s father, who continued to spiral down wards, was eventually convicted of manslaughter and sent to prison. This led to Johnny and Sue being sent to their Aunt Marygay and the meeting of Sue and Reed Richards, whom would eventually marry.

When Reed launched his starship into space, Johnny went with his older sister and pilot Ben. The quartet was irradiated with cosmic rays and when they returned to earth discovered they had super powers. Johnny found he could engulf himself in flames and control fire. He eventually found he could use his powers to fly as well. The four adventurers decided to use their powers to help mankind and to advance scientific discoveries.

At this time, Johnny was a teenager and continued to go to High School. It was during this time that Johnny met the young Peter Parker, aka http://comicbooks.about.com/od/characters/p/spidermanbio.htm]Spider-Man[/link], who had broken into the Fantastic Four’s headquarters, in the hopes that he would impress the team. The two eventually turned this unusual conflict into a fast friendship that has lasted them throughout the years.

Johnny has had many loves in his time with the Fantastic Four. He has had girlfriends in high school and in college but few could compare to Crystal from the Inhumans and Alicia Masters, the blind one-time girlfriend of teammate the Thing.

Johnny met Crystal on a walk around New York City and was instantly smitten with her beauty. The encounter led the Fantastic Four into helping the Inhumans overthrow Maximus, a mad ruler of the Inhumans. Their love wasn’t to be as Crystal’s family interfered and she eventually went on to marry Quicksilver and bore him a child.

Another great love and tragedy in Johnny’s life was with Alecia Masters, the blind sculptor and one time girlfriend of the Thing. They fell in love and eventually married but their bliss wasn’t to be. It turned out the alien race called the Skrulls, who were longtime foes of the Fantastic Four, captured Alecia and replaced her with a female Skrull named Lyja. During their time together, Lyja actually fell in love with Johnny, and when it became known of her true identity, she helped them go to the Skrull home world an free Alecia. The loss devastated Johnny and haunts him to this day.

Johnny is known for his nature as a practical joker. His target is almost always Ben Grimm, also known as the Thing. The two have always had a rivalry that borders on a love-hate relationship. In the wake of Marvel’s Civil War, Johnny became a victim when he was attacked by a mob of people angry at superheroes and the death of innocent people in Stanford, Connecticut. He was hospitalized by the encounter and when he got out, he eventually sided with the resistance with his sister Sue. When Captain America died, the resistance scattered and Johnny rejoined the Fantastic Four with the Thing.