Human Torch
The Human Torch (real name: Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm) is the younger brother of the Invisible Woman and a member of the Fantastic Four.
History
When the Grey Gargoyle went on a rampage on the Brooklyn Bridge, turning people to stone, Johnny’s sister Susan Storm fired a flare into the air to summon Johnny and the rest of the Fantastic Four. The signal inadvertently also summoned Angela, Broadway, and Lexington of the Manhattan Clan to the Baxter Building. ("Send Up a Flare!")
Johnny accompanied his teammates and the three gargoyles to the Brooklyn Bridge to apprehended Duval. During the battle, Johnny accidently triggered a smoke bomb thrown by the Grey Gargoyle, allowing the supervillain to petrify Reed Richards and Angela before he could be apprehended. Johnny and Lexington arrived at the Eyrie Building to update the rest of the Manhattan Clan on the situation, and to inform them of the FF’s plan to track down their old enemy, the alchemist Diablo, in hopes of releasing their teammates from their curse of living stone. Unknown to Johnny, Diablo had already arranged the Grey Gargoyle’s rampage expressly to lure the gargoyles into his clutches. While his sister, Broadway and Demona rescued Angela from Diablo’s clutches, Johnny and Ben Grimm joined the remaining members of the Manhattan Clan in battling the android Dragon Man, who Diablo had subverted to his control. In the aftermath battle, Johnny recouped with the rest of the his extended family at the Baxter Building. ("Both Alike In Dignity...")
On the 16th of August of the same year, Johnny and Ben joined Angela and Broadway in exploring a hidden tunnel connecting the Labyrinth to Subterranea. The foursome were subsequently ambushed by an army of Kaiju and Moloids lead by an irate Mole Man. During the battle, Johhny used his heat powers to generate a thermal updraft, allowing the gargoyles to glide underground. Johnny, Ben, Angela and Broadway managed to hold the Mole Man’s forces at bay long enough for the Manhattan Clan and the rest of the Manhattan Clan to arrive with an Anti-kaiju Compound created by Reed, successfully repelling the Subterranean horde. The next morning, Johnny was present with the rest of the FF when the Manhattan Clan roosted atop the Baxter Building for the day. ("Clan_and_Family...")
Characteristics
Johnny Storm gained a number of superhuman powers as a result of the mutagenic effects of the cosmic radiation he was exposed to, all of which are related to fire. His primary ability is to envelop his body in fiery plasma without harm to himself, in which form he is able to fly by providing thrust behind himself with his own flame, and to generate powerful streams and balls of flame. He can also manipulate his flame in such a way as to shape it into rings and other forms, such as a fiery duplicate of himself that he can remotely control. Even when not engulfed in flame himself, Storm has the ability to control any fire within his immediate range of vision, causing it to increase or decrease in intensity or to move in a pattern directed by his thoughts. Additionally, he is able to absorb fire/plasma into his body with no detrimental effects.
The plasma field immediately surrounding his body is hot enough to vaporize projectiles that approach him, including bullets. He does not generally extend this flame-aura beyond a few inches from his skin, so as not to ignite nearby objects. Storm refers to his maximum flame output as his "nova flame", which he can release omnidirectionally. Flame of any temperature lower than this cannot burn or harm the Torch. This "nova" effect can occur spontaneously when he absorbs an excessive amount of heat, although he can momentarily suppress the release when necessary, with considerable effort.
Storm's ability to ignite himself is limited by the quantity of oxygen in his environment, and his personal flame has been extinguished by sufficient quantities of water, flame retardant foam, and vacuum environments. He can reignite instantly once oxygen is returned, with no ill effects. In early stories he could only remain aflame for up to five minutes at a time, after which he would need five minutes to recharge before igniting himself again.
Appearances
Production Background
Growing up in Glenville, New York, a Long Island suburban town, Johnny Storm lost his mother due to a car accident from which his father, surgeon Franklin Storm, escaped unharmed. Franklin Storm spiraled into alcoholism and financial ruin, and was imprisoned after killing a loan shark in self-defense. Johnny Storm was then raised by his older sister, Sue Storm.
At sixteen, Storm joined his sister and her fiancé, Reed Richards, in a space flight in which cosmic radiation transformed those three and spacecraft pilot, Ben Grimm into superpowered beings who would become the celebrated superhero team the Fantastic Four. Storm, with the ability to become a flaming human with the power of flight and the ability to project fire, dubbed himself the Human Torch.
See Also
- Human Torch at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
