(Marvel Comics 001, 1939)
The Human Torch! The first major (and first overall) Marvel super-hero, despite the fact that my disorganized ass is writing about him third!
The Human Torch is a synthetic man, aka an android (aka a synthezoid, which as far as I can tell means “cooler android” and won’t come into use until the 60s anyway) and created by Professor “Not Yet Phineas” Horton. Later stories will add all kinds of influences on and collaborators with Horton (including our recent subject Doctor Nemesis), but in the beginning it was just him, toiling away over his blonde creation.
The Human Torch’s origin is shaped by three major factors: first, that Horton’s process was flawed in some strange way and as a result his android bursts into flame when exposed to oxygen. Secondly, there is the fact that Horton, despite the obvious scientific acumen and indeed genius on display in his creation, is seemingly devoid of any scientific curiosity outside of this. When confronted with the problem of a flaming android, Horton just throws his hands in the air and gives up without making any kind of real effort to mitigate the problem.
Finally, the Torch is hampered by the fact that humanity at large, including Horton, is motivated by fame and fortune. Everyone who meets him wants to exploit him in some way, unless they are afraid of him – this is presumably why Horton’s first act upon creating him is to call in reporters rather than work on getting him to stop exploding.
Though Horton can’t bring himself to work on a solution for the Torch’s problem, he balks at destroying his creation and so opts to seal him inside of an airless steel cylinder and then bury that cylinder in cement.
Somehow, however, and perhaps relating to the fact that it was dropped into semi-solid cement from a decent height rather than laid down carefully and then covered up, the cylinder develops a crack through which enough air seeps in to set the Torch alight and cause him to burst his prison asunder. Everyone’s worst fears seem to be confirmed, as the newly self-aware android charges through the city streets, setting men, hats and telephone poles alight. A curious thing happens, however, and perhaps this reflects yet another failing on the part of Horton: the Human Torch realizes that he is hurting people and doesn’t want to. You should have talked to your artificial son, Professor, and then you might not have felt it necessary to seal him in concrete.
In attempting to control his own flame (see? once again the child outstrips the parent), the Torch dunks himself in a swimming pool that turns out to belong to a criminal named Sardo who immediately sees the profit potential in a flaming man. Side note: Sardo also has a swimming pool that doubles as a vacuum chamber. Is there any use for such a thing beyond “elaborate deathtrap?”
Sardo’s reaction to the Torch falls under theme #3 of this origin: Human Greed. He uses his weird pool to transfer the android to a sealed container and then uses him to burn down a warehouse as part of a protection racket scheme. Just like Horton, however, Sardo fails to reckon with the fact that the Torch might have opinions of his own about such things, and meets his end in their subsequent confrontation.
The Human Torch eventually figures out how to control his own flame thanks to Sardo’s stockpile of liquid nitrogen tanks – the nitrogen snuff the flame only temporarily but having done so a couple of times the Torch gets the hang of how to do so at will. We almost get a heartwarming father/son reunion as Horton argues for the Torch to be released into his custody, but then he goes and ruins it all by immediately starting to scheme about how much money he is going to make off of his creation’s back. This is the final straw as far as the Human Torch is concerned and he leaves via the most direct route: straight up.
(Per Marvel Mystery Comics v1 002 this sets Horton’s house on fire and leads to his death, and the Torch isn’t sad about it)
UPDATES
