The Human Torch (Jonathan Lowell Spencer "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a similar, previous character, the android Human Torch of the same name and powers who was created in 1939 by writer-artist Carl Burgos for Marvel Comics' predecessor company, Timely Comics.
Like the rest of the Fantastic Four, Johnny gained his powers on a spacecraft bombarded by cosmic rays. He can engulf his entire body in flames, fly, absorb fire harmlessly into his own body, and control any nearby fire by sheer force of will. "Flame on!", which the Torch customarily shouts when activating his full-body flame effect, has become his catchphrase. The youngest of the group, he is brash and impetuous in comparison to his reticent, overprotective and compassionate older sister, Susan Storm, his sensible brother-in-law, Reed Richards, and the grumbling Ben Grimm. In the early 1960s, he starred in a series of solo adventures, published in Strange Tales. The Human Torch is also a friend and frequent ally of the superhero Spider-Man, who is approximately the same age.
In film, the Human Torch has been portrayed by Jay Underwood in the unreleased 1994 film The Fantastic Four; Chris Evans in the 2005 film Fantastic Four, its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Robot Chicken in 2008, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Deadpool & Wolverine (2024); Michael B. Jordan in the 2015 film Fantastic Four; and Joseph Quinn in the MCU film The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025); Quinn will reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027).
Publication history Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, Johnny Storm is a renovation of Carl Burgos's original character, the android Human Torch, created for Timely Comics in 1939. Storm first appeared in The Fantastic Four #1 (cover-dated Nov. 1961), establishing him as a member of the titular superhero team. In his plot summary for this first issue, Lee passed on to Kirby that the recently formed Comics Code Authority had told him that the Human Torch was only permitted to burn objects, never people. Over the course of the series, Johnny being the little brother of teammate Susan Storm a.k.a. the Invisible Girl was one of several sources of tension within the group.
Additionally, he starred in a solo feature in Strange Tales #101-134 (Oct. 1962 – July 1965).Strange Tales at the Grand Comics Database. An eight-issue series, The Human Torch (Sept. 1974 – Nov. 1975), reprinted stories from that solo feature, along with stories featuring the original android Human Torch.The Human Torch, Marvel, 1974 series at the Grand Comics Database. Later years also saw a 12-issue series, Human Torch (June 2003 - June 2004) by writer Karl Kesel and penciler Skottie Young,Human Torch, Marvel, 2003 series at the Grand Comics Database. and the five-issue team-up miniseries Spider-Man / Human Torch (March–July 2005) by writer Dan Slott and penciler Ty Templeton.Spider-Man / Human Torch at the Grand Comics Database.
The Human Torch was the permanent co-star of Marvel Team-Up, but was dropped after three issues because the creators found this format too restrictive. He co-starred in two one-shot comics, Spider-Man & the Human Torch in... Bahia De Los Muertos! #1 (May 2009), by writer Tom Beland and artist Juan Doe,Spider-Man & the Human Torch in... Bahia De Los Muertos! at the Grand Comics Database. and Incredible Hulk & the Human Torch: From the Marvel Vault #1, a previously unpublished story from 1984, intended for Marvel Team-Up by plotter Jack C. Harris, scriptwriter and artist Kesel, and breakdown artist Steve Ditko.Incredible Hulk & the Human Torch: From the Marvel Vault #1 at the Grand Comics Database.
Fictional character biography Early life Growing up in Glenville, New York, a fictional Long Island suburban town, Johnny Storm lost his mother due to a car accident from which his father, surgeon Franklin Storm, escaped unharmed.Fantastic Four #32 - "Death of a Hero". Marvel Comics. 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 16, 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, dubs himself the Human Torch, in tribute to the World War II-era hero known as the Human Torch.The Fantastic Four #1. Marvel Comics. In The Fantastic Four #4, it is Storm who discovers an amnesiac hobo whom he helps regain his memory as the antihero Namor the Sub-Mariner, one of the three most popular heroes of Marvel Comics' 1940s forerunner, Timely Comics, returning him to modern continuity.
Though a member of a world-famous team, Johnny still lived primarily in Glenville and attended Glenville High School. Here he thought he maintained a secret identity, although his fellow townsfolk were well aware of his being a member of the Fantastic Four and simply humored him. This series introduced what would become the recurring Fantastic Four foes the WizardFantastic Four Vol. 2 #1 (Sep. 4, 1996). Marvel Comics and Paste-Pot Pete, later known as the Trapster.Strange Tales #104. Marvel Comics. In Storm's home life, Mike Snow, a member of the high-school wrestling squad, bullied Storm until an accidental flare-up of the Torch's powers scarred Snow's face. Storm dated fellow student Dorrie Evans, although she eventually grew tired of his constant disappearances and broke off their relationship.Various issues, Strange Tales #113 to Fantastic Four #45 (Dec. 1965). Marvel Comics.
College After graduating high school, Storm enrolled at New York City's Metro College.Fantastic Four #35 (Feb. 1965). Marvel Comics. There he befriended his roommate Wyatt Wingfoot.Fantastic Four #50. Marvel Comics. He also met the original Human Torch of the 1930s and 1940s.Fantastic Four Annual #4. Marvel Comics. Around this time, Storm met and fell in love with Crystal, a member of the superpowered race the Inhumans.Fantastic Four #45 (Dec. 1965). Marvel Comics. After their relationship ended, Crystal returned to her native city of Attilan and eventually married the superhero Quicksilver.Fantastic Four #150 (Sept. 1974). Marvel Comics. Storm, crushed, attempted to move on, finding that his high-school girlfriend, Dorrie Evans, had married and had two children.Fantastic Four Vol. 1 #134 (Feb. 27, 1973). Marvel Comics. Storm dropped out of college but remained friends with Wingfoot, who often participated in the Fantastic Four's adventures.
Storm eventually began a romance with who he thought was Alicia Masters but was eventually revealed to be an alien from the shapeshifting Skrull race, Lyja, posing as Masters.Fantastic Four #269-270 In the interim, they married."Dearly Beloved", by Roger Stern, John Buscema, and Sal Buscema. Fantastic Four #300 (March 1987). Marvel Comics. Storm later discovers "Alicia's" true identity, and that Lyja is pregnant with his child. He then witnessed Lyja's apparent death and rescued the real Alicia from the Skrulls.Fantastic Four #357-358. Marvel Comics.
Storm briefly joined his nephew Franklin Richards' Fantastic Force team, where he battled his otherdimensional counterpart, Vangaard (formerly Gaard). Lyja posed as student Laura Green and dated Storm to stay close to him; Storm recognized her when they kissed, though he did not reveal this to her until later.
Outside career and anti-registration movement Seeking an acting career, Storm was cast as the Old West hero the Rawhide Kid, but producers reconsidered and gave the role to Lon Zelig (actually the alien Super-Skrull).Fantastic Four Vol. 3 #51 (Jan. 9, 2002). Marvel Comics. After working mostly in some television shows, Storm also spent some time as a firefighter at the behest of his former classmate, Mike Snow, but when Snow moved away after his wife turned out to be a psychopathic arsonist and seemingly died, Storm left the job. He later returned to the profession during a period when the Fantastic Four was short on cash. Frustrated with her brother's directionless life and near-disastrous pranksterism, his sister compelled him to become chief financial officer for the Fantastic Four, Inc. Infighting and betrayal resulted in a near-catastrophe, ending Storm's position.Fantastic Four vol. 3 #65-66. Marvel Comics.
After a major battle with the supervillain and dictator Doctor Doom, Fantastic Four leader Reed Richards attempted to claim Doom's Latveria for the Fantastic Four, an act that alienated the United States government and his own team. This led to team-member Ben Grimm's apparent death and the Fantastic Four's subsequent dispersal. Storm took to fixing cars for a living. Grimm later was revealed to be alive.Fantastic Four #509-511. Marvel Comics. Over the Internet, Storm meets a young woman, Cole, whom he learns is the daughter of one of the Fantastic Four's oldest enemies, the Wizard; after a confrontation with that supervillain, who escaped with Cole, Storm remained hopeful of meeting her again.Fantastic Four #514-516. Marvel Comics. For a time, Storm became the Herald of the powerful cosmic being Galactus, becoming the Invisible Boy after switching powers with his sister and teammate, Susan Richards, the Invisible Woman.Fantastic Four #517-524. Marvel Comics.
During the 2006–2007 "Civil War" company-wide crossover, in which the superpowered community is split over the Superhuman Registration Act, which required them to register with, and become agents of, the US government, Storm and his sister allied with the underground rebels, the Secret Avengers.Millar, Mark. Civil War #4 (Oct. 2006). Marvel Comics. Shortly afterward, during the "Secret Invasion" company-wide crossover, the shape-shifting extraterrestrial Skrulls intensified their clandestine infiltration of Earth. Storm was briefly reunited with his former Skrull girlfriend, Lyja. Though part of the invading force, she finds she still has some feelings for him, and does not carry out her mission of sabotage. She returns to her people, unsure of herself and of any future relationship.Secret Invasion: Fantastic Four #1-3. Marvel Comics.
Death and return In the conclusion of the 2011 "Three" storyline, in Fantastic Four #587 (March 2011), the Human Torch appears to die fighting a horde of aliens from the Negative Zone. The series ended with the following issue, #588, and relaunched in March 2011 as simply FF.Ching, Albert. "Hickman Details FANTASTIC FOUR #587's Big Character Death", Newsarama, 25 January 2011Moore, Matt. "After Half Century, It's 1 Fantastic's Farewell", Associated Press via ABC News, January 25, 2011. WebCitation archive. Spider-Man, one of Storm's friends, took his place on the team, as requested in the Torch's will.The Amazing Spider-Man #657. Marvel Comics.
It is later revealed that the Human Torch was revived by a species of insect-like creatures that were implanted in his body by Annihilus in an attempt to force Storm to help open the Negative Zone portal. Storm eventually escapes and Richards determines Storm was on the other side of the portal for two years from his perspective.Fantastic Four #601. Marvel Comics.