Human Torch Volume 1: Burn Digest

Marvel's Mightiest Heroes Graphic Novel Collection #7

by Karl Kesel, Skottie Young (Artist)

Johnny Storm is the youngest member of the world-famous Fantastic Four, with the powers and temperament of fire itself. Impulsive, restless and thrill-seeking by nature, the Torch doesn't need to wait for the rest of the FF. He can get into trouble all by himself. Years ago, after gaining his powers, Johnny became the most popular student on his high-school campus. The Big Man on Campus until the Torch came along was Olympic-bound wrestler Mike Snow. The Snow/Storm rivalry reached a terrible climax when the two were fighting over a girl. Snow never wanted to see Johnny again - until now, years later, when a fellow firefighter dies before his eyes, inexplicably bursting into flames ...like a Human Torch. Collects Human Torch #1-6.

Genres: Marvel, Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book

136 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 2016

About the author

Karl Kesel (Victor, New York) is an American comics writer and inker whose works have primarily been under contract for DC Comics. He is a member of Periscope Studio. In 2017, he started Panic Button Press with Tom Grummett to publish the creator-owned graphic novel Section Zero.

Reviews

[Ryan Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh?

I mean, I enjoyed it. It was a fun exploration into the Human Torch, but it didn't blow me away like some better comics have.

[Dannie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely skipped over a few parts but over all a decent story and comic art I love

[Alex Sarll]

With the Fantastic Four film inbound (and looking very promising, though I said that at least once before), little surprise Marvel are getting related material back into print, even this oddity from short-lived, vaguely manga-inspired early noughties imprint Tsunami. I imagine the main selling point will be early work from artist Skottie Young, long before he became a mini-industry unto himself, but his work here is a way from the cutesy yet snarky style with which he's since become synonymous, not least on his endless variant covers with hangdog baby versions of Marvel characters. Yes, it's already exaggerated, cartoony, all extreme angles and curves – but it feels more punky (in the American large shorts sense) than anything, certainly in the first issue, a flashback to Johnny Storm's high school days, where hia image goes from bad boy crossed with Billy Bullshit to school hero once it becomes clear that no, he actually is a superhero fighting aliens at the weekend. Which doesn't go down well with the previous school hero... There are elements of this issue especially that have aged quite badly, not least the way the two of them compete for a girl treated more as prize than person; between publication date, flashback and sliding timescale, I'm damned if I could say exactly when it's meant to be set, but let's agree on A Very Different Time.

Just when I was settling in for a whole awkward collection like that, though, we jump forward to the 'present' (but see previous parenthesis), where Johnny is the approximately adult Johnny we know and tolerate, and his former rival is a fireman. A dangerous job, sure, but that still doesn't explain the strange death of one of his comrades, so he reluctantly calls Johnny in to help work out what's happened and prevent any further deaths. And here the bigger problem with this series becomes apparent. I've always thought of writer Karl Kesel, in so far as I thought of him at all, as a competent journeyman, rather than anyone to get excited about. But here he's dealing with the unenviable assignment of a solo book for a character who was only ever conceived as the hotheaded (yes, I know) goofball/himbo within a team dynamic. And, rather brilliantly, he's come up with a noirish investigative story set in the world of firefighting, a world he gives the impression of having researched with some thoroughness. It's a grounded new angle on a founding Marvel character, it's morally complex, it's smart. And then all of that is illustrated by someone who would go on to be excellent for a certain sort of project, but one which still wouldn't include this, and who at this early stage would have been more at home doing skate-punk album booklets. And who, most critically for this particular concept, now admits that back then his flame did look a bit like Laffy Taffy. I find a lot of comics fans too prone to dreaming up hypothetical redrawings of existing comics, but right now I'm joining them and wondering what Maleev or Gaydos might yet do with this.

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book 7 of the Marvel's Mightiest Heroes series.
In his high school days Johnny Storm hard a fierce rivalry with fellow student Mike Snow which, after Johnny's transformation into the Human Torch, led to Mike being accidentally burned. Years later Mike, now a New York firefighter, calls in a favour from Johnny to investigate the mysterious and possibly superhuman immolation of a fellow firefighter.

There was a lot of narrative potential in the idea that Johnny, in his early days as a superhero, lost control of his powers and caused a young man terrible burns, an event which they both then covered up for their own reasons. It had the makings of a 'great power/great responsibility' level of backstory and guilt for the iconic and famously brash character.
Unfortunately this book fails to cash-in on that potential, never really exploring the depth of emotion that this revelation should have had. In fact, even the guy who was horribly scarred by Johnny's mistake seems pretty okay with it all.

Instead we mostly get a fairly generic tale of a mysterious new supervillain, which includes so many otherwise unrelated fire-based themes that it's almost as if Kesel thought we might forget that fire is the Human Torch's whole deal.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com *

[Raymond Paquette · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the early Fantastic Four books the bad guys mentioned that Torch had pledged never to burn anyone. That kind of promise is very difficult to keep for a man who turns to fire. This story shows where that promise came from, a place of guilt.
Johnny is a show off, glory hound and not a nice guy in many ways but he does know how to take responsibility for his actions, eventually. This is not the first time he's had to deal with his fire hurting someone but it's nice to see him grow. All to often writers move him back to the carefree teenager he started as. The next story ignores this one but it's still good.

[Timothy Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story may be a little generic, but the art is spectacular and consistent. I loved it and would read it again. Marvel needs to do more stories like this, personal. I also really like how this was printed in digest form, reminding me of the Japanese tokaibo style Mangas. This little story is entertainment gold.

[Ondra Král · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pohodová superhrdinská věc s Torchem v hlavní roli. Příběh se drží v ulicích, líbí se mi důraz na oheň a propojení s hasiči. Občas hezké civilní momenty kazí některé postavy, které jsou až moc přepálené (novinářka). Záporák meh.

3,5*

[Erik J · Rating 3 out of 5]

I collected these issues WAAAAAY back when they came out in 2002 (2003? ish) and liked it then. Like it now.

Love that it's just a harmless and non-canon impacting slice of life story. Plus, Johnny doesn't get enough to do on his own.

Overall - 3/5

[Greta · Rating 5 out of 5]

if you can get past the art style (which admittedly stopped me for awhile) this is an amazing comic.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Skottie Young’s art and the story of a lone Johnny Storm in early days and “today” was solid and surprising

[B · Rating 2 out of 5]

The surprise was not a surprise and it seemed like the book wrote itself into a corner.

[Daken Howlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sorta di Reboot della serie originale della avventure della torcia umana "in singolo" originariamente concepita negli anni '60 da Kirby, questa nuova versione della serie classica immagina la torcia dedicarsi nuovamente ad attività erotiche senza il resto dei fantastici quattro non perché lontano dal Baxter Building per gli studi al college (ormai conclusi nella continuità dell'epoca) ma perché richiesto da un suo rivale dei tempi dell'università, apparentemente Storm è l'unica persona in tutta New York a poter risolvere il misterioso caso delle morte di un pompiere...ma come?e perché proprio lui?
La serie si presenta in modo interessante, cercando di distanziarsi il più possibile dalle storie originali degli anni sessanta, sostanzialmente prive di continuità tra gli episodi e piuttosto inclini a situazioni umoristiche, questa nuova serie inizia subito con un caso complesso che collega tra di loro tutti i numeri del primo ciclo narrativo e un tono vicino ai crime fiction o un film noir, il che permette al volume di uscire rapidamente dall'ombra del suo predecessore e guadagnare un'aspetto unico.
Purtroppo però lo stile grafico della storia è poco convincente, con pose costantemente eccessive e poca attenzione all'anatomia dei personaggi, e il mistero, alla fine, non soddisfa a pieno nella sua risoluzione.
Un volume interessante per i fan della serie originale o della torcia umana, ma non troppo interessante nel complesso.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Got it for the Skottie Young art thinking it would be a goofy romp, but ended up getting much more character depth and heart than expected. The first arc was a low-key character based piece that operated like a mystery while the second piece was more a sci/fi fantasy adventure. Two fun but minor stories round out the book, one featuring The Thing. Very good writing here by Kesel, and while Young's art was a bit at odds with the tone of the first piece, it was lots of fun to look at. A very good volume that adds some nice gravitas to a usually very shallow character.

[Bruce M · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story was predictable, and I didn't find it very interesting.

I'm also not really a fan of Skottie Young's art here. I enjoyed his first run on Rocket Raccoon well enough, but his style doesn't suit a book that's trying to tell a serious story.

Very forgettable book. It gets two stars, because it's a Marvel Age title and I'm well above the target age range. It's probably a much better fit in the mid-to-late-teen crowd.

[Jdetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Karl Kesel has always had a good feel for the FF and his Johnny Storm here is excellent. It's a much more grounded story than we normally get for any of the members of the team, but that's ok. It's mature and has heart.

[Dennis Brock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed... not my favourite style of art for sure, but I did like the character of Johnny Storm. The story itself was a bit predictable, but I like the way Johnny grows through this arc. Made we want to check out a few more FF stories as I've only read a couple to this point.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a book about a guy who has super powers its a good book but the guy always gets himself in alot of trouble

[Mayank Agarwal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really Good Art and Story in the two big arcs Burn and A Plague of Locusts which covers 10 of the 12 comics in the volume.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not at all a fan of the artwork used in Burn, but the story was good, Johnny Storm is his usual wise-cracking show off self, and a very good angle is given to him as well.