I have always loved superheroes, ever since I watched Darkwing Duck. Drake Mallard being a bumbling Batman spoof… With an ego to boot. Then came Spider-Man, and so on. It was very much a nostalgic time. But how far back did I wish to go to see what I liked? The dark and gripping tales of the 90s? The storytelling of the 80s, where the X-Men reigned supreme? Or the wacky 60s and 70s, with their silly Flash stories that seemed like it was written by someone high on acid?
When I decided to go further back to check out the history of comic books, there was one comic series that actually stood out, and was popular for very good reasons. And that was the Human Torch. Not Johnny Storm, but James Hammond. The synthesoid that burst on fire when he was first exposed to oxygen. When he learned to control the fire, he became a police officer, upholding the law, doing work all the time. When he was offered a hot dog, he grew to love food. Originally, he didn’t need food. Then he developed the ability to digest food, and eventually needed it. He learned that he could also replenish energy by sleeping. So he evolved to need sleep. He started out as a Pinocchio, and became more human the more time passed.
I also noticed the pulps having their influence on the storytelling, since before the war hit in Europe, Hammond was primarily dealing with villains related to the mob, often going undercover, despite having a specific description of him. He was often requested for missing people cases, even faking his own kidnapping and disappearance once, even fooling his sidekick Toro, who in his case, being a young adolescent in his own right, learned how to slip into the mob himself, despite being a hot-blooded youth. That boy was a more dynamic sidekick than most of the era, often letting everyone know what he thought, sometimes nearly blowing the cover, or efforts to fool people who captured them.
And boy, did they get captured. Most of his stories have the villains capture and imprison them, but they always find a way out, and take down the villains when they least expect them, because they got arrogant. Sure, it was a way of bringing up the villains as a threat, and as much as it may seem that Torch and Toro may look like buffoons from the description, they’d always find their way out. It’s why he was often treated as a special agent, preferring a more subtle way of using his fire, despite canonically being more powerful than Johnny Storm. He didn’t want to be impulsive with his power, as he was considerate of how his abilities might harm innocent people.
When the war hit the US, he was more of a modern “superpowers takes down the enemies” style of hero, however his traditions did survive, except it would be more Nazis he works to undermine, even using his blond hair and blue eyes, and adapting to the German language (another trait he has been programmed with. He can learn languages very fast.) swiftly, he has actually stopped Nazi plots undercover, all the while going from Europe to the Pacific within a day, taking a short rest in the US, sometimes leaving Toro behind as he doesn’t want to exhaust the teenage Toro who is around 17 to 18 years old by then. Sometimes even taking care of a mob plot, or a Nazi agent in the US.
I actually enjoyed his run, and the pulpy history was still there for a long time, and it was rather fun seeing a traditional, Golden Age hero in his classic glory. As much as Marvel likes to brag about Captain America, we have to remember that Captain America was more of a wartime hero, trying to embolden patriotism, but he was nowhere near as popular as Human Torch, which is why I was annoyed when I heard of how he died. He died pretty much learning his powers were too much, and he blew himself up because of his powers. This was Marvel’s (Atlas at the time) main seller. And they got rid of him, wanting to put the Golden Age behind them, and slip into the Silver Age. Sure, we saw an evolution with the likes of Hal Jordan, and Barry Allen, (And eventually Wally West.) But it wasn’t the same. I tried to read Barry Allen’s original run, but it came across as wackier than Bart Allen’s Impulse run, and those can get downright goofy.
And when I came across Alan Scott, Jay Garrick and Ted Grant in the modern day, in the Justice Society run of the 90s and early 2000s, I fell in love with them. They behaved like they would in the 50s, and taught modern youths not only in powers, but in ethics as well, all the while having compelling storytelling. There’s a reason why this was a successful run. (Too bad in Brightest Day they didn’t pursue the storyline where Jay becomes mayor to help clean up a small city, and threatens Batman upon activists, because he got fed up with them.) And I love Jay Garrick’s costume and wardrobe. He is such a “Leave it to Beaver” style of man, that represents the ideals of a man from the 50s. The kind of Father figure that would take any boy and go play catch to help guide the boy, or plan local baseball games for the boys from bad backgrounds and low income households.
As much as many want to bring back the Golden Age, it is nice to see their adventures, and enjoy the heart of what it means to be a superhero, a heart that has been lost on everyone. Whether it’s the wholesome Jay Garrick, the inspirational Alan Scott, the clever James Hammond, or the gruff Ted Grant, that’s what the Golden Age represents for me. Old time storytelling, and the classical morals that we should have kept, and should have taught to our youths.
The multi-issue fight between the Torch and the Sub-Mariner was arguably one of the first major "events" in comic book history, and set the stage for many others...