MARVEL SUPER HEROES: HUMAN TORCH
Here is a series dedicated to the kid in me. All things super hero. To this day I still have my comic book collection, each placed in plastic bags and boxed in my closet. With this summer being the Summer of Super Heroes in the movies, I thought this might be a fun series to put together. PLEASE NOTE: This is a very busy road at times. I tried to place each cache where there is ample space to pull completely off the road. Please watch for traffic and the other hazards that are found in this area, including our slithery friends. I hope you enjoy this series.
The Human Torch is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. A similar, unrelated character of the same name and powers had been created in 1939 by writer-artist Carl Burgos for Marvel Comics' predecessor company, Timely Comics.
Like the rest of the Fantastic Four, the Human Torch gained his powers on a spacecraft bombarded by cosmic rays. He can engulf his entire body in flames, is able to fly, can absorb fire harmlessly into his own body, and can 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 reticient and compassionate 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. He is also a friend and frequent ally of Spider-Man, who is approximately the same age as the Torch.
Chris Evans portrayed him in the 2005 film Fantastic Four, and its 2007 sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
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 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/or balls of flame. He can also manipulate his flame in such a way as to shape it into rings and other forms. 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. He has shown the ability to detect heat signatures (infra-red vision).
The plasma field immediately surrounding his body is sufficiently hot enough to vaporize projectiles that approach him, including but not limited to 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 can also direct momentary beams of "nova heat" as a weapon.
Storm has demonstrated enough control that he can hold a person while in his flame form without his passenger feeling discomforting heat. His knowledge extends to general information about fire as well, supported by regular visits to fire-safety lectures at various firehouses in New York. In one instance when poisoned, Storm superheated his blood to burn the toxin out.[39]
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.
Very early in his career, as seen in The Fantastic Four #1-2, Storm was depicted as transmuting his body itself into living flame; in all subsequent appearances his power consists in the generation of a flaming aura.
Storm was trained in hand-to-hand combat by the Thing, and is skilled in the use of his superhuman powers in combat. He is also a skilled race-car driver, auto mechanic and designer.