Torch Song

Now

Spider-Man arrives at the Baxter Building and accidentally sets off the security system.[1] Mister Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the Thing enter the room and shut the security down. They are glad Spider-Man came by because they wanted to thank him for coming to talk to Franklin after the Human Torch died.[2]

Taking off his mask, Peter apologizes for not being at Johnny’s service because he has been to too many funerals lately and that he deeply misses Johnny.[3] Soon, Peter is sitting in the Fantastic Four’s kitchen where he tells them that he came to regard Johnny like a brother over the years.[4] This gets the Thing thinking about the day he first realized just how close Spider-Man and the Torch were back in the day when Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four fought some space-monster upstate years back….

Years Ago…[5]

The creature they were fighting called itself Krakatoom. It was an alien creature that protected itself with an energy field. Tracking it down to the forest in upstate New York, Spider-Man, the Human Torch, and the Thing kept the creature distracted while Mister Fantastic prepared a device that caused the creature to completely dissipate.

With the battle over, Reed tells the others that according to his readings there is a chance that Krakatoom might reform requiring them to camp out at the site for the next few days to make sure that doesn’t happen. Spider-Man figures that this is his cue to leave, but the Invisible Girl invites Spider-Man to stay, saying they have more than enough camping gear in the Fantasti-Car.[6] Spider-Man decides to stick around because he always wanted to go camping and never had a chance until now. Soon, Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four set up camp and Johnny tries to entertain everyone with spooky campfire stories about the FF’s past adventures.[7] A lot of the night was also saw Spider-Man and the Torch bickering with each other.

As the days went by, Spider-Man and the Torch played pranks on each other non-stop, much to the amusement of both Ben and Sue. When Johnny soaked Spider-Man’s hand in a bowl of warm water while he slept so he’d wet the bed, Spider-Man responded by spraying webbing on Johnny’s roll of toilet paper so it would stick to him while he wiped. When Spider-Man fell asleep suntanning, Johnny wrote “Flame on!” on his back in sun screen. Spider-Man responded by scaring Johnny out of the lake with a shark fin.

Ben really enjoyed Spider-Man and the Torch’s rivalry because gave Johnny someone else to focus his ranks on instead of the Thing for once. However, on the last day things were getting too quiet and the Thing put down his newspaper to see what was going on. In the woods he found what appeared to be Krakatoom' being reformed. Rushing at the glowing form, the Thing quickly realized that it was merely some burning branches and mud shaped to look like the monster. Realizing that both Spider-Man and the Torch played a prank on him. The pair got a good laugh but soon found them fleeing from the Thing who did not like the idea of being the butt of their joke.

Now

Recalling that incident makes everyone but Ben have a good laugh. Once they are done, the Thing reminds Peter that he is considered part of their family and to think of Ben as a brother. Sue mirrors Ben’s sentiments telling him that if he ever needs a sister. This is amusing to Peter, telling her that he already views her like a sister except for the one time he and Johnny had to bail her out. Since Reed and Ben don’t know about this, they tell Sue to explain what Spider-Man is talking about….

Years Ago…[8]

It was during one of the Fantastic Four’s many battles with their evil counterparts, the Frightful Four. While Mister Fantastic and the Thing were busy with the Sandman, the Invisible Girl and Human Torch were out looking for the Wizard, the Trapster, and their mysterious new fourth member.

At the time, Johnny decides to break off from the search in order to sign autographs for a group of girls. That’s when Spider-Man happened by and decided that this was the perfect opportunity for one of his pranks and stole the Torch’s pants. When Johnny flamed on the lower half of his body, it allowed Spider-Man to make the obvious “liar, liar, pants on fire” joke he was hoping to make.

It was as Johnny was chasing Spider-Man to get his pants back when the Wizard, Trapster and Beetle arrived on the scene. While Johnny scrambled to get his pants on, Sue used her invisible force field to protect Spider-Man and Johnny. That’s when she decided to take a page from Spider-Man’s joke book and used her powers to make the Tapster’s pants invisible. Embarrassed by having his underwear made visible, the Trapster was easily knocked out by Spider-Man and the Torch. Since this worked on one villain, Sue repeated the same trick on both the Beetle and the Wizard. The Wizard in particular gave them a good laugh when it was discovered that he was wearing a leopard print speedo on underneath.

In the aftermath of the battle the police arrived to take the three members of the Frightful Four away. To everyone’s surprise, Sue was arrested as well for breaking indecent exposure laws. Later that evening, Spider-Man and the Human Torch bailed Sue out of jail and on the way home, she had the pair swear to never tell anyone what happened.

Now

Everyone has a good laugh over this one and Reed jokingly suggest they update their logs to reflect this new piece of information. It’s then that Reed suggests that since Peter sees the rest of the team as brothers and sisters he must see Reed as something of a father figure. However, Peter shocks Reed by telling him that he can’t see him as a father because he’s “Mister Adventure” with the cool car. Reed admits that is right and this reminds him of a more recent time he, Spider-Man and Johnny spent together….

A Few Years Ago…[9]

Spider-Man was invited by Reed to take a ride on his new spacecraft. While the Human Torch was busy detailing the ship with flames, Spider-Man tells Reed how he appreciates the offer as he doesn’t get to go into space very often. Once they leave Earth’s orbit, Johnny mocks Spider-Man’s enthusiasm saying the Fantastic Four goes into space all the time and to wake him up if they end up in the Negative Zone.

While Spider-Man takes pictures of the experience, Reed takes them out to the strange phenomenon he wanted to study a strange green star that he dubbed the “Banner Nova” because the strange object gave off gamma radiation. While Johnny finds equally as boring, both Spider-Man and Mister Fantastic are fascinated since stars aren’t green. That’s when Reed begins detecting that this mysterious green star is about to go supernova. Unfortunately, the engine on their ship stalls.

With time of the essence, Reed has Johnny go outside absorb the deadly solar flares that head their way while Spider-Man and Reed work on fixing the ship. As the two try to trouble shoot, Johnny offers a simple solution by suggesting that the flooded the engine. Even though the ship doesn’t operate on liquid fuels, they use this principal to find the problem and fix it. They then rocket away from the star just moments before it goes supernova. The trio cheer their narrow escape and after they are a safe distance away, Johnny leaves the ship to release the excess energy from his body. While Johnny is out of ear shot, Spider-Man confides in Reed and tells him that for a “kid” Johnny is a pretty bright guy.[10]

Now

Peter wishes he could have told Johnny this before he died. Reed understands and decides that it is time for Johnny to say the last word by playing the holographic recording of his will. This was previously unseen by everyone else as it was addressed specifically to Spider-Man. Johnny tells Peter that he knows how much family means to him and of all the things he could have left for the web-slinger, Johnny has decided to give Peter his spot on the team. Johnny rhetorically asks Peter if he is up for it and holds his hand out. As has been a long standing tradition each member of the Fantastic Four puts their hand over the hologram of Johnny’s hand as a show of solidarity. After Sue, Reed, and Ben put their hands out, Peter puts his on top of them all. Johnny’s last words are “Ha. Gotcha.”[11]

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Girl/Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Frightful Four (Wizard, Trapster, Beetle)

Continuity Notes

1. Spider-Man is depicted as being contained in some kind of plexi-glass shield. This is paying homage to the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #1.

2. At the time of this story, everyone thinks Johnny Storm sacrificed his life to prevent an invasion from the Negative Zone in Fantastic Four #587, he actually survived and will turn up again in Fantastic Four #600. Spider-Man talked to Franklin about the loss of his own Uncle in Fantastic Four #588 after Johnny’s funeral.

3. Spider-Man has seen a lot of friends die recently. These people were Oksana Sytsevich in Amazing Spider-Man #625, Billy Connors in #631, Spider-Woman (Mattie Franklin) in #634, Kaine in #635, Madame Web in #637, and most recently Marla Madison in #654.

4. It should be noted that Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four have known each other for about 13 years at the time of this story since they first met in Amazing Spider-Man #1. Spider-Man and the Torch have had a playful rivalry that soon evolved into a strong friendship since the first time they worked solo together in Strange Tales Annual #2.

5. According to the Marvel Chronology Project, this flashback takes place just after the wedding of Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Girl in Fantastic Four Annual #3. Per the Sliding Timesacle this would place these events as happening about 13 years prior to this story.

6. At the time of this flashback, Sue Storm was calling herself the Invisible Girl. She could not change her name to the Invisible Woman until Fantastic Four #284.

7. Johnny is telling the story of the Fantastic Four’s first encounter with Diablo. That was in Fantastic Four #30.

8. The Chronology Project places this flashback as happening after Amazing Spider-Man #28 for Spider-Man and after Fantastic Four #43 for the Fantastic Four. This story also takes place about 13 years prior to the main story.

9. The Chronology Project states that this story happens after the events of Thing (vol. 2) #8. The Sliding Timescale dictates that this flashback happened about a year before the main story.

10. Per Civil War #2 and Human Torch (vol. 2) #1, Peter was 15 when he first became Spider-Man and Johnny was 16 when he first became the Human Torch. That would make them both 27 and 28 years old at the time of this flashback, hardly making them “kids”.

11. The Fantastic Four’s tradition of putting their hands on top of each other in mutual support dates back to when the team first formed and vowed to use their powers to assist humanity in Fantastic Four #1.