FANTASTIC FOUR #285

"HERO"
Written and Penciled by John Byrne | Inked by Al Gordon
Colored by Glynis Oliver | Lettered by John Workman
Edited by: Michael Carlin | Supervised by Jim Shooter

The Plot: Tommy Hanson, a thirteen year-old boy and the Human Torch’s biggest fan, has a bad day and goes home, where he lights himself ablaze using an eccentric neighbor’s radio controlled airplane fuel.

A month later, Doctor Janet Darling of the South Queens Hospital For Sick Children seeks out Johnny Storm and asks him to visit Tommy. Johnny agrees and arrives just as Tommy passes away. His final words are to tell the Torch that he lit himself on fire to emulate his hero.

Johnny returns to his apartment and tells Sue, Alicia, and She-Hulk that he plans to give up being the Human Torch. But the Beyonder appears and takes Johnny on a tour of Tommy’s past, showing him that the Torch and his exploits meant the world to Tommy. Johnny decides to remain the Torch after all.

Sub-Plots & Continuity Notes: Byrne plays up the Fantastic Four’s celebrity a bit this issue, featuring a Human Torch interview in an issue of –errm— Celebrity magazine, and showing a TV Guide listing for an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous spotlighting the team.

The FF are still living at Avengers’ Mansion following the destruction of the Baxter Building back in issue 279. Construction of their new headquarters is underway, a building which Reed declares will be three times as tall as the Baxter Building and feature a basement complex three times deeper.

Johnny and Reed discuss the Beyonder’s recent activity on Earth and Reed compares him with Galactus. In the same conversation, Johnny mentions their first encounter with the Beyonder and a footnote points toward the original SECRET WARS mini-series.

Also, note Reed's hard hat has the old FF logo on it. I guess the team didn't see much need in paying to rebrand such an infrequently used accessory.

She-Hulk makes vague mention of the fact that she can no longer revert to her human form, with a note citing the SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK graphic novel.

My Thoughts: I’m honestly not sure what I make of this one. Byrne’s trying to lean on the “poignant tragedy” button again, as he did in issue 267 when Sue lost her baby. And Tommy’s story pulls on the right strings, I suppose: he’s friendless, a target for bullies, with neglectful parents and an unhealthy vicarious obsession with the Human Torch.

But the story hinges on the idea that a thirteen year old boy would honestly believe dousing himself in rocket fuel and lighting a match could turn him into a Human Torch. Granted, his neighbor says as much — in jest — to Tommy, but I’m pretty sure that by that age, most kids would know better. I feel like this story would work better if Tommy had been played younger, like five or six years old — but that might have been a bit too dark.

(Also, I suppose it’s possible — and even probable based on his teacher’s reaction to his Torch fandom in one scene — that young Tommy has some sort of psychological break with reality going on, but if that’s the case, it’s not mentioned here.)

I’m also a little trouble by the ending, in which the Beyonder plays deus ex machina, shows Johnny Tommy’s life, and that snaps him out of his funk and returns him to action as the Human Torch. Is that really all it takes? It makes Johnny come across as kind of shallow and fickle.

That said, Byrne has groused before that the Beyonder was forced on him for this story by Jim Shooter, and his original intention was for Doctor Darling to play a larger role and help Johnny through the ordeal. Byrne has even remarked that he offered to redo the story in its originally intended form, for free, for future reprints, so dissatisfied was he with the final product — but Marvel declined the offer. But in any case, I can only imagine that the abrupt, somewhat insensitive ending comes from the fact that the story had to be changed after it was originally plotted.

Lastly, Byrne’s rendition of the Beyonder looks an awful lot like his Superman, just about a year away at this point.