"Flame On!" Johnny Storm the Human Torch Appreciation

[Abe]

No shampoo then? It's the weirdest part..

[Crimz]

No shampoo then? It's the weirdest part..

He must have really bad dandruff.

[Ravin' Ray]

I don't know about now, but at the start Johnny could still get sick. In Amazing Spider-Man #3 (1963) he got sick after giving an inspirational talk that goaded the then in the dumps Peter Parker to face Doctor Octopus again after the latter defeated him as Spider-Man. Despite being immune to heat, he still had a fever but got well towards the end of the issue.

[DragonsChi]

I know normal logic doesn't really apply to comics but.....

It would make more sense that he could get sick by normal means in human form but he should be able to slowly burn out the virus the longer he flames on. Also, think it would depend on what type of infection he received.

But again that his just me trying to work through something like that for a burning man. I know very little about medicine .

[Ravin' Ray]

Well to add to the discussion, in Slott's Spider-Man Human Torch #2, set back when Peter dated Gwen and Johnny still dated Crystal,

(I'll add spoilers in case you plan to read it yourself)

spoilers:

Johnny boiled away the venom in his body that Kraven's snakes injected into him, so he wasn't affected.

end of spoilers

[Crimz]

Well to add to the discussion, in Slott's Spider-Man Human Torch #2, set back when Peter dated Gwen and Johnny still dated Crystal,

(I'll add spoilers in case you plan to read it yourself)

spoilers:

Johnny boiled away the venom in his body that Kraven's snakes injected into him, so he wasn't affected.

end of spoilers

I was literally going to mention that lol

[CaptCleghorn]

I know normal logic doesn't really apply to comics but.....

It would make more sense that he could get sick by normal means in human form but he should be able to slowly burn out the virus the longer he flames on. Also, think it would depend on what type of infection he received.

But again that his just me trying to work through something like that for a burning man. I know very little about medicine .

Johnny's burning away dirt and plaque I get. But how would his body know the difference between toxic venom, viruses, and helpful bacteria? Are we at a "don't think too much about it" situation?

[DragonsChi]

Johnny's burning away dirt and plaque I get. But how would his body know the difference between toxic venom, viruses, and helpful bacteria? Are we at a "don't think too much about it" situation?

This is why I don't think it would work on every type of infection. The ones that where more susceptible to heat would probably deactivate/ burn out eventually but others....? Not sure how that would work.

Since most viruses are deactivated at temperatures between 165 and 212 degrees Fahrenheit, food scientists advise to heat up meat to at least 165 degrees before serving. These temperatures kill bacteria, as well. Viruses can withstand freezing temperatures, however.

https://soaprejuvenator.com/blogs/vi...do-viruses-die

[CaptCleghorn]

This is why I don't think it would work on every type of infection. The ones that where more susceptible to heat would probably deactivate/ burn out eventually but others....? Not sure how that would work.

https://soaprejuvenator.com/blogs/vi...do-viruses-die

I'm OK with viruses being burned out of his body, but the human body also has bacteria in it which provide benefits. Does Johnny lose those as well?

And what about undigested food? Would flaming on right after eating burn that food up and when he flames off, is he hungry again? There's got to be some point at which molecules inside Johnny become part of him and could be assumed to flame on and off with him.

[616MarvelYear is LeapYear]

Strange Tales #108 May 1963
"The Painter of a Thousand Perils!"
A counterfeiter caught by the Human Torch


finds magic paints and uses them to escape from prison and strike back at the Torch.

Script by Stan Lee (plot) and Robert Bernstein [as R. Berns] (script), pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Dick Ayers.

[Crimz]

Johnny's covers almost always look awesome.

[DragonsChi]

That Cover is so AWESOME!

I wish the lettering wasn't in it. I would get a poster made tomorrow if not for that!

[Ravin' Ray]

I also want someone to animate the flames! I might make it my new avatar.

[Sutekh]

I'm OK with viruses being burned out of his body, but the human body also has bacteria in it which provide benefits. Does Johnny lose those as well?

And what about undigested food? Would flaming on right after eating burn that food up and when he flames off, is he hungry again? There's got to be some point at which molecules inside Johnny become part of him and could be assumed to flame on and off with him.

Yeah, it quickly gets crazy. The fluid in your cells isn't alive, and wouldn't be protected by any sort of biological changes to his body. Logically, it would flash into steam (which occupies 216x the volume of water) and each and every cell of his body would pop like a trillion zits. Larger pockets of liquid, like the acid in your stomach, the fluid in your eyeballs, and the liquid in the semicircular canal of your ear would go off like grenades.

There are more other organisms inside your body than your body has actual cells, and none of them would likely survive if his *internal* temperature went up more than fifty degrees. We've seen that he can micro-adjust temperatures, to burn right next to gasoline without it igniting and stuff, so he could easily generate a flaming aura around himself while not being any warmer internally than anyone else, but the writers seem to have him do stunts like raising his internal temperature (to burn out venom) on occasion, which would be super messy to deal with.

(Not any worse than people becoming invisible, and the contents of their stomach and intestines mysteriously also becoming invisible, to the great relief of all, unlike those nasty transparent fish whose poop you can see moving through their transparent guts, or people shrinking without immediately exploding because the sandwich they ate didn't shrink with them, or vomiting up all of their stomach acid, which didn't shrink with them, because it's just an inorganic liquid inside of them, or any of the dozens of other scientific oddities about superhero life...)

[CaptCleghorn]

(Not any worse than people becoming invisible, and the contents of their stomach and intestines mysteriously also becoming invisible, to the great relief of all, unlike those nasty transparent fish whose poop you can see moving through their transparent guts, or people shrinking without immediately exploding because the sandwich they ate didn't shrink with them, or vomiting up all of their stomach acid, which didn't shrink with them, because it's just an inorganic liquid inside of them, or any of the dozens of other scientific oddities about superhero life...)

I rewatched the old original Invisible Man movie and they did mention food needing to digest to become invisible as well. Even old time movie audiences have these questions. I'm going to address your other excellent points in another more detailed post.