The Human Torch #2
Human Torch #2 (Fall 1940) is the debut issue of one of the first superhero solo titles in American comics history, and its paramount contribution is the first appearance and origin of Toro (Thomas Raymond), the Human Torch's flame-powered boy sidekick — making this the point at which Timely's android hero gained the partner who would remain his constant companion through every major wartime title for nearly a decade. The sidekick formula, plausibly inspired by Robin's recent introduction in Detective Comics, proved commercially durable: Toro went on to co-star not only in the ongoing Human Torch series but also in Young Allies, Kid Komics, All-Winners Comics, and eventually as a co-founding member of the Invaders. The issue also marks the final Golden Age appearances of both the Fiery Mask and the Falcon, cementing it as a snapshot of Timely's early anthology ecosystem at the moment the publisher was consolidating around its most bankable characters. The Torch-and-Toro pairing introduced here would directly inform Marvel's later tradition of the mentor-and-ward superhero dynamic, and Toro himself was brought back into continuity repeatedly — most fully in the 2008 Avengers/Invaders maxi-series and the 2009 miniseries The Torch.
In "Introducing Toro, the Flaming Torch Kid," Joe Simon crafts a fiery mystery from the very first page, as Dr. Jack Castle is drawn into a chilling case of bloodless murders. With the help of a new ally—Toro, the Flaming Torch Kid—Castle races to uncover the truth before more lives are lost, all while hiding his own identity from the very nurse who tends to him. The story unfolds with a classic pulp edge, brought to life by Joe Simon’s dynamic art and Alex Schomburg’s striking cover.
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The title itself is a product of a quick editorial pivot: Timely had launched Red Raven Comics #1 in August 1940, but that book failed to find an audience and was immediately axed; rather than waste the numbering, publisher Martin Goodman simply renamed the slot, inheriting the '#2' designation for this debut Human Torch solo issue. The book was published quarterly by Timely Publications, with all story content packaged by Funnies Incorporated, and Joe Simon served as editor. Carl Burgos wrote and drew the lead Toro introduction story himself, while Bill Everett contributed a Sub-Mariner co-feature, and Joe Simon both edited the issue and wrote and drew the Fiery Mask backup 'The Strange Case of the Bloodless Corpses'; the cover was supplied by Alex Schomburg, who would become the title's signature cover artist throughout its run. In a notable piece of in-joke craft, the backup characters Carl Burgess (the Falcon) and Jimmy Everett (Microman) are named as Tuckerizations honoring the issue's lead creators, Carl Burgos and Bill Everett.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of Toro (Thomas Raymond, 'The Flaming Torch Kid'), the Human Torch's fire-powered sidekick, created and drawn by Carl Burgos in the lead story titled 'Introducing Toro, the Flaming Torch Kid.'
- The title numbering begins at #2 — this is actually the first issue of the Human Torch solo series, inheriting the number from the immediately cancelled Red Raven Comics #1 (Fall 1940).
- Published Fall 1940 by Timely Publications, with interior content packaged by Funnies Incorporated; Joe Simon served as editor-in-chief; the cover was painted by Alex Schomburg.
- The issue is an anthology of 68 pages featuring multiple co-features: a Sub-Mariner story by Bill Everett, a Falcon story by Paul Reinman, a Microman story by Harold DeLay and Paul Quinn, a Mantor the Magician story by Al Gabriele, and the Fiery Mask story written and drawn by Joe Simon.
- This issue marks the final Golden Age appearance of both the Fiery Mask (Dr. Jack Castle) and the Falcon (Carl Burgess, an Assistant D.A.) — both characters would not reappear in the Golden Age after this issue.
- Microman and Mantor the Magician each have their only-ever Golden Age appearances in this issue.
- The backup characters Carl Burgess (the Falcon) and Jimmy Everett (Microman) are Tuckerizations — their names are in-jokes referencing creators Carl Burgos and Bill Everett.
- The issue has been reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age Human Torch Vol. 1 (first published 2005, reissued 2013), as well as in the Timely's Greatest: The Golden Age Human Torch by Carl Burgos Omnibus (2019) and in Marvel: The First 80 Years (2020).
Cast · 19 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Dr. Jack Castle is called to Police HQ to look at a recent murder victim who doesn't have one drop of blood left in its body. He agrees to help the suffering people involved, but the Police will have to solve the mystery. More victims are reported and Castle cannot allow any more victims to die, so he changes to the Fiery Mask and prepares a trap at his lab. Swarms of ghoulish men come in and overpower the Mask, who is found injured the next morning by his nurse, who also discovers his secret identity. Later, he tracks down the man behind the terror, Dr. Sendach, an eminent stomach specialist.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).