The Wizard, Paste Pot Pete and A Strange Newcomer
So we’ve got a double feature here, firstly we have the monthly Johnny Storm tale in which he fights off against two returning villains, The Wizard and the man, the myth, the legend, Paste Pot Pete! Our second feature is the debut of Dr Strange (apparently not related to the villain featured in one of Iron Man’s stories a few months back) as he tries to help a man who’s suffering from a repeating dream.
I still don’t think Johnny Storm is an interesting enough character to carry his own story and this book does nothing to dissuade me of this. Here he faces down with two villains your usual intelligent inventor The Wizard and a dirty pleasure of mine in Paste Pot Pete. Sadly the villains don’t really pair up all that well, their allegiance leads more to dissension than a cohesive attempt to defeat The Human Torch. In the end they are fairly easily defeated and… nothing really comes of it. It’s a forgettable story, with nothing of any real importance happening. Which is a shame because Paste Pot Pete was an effective foe in his last appearance. Ah well Pete will return I’m sure.
Our other story introduces us to the mysterious and magical world of Dr Strange, the master of black magic. It’s a brief debut that leaves us with many unanswered questions about our debutant hero. What are his powers? Why does he help people? Who is this mysterious master? There’s nothing wrong with that but the story at hand is of little interest. There’s a nice little twist, but Dr Strange seems overly reliant on his master, he shows very little agency in a moment of peril. Still the tone and nature of the story is quite different from the standard superhero stories of the time, which gives it an air of interest, even if it is not fully earned.
The art for the Human Torch segment of this book is handled by Dick Ayers. He does an acceptable job, though I think he lacks an eye for the small details and he often leaves his backgrounds either plane or mono coloured. It’s a little disappointing, there’s nothing especially memorable about his work here. Finally I’m not a huge fan of the cover. It lacks detail and the wall in the middle separates it into two drawings that by themselves are quite plain. We also lose a full half of the cover to text and speech bubbles.
By contrast the Doctor Strange portion of this book is really quite something. Ditko creates a dark, moody tone that persists through the book. Like the story and character it represents it really stands out for the era. Shadows loom out of the deep throughout, and the dream sequence is especially dark and morbid. About the only thing I’m not a fan of is the white form taken by Dr Strange’s astral projection, although it stands in contrast to the dark figures of the dream itself. Dr Strange has a really good, gothic look to him. It’s almost vampiric, he looms tall and thin, the color of his robes is darker than the normal heroes of the time. It’s a great first attempt to detail him and his world and I look forward to more of this kind of art.
Overall this is a solid comic. The uninspired Jonny Storm story is offset by an interesting debut for Dr Strange. We also get the reappearance of Paste Pot Pete, long may he return to menace society. Seek this out for Dr Strange's debut and if you are a follower Paste Pal™ give Storm’s appearance a read.
We’ll Get You Yet Torch! If It’s The Last Thing We Do!
The Wizard
