The Human Torch, who possesses the mental ability to control ambient heat energy, can transform his body into living flame upon command. His mental control is extremely good with years of experience behind him; common stunts include blinding flashes or smoke production, the formation of flame objects, such as fire walls or flame cages, or even flame duplicates of himself. In this state, he can fly and expel bolts of fire in varying degrees of intensity, up to a super-charged nova-blast. His uniform and clothing consist of unstable molecules, enabling him to “flame on” without damaging them in any way.

The years have given Johnny well-honed combat instincts, and he’s capable of taking down larger hoodlums without even using his powers. Always having had an attraction to fast cars, his hobby is car driving, which he excels at, and his knowledge extends well from basic mechanics to advanced electronics. In fact, he’s good enough to once having built an anti-aging ray at the verbal instructions of Reed.

History

Jonathan Storm, the second of two children born to a physician and his wife, grew up comfortably on Long Island. In high school, he developed an attraction to fast cars and beautiful girls. But a trip to California to visit his sister — Susan, an aspiring actress — forever shattered Johnny’s small-town status quo… and offered him the opportunity to experience the ultimate thrill ride. Sue’s fiance and longtime sweetheart, aeronautical engineer Reed Richards, had designed and fabricated an experimental starship capable of interstellar travel. When the government threatened to cut off its partial funding of the project, he chose to make an immediate test flight with best friend Ben Grimm as his pilot. Rounding out the four-person crew were Sue and Johnny.

In space, the starship unexpectedly encountered intense radiation, causing Johnny and company to abort the flight. After surviving a crash-landing, all four discovered that the cosmic rays had mutagenically altered their bodies.. Sue could turn invisible at will, while Johnny gained the ability to envelop his body is fiery plasma. Ben’s transformation was perhaps the most shocking: He had become an orange-colored, thick-skinned, heavily muscled, superhumanly strong “thing.” Newly elasticized, Reed convinced his friends that they should use their unique powers for humanity’s benefit. Under Mr. Fantastic’s leadership, the Human Torch, Invisible Woman and the Thing continue to challenge the unknown as the greatest team of adventurers ever assembled: the Fantastic Four.

Following the freak accident that granted him his powers, Johnny and his sister attempted to return to their quiet life on Long Island. Johnny tried to finish high school, hoping no one in the community would realize he was the Human Torch — a fact that soon proved impossible to conceal from the townspeople. Upon graduation, he moved to the Fantastic Four’s Baxter Building headquarters in New York City.

Like any family, the members of the FF have endured their share of squabbles. However, they always manage to right the ship. Never was this fact more evident than when Johnny began a romantic relationship with Ben’s former girlfriend, the blind sculptress Alicia Masters; the two even married. Though this act strained his relationship with Ben, the teammates were able to salvage their friendship. Later, “Alicia” was revealed to be Lyja, one of the alien race of shapeshifting Skrulls. Pregnant with Johnny’s child, she claimed to have fallen in love with him. But Johnny felt betrayed, and he was unable to face her. During a mission to rescue the true Alicia from the Skrull homeworld, Lyja apparently was killed. Johnny and the Fantastic Four returned to Earth, where he has continued his adventures as one of the most eligible bachelors of the superhuman set.

Description

Johnny Storm is a slenderly built, blond, young male often seen in a suit or in the blue FF-uniform, which, by the way, is made of unstable molecules like many of his ordinary clothes, and thus won’t burn up from the use of his powers.

As the Human Torch he resembles a fully burning humanoid in reddish flames with his features only slightly visible. When much less experienced with his powers his flame form was much less focused and changed between yellow, orange and red fire colors. See Illo for more details.

Personality

Usually the first to dive into battle or try to right wrongs, Johnny Storm is the adventuresome spirit of the Fantastic Four. His brash and impulsive nature has earned him the nickname “Hothead”. Always seeking to be the center of attention, he is known for flashy maneuvers in combat and his well-known battle cry, “Flame on!”. Johnny normally has good control over his powers, but if someone he loves is threatened or killed, he may lose his temper and lash out. Anyone who dares to harm one of the other FF members, especially his sister Sue, is likely to get the Torch flaming mad (pun intended).

His hobbies includes flying around the city, dating women & chasing skirt, attending various public events, jesting around and tormenting the Thing and driving really fast hotrods. Despite his many romantic setbacks over the years, Johnny believes in true love, and he pursues this goal with considerable zeal.

DC Universe History

Marvel’s “First Family” works best as an original group, of course, and if added to the DCU, should be kept as close to their “native” history and prominence as possible— see the “FF&Superman timelines” articles in WORG for examples.

If, however, only Johnny is desired, then young Johnny Storm stowed away on astronaut Hank Henshaw’s fateful mission that turned him into the Cyborg. Johnny survived the crash, though only barely, but quickly recovered and discovered that he had developed powerful flame-based abilities.

His power and courage easily won him an early spot with the Teen Titans, but he broke with them a few short years later over an argument with visiting Russian hero Starfire (later known as Red Star). Johnny spent several years in solo adventures, only to return to the Titans at the request of former teammate Roy Harper, once known as Speedy, and now known as Arsenal. Harper needed to keep the team together in the transition to government operation, and felt that Johnny was well- suited to the environment (the Human Torch replaces Green Lantern’s appearances during this time).

Since the disbanding of that group of Titans, Johnny has once again gone solo. The loss of his wife (a white Martian spy, who accidentally died, the first time he activated his powers in her presence) has made him more serious, recently, and there is some speculation that he may have actually become Earth’s latest Fire Elemental.