The Human Torch dies today
Okay, by now it’s probably not much of a secret anymore. In issue #587 of Fantastic Four, on sale today in comic stores everywhere, Johnny Storm (aka The Human Torch) is killed off. This event, which has been in the works over at Marvel Comics for some time now, will probably be the thing that has comic book fans talking for the foreseeable future. But, really, should any of us comic geeks really care all that much about this? I mean, “dead” in comic books isn’t dead forever, right?
Right. Comic book character die off, all the time, and then, eventually, they come back to life. For proof of that, simply take a look at Superman, Robin, Thor, Bucky, Jean Grey, or Captain America (to name but a few), all of whom died and then were brought back to life. For sure, The Human Torch will not be dead forever. For further proof of that, simply consider the following quote from Marvel’s very own Joe Quesada (via NY Times)…
“While I will never discount that a character can come back from the dead because it is one of the staples of comic book story telling. I’m not going to tell you if he will, or when he will and if he does, how he will, but I can assure you that it’s going to be very, very interesting and not what anyone expects.”
So, yeah, right there he basically says that he won’t say if Johnny Storm is coming back to life but, oh man, when he does, it’s going to be EPIC! Which brings me back to the original question. Should any of us really care today that The Human Torch is going to die and that The Fantastic Four will now be the Fantastic Three? Especially considering that we all know that Torch will be back at some point in the future?
The Human Torch is dead. Should we care?
I would say that, yes, comic fans should. At least a little bit, anyway. The death of The Human Torch is an important event in the history of the Fantastic Four. Additionally, it will have a big impact on the Marvel Universe of characters. Finally, this event is part of an even larger story line, written by Jonathan Hickman, that promises to provide a decent amount of drama, action, and entertainment for some time. For all of those reasons, as comic fans, we should care.
Now, if you’ve never read a comic book before in your life and you are thinking about buying this issue because some talking head on one of those daytime talk shows says it will be a “collector’s item,” don’t bother. The comic will be hot for about a month or two, then people will lose interest, then the price will come back down to where it was (or below) when you first bought it. If you don’t sell it for a profit within the first 90 days of you owning it, you probably never will. Really.
So, back to the point, the death of the Human Torch is going to be a pretty big event over at Marvel Comics and it will definitely have a huge impact not only on the Fantastic Four, but also on the rest of the Marvel Universe. For those reasons alone, this issue is worth checking out. And it is worth caring about, but only if you cared about Marvel Comics and the Fantastic Four in the first place. Otherwise, really, why give a shit?
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