In the world of Marvel Comics, if a fan is asked who the Human Torch is, nine times out of ten they are going to say Johnny Storm. The brother of Sue Storm and founding member of the Fantastic Four. However, no matter how powerful and popular Johnny is, he is not the first Human Torch in Marvel Comics.
That honor belongs to Jim Hammond, the android created prior to the breakout of war in Europe during WWII. He would join other early Marvel heroes and make a name for himself well before Johnny Storm, so here are ten things to know about The Original Human Torch.
10 Burst Into Flames When Exposed To Oxygen
The Human Torch was an android first created in a lab in Brooklyn, NY for scientific purposes by Professor Phineas T. Horton. However, the android would take a life of its own when, during a press conference unveiling the android, The Human Torch was exposed to Oxygen. The android immediately burst into flame.
Despite showing sentience, a personality and even self-awareness, people were frightened of the android, believing his flame abilities made him a danger to the people of NY. They tried encasing the android in concrete, but a small crack allowed enough oxygen in, leading to his escape.
9 Joined The Invaders
After his own solo adventures for a while, The Human Torch had some run-ins with Namor the Sub-Mariner. Soon, however, their fights would lead to both of them joining Captain America and Bucky overseas to join the hero team known as the Invaders. Together they took on the forces of Hydra.
The Human Torch was once captured and brainwashed by the Red Skull, leading to a fight between him and the Liberty Legion. He later gave a blood transfusion to Jacqueline Falsworth, which would lead to her becoming the superhuman hero Spitfire, making The Human Torch crucial to the formation of the Marvel Universe.
8 Went Supernova
After WWII, The Human Torch went into a sort of hibernation sleep in the Mojave Desert, expelling excess energy and deactivating himself for a time. However, he was awoken due to atomic bomb testing in the area. He would discover that his longtime sidekick and ally Toro, a young boy with mutant abilities to control fire, had been abducted.
He would rescue Toro, and in the process discover that atomic tests had enhanced his own abilities, making them more powerful and yet more unstable all at once. He decided to go supernova, expelling the excess energy but deactivating himself in the process.
7 Somewhat Related To The Vision
In an interesting connection to the modern-day Avengers, it was discovered that he and The Vision were actually connected. Many different stories came out explaining this. Originally made to believe his deactivated body had been used by Ultron 5 to create the Vision, it was instead later revealed the Vision was made up of The Human Torch's spare parts.
Later on, Scott Lang discovered Vision and Human Torch were one and the same, and yet existed separately thanks to the work of Immortus, the custodian of Limbo. Immortus used the Forever Crystal to diverge Human Torch’s timeline while keeping the two timelines concurrent. This means the Vision is made out of the Torch, even while their bodies exist separately
6 Helped Female Android From Destruction
Later on, Jim Hammond discovered a young female android based on his own chemistry and design named Tara. He began to revere her as a daughter of sorts. He also began a friendship with longtime friend and ally Spitfire, which bothered Spitfire’s love-interest, Union Jack.
However, things grew dire when it was revealed Tara was inadvertently being used by The Invaders' enemies, having been created by the Red Skull and used as an inside weapon against the heroes. Before she could detonate and go supernova, Hammond channeled her energy into himself, flew into the upper atmosphere and detonated, sacrificing himself.
5 Traveled Through Time
A time travel adventure saw the heroes of the Invaders travel into their future, our modern-day Earth-616, and discover both the New Avengers and the Mighty Avengers. During this episode, the Invaders fought the good fight. However, the Human Torch discovered himself being manipulated by Ultron in this future, as he was led to believe SHIELD’s LMDs, or Life Model Decoys, were sentient machines being held captive by the organization. He freed the LMDs and fought SHIELD, but later discovered Ultron had manipulated the whole situation.
4 Weaponized Into Virus
After his heroic sacrifice, the Human Torch’s remains were stolen after being taken to the United Nations for study. A squad of mercenaries led by the infamous Batroc the Leaper stormed the United Nations secret labs and stole the parts, bringing them to the Chinese science-villain known as Professor Pandemic.
Having been rescued by the Invaders as a child from Japanese authorities, Professor Pandemic developed an obsessive interest in the Human Torch. Using the Torch’s body for his own needs, he created a virus that made humans combust, hoping to use this to wipe out half of the world’s population. Captain America led the effort to stop this plot, and give Hammond a military burial.
3 Resurrected By Mad Thinker
Years after his sacrifice, Hammond was used in a plot of the Mad Thinkers. When his former sidekick Toro was kidnapped by A.I.M. and used in experiments to end the Mad Thinker. However, the Thinker discovered that the cells in Toro’s body could help him bring the Torch back to life.
He did so, and with the Torch’s mind and memories not yet returned, nor his humanity, he was used instead as a weapon. This led to the Torch destroying many cities and people along the way. Eventually, he regained his original self, and stopped the virus made from his DNA from infecting much of the world.
2 Worshiped By Civilization At Earth’s Core
After his resurrection, Captain America invites the Torch to join the Secret Avengers, which has recently been lead by Hawkeye. The Torch agrees, and one of their first missions takes the Secret Avengers to the Earth’s core, where they discover a group of people known as the Descendants worships Jim Hammond, calling him “grandfather”.
After the Avengers' escape causes Hammond to be injured, he is placed in stasis. However later Black Ant transports him back to the Core, where he is brainwashed into believing he never belonged with humanity, nearly leading to an invasion that would turn humanity into machines through nanomachines. Hammond stops the plot, but the Descendants fall as a result.
1 Has A Soul
After the Descendants fell, Hammond left the Avengers and his heroic life behind, settling in a small town as a mechanic and living a simple life. However this wasn’t meant to last, as a group of Kree soldiers hunted him down, nearly destroying the town in the process. Helped by Captain America and Winter Soldier, he went back to his identity of Human Torch.
He helped the Fantastic Four when they were deemed unfit to be guardians of the children of the Future Foundation, taking them on instead while trying to get the decision reversed. During this time, Sleepwalker revealed that despite his android origins, The Torch himself had a soul.