In Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom just gave a member of Marvel’s First Family a serious power boost with devastating consequences.
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Fantastic Four #34, on sale now from Marvel.
Over the years, Doctor Doom has done some terrible things to the Fantastic Four. Usually, Doom directs his crimes against Reed Richards, due to their age-old vendetta. But in Fantastic Four #34, by Dan Slott, R.B. Silva, Jesus Aburtov and VC’s Joe Caramagna, Doctor Doom turns his wrath towards Johnny Storm, the Human Torch.
Doom had interrupted his own wedding to attack the Fantastic Four after Doom’s bride-to-be, Victorious, had just revealed that she and Johnny slept together right before Doom proposed to her. This confession was a betrayal in Doom’s eyes, sending the wedding into a state of violence and destruction directed at the Fantastic Four and their allies. Eventually, the Human Torch and Victorious were faced with the Armagedron, a massively destructive robot.
Just as Johnny flamed on, the Armagedron shot the Human Torch, bombarding him with concentrated cosmic rays. Even after the Armagedron was destroyed, Johnny’s powers remained overloaded, causing him immense pain. And here, Doom clarified that Johnny would live through this turmoil.
The device that Doom used on Johnny was intended to make him feel as if he was burning alive from the inside, turning him into an “eternal flame that can never be extinguished.” In this sense, the Human Torch can never turn off his flame, even as he endures excruciating pain.
This turn of events is quite surprising, for a number of reasons. First of all, out of all the members of the Fantastic Four, Doom typically hasn’t had issues with Johnny Storm. Historically, Doom has only faced Johnny in his efforts to harm Reed Richards. Doom has inflicted serious pain on the Human Torch before, but only to get at Mister Fantastic through his family.
Now, however, Johnny has made a major personal enemy of Doom, leading to this painful punishment. Moreover, Doom’s actions against Johnny have reaffirmed that there will be no peace between the Fantastic Four and Doom in the near future. Considering the damage inflicted upon the Human Torch, as well as Johnny’s personal affront towards Doom, the rift between Doom and the Fantastic Four is larger than its been in many years.
For the time being, the Human Torch’s condition will have some major implications for the character, too. Johnny has normally been able to turn his flame on and off, giving him one of the more glamorous power sets of the Fantastic Four.
The Human Torch could choose to use his flames whenever he wanted, and even selectively use his flames for specific parts of his body. Now, however, Johnny has become a perpetual Human Torch. This puts Johnny in the same shoes as the Thing, who’s typically stuck in his rocky form.
In his current state, the Human Torch will probably experience the same feelings of isolation as the Thing, who has famously struggled with feeling like an inadequate, inhuman monster. Beyond that, the Human Torch currently presents an immediate danger to others, as well as himself. Johnny can’t touch others without burning them, and he’s constantly burning himself. Taken together, Johnny has it harder now than the Thing almost ever has. This state of pain and isolation should certainly give the Human Torch an idea of what it’s like to be the Thing. In the near future, the Thing may very well be able to help Johnny through this experience.
While Doom’s wedding began with one of his most generous peace offerings to the Fantastic Four, the revelations about Johnny’s history with Victorious resulted in Doom unleashing one of the most devastating, cruel attacks he’s ever unleashed.
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