Thoughts on Marvel Losing the Human Torch, and Why It's Not the End of the Marvel Universe

Recently, Marvel Comics, hoping to deal in its own way with the economics of the Multiverse, decided to kill off Johnny Storm, a/k/a the Human Torch, brother of Susan Storm-Richards (the Invisible Woman); thereby reducing the Fantastic Four to the Fantastic Three, Reed "Mr. Fantastic" Richards and dearest, rocky ol' Ben ('It's clobberin' time!') Grimm, a/k/a the Thing, being the other two core members.

Hate to have to be a dork here, dear friends of the Marvel Universe, but losing the Human Torch is not as earth-shattering an event as you have doubtless led us to believe. Losing Spider-Man, Captain America, Wolverine, the Incredible Hulk, the Mighty Thor, Iron Man --- I could properly understand if Marvel killed off their big guns. But in all honesty, the reason I'm doing the ol' Yawn City routine re the loss of the Torch is quite simple. C'mon, what does the guy do other than say "Flame on!" and like that, he toasts marshmallows (and the bad guys) at the blink of an eye. Then, it's "Flame off!" and he's done for the day.

In short, Marvelites, the idea was a great one on paper, but in terms of conception and execution, the verdict from ol' Blackwolf is pretty much "Big deal." I get more thrills from Thor's pals Hogun, Fandral and Volstagg, a/k/a the Warriors Three, than I would from the Fantastic Four. (Sorry, Stan Lee --- it's just that the Warriors Three gimme more laughs and kick more ass than the ol' Odinson on his own.)

If you really wanna give the fans pause, do what I shall soon be doing: scope out the 2011 Super Bowl commercials on YouTube!

Master Blackwolf