Johnny Storm

Following his sister, Johnny became acquainted with her boyfriend, scientist Reed Richards. Reed planned to embark on a mission on the first faster-than-light rocketship to reach an Earthlike planet called Spyre located 44 light-years away. After looking through the advanced scanner that Reed used to find this planet, Johnny was overcome by an impulse to join the mission, feeling that something was waiting for him out there. Unbeknownst to Johnny, a denizen of Spyre named Kaila had also become affected by a similar sensation when she looked into the Earth from a similar device. Johnny pushed himself through strenuous training and became the youngest pilot at NASA.

While originally enlisted as a backup pilot, Johnny joined Reed, Sue, and fellow pilot Ben Grimm on an unauthorized space flight aboard the Marvel-1. After take-off, the ship passed through a storm of cosmic rays that caused the vessel to crash back to Earth. All four passengers were transformed by the radiation, with Johnny gaining the ability to envelop his body in fire. Calling himself Human Torch in tribute to the World War II era hero of the same name, the youthful Johnny found new adventure as part of the Fantastic Four, proving to be an invaluable if somewhat volatile member of the team.