Issue(s): Strange Tales #109 (Human Torch story only)
Cover Date: Jun 63
Title: "The sorcerer and Pandora's box"
Credits:
Stan Lee - Plot
Robert Bernstein - Script
Jack Kirby - Penciler
Dick Ayers - Inker

Review/plot:
The Human Torch gets a mystical foe this issue. The guy is actually just a cranky old man who wants the kids to get off his lawn...

...although he clearly has some terrifying dogs. He also has Pandora's Box, which he uses to go on a little rampage...

...until the Torch catches up with him.

Earlier we were reminded that the Torch can absorb flame as well as generate it...

...so the battle against the Sorcerer ends when Johnny tricks him into releasing Fire from the box.

It ends with a celebration of Johnny's cockiness.

The creatures coming out of Pandora's Box are a nice chance for Kirby to let his imagination run wild...

...but this is otherwise an unremarkable issue.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The rest of the Fantastic Four are off on a separate mission for adults this issue...

...but we don't learn what it is. The MCP places this after FF #14.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: Essential Human Torch