Johnny Storm is famed for his reputation as a playboy. However, the Human Torch has loved and lost far more than he has “loved them and left them.” This history of bad romance is highlighted in Fantastic Four #25, where Johnny’s latest relationship helps save two worlds, including Earth.
Written by Ryan North with art by Carlos Gomez, Fantastic Four #25 finds the titular team lost in space. This occurs after they attempt to penetrate the magical dome Doctor Doom erected around Latveria after becoming Sorcerer Supreme. Seemingly stranded on an alien world, the team befriends the lifeforms living there. They begin a cultural exchange while constructing a rocket to get them back to Earth. Johnny Storm exchanges more than culture, however, with one of the aliens named Angelica. The two quickly fall in love.
Their romance takes a tragic turn, however, when Reed Richards realizes the Fantastic Four traveled in time as well as space. The alien world that is Angelica’s home is truly the Earth of a variant timeline, born of a cataclysm that never happened. While Mister Fantastic is able to return the team home, doing so will doom Angelica and her people.
Naturally, Reed Richards thinks of a way to save both Earths by grafting the new reality into the Multiverse. Unfortunately, to secure both worlds, the two variants can never interact. This means that Angelica and Johnny must be separated to save their respective Earths.
Fantastic Four #25 continues a Human Torch trend
Johnny is embittered, having lost multiple alien lovers due to similar circumstances. His relationship with the Inhumans‘ princess Crystal ended due to her inability to survive long in Earth’s atmosphere. He also fell in love with the Skrull woman Lyja, who sacrificed herself to save him. Johnny lamented that the rest of the Fantastic Four all had a “happily ever after” but not him.
Angelica comforted Johnny, saying that their love, relatively brief as it was, would define their lives forever. She also noted that while many people were saved by love, they could take comfort in their love saving two worlds. Had it not been for their love to inspire Reed Richards, he would not have tackled the problem of how to save both Earths.
Fantastic Four #25 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
