We’re less than a year out from The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Marvel Studios’ highly-anticipated reboot of the beloved super team. The new take on the ensemble features a star-studded ensemble cast, including Stranger Things‘ Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch. Thanks to promotional art from Marvel Studios, behind-the-scenes photos, and footage screened at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con and D23 Expo, fans have incrementally gotten a look at Quinn’s take on Johnny — and it definitely has them excited to see more. In particular, there is excitement to dive into Johnny’s long and storied history in the pages of Marvel Comics.fa
So, which Johnny Storm-centric comics deserve your attention before First Steps? Keep reading to check out our picks.
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Fantastic Four #214
Published in 1979, Marv Wolfman and John Byrne’s Fantastic Four #214 delivers an intense sort of comedy of errors for Johnny. After the remainder of the Fantastic Four appear to have died from old age due to Skrull technology, Johnny goes to great lengths to revive his teammates, all while reflecting on his role on the team.
Arguably, the issue’s biggest goal at the time might have been to de-age Reed, Sue, and Ben to fit the present Marvel moment — but the installment still gives Johnny a unique opportunity to shine.
Fantastic Four #285
Similarly, Byrne’s Fantastic Four #285 provided an emotional reckoning of Johnny’s role as Human Torch. After a young fan lights himself on fire (and suffers third-degree burns) trying to emulate his hero, Johnny debates giving up superheroics altogether.
The issue not only acknowledged some of the real-world urban legend that surrounded Johnny by the time the issue was published in 1985, but brought fans a uniquely poignant character study.
Before the Fantastic Four: The Storms
Jumping ahead a few decades, Terry Kavanagh and Charles Adlard’s Before the Fantastic Four: The Storms took a new perspective on Johnny’s family life. The three-issue miniseries showed the siblings in their early years, as they are pulled into a larger-than-life fight tied to Dracula.
Before the Fantastic Four: The Storms is a quick, rewarding read filled with heartfelt moments for the two siblings — and for Johnny as a character.
Human Torch (2003)
Fan-favorite creators Karl Kesel and Skottie Young helped forge a new solo standing for Johnny, with the help of a twelve-issue ongoing series that began in 2003. The title not only updated Johnny’s design for the cartoony younger era, but pitted him against bizarre and personal threats in his community.
While this Human Torch miniseries is undeniably a product of the 2000s, it still has plenty of charm.
Spider-Man / Human Torch
Another wild adventure Johnny took at that time was courtesy of the Spider-Man / Human Torch miniseries from Dan Slott and Ty Templeton. The five-issue crossover united the two close friends in an array of madcap moments, with cameos from an array of villains.
While the history between Johnny and Peter Parker is a whole separate list in and of itself, this 2005 miniseries is a fun standalone entry point.
Marvel 2-in-One
In 2017, Chip Zdarsky and a number of artists revived the team-up book Marvel 2-In-One, with Johnny and Ben at the center. Across the ensuing year of issues, the friends worked together to save the rest of their found family, with all of the hijinks that that ensues.
Zdarsky’s work in the Marvel Universe already has plenty of high points, but Marvel 2-in-One is an especially fun component of that.
Fantastic Four: Marvel Snapshots
An entry in the string of Marvel Snapshots one-shots, Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, and Benjamin Dewey’s Fantastic Four: Marvel Snapshots centers Johnny in some fun ways. Revolvng around his ten-year high school reunion, the issue places Johnny’s past, present, and future through a wacky proverbial wringer.
Published in 2020, Fantastic Four: Marvel Snapshots gives fans a fun modern distillation of who Johnny is, all while folding in some unexpected cameos.
Fantastic Four (2022) #25
While Ryan North and Carlos Gomez’s Fantastic Four #25 is among the most recent reading options tied to Johnny Storm, having only been published in September of 2024, it is already quickly and easily a must-read. The issue follows the team on a seemingly-ordinary excursion that leaves them stranded on a colorful alien world, only for Johnny’s budding romance with one of the aliens to complicate their efforts to return home.
While that premise might sound simple or silly, it not only produces some truly tender moments between Johnny and his new love, but it brings attention to the fact that he has periodically gotten the short end of the stick in the team’s world-saving efforts.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released exclusively in theaters on Friday, July 25, 2025.
