Happy Birthday Dad!

It's my father's birthday and like so many other special days since I've gone overseas I've had a little trouble catching him. So each year I've been keeping to a tradition where I honor my father's career choice with a panel of my favorite superhero policeman... The original Human Torch.

This year I have a very special page for you, from the fateful Marvel Mystery Comics #7.



What emergency could this be? What justifies frightening the citizens of New York before they've learned that the Human Torch is not their enemy? What is so urgent that, in full fire mode, Jim Hammond must fly down to the sidewalk and run to his friend's house? What matter could possibly be so important that he must scare all of these bystanders in order to quickly contact Johnson?

Why, it must be a truly urgent matter that cannot wait!



Okay, Jim... I know you're excited, and only a few weeks old, and this is a very important decision but... yeah, you could've walked upstairs in non-inferno mode to ask him about this.

But that's okay. That's why there's a training school.

Happy Birthday, Dad

In honor of my father's birthday, I once again present my favorite superhero cop, Jim Hammond the original Human Torch. Here is Jim's first week on the job as recounted by Roy Thomas and Rich Buckler.



Yeah... That guy didn't really cause him much more trouble after that.

That's all we really need to know.

My favorite Jim Hammond in uniform image.

This is my favorite image of the original Human Torch in uniform. I like the mid-change effect, and the face Parel draws on Jim. It has been the background on my computer for a few months, and I actually went so far as to inquire about the cover when ordering the comics. I almost never do that, but I like this image that much. (My retailer didn't get that particular variant, though.) I hope some day it gets offered as a poster.

Happy Birthday, Dad

One of the annoying things about being on another continent is that your timezone is shifted from everyone else's. This makes things like Birthday phone calls difficult to accomplish.

So, in lieu of the traditional phone call I would like to instead send a Birthday Blog Post to Papa the Foul. As a present, here is an in-uniform image of my current favorite among superhero cops: The Original Human Torch.



And for good measure, here are some pages of him on his day off.



Fortunately, Jim is a speed-welder in the off hours, and was easily able to stop the car. But the rest of his day off went pretty much as you'd expect.



Hope your leisure time is a little better than Jim's, Dad.