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Given Victor Fox‘s reputation, it is often assumed that the Flame is little more than a Human Torch rip-off, but the answer is more complicated than it seems. The founder of Fox Feature Syndicate was one of the most notorious publishers of the Golden Age of comic books, and navigated the Golden Age via lawsuits over copying characters from other publishers, bankruptcies, tangling with the War Production Board over violating paper quotas, and other matters. Nevertheless, Fox put together a memorable line of comic books during the Golden Age, and the character the Flame is an example of Fox Feature Syndicate at its most. The Flame series itself is an excellent starting point towards collecting the character, and there are copies of most of the run of The Flame up for auction in the 2022 June 5-6 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122223 from Heritage Auctions.
The character first appeared in Wonderworld Comics #3, months in advance of the Human Torch’s debut in Marvel Comics #1. However, his fire-based powers were limited to being able to materialize himself within a flame in his initial appearances, as a means of teleportation, and the use of a flame gun that he invented. In Wonderworld Comics #11, a few months after the debut of the Human Torch in Marvel Comics #1, the Flame’s origin is told for the first time. It was a not uncommon type of saga in which he ends up in a Buddhist monastery as a child and learns ways of advanced science, magic, and physical combat — and most importantly, control over flame. That control is seemingly demonstrated for the first time in Wonderworld Comics #14, where he exhibits one of his go-to moves of this period, shooting a stream of flame from his gun and then walking on that stream to get where he needs to go. Eventually, without further explanation in Wonderworld #22 and The Flame #4, he is shown being able to spontaneously burst into flame himself, which allows him to fly. From there, he gradually begins to spontaneously exhibit more powerful flame-based abilities similar to the Human Torch.
It can often be tough going to be a Fox collector. Virtually all of the line is tough to find, and the competition to get them is fierce. The Flame series is a good entry point to Fox, and of the issues available here, #5, #7, and #8 are particularly difficult to get. But there’s a shot to get copies of most of the run of The Flame up for auction in the 2022 June 5-6 Sunday & Monday Comic Books Select Auction #122223 from Heritage Auctions.
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