Officially Marvel’s first superhero, Jim Hammond’s Human Torch still finds himself sidelined more often than not (partly because his Fantastic Four namesake is the more famous holder of the codename.) However, he still boasts plenty of jaw-dropping redesigns in the almost ninety years since his debut.
An android who combusts on contact with oxygen, Human Torch debuted in 1939’s Marvel Comics #1, created by Carl Burgos. He was a longtime member of the Invaders, fighting in WWII alongside Captain America and Namor the Sub-Mariner.
After a period of dormancy and a (confusingly retconned) backstory where his body was used to create the Avengers’ Vision, Jim Hammond returned in Marvel’s modern era, joining multiple versions of the Avengers and becoming an agent of SHIELD. Along the way, the fiery hero has unleashed some awesome new looks.
The Human Torch’s Original Design
The Human Torch’s original design doesn’t count as a ‘redesign,’ but it’s worth noting here to give his other looks context. Human Torch was originally depicted as a flaming man whose features were totally obscured by flame. With his powers shut off, he appeared as a blond man in a red jumpsuit.
His powers include superstrength, flight and the ability to create and control heat and fire, however he gains other ‘abilities’ thanks to his android physiology, with no natural aging process and an immunity to viruses and toxins.
10
World War M Human Torch
Debuted in Peter David, Germán Peralta and Pasqual Ferry’s Maestro: World War M #1 (2022)
After a nuclear war devastates the planet, an aging Hulk (now going by ‘Maestro’) sets out to build a kingdom of his own. He’s opposed by various heroes including Jim Hammond.
This design isn’t a wild reinvention of the Human Torch, but making his belt, collar and bracers glow breaks up the character’s design in a way that really works. This is an older, fiercer Jim who has watched the world die, and he immediately comes across as a threat even Hulk should fear.
9
The Iron Torch
Debuted in CAFU and Christopher Cantwell’s Iron Man Volume 5 #9 (2021)
After Jim is decapitated, Iron Man builds him a makeshift new body that emphasizes his android nature. For a character who struggles to be seen as human, there’s a special horror to Jim being downgraded so his android nature is unavoidably apparent.
This mainstream redesign doubled up as a ‘villain’ transformation, since the evil Korvac used a mind-control device to force Jim to join his cabal and battle against Tony.
8
Jim Hammond, Agent of SHIELD
Debuted in 2014’s All-New Invaders #6, from James Robinson and Marc Laming
After working for first the Secret Avengers and then the New Invaders, Jim began to struggle with his place in the modern Marvel Universe. Enter Captain America, who recruited the hero to SHIELD, where he received his definitive modern costume.
The redesign combines the classic SHIELD uniform with the Human Torch’s red coloration and fiery logo, while also emphasizing his humanity by essentially having him glow when powered up, rather than being wreathed in flame. This redesign was the point that Jim Hammond felt like a permanent part of Marvel’s modern comics.
7
Timeslip Human Torch
Designed by Phil Hester for Marvel’s Timeslip Series
With Timeslip, Marvel asked modern creators to reimagine classic characters if they were conceived today. Phil Hester’s Human Torch is reimagined as a horror character – a “modern day Golom” unleashed against the Nazis thanks to burning gauze draped over a mechanical frame.
6
Cyberpunk Human Torch
Designed by Dardo Studios for Marvel Snap
This version of Human Torch was created as alternative card art for the Marvel Snap videogame, so there’s no narrative here outside that implied by the design. However, it’s fun to see Jim Hammond get the same kind of extreme redesign Marvel’s more well-known heroes enjoy on a near-monthly basis.
5
Ultimate Vision (Earth-6160)
Debuted in Deniz Camp and Juan Frigeri’s The Ultimates #19
Marvel’s recent Ultimate Universe sees a disparate team of heroes working as an underground resistance to topple the Maker, who has rewritten Earth-6160’s timeline to put the villains on top.
After being stolen from the Maker and reactivated in the modern day, Jim Hammond time-travels back to the 1940s to secretly build a hidden infrastructure against the Maker, with cells across America constructing gigantic mech suits underground. Over the years, Jim is forced to rebuild and upgrade his body, gradually becoming this reality’s version of the Vision (a reference to mainstream lore, where Vision was originally built using Torch’s android body.)
As well as his usual fire powers, Jim’s Vision can turn intangible and has unparalleled control over technology, organizing the worldwide Ultimates Network and keeping the different cells in contact.
4
Peter Parker, The Human Torch
From Tom DeFalco and Joe Bennett’s Amazing Spider-Man #-1 (1997)
In this zany story, a young Peter Parker discovers his Uncle Ben’s collection of classic comics and imagines himself as various WWII heroes. While most of the designs are comedic, Pete actually looks awesome as the original Human Torch, with his glasses breaking up the hero’s classic design in a way that strangely works, emphasizing the human/inhuman themes of the character with a touch of vulnerability.
3
Post-Apocalyptic Human Torch
Designed by Lee Bermejo, Debuted in 2021’s Marvel #6
Freaky anthology series Marvel includes a short story where Galactus returns to Earth in the far future. Humanity has killed itself off, leaving the android Jim Hammond as the last witness to the age of heroes – making him both the first and last superhero.
While his fiery form retains its classic look, Jim himself is a subtle Frankenstein, his artificial skin held together with staples and stitches, while he wears a bodysuit covered in metallic ports. This dark story reimagines Jim as a post-human being who has tragically outlived his creators, choosing to hopelessly fight Silver Surfer and Galactus for Earth’s survival rather than abandon the planet-sized memorial.
2
1994’s Fantastic Four Animated Series Human Torch
Designed by Philippine Animation Studio Inc, from Season 2’s ‘When Falls Galactus’
The classic Fantastic Four animated show only depicts the original Human Torch for a few seconds as part of Frankie Raye’s backstory, and yet it has one of the character’s coolest designs of all time.
Jim Hammond is shown as an écorché – a figure with their tendons and muscles on show. The implication is that for this version of Jim Hammond, the flames are his skin, and the ‘unignited’ version we see is uncannily inhuman as a result.
1
The Ultimate Human Torch (Earth-6160)
Debuted in Free Comic Book Day 2024: Ultimate Universe/Spider-Man #1, from Zeb Wells and Ryan Stegman
This is the version of Jim Hammond who traveled back in time and became the Vision, but his initial Human Torch design can’t be ignored. In mainstream canon, Jim’s human appearance is indistinguishable from a ‘real’ human. However, in the Ultimate Universe he’s merely a close approximation, with harsh angles and mechanical joints betraying his true nature.
This design is the perfect expression of what makes Jim Hammond a unique character, emphasizing his complicated relationship with his own humanity. Here’s hoping that Marvel’s mainstream takes note of this redesign, as it’s the coolest and most compelling that Jim Hammond’s Human Torch has ever looked.
Those are our picks for the original Human Torch‘s ten greatest redesigns in Marvel history – let us know below what you think of our picks, and what other Jim Hammond designs should appear on this list.