The following contains spoilers from Fantastic Four #8, on sale now from Marvel Comics.
As an inherently classic character, the powers of The Fantastic Four’s Human Torch are so straightforward and simple that there isn’t much need to tamper with them. There is, however, always room to explore what someone can achieve when their ability to create heat is tethered to their own pyrokinesis. As Alicia Masters notes, Johnny Storm tends to rely on the same bits. “Throwing fireballs, juggling fireballs, flame cages, flame number fours in the sky…” And, as Ben Grimm adds, there is of course the signature, “Makin’ a slightly hotter fire than usual and tellin’ everyone it’s a ‘nova flame.’”
Fortunately, in that same issue of The Fantastic Four #8 (by Ryan North, Ivan Fiorelli, Jesus Aburtov, and VC’s Joe Caramagna), training with Invisible Woman, alongside the team’s most recent misadventure, puts Johnny on track to learn some new tricks. More specifically, it sees him reviving one from the title’s earliest days. At its extreme, this rediscovered ability could even become Johnny’s answer to a Doctor Doom staple.
Johnny Storm Has Brought Back His Ability to Self-Duplicate
As the group relaxes on what Susan has dubbed the “Fantastic Farm,” she and her brother practice creating matching complex shapes out of a forcefield projection and flames respectively. Johnny’s initial efforts earn him a decided C-. But upon returning from a supply run turned collective-amnesia mystery, Susan and Alicia find that Johnny has advanced remarkably in their brief absence. With everyone in the world having forgotten that Reed Richards and Ben Grimm exist apart from the two women, Johnny has created an exact duplicate of himself named Flame-O.
As a fiery manifestation controlled as easily as any other flame, Flame-O rounds out the new Fantastic Four with Alicia Masters, as having totally been there the entire time. This isn’t the first time Johnny has manifested a fire duplicate though. It actually used to be a pretty common affair, sometimes including the deployment of multiple “fire images” at once to overwhelm an enemy. Strange Tales Annual #2 (by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Art Simek) for example saw him attempt to outwit Spider-Man by surrounding himself with them as far back as the 60s.
The Human Torch May Have an Answer to Doctor Doom's Doombots
While the exact quantity of duplicates Johnny might be able to make in the current continuity has yet to be established, it seems only a matter of time before that limit is tested. If ever there were a cause or inspiration for such a move, Doctor Doom’s own robot army is likely to play a role. The Doombots are autonomous but can be controlled directly if need be but generally operating on their own when not part of a group. If Doctor Doom ever needs a stand-in or a writer needs to explain why he was in two places at once, it's usually their job to fill the role.
With the Human Torch, there is no standout precedent to suggest that his consciousness naturally extends into the fires he creates beyond a sort of telekinetic link. Therefore, the aforementioned limit rests on how many he can concentrate on at once and, ideally, within his own visual range. Given the creative nature of the medium though, a fully automated fire duplicate seems par for the course. Along with the heroic upsides and creation-turned-evil downsides that come with it.