How many times can Marvel call on Mantlo for a fill-in script? I hope he got a great page rate, because he could churn out harmless-but-entertaining, forgettable stories like nobody’s business. So you don’t get too upset at the interruption…
And that’s really what you want from a fill-in: Nothing to disrupt ongoing storylines or establish heavy continuity—just some fluff the pass the time.
Colan is a common fill-in artist, too, and it’s remarkable how good he makes a done-in-a-weekend book look.
The villain is a guy who calls himself Pyron, and is basically just a pyrokinetic.
He takes out Human Torch, so the whole A-team goes in.
We get this panel, with the whole team, and several members saying something to show you what their characters are about. I know these kinds of panels are silly and reductionist, but I always enjoy them.