In addition to having a fresh perspective, Byrne brought in the “old” ideas–here Johnny and Ben bicker and break stuff–that hadn’t been used enough in the past few years before his run. And his take on these things seemed crisp and different, even if we’d seen it before.
Then, it’s a Human Torch solo adventure. A person from his childhood, David Munson, who is now on death row, asks Johnny to vindicate him.
Johnny does, and brushes up against Hammerhead.
Even though he gets the information needed to free Munson, he’s too late–the death penalty has already been administered.
Nice way to sneak in an anti-capital punishment message.
John Byrne loved to fill in stuff about the history of the FF–he was truly in love with those first 100 issues. In this one, he gives us the origin of the Baxter Building.
