I promised I’d be back to Marvel Legends this week, but before jumping into a new wave, I thought I’d take a look at the newest Walgreens Exclusive and the second member of Marvel’s First Family to be released in this Fantastic Four assortment. It’s Johnny Storm aka The Human Torch!

As odd a marriage as Walgreens and Marvel Legends may sound, it’s been a blessing for me. Distribution is generally bad here and store exclusives can be tough for me to come by, but not these. Indeed, my Walgreens currently has six Sue Storms on the shelf, a Black Ant, and just a week or so ago I saw the yellow Daredevil from a while back. I haven’t seen Johnny show up there yet, but Walgreens has also been really good about getting these available online for those of us not willing to take chances on the luck of the hunt. The package is branded for the team, so you get a big “4” emblem on the tray insert and the “Fantastic Four” logo on the front.

Johnny is cast in a translucent red and orange plastic, which does a nice job of reproducing his “Flame On!” effect, allowing the figure to get by without much in the way of paint at all. There is also some original sculpting on the lower legs and forearms to simulate flames. There’s a faint trace of his costume with the belt running across his waist and the darkened collar, and there’s a “4” emblem tampo on his chest.

The figure also comes with a flame effect part that rests on the shoulders and pegs into the back, very similar to the ice piece that came with Iceman in the first X-Men Wave. I haven’t decided whether I’m a fan of this piece yet or not. I wish it was colored to match the rest of the body a bit better. As it is, it’s a lot more yellow, but I’m happy that it’s designed to be removed. The head has the same issue as it’s a lot more yellow than the rest of the body, but it doesn’t bother me quite as much as the shoulder piece. The details on the face can be a little tough to make out given the translucent plastic, but Johnny is wearing a characteristic smirk and the paint used for the eyes and eyebrows is nice and sharp.

The articulation here is pretty standard stuff for a Legends figure. The arms feature rotating hinges in the shoulders and wrists, double hinges in the elbows, and swivels in the biceps. The legs are ball jointed at the hips, have double hinges in the elbows, swivels in the thighs and lower legs, and the ankles feature both hinges and lateral rockers. There’s a swivel in the waist, an ab crunch in the torso, and the neck is both hinged and ball jointed.

In addition to the shoulder flame effect part, Torch comes with two sets of hands and two additional fire effect parts. The stock hands include a right fist with some flame sculpted on it and an open left hand. The extra set are both simple fists, which are designed to interact with the flame parts. These appear to be the same pieces that came with Sunfire, and we’ve seen them a few times before that representing everything from flame to magic.

All in all, I think this figure turned out great and I’m so happy Hasbro and Walgreens are doing these. I’ve been a Marvel Comics reader ever since I was a kid. Books have come and gone out of my life, but The Fantastic Four is one of the few books that I always read. In fact, the only thing that could shake us apart was Marvel cancelling it. Little did I know it was for the better, because I can’t even imagine what a contemporary FF comic would look like given Marvel’s current trend of releasing 99% dogshit. But hey, I’m a True Believer. Things have got to right themselves sooner or later. In the meantime, I’m extra thankful that we’re getting these Fantastic Four figures and for my stack of back issues and trades.  Reed Richards is scheduled for release next, and at that point, I’ll pretty much pay whatever I have to to get a Legends Ben Grimm. You hear that, Hasbro? Make it happen!