Lord almighty, I feel my temperature rising

Johnny Storm! He likes fast cars, pretty girls, and returning from the dead! Also among his interests: music!:


Splash panel from Fantastic Four v.1 #101 (August 1970), script by Stan Lee, pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Joe Sinnott, letters by Artie Simek

After all, he can play guitar, as shown here. (It's Kirby-Canon!) Why don't we see the Torch more often playing a guitar? I dunno, but I bet he goes through three or four of them a month when they burst into flames. He may want to ask Reed to make him a Stratocaster made of unstable molecules. At least there he's strumming the guitar with his fingers. It must be even harder to do it with gloves:


Splash panel from Dazzler #18 (August 1982), script by Danny Fingeroth, pencils by Frank Springer, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Don Warfield, letters by Janice Chiang

Okay, Johnny playing the guitar may not be surprising, but have we ever before or after seen The Thing playing a saxophone? I'm pretty sure that should be listed among his skills in his Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entry, and yet there it remains, unknown to the world. As I always have known, folks, Mister Grimm is a true Renaissance Man.

The question remains, however: what kind of music does Johnny Storm enjoy? Well, he likes Jimi Hendrix:






He enjoys the spooky rock rhythms of fellow Marvel comic book star Alice Cooper!


Panel from Fantastic Four #175 (October 1976), script by Roy Thomas, pencils and inks by John Buscema, colors by Janice Cohen, letters by Joe Rosen




Johnny Storm is a big fan of disco! (Please don't hold that against him.)


Splash panel from Marvel Two-in-One #68 (October 1980), script by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, breakdowns by Ron Wilson, finishes by Pablo Marcos, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by John Costanza




The Human Torch is a big fan of music from the eighties, whether it be Culture Club...


Panel from Secret Wars #4 (August 1984), script by Jim Shooter, pencils by Bob Layton, inks by John Beatty, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Joe Rosen




...or another artist who would occasionally flame-on, Michael Jackson!


Panel from Secret Wars #6 (October 1984), script by Jim Shooter, pencils by Mike Zeck, inks by John Beatty, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by Joe Rosen




Yes, Johnny Storm's musical tastes are as up to date as whoever's writing Fantastic Four at the time thinks the kids are into. But he also appreciates the classics, like Doris Day! Seriously, I can picture Sue singing this to him when they were kids. Right? Think about that...so cuuuuute, huh?


Panel from What If? v.1 #1 (February 1977), script by Roy Thomas, pencils by Jim Craig, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by Janice Cohen, letters by John Costanza




But never let it be said that Johnny doesn't appreciate all kinds of music. Here's one of his favorite R&B/soul songs by Sister Sledge! (He probably dated at least two of the sisters, I bet!)


Panels from Mythos: Fantastic Four one-shot (December 2007), script by Paul Jenkins, painted art by Paolo Rivera, letters by Joe Caramagna




Now, Ben Grimm? His musical tastes seem to be based on those of a tough guy who grew up on Yancy Street in the 1930s. Which, um, once upon a time in Marvel history, he actually wuz. (Spelled the way Ben Grimm would pronounce it even though it sounds the same as the correct spelling.)


Panels from Marvel Two-in-One #65 (July 1980), script by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchiom breakdowns by George Pérez, finishes by Gene Day, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza




No, Johnny's not a big fan of that kinda corny music.




Panels from Marvel Adventures #25 (August 2007), script by Fred van Lente, lyrics by Crystal Skillman, pencils and inks by Cory Hamscher, colors by Lee Loughridge, letters by Dave Sharpe


But whatever the period, wherever he is, you can count on Johnny Storm to be up on and into the finest pop music of his time:

Two-page spread from Amazing Spider-Man #680 (April 2012), script by Dan Slott and Christopher Yost, pencils by Giuseppe Camuncoli, inks by Klaus Janson, colors by Frank G. D'Armata, letters by Joe Caramagna
Click image to worst-song-ever-size!




Ha ha ha! Spidey got you good there, Torch! I only wish I could have found canonical appreciation by Johnny Storm for this song:



But I think we can all be thankful he's never burst into a rendition of this song:



(Got any other ideas for Johnny's personal music playlist? Leave 'em in the comments!)