Scientist Phineas Horton created the original Human Torch which was a sentient android. But upon unveiling, oxygen caused combustion and the citizens of NY panicked. Fires spread and the Human Torch was embedded in a block of concrete which fractured and let air in, so the Human Torch escaped. He then redeemed himself by fighting Namor, the Sub-Mariner and eventually joined-up with Captain America to fight against the Nazis, convincing Namor to do the same. Operating as Jim Hammond, he later took an interest in a young man that had lost his parents and was working in a circus as Flame Boy (a mutation caused by exposure to radiation). He became Toro and was the Torch's sidekick until he had to return home to take care of his ailing foster mother. That's when Jim took an interest in his secretary Mary Mitchell who took Toro's place as his sidekick for a time. She was called Sun Girl and had no special powers other than a mastery of martial arts. Yet she fought many a battle with the Torch and they fell in love. She didn't care that he was an android at all. Later, Toro returned and Sun Girl faded, but she remained close to Jim. The original Human Torch has no connection to the Fantastic Four...

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