In this episode:
Mike and Ed talk about the latest ridiculous villain, “Paste-Pot Pete”. His abilities are far more impressive than his image. How much of his villainy is a cry for attention?
In this issue:
Paste-Pot Pete is an ordinary human who has a gun that shoots paste. And with that, he is a master criminal with a terrible supervillain name. Anyway, he robs the bank in Glenville, a small town with nothing to distinguish itself other than that the Human Torch happens to live there. The Torch chases Pete down, but before he can catch up, Pete has stolen the most powerful middle the US military has every created, the Delta-Cosmic Missile. All with a gun that shoots paste. And so the Torch chases Pete down and ends up getting pasted onto the missile, which is fired through the air. The Torch escapes but still has a hard time defeating Pete, who again, just has a gun that shoots paste. To be fair, this paste gun is pretty powerful - Pete actually shoots some paste at a passing airplane to make his escape. But the missile was returned to the military. So I guess we’ll call this a draw between the superhuman who can light himself on fire and fly through the air, and the guy with a paste gun. Way to go, Torch!
Assumed before the next episode:
People were already nervous about living in NYC because the Fantastic Four live there and seem to attract trouble - and they’re likely getting nervous about living in Glenville, where the Human Torch lives.
This episode takes place:
After the public has learned that the Human Torch lives in Glenville, and that super-powered crime is taking place there.
Episode 36: Supervillains need help with branding too (Strange Tales #104) -- January 1963