MARVEL MASTERWORKS GOLDEN AGE: HUMAN TORCH

From out of the Golden Age of Comics, this title presents a series of three Hardcover collections in Marvel's superb Masterwork's format that reprint the adventures of Timely's (Marvel's predecessor) Human Torch character. 

The "Human" Torch was actually an android created by scientist Phineas Horton. He possessed the ability to surround himself with fire and control flames. In his earliest appearances, he was portrayed as a science fiction monstrosity, but quickly became a hero.

The Human Torch was one of Timely Comics' three signature characters, along with Captain America and Namor the Sub-Mariner. Like many superheroes, the Human Torch fell into obscurity by the 1950s. In 1961, Marvel recycled his name and powers into a new, unrelated Human Torch, a member of the Fantastic Four.

In October 2004, Marvel released its first Golden Age Masterworks collection, Golden Age Marvel Comics Volume 1, launching a new line of Masterworks. This 1939 and 1940s Masterworks line reprints material by Timely Comics, Marvel's Golden Age predecessor. It is differentiated from the 1960s Silver Age line by the words "Golden Age" on each title, and with the regular dust-jacket colored gold rather than silver. From Golden Age: Captain America Volume 1 (February 2005), these volumes were released quarterly but the line was discontinued in 2012.