Strange Tales #104
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeStrange Tales #104 holds a firm place in the Silver Age Marvel timeline as the debut of Peter Petruski — introduced here under the memorably absurd alias Paste-Pot Pete — one of the earliest gadget-based supervillains to emerge from the Marvel explosion of 1962–63. The character proved durable enough to outlast his ridiculous name: he later rebranded as the Trapster in Fantastic Four #38 (May 1965) and became a recurring fixture in the Frightful Four, cementing his place across decades of Marvel continuity. The issue also marks a small but noted narrative first within the Human Torch solo run — the first time a villain in that series successfully escaped at the story's conclusion, a structural break from the tidy resolutions that had defined the earlier installments. Situated just three issues into the Human Torch's tenure as Strange Tales' lead superhero feature, it exemplifies the rapid-fire villain-creation pace that defined the early Marvel method.
"Paste-Pot Pete!" kicks off in Strange Tales #104 (1963) with a delightfully absurd twist: an ancient evil king, cursed into a frog by a sorcerer, spends centuries in hibernation, dreaming of a cure. When he awakens during Halloween, mistaken by festive costumes for a giant frog, he retreats into eternal slumber—believing he’s finally among his own kind. Written by Stan Lee and illustrated with eerie precision by Steve Ditko, with colors by Stan Goldberg and letters by Artie Simek, the cover by Jack Kirby and Dick Ayers captures the tale’s whimsical dread.
In "Paste-Pot Pete!", a bumbling criminal with a sticky secret wreaks havoc when he steals a missile base, forcing Johnny to chase him through a high-stakes showdown that ends with Johnny launched into space—only to return and press the pursuit. As the cat-and-mouse game escalates, Pete’s desperate escape plan hinges on a hidden boat and a final, risky rendezvous, leaving Johnny to wonder if the chaos will ever truly end.
Jo, a factory worker wronged by the greedy owner Markham, claims to have created a magic crayon—only to be fired. When Markham later finds the crayon, he discovers it grants him incredible artistic skill, but the moment he starts drawing, he can’t stop, no matter how much he tries.
In "The Frog-Man!" from Strange Tales #104, an ancient sorcerer’s curse transforms a tyrannical king into a frog, forcing him into a centuries-long hibernation. Awakened by the eerie spectacle of Halloween costumes, he misreads the world around him—believing humans have become giant frogs—and retreats into sleep, never to wake.
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The story was produced under the Marvel Method: Stan Lee plotted, Larry Lieber scripted, and Jack Kirby penciled, with Dick Ayers on inks, Stan Goldberg on colors, and Artie Simek lettering. Stan Lee also served as editor. The issue was released on October 9, 1962, carrying a January 1963 cover date — standard practice for the era's newsstand distribution. It arrived during the period when Jack Kirby was still handling penciling duties on the Human Torch feature; Ayers would eventually take over the penciling chores after roughly ten issues of the run, so this issue falls in the final stretch of Kirby's direct involvement with the solo Torch stories.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Paste-Pot Pete (Peter Petruski, Earth-616), the adhesive-weaponized villain who later becomes the Trapster — created by Stan Lee (plot), Larry Lieber (script), and Jack Kirby (pencils).
- Cover-dated January 1963; actual on-sale/release date was October 9, 1962.
- Story title: 'The Human Torch Meets Paste-Pot Pete!' — a 13-page Human Torch solo feature; the issue also contains non-superhero backup anthology stories.
- First time in the Strange Tales Human Torch series that a villain escaped at the end of the story rather than being captured.
- Issue establishes, for the first time in the series, that the Human Torch can only maintain his flame for a limited period — a limitation that would gradually be written out of continuity.
- Paste-Pot Pete's origin as a research chemist is not given in this issue; it was later filled in via The Amazing Spider-Man #91.
- Pete returned in Strange Tales #110 (July 1963) and officially renamed himself the Trapster in Fantastic Four #38 (May 1965), reportedly after Spider-Man mocked the original name.
- The story has been reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch Vol. 1, Essential Human Torch #1 (2003, black-and-white), and The Human Torch & The Thing: Strange Tales — The Complete Collection (2018).
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Journey into Mystery #75 (1961)
Reprinted in Spellbound #45 (1964), Marvel Tales #6 (1967), Terrific! #37 (1967), Fakkelen og Jernmannen #2/1968 (1968), Demonen #5/1968 (1968), Demonen #6/1968 (1968), I Fantastici Quattro #6 (1971), Where Monsters Dwell #10 (1971), The Human Torch #4 (1975), I Fantastici Quattro #121 (1975), Essential Human Torch #1 (2003), Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch #1 (2006), Marvel Masterworks: The Human Torch #1 (2014), The Human Torch & The Thing: Strange Tales - The Complete Collection #[nn] (2018), Marvel Masters of Suspense: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko Omnibus #2 (2019), Amazing Stories of Suspense #81, Los 4 Fantásticos #23, Secrets of the Unknown #32, Sinister Tales #16
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