Sculpted by the Kucharek Brothers and released in early 2014 in 500 copies, the Human Torch Statue is an incredibly charming representation of the youngest member of the Fantastic Four, the character masterly drawn for many years by Jack The King Kirby and often acting with a leading role in the amazing adventures of the most famous quartet of the Marvel Universe. Bowen Design had already dedicated to the character one of his first productions (number 22 in the official catalogue, sculpted by Tony McVey) in a beautiful aerial pose, but in my opinion the aesthetic impact of this piece is significantly higher, due to both the excellent sculpt of the flames and, above all, the use of a translucent resin with an intense color and equipped with a remarkable transparency. The sculpt is essential and very well done: Johnny Storm is upright in a perfect frontal pose, with legs apart, arms straight down, fists clenched and a muscular and toned physique, well defined on chest, biceps, abdominals, and quadriceps. The head is just turned with golden eyes, while many vertical streaks are carved on the body, scattered here and there according to the tradition of Comics, aimed at accentuating the idea of fire and making the piece similar to the well known tables drawn by Kirby. The external color is totally absent: the chromatic impact, in fact, is entirely entrusted to the (particularly deep and brilliant) red-orange tonality of the translucent resin and its own transparency: it is sufficient to place the piece gainst the light to literally “inflame” it and to turn the cold synthetic material into a hot body of burning embers! The resulting painting is really excellent and accentuated by the contrast between the deep red of the figure and the shades of the orange flames spread over the hero's body, carved everywhere with great skill. In my opinion, the only weak point of this statue is the base, very small, hexagonal and with a metallic appearance: on the one hand it allows a perfect integration of the piece with other Bowen statues dedicated to Fantastic 4, but, on the other, it somehow dampens the chromatic originality and appeal of the whole. Ultimately, the statue exhibits an aesthetics and an overall quality of a true top-class collectible: qualities that (combined to the limited edition) well explain the recent increase of market quotations of the piece.