When Marvel announced a last month ago that one member of The Fantastic Four would be killed off in issue 588, most of us had our fingers crossed that it would be The Invisible Girl, a character who was been insipid and useless since day one, despite efforts to bump up her role and make her less of a wimp. But no.

Issue 588 was released today, and it's Johnny Storm, The Human Torch, who bites the dust during an epic battle.

According to Tom Brevoort, senior vice president for publishing at Marvel, "588 is the final issue of the Fantastic Four. Beyond that, we're not ready to say exactly what we're doing. There won't be an issue 589."

Of course, in comic books, death is rarely final, as anyone who was caught up in the 'death of Superman' scam of the late Nineties could confirm, but Marvel at least seem aware that reviving dead characters is a bit of a cliché. Which isn't to say they won't do it, of course. Or they could bring back the stupid robot that replaced the Torch in the 1970's cartoon show.

The Human Torch first appeared in 1961 (and was unrelated to the earlier Human Torch, who was revived for other Marvel stories such as The Invaders) and as well as appearing with the FF, had his own short-lived (and mostly terrible) solo strip and often teamed up with fellow teen hero Spider-Man.