The Spider-Man have long had something of a friendly rivalry. Although neither would particularly care to it it, at heart they had a deep-rooted respect for one another - even if they do prefer to conceal it with banter.
Hilariously enough, the Human Torch has always quietly envied Spider-Man. He particularly resents the amount of attention the webhead gets in the press, blissfully unaware this usually comes from the Daily Bugle - and J. Jonah Jameson is hardly president of the Spider-Man fan club. Finally, in Spider-Man/Human Torch #1, Johnny Storm decided to take action.
The Human Torch had picked up on the fact all the Spider-Man photos kept being taken by Peter Parker. So he decided to track the photographer down and offer him another job - as his own personal photographer. He used Reed Richards' tech to get Peter's home address, and paid a visit; although Peter was reluctant, Aunt May needed the cash, and she was excited at the opportunity for Peter to get photos of a more respectable superhero.
It didn't exactly go well - not least because the Torch's current girlfriend, Dorrie Evans, was more interested in Peter than she was in Johnny. The Torch was delighted when the afternoon was interrupted by a bank robbery, but more than a little irritated when Spider-Man showed up too; he figured Peter had tipped the wall-crawler off, and was angry at Spider-Man's attempt to steal his headline. A frustrated Peter Parker came up with the idea of tagging the Torch with a spider-tracer, and photographing him from a distance
Unfortunately the Human Torch decided to show off for the press - and he did so in the worst possible way, by proving he could take down Doctor Doom one-on-one. Needless to say, it didn't go well, and soon the Human Torch was trapped in a block of ice. Spider-Man had to swing in to save the day, much to Johnny's fury - and the Daily Bugle splashed on the wall-crawler, with J. Jonah Jameson happily declaring he now had evidence Spider-Man and Doctor Doom were working together. Once again, Johnny Storm had lost his front page spread, and he blamed Parker for it. Fortunately for Peter, Jameson had paid well for what he considered to be incriminating photos of Spider-Man, so Aunt May got her bills paid anyway.
