Poor Prof. Horton. Never read even reprints of the classic golden age Torch so my impression of him and his creator comes from the later stories like WCA where he is brought in concerning the Vision. I think writers that used him in stories tried to mirror, as much as they could, the ambivalent or even sad feelings many of the super hero comic book creators from the golden age had towards their creations. Horton even in story says something along the lines of what Burgos, the Torch's creator might, about how he wanted to create something unique that would also make him his fortune, but now there's only regret.
Frankly, I'm still not all that clear, post AVENGERS FOREVER what exactly is the connection between Vision, Torch and Simon.