Be sure to visit Todd Klein’s blog for more information and Mr. Bové’s thoughts on this design.  It’s a great read!

My thanks to our good buddy Walter, from the outstanding Boosterrific blog, for providing a heads-up about this interview!  Thanks, Walter!

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First and foremost is Mikhail’s family.  Mikhail was a committed family man, even though the duel life of Firestorm sometimes created difficulties.  In the image below you’ll see (from L to R): Serefina Arkadina (Mikhail’s niece, a.k.a. Firebird), Mikhail with his two daughters (Irena and Sofia), Nina Arkadin (Mikhail’s wife), and Alexander & Sylvia (Mikhail’s brother and sister-in-law, and parents of Serefina).  Alexander often came to the rescue, whether it was securing release for Mikhail from the KGB or securing Mikhail a teaching position at the University.  While Alexander was helpful, he was also very critical of Mikhail.  As an employee of the Soviet government, Alexander was concerned about Mikhail’s seemingly erratic disappearances (truthfully, the time Mikhail was away as Firestorm).

Next up is Mikhail’s other brother, Dmitri.  Dmitri’s life had taken a dramatically different path from either Alexander or Mikhail.  Dmitri was a black market profiteer.  While his dealings were shady, he was very kind to his extended family.  Below you’ll see a typical Arkadin brother gathering.

Mikhail’s niece Serefina had telepathic powers.  She adopted the superhero codename of Firebird and organized a team of other super-powered teenagers.  Soyuz was the Russian equivalent of the Teen Titans.  Below you’ll find their Who’s Who entry from Who’s Who Update ’88 #3 (Oct. 88).  Click the image to enlarge.

Next up is Gregori Eilovotich Rasputin, an acquaintance of Dmitri’s.  Rasputin was a mysterious man with occult powers.  When asked if he was descended from the mad monk of legend Rasputin, his response was, “Perhaps I AM the mad monk of legend.”  Rasputin helped Ronnie and Mikhail better understand the true nature of Firestorm, which lead to the creation of the first Elemental Firestorm.

Now we’re moving on to Pozhar’s adversaries!  First up is Stalnoivolk/The Steel Wolf (Ivan Illyich Gort).  He was sort of like a Soviet Captain America with the face of Joseph Stalin. He wasn’t a super villain, he was just a super-powered soldier that followed orders.  A very dangerous and destructive cold war relic.  Below you’ll find his Who’s Who entry from Who’s Who Update ’88 #3 (Oct. 88).  Click the image to enlarge.

Major Zastrow is a creepy old bald guy with a tremendous amount of clout with the KGB.  He’s like the Soviet equivalent of Amanda Waller and is the head of a secret covert operations team called the Red Shadows.  He created numerous headaches for Mikhail and his family.  Below you’ll find a shot of Zastrow.

Finally we have the Zuggernaut.  Not the most fondly remembered of Firestorm villains, but his origin was tied to the Soviet Union.  Zuggernaut seemed to have been inspired by the creatures from Aliens, but maybe that’s just me.  Below you’ll find Zuggernaut’s entry from DK’s DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition (September 2008).

That’s it for today!  Come back next week where we’ll wrap-up our look at Pozhar!

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When we first met Mikhail Arkadin (the man who would become Pozhar), it was after the Chernobyl accident.  The majority of his skin had been burned off and he continued to burn uncontrollably; miraculously he survived.  Below is the first shot we ever saw of Mikhail taken from Fury of Firestorm vol. II #62 (Aug. 1987), drawn by Joe Brozowski and Dick Giordano.

After being recruited by Major Zastrow, Mikhail was fitted with a Rocket Red suit of armor.  Around this time he was assigned the codename “Pozhar”, meaning “destructive fire”.  Below you see Mikhail testing his powers taken from Fury of Firestorm vol. II #63 (Sept. 1987), drawn by Joe Brozowski and Sam de la Rosa.

After surviving the blast of a nuclear missile, Pozhar and Firestorm were fused into one single entity.  This merged being became the new Firestorm; an incarnation I refer to as the “blank slate” Firestorm.  Below is the first image we ever saw of this new Firestorm taken from Firestorm the Nuclear Man Annual vol. II #5 (1987), drawn by Joe Brozowski and Alfredo Alcala.

When not Firestorm, Mikhail was returned to his Russian home.  His body had returned to normal and his Pozhar powers were only present when he was part of Firestorm.  Below is a shot of Mikhail Arkadin looking quite normal taken from Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol. II #80 (Dec. 1988), drawn by Tom Grindberg and Sam de la Rosa.

In Firestorm vol. II #85 (May 1989), Ronnie Raymond and Mikhail Arkadin were permanently absorbed (or so we thought) into the Firestorm entity.  The resulting merger created the Firestorm Elemental incarnation.  Below is the cover to Firestorm vol. II #92 (Dec. 1989) featuring the Elemental Firestorm drawn by Tom Mandrake.

In Firestorm vol. II #100 (Aug. 1990), the Elemental Firestorm released Mikhail and Ronnie.  Mikhail was joyously reunited with his wife and children.  This was the last time we’d see Mikhail for a long while.

More than fifteen years later, Mikhail returned in Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol. III #27 (Sept. 2006).  Mikhail had regained his Pozhar powers after being exposed to plutonium released by a dirty bomb.  Mikhail resumed being a superhero, and even teamed up with Firestorm again during the Jason Rusch/Professor Stein era.  Below you’ll find an image of Mikhail’s new Pozhar costume taken from Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol. III #27 (Sept. 2006) drawn by Jamal Igle and Keith Champagne.

Finally, below is the cover from The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men vol. IV #4 drawn by Ethan Van Sciver.  It features a character we believe to be the New 52 incarnation of Pozhar.  We don’t know much about this new Pozhar other than he’s Russian.  Hopefully some semblance of the fantastic character of Mikhail Arkadin will remain within the reimagined Pozhar.

That’s it for today!  Come back tomorrow as we continue our look at Pozhar!

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Mikhail Denisovitch Arkadin was a nuclear technician at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Russia (you can probably guess where this is going).  When not working, Mikhail was a family man.  His wife’s name was Nina, his daughters Irena and Sofia.  Unfortunately Mikhail was caught in the Chernobyl disaster; the only reason for his survival was the activation of Mikhail’s metagene.  Mikhail spent several months in a catatonic state.  When he awoke, the majority of his skin had burned off and he continued to burn uncontrollably, and somehow he continued to survive.  Mikhail was then recruited by Major Zastrow, leader of the Red Shadows, and given the codename Pozhar (translates to “destructive fire”).  Mikhail was fitted with a Rocket Red suit of armor and began testing his new powers.  Mikhail discovered that he’d gained the ability to: burn through just about any substance, create geysers of lava, project blasts of fire, and reduce any matter on hand into consumable energy for himself.

Through a series of circumstances (which you should really read for yourself: Fury of Firestorm #62-#64, Firestorm the Nuclear Man Annual #5, and Firestorm the Nuclear Man #65), Mikhail found himself part of the Firestorm matrix.  No longer was the Nuclear Man the fusion of teenager Ronnie Raymond and scientist Professor Martin Stein.  After Firestorm The Nuclear Man Annual #5 (Oct 1987), Firestorm was composed of teenager Ronnie Raymond and Russian nuclear technician Mikhail Arkadin.  Whenever they were merged as Firestorm, both Raymond and Arkadin were trapped inside the fused body unable to affect its actions.  The being in control of the Firestorm form was independent from Raymond and Arkadin and acted very detached.  The new Firestorm had his own personality and desires, yet he seemed to lack any life experience and had no memories.  He was a blank slate.  Many months later it was revealed the blank slate entity controlling Firestorm was actually Professor Stein’s amnesiac subconscious.  For more on the “Blank Slate” Firestorm, please click here.

When not Firestorm, Mikhail was returned to his Russian home.  His body had returned to normal and his Pozhar powers were only present when he was part of Firestorm.  Mikhail’s regular life began to settle down and he secured a position teaching nuclear physics at a University.  The Firestorm comic during this era spent much of it’s time splitting the action between the United States and Russia.  Some of the Russian subplots included: the Cold War super-soldier Stalnoivolk, Zastrow’s continued manipulation, the alien Zuggernaut, Mikhail’s brothers, his niece Serafina and the teen super-team Soyuz, Mikhail’s rocky relationship with his wife Nina, the blinding of his daughter Sofia, and the mysterious Rasputin.

The “Blank Slate” Firestorm’s existence lasted nearly two years.  Neither Ronnie nor Mikhail were part of the series during the Elemental Firestorm era; they had both been absorbed into the Elemental entity.  Mikhail briefly reappeared in Firestorm #100, reunited with his wife and children.  Years later, Mikhail regained his Pozhar powers after being exposed to plutonium released by a dirty bomb.  Mikhail resumed being a superhero, and even teamed up with Firestorm again during the Jason Rusch/Professor Stein era.  We’ll talk more about Mikhail’s recent exploits later this week!

Writer John Ostrander took a big gamble changing Firestorm as dramatically as he did back in 1987.  I believe it was a gamble that really paid off!  Changing Firestorm to be half-American and half-Russian was a brilliant move, especially during the late 1980s.  With the United States and the Soviet Union the major nuclear powers at the time, it made perfect sense.  These changes brought lots of interesting new situations, settings, and characters.  Best of all, we got the incredibly likeable Mikhail Arkadin!  Mikhail will be remembered fondly as an integral part of the Firestorm mythos.

Below you’ll find Pozhar’s entry from DK’s DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition (September 2008).  For fun, notice the accidentally-included notes after “Hair”.

Next up is a decent write-up about Pozhar from eNotes.com.  I believe this content was originally posted to Wikipedia, but was later eliminated as they consolidated Firestorm-related pages.

Pozhar

First appearance: Fury of Firestorm #62, (August 1987)
Alter ego: Mikhail Denisovitch Arkadin
Created by: John Ostrander (writer) and Joe Brozowski (artist)

Fictional character biography

Mikhail Denisovitch Arkadin was a nuclear technician at the Chernobyl nuclear power generating plant in Russia. After an accident in reactor #4 caused an out-of-control fire, his metagene was activated. Major Zastrow, leader of the Red Shadows, arrived at the scene of the accident and recruited Mikhail.

In 1986 after Gerry Conway’s departure, John Ostrander took over the writing chores on Fury of Firestorm. His first major story arc pitted Firestorm against the world, as the hero (acting on a suggestion from a terminally ill Professor Stein) demanded the U.S. and the Soviet Union destroy all of their nuclear weapons. After tussles with the Justice League and most of his enemies, Firestorm faced off against Pozhar in the Nevada desert, where both had an atomic bomb dropped on them.

When the smoke cleared, a new Firestorm was created who was made up of Raymond and Arkadin, but controlled by the disembodied amnesiac mind of Professor Stein. The stories featuring this version of the hero were highly political, with a good deal of action taking place in Mikhail Gorbachev’s Moscow.

The Raymond/Arkadin Firestorm proved to be a transitional phase, as in 1989, Ostrander fundamentally changed the character of Firestorm by revealing that Firestorm was a “Fire Elemental”. Taking his cue from Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing (a plant elemental), Firestorm now became something of an environmental crusader, formed from Raymond, Arkadin, and a Soviet clone of the previous Firestorm, but with a new mind. Professor Stein, no longer part of the composite at all, and cured of his cancer, continued to play a role as adviser.

Eventually, it was revealed that Stein had originally been intended to be the fire elemental solely by himself: the inclusion of others in the Firestorm entity, such as Raymond and Arkadin had always been by accident. In order to defeat the monster Brimstone, who was threatening to destroy the Sun, Firestorm split into his three parts and allowed Stein to transform into Firestorm. Arkadin then presumably returned to his homeland, depowered.

Mikhail’s niece is Serafina Arkadin (Firebird); she is the leader of Soyuz, the Russian equivalent of the Teen Titans.

One Year Later

Mikhail Denisovitch Arkadin returned as Pozhar in Firestorm the Nuclear Man v3 #27, September 2006. In issue #29 Mikhail reveals that he regained his powers after being exposed to the plutonium released by a dirty bomb.

Powers and abilities

Pozhar can alter the density of his own body, project bolts of nuclear energy, fly at great speed, and absorb radiation in to his body harmlessly.

According to Firestorm v3 #29, Pozhar is an energy transformer, not an energy battery like Firestorm or Firehawk, so he is incapable of retaining large stores of energy and uses up whatever he absorbs. Pozhar usually converts matter into energy to recharge himself, but can also absorb extant radiation.

Notes:  In Russian the word “pozhar” means destructive fire.

That’s it for today!  Come back tomorrow as we continue our look at Pozhar!

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At one point, John Ostrander was interested in producing a Soyuz mini-series with artist Joe Brozowski.  Makes you wonder what that would have been like!

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On a more positive note, the solicitation was released this week for The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #6 scheduled for February!  Check out the solicitation and the gorgeous cover below!  Click the image to enlarge.

Written by GAIL SIMONE and ETHAN VAN SCIVER
Art by YILDIRAY CINAR and NORM RAPMUND
Cover by ETHAN VAN SCIVER

In the blink of an eye, Ronnie and Jason witness a horror so gruesome, the two young Firestorms will question their entire futures as Super Heroes. As if that wasn’t enough, Pozhar, the Russian Firestorm, shows the two boys exactly how dangerous their world has become.

DC Universe | 32pg. | Color | $2.99 US

On Sale February 22, 2012

First, what an amazing cover by Ethan Van Sciver! This may be my favorite yet! The cover really conveys the enormity of whatever terrible situation Jason and Ronnie have found themselves in. Also, I love how the craters form the Firestorm symbol! So cool!

Second, did you read the solicitation verbiage? Did you notice… Pozhar?  Oh yeah!  It’s POZHAR!  That’s right, the alter-ego of Mikhail Arkadin (at least, in the previous continuity)!  For you newer readers, Mikhail Arkadin used to be a major part of the Firestorm matrix.  From 1987 through 1990, Firestorm was composed of Ronnie Raymond and Mikhail Arkadin (along with Professor Stein’s subconscious, but we didn’t know that at the time). Mikhail was a very active part of the “Blank Slate” era of Firestorm, and a passive part of the Elemental Firestorm era.  Personally, I consider Mikhail the forgotten hero of Firestorm.  He doesn’t come up often in Firestorm discussions nowadays.  Most people focus on Ronnie, Professor Stein, or Jason (myself included).  However, I gotta tell ya, Mikhail deserves to be lauded as a core Firestorm cast member.

Keep in mind, all of that was in the previous continuity.  In The New 52, Pozhar will obviously be different.  He might turn out to be a hero or a villain; or he might not even be Mikhail Arkadin.  Only time will tell.  I don’t know for a fact, but I suspect that was Pozhar on the cover of The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #4.

This solicitation has inspired me to put together a Mikhail Arkadin/Pozhar entry here at FIRESTORM FAN within the next few weeks.  In the meantime, click here for my thoughts on the “Blank Slate” Firestorm.  My thanks to match-head Brandon Leonard for the heads-up about this solicitation.

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When Firestorm premiered his cowl featured pointed temples. While this feature wasn’t critical to his overall costume, it was an interesting accent. See the red angled points near his eyes in the image below from FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MAN #1 (Mar. 1978) drawn by Al Milgrom, Klaus Janson, and Joe Rubinstein.

Interestingly enough, while the pointed temples appeared inside the comic, they were slightly different on the cover. Below is an image from the cover of FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MAN #1 (Mar. 1978) drawn by Al Milgrom. Notice the pointed temples have been replaced by a angled corner. I’m guessing the cover was done while they were still finalizing the interiors, which would explain the inconsistency. I believe this is the only time Al Milgrom drew the angled corner instead of the pointed temples.

Below you can see Al Milgrom’s Firestorm from the cover of FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MAN #4 (Sept. 1978). Pointed temples present and accounted for!

After the DC Implosion and the cancellation of his series, Firestorm disappeared for a year or so. Our favorite Nuclear Man didn’t resurface until DC COMICS PRESENTS #17 (Jan. 1980). Below you can see Firestorm on the cover of that comic drawn by Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Steve Mitchell. Pointed temples? Check!

After that, Firestorm was a regular in the JLA. Below is an interior page from JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #179 (June 1980) drawn by Dick Dillin and Frank McLaughlin. Notice Firestorm’s cowl features the angled corner instead of the pointed temples. I’m guessing Dick Dillin used the cover of FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MAN #1 as a reference.

Next Firestorm had his own back-up feature in several issues of THE FLASH.  Below is a close-up from an interior page of THE FLASH #292 (Dec. 1980) drawn by George Perez and Bob Smith. Nice job George including the pointed temples! By the way, it’s worth noting that George still draws Firestorm with the pointed temples! Click here to see a George Perez Firestorm sketch from 2009! Amazing attention to detail, George!

The pointed temples continued to appear in THE FLASH back-up stories for a while longer. Below is a image from THE FLASH #302 (Oct. 1981) drawn by Denys Cowan and Rodin Rodriguez.

Notice below the pointed temples in THE FLASH #302 (Oct. 1981) drawn by Denys Cowan and Rodin Rodriguez. Here you can see Firestorm floating unconscious with a garbage scow closing in on him.

In the very next issue the pointed temples are nowhere to be seen. Below you’ll see an image from THE FLASH #303 (Nov. 1981) picking up where the image above left off. The scene is set the same, just without the attractive temple accents. It’s worth noting this issue was the first time Firestorm was drawn by Pat Broderick. The inker for this issue was Adrian Gonzales. This was the only issue of THE FLASH Adrian Gonzales inked. It’s possible the change in artists resulted in the loss of the pointed temples (whether accidentally or purposefully). Perhaps the loss of the pointed temples was so overwhelming to Firestorm, he passed out in the river. I know I would have been depressed to lose such rockin’ cowl accents.

The pointed temples returned one last time in THE FLASH #304 (Dec. 1981) drawn by Pat Broderick and Rodin Rodriguez as you can see below. The primary difference between issues #303 (above) and #304 (below) was the inker. Rodin Rodriguez, the inker for #304, had been inking the Firestorm back-up features for some time. It’s possible Rodriguez added the pointed temples to issue #304 since he would have been aware of them from inking previous issues. This would be the final regular appearance of the pointed temples. After this they would only show up once in a blue moon, but they were always a fluke rather than a regular cosmetic feature.

Below is an interior panel from THE FURY OF FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MAN #1 (June 1982) drawn by Pat Broderick and Rodin Rodriguez. This representation of Firestorm’s cowl became the standard look for our favorite Nuclear Man going forward.

It’s worth noting down the line Firestorm featured other cowl accents. Below you’ll see the cowl-sideburns which premiered in FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MAN #65 (November 1987) drawn by Ross Andru. The cowl-sideburns were a distinct feature of the “Blank Slate” Firestorm and hung around until FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MAN #85 (May 1989).

Finally, Ronnie Raymond is currently sporting a unique cowl accent. See an example below drawn by Ethan Van Sciver. I’m not sure exactly what to call them; maybe cheek-bone tips? It would be interesting to find out if Ronnie’s current cowl accents were inspired by the pointed temples, the cowl-sideburns, or some new idea all together.

Rounding back to or original question… who is responsible for the disappearance of the pointed temples? We may never know. However, my instinct tells me it was Pat Broderick who did away with the pointed temples (whether accidentally or purposefully). Broderick became the regular artist of Firestorm beginning with THE FLASH #303 and the pointed temples only appeared once more. Now keep in mind that’s my own speculation. We may never know the truth…

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If you’d like to read more, click here for the FIRESTORM FAN interview with John Ostrander!

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Below you’ll find a visual guide to all 57 icons!  So friggin’ cool!

Below is an example of Christopher’s desktop using some of these Firestorm icons, along with a Firestorm wallpaper!

Just a quick disclaimer… these icons are not to be sold, but may be freely given. Firestorm, his likeness, and related characters are the property of DC Comics. So don’t sell them, unless you are really anxious to be sued by DC Comics or Warner Bros.

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One of the tools I’ve used over the years was the 1993 Mayfair Games role-playing supplement to Who’s Who in the DC Universe.  Each supplement page included a complete list of comic book appearances for that specific character.  Seriously, a COMPLETE list up to the date of publication.  It’s amazing!  Below you’ll find the Firestorm list of appearances through 1993 from the supplement.

What a great resource!  Think Firestorm’s listing is long and overly-detailed? You should see Superman’s list of appearances!  It’s insane!

The Firestorm listing above was extremely helpful in my back issue hunting.  In fact, I managed to pick up every appearance of Firestorm on this list, with the exception of one comic. For whatever reason, I was never able to find a copy of BLASTERS SPECIAL #1.  I know, BLASTERS, really?  This INVASION spin-off was not exactly a top-seller, but I still was unable to find a copy… until a few months ago!  I was trolling through some fifty-cent bins and stumbled across my own personal Holy Grail of Firestorm back issue finds - BLASTERS SPECIAL #1!  I couldn’t believe it!  My long journey of seeking Firestorm back issues was finally at an end.  With an amazing amount of satisfaction, I plunked down my two quarters for this comic.

After nearly 20 years hunting this comic, it was finally in my hands!  I anxiously flipped through the book looking for my favorite Nuclear Man.  Surely if I’ve waited this long for the comic, Karma should deliver an amazing Firestorm appearance.  Doesn’t that seem cosmically fair?

I finished flipping through the comic, but failed to find Firestorm.  Huh?  I tried again.  After a second more thorough examination, I found Firestorm in the comic!  Yup, he appeared in exactly one panel.  That’s right, just one.  And he didn’t even have a speaking part.  Just some guy stuffed in the corner of a mediocre splash page.  What a disappointment!  To save you match-heads the effort of digging up BLASTERS yourself, below is the one panel Firestorm appears in.  Click the image to enlarge.

Geez.  After a nearly twenty year search, that’s it?  Such a disappointment.  The burden of being a completist is a heavy one.

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