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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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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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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You can find the third episode of THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST on iTunes. While you’re there, please drop us a review on the iTunes page. Every comment helps! Alternatively, you may download the podcast by right-clicking here, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (42 MB).

Thanks again to my co-host Rob Kelly, Sea King of THE AQUAMAN SHRINE, for doing all the post-production on these episodes! Additionally, special thanks to Daniel Adams and his band The Bad Mamma Jammas for our super-cool outro theme!

Thanks for listening! Send your feedback to: firewaterpodcast@comcast.net

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The character shown in based upon the Elemental incarnation of Firestorm, but the tattoo itself was designed by artegroteskotattoo.  Artegroteskotattoo is a tattoo artist in Argentina. Check out his other tattoo designs on deviantART.

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All kidding aside, this art is GORGEOUS!  Scroll back up and check out the poses on the first two images.  He used the same pose for the Brightest Day and Elemental incarnations of Firestorm.  I love seeing the contrast between the incarnations like that!

My thanks to Brandon Leonard for pointing out the joke about Firestorm blasting the ground. We’re just goofing around, I don’t think Yildiray truly hates his own home planet.  At least I don’t think he does.  … Wait a minute … He did draw Legion of Super-Heroes for a while.  Maybe he’s more of a Dominator fan.  Hmm..

Since we’re on the subject of Yildiray Cinar, check out this new Firestorm image he posted recently on deviantART.  This was another warm up sketch shortly after getting the Firestorm assignment.  I LOVE his rendition of the Brightest Day costume!  My thanks to liquidcross for the heads-up about this new image!

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SPECIAL ADVANCE NOTICE

Be sure to come back this Friday for a very special treat!  We’re featuring an all-new interview with Firestorm creators Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom!  Gerry and Al were kind enough to sit down with me for a lengthy discussion as we prepare for the release of the Firestorm: The Nuclear Man trade paperback!  See you on Friday!

I’ve always referred to him as “Lil’ Stormy”.  Unless Firestorm editor-at-the-time Dan Raspler or the original artist steps forward with a different opinion, he will be known as Lil’ Stormy forevermore!

Lil’ Stormy is so cute!  I want a stuffed animal of this guy!

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Today we’re going to look at a few Firestorm sightings on the web.  Be sure to check out these links!

• Some belated Valentine’s Day action for you!  DC’s Killer Frost and Marvel’s Iceman find blazing passion together in this fan art by Tommy Tejeda!  Click here to view the gorgeous drawing!  My thanks to Frank Lee Delano for sending this my way.

• Last month we talked about Gary M. Miller’s Firestorm-related posts on his blog.  Well, he’s done another entry since we last focused on him.  This time out he nicely recaps the Ostrander Elemental era.  Great coverage by Gary! Check out his third entry by clicking here!

• Our good friend Jon from the Fizzit Firestorm-themed blog had a couple posts recently that might interest Firestorm fans.  First up is Jon’s coverage of DC Super Heroes: The Ultimate Pop-Up Book. This book looks super-cool!  The second item worth noting is Jon’s DC Universe online video game Firestorm-themed character.  As always, fantastic stuff Jon!

• Chris Fluit has written a great piece about Firestorm entitled, “Firestorm, the Next Everyman or the Anti-Spider-Man” over on Captain Comics.  Click here to check out this Firestorm post on Captain Comics!

• Mighty God King has published a fairly discouraging article about Firestorm.  The author makes some valid points and it’s worth reading, but I tend to be more positive about the Nuclear Man.  Click here to read the article on Mighty God King.  Feel free to give Firestorm some love in the comments!

• Over on the Comic Book Resources forum, some folks are discussing Firestorm’s appearance in Green Lantern Corps #57.  Click here to read the GLC #57 thread on the CBR forum.

• While we’re talking about Green Lantern Corps #57, be sure to check out The Indigo Tribe blog today for a review of that issue.  Click here to visit The Indigo Tribe blog.

• Over on eBay, someone is selling a Firestorm lithoprint.  The print is 14″ x 20″ and features a Super Powers-era image of Firestorm.  Click here to view this Firestorm Super Powers lithoprint on eBay.   I’m pretty confident this isn’t authorized by DC, so buyer beware.  My thanks to Frank Lee Delano once again for sending this my way.

• Sensor Sweep has put together a new Firestorm desktop wallpaper.  This time out it’s a mash-up of Pat Broderick and Scott Clark.  Click here to check out this new desktop wallpaper.

My thanks to the readers of FIRESTORM FAN who send me interesting links about our favorite Nuclear Man!  Without y’all, I couldn’t keep this site so full of content.  THANK YOU!

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The scans below come compliments of our good friend Jon at Fizzit, the Firestorm-themed blog.

Below you can see a side-by-side comparison between the American version and the Spanish version.  The most noticeable difference is the Spanish edition is printed on better paper.  That paper really helps the colors pop off the page!  I’m jealous!  Click each image below to enlarge.

Thanks again to Jon at Fizzit, the Firestorm-themed blog for supplying these great scans!

¡Apoya a Firestorm! ¡Aviva la llama!