Below is a little Thanksgiving fun from the 2003 JSA/JLA Thanksgiving get-together in JSA #54.  This issue featured Ronnie when he was operating solo as Firestorm.

Firestorm and Doctor Fate together!  Two of my favorites!  And poor Ronnie, he never seems to say the right thing around women.

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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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It wasn’t a glorious or heroic death.  Ronnie was killed by the Shadow Thief using The Shining Knight’s sword.  It was a minor scuffle, the kind superheroes partake in all the time.  Brad Meltzer’s intention with this scene was to show that sometimes heroes die a quiet, accidental death on the job.  Below are the pages showing Ronnie’s death as narrated by Oliver Queen, Green Arrow.

Poor Ronnie.  A really unfortunate way to go.  Thankfully he’s been given another shot!

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Personally I like all these designs!  I guess if I had to pick, the top-left design would be my favorite for a Firestorm costume.  The bottom-left and top-right would also work really well.  The bottom-right design looks super-cool, but doesn’t seem too practical for superhero battles.  Did you notice each of these have puffy sleeves?  Awesome!

I can’t personally validate if these sketches were actually drawn by Jim Lee, but they sure look like his style!  These sketches were posted to the Custom Justice forum by Jester back in 2008.  I recently corresponded with Jester and he believes they may have appeared in the Wizard: Jim Lee, Millennium Edition book.  My thanks to FIRESTORM FAN commenter “Crusader” for directing me to these sketches!  If anyone can validate where these sketches were originally published, please let us know.

If you are interested in more information on the 2003 Firestorm series that never was:

• Click here to read the Wizard Magazine article mentioning Jim Lee’s Firestorm designs.
• Click here for comprehensive coverage of Mike Carey & Lewis LaRosa’s aborted Firestorm series in 2003.

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Let’s face it, everyone makes a relationship mistake at some point.  You look back years later and wonder, “What was I thinking?!?!”  Well, Firehawk’s relationship mistake was Booster Gold.   Let’s take a look at how it all began…

FIRESTORM vol II #100 (August 1990) – EXTREME JUSTICE #0 (January 1995)

At the close of Firestorm #100, it looked like Ron Raymond and Lorraine Reilly (a.k.a. Firehawk) were headed for relationship bliss.  Sadly, by Extreme Justice #0 Ron was most definitely flying solo.  That means that either Ron and Lorraine didn’t work out as a couple, or they never really got off the ground.  They seemed like a match made in heaven.  We may never know what happened between these nuclear paramours, but it’s probably safe to say that Firehawk was lonely and vulnerable afterward.  That would help explain what happened next…

CHASE #4 (May 1998)

The Teen Titans (the Dan Jurgens team, led by an age-reduced Atom) were making a public appearance when Booster Gold arrived to grab some of their spotlight.  Oh Booster, you shameless glory-hound!   Without warning, a group of supervillains attacked!  At the same time, Firehawk arrived on the scene apparently with the intention of trying out for the Teen Titans.  It was a hard-fought battle, but in the end the Titans, Booster, and Firehawk prevailed.  Booster even managed to save Firehawk’s life, which clearly impressed the young lady.

Lorraine was swept off her feet by Booster.  I suppose it’s understandable.  He was a handsome, charming guy that had just saved her life.  A partnership was formed, and something a little more.

I want you to notice a particular line.  One of the first things Booster says to Lorraine is, “You’re, uh, seeing Firestorm or something, right?” Sort of an abrupt question to ask a young lady at a moment like that, one that I’ll address in just a bit.

After their meeting in Chase #4, Booster Gold and Firehawk became quite the celebrity couple.  The press dubbed them “Red and Gold”, a pun on the old “Blue and Gold” duo of Blue Beetle and Booster Gold.  The crazy part is that Firehawk isn’t red!!!  Booster and Firehawk both wear blue and gold!  They say love is blind, perhaps journalists are too.

One thing that has always bothered me about this issue is that Firehawk was planning to try out for the Teen Titans.  The TEEN Titans!?!?!  Firehawk is at least college-aged, why would she be interested in hanging with a bunch of high school kids?  If she’d never shown up to meet the Titans, she would have saved herself a bunch of heartache.

DCU Heroes Secret Files and Origins #1 (February 1999)

Booster Gold and Firehawk’s off-again/on-again romance continued for a few years.

Guide to the DC Universe 2000 Secret Files & Origins #1 (March 2000)

On one particular occasion, there was a very uncomfortable confrontation between Firehawk and Firestorm about Booster Gold.

THE END OF THE ROMANCE

Booster Gold and Firehawk were last seen together as a couple in the scenes above from the Guide to the DC Universe 2000 Secret Files & Origins #1.  By Formerly Known as the Justice League #1 (September 2003), Booster was in a relationship with a woman more than 30 years his age.  In classic Booster style, he was using the older woman for her money.  Classy, Booster; real classy.  Obviously his relationship with Firehawk had ended prior to that point.  Their relationship is never really mentioned again, but Firehawk did direct a snarky comment towards him in 52 #1 (July 2006).

This panel seems to imply that Firehawk and Booster Gold’s relationship didn’t end well.  No real shocker there.

OH FIREHAWK, WHY BOOSTER GOLD?

Firehawk is a bright lady.  Why, oh why did she have to fall for a lecher like Booster?  People often make mistakes in love, but this was a big one.

Booster Gold is best known for his love of three things: 1) gorgeous women, 2) money, and 3) fame.  Without a doubt, Firehawk is an attractive woman.  Additionally, the Reilly family is loaded!  Firehawk’s father was a Senator for goodness sake.  You know she’s gotta have a healthy trust fund or dowry stashed away.  It seems pretty obvious to me that Booster had ulterior motives for trying to get into Firehawk’s nuclear hot-pants.

REVENGE ON FIRESTORM?

Remember the line Booster asked Firehawk, “You’re, uh, seeing Firestorm or something, right?” Seemed like an odd question at the time, right?  Well, it just so happens that Booster and Firestorm had some bad blood between them.  So beyond Firehawk’s hotness and financial wealth, perhaps Booster pursued the nuclear princess in an effort to get back at Firestorm.  Maybe Booster saw this as a chance to steal Firestorm’s “girl”!

Here are a couple examples of Firestorm and Booster Gold clashing back in the Extreme Justice days.

Extreme Justice #10 (November 1995)

Extreme Justice #12 (January 1996)

In both instances, Firestorm was definitely teasing Booster.  No way around that.  Firestorm was being a jerk.  It’s kind of surprising that Ron picked on Booster so much, especially after Booster’s sidekick Skeets helped Ron through his cancer treatments.  However, was anything Firestorm did REALLY that out-of-line?  Think of all the pranks Booster played during the JLI days.  Firestorm’s hijinks were nowhere near Booster’s accomplishments.  Were harmless jokes such as these truly motivation enough to actively pursue Firestorm’s lost love?  Does some macho teasing justify breaking Firehawk and Firestorm’s hearts even further than they already were?  I don’t think so Booster.  I just don’t think so.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY FIREHAWK

Without a doubt, Firehawk is better off without Booster in her life.  I’m not sure who Firehawk is spending Valentine’s Day with this year, but I wish her a very happy one.   Who knows, now that Ronnie is back amongst the living, perhaps they’ll give their relationship another try.

Now this is just my take on the situation. Be sure to head over to BOOSTERRIFIC today to read Walter’s take on the doomed romance. My thanks to Walter for joining me in today’s crossover!

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Extreme Justice was a series that lasted only 19 issues and ran from 1995-1996.  The team was intended to be a more proactive version of the Justice League.  The initial members of the team were: Captain Atom, Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Maxima, and Amazing Man.  The issues highlighted below were written by Dan Vado, penciled by Marc Campos, inked by Ken Branch, and colored by Lee Loughridge.

The Extreme Justice comic was definitely a product of its time.  Just look at the name, “Extreme”.  Nothing says 1990s comic books more than the word “Extreme”.  The art and coloring are also classic examples of the 1990s: busy panels, “gritty” art, screaming facial expressions, muscles everywhere, crackling energy, and exaggerated everything.  Love it or hate it, this is what many comics were during that era.

Below are two pages from Extreme Justice #0.  In these pages Ronnie was diagnosed with an advanced case of Leukemia.   Geez, Professor Stein had an inoperable brain tumor, and then Ronnie got Leukemia.  Maybe being Firestorm isn’t so great…

Next up are two pages from Extreme Justice #1…

Below are two pages from Extreme Justice #2.  In these pages Ronnie has his first chemotherapy treatment.  Skeets, Booster Gold’s sidekick, was kind enough to keep him company.  I gotta say that’s very generous of Skeets considering he never really knew Firestorm.

Below are two pages from Extreme Justice #3.  As you’ll see below, Ronnie’s therapy hadn’t been going too well…

Extreme Justice #4 featured quite a bit of Ronnie Raymond and his out-of-control powers.  Below I’ve scanned the three pages I felt were most relevant to this discussion.  At this point the Extreme Justice team had arrived and were attempting to assist Ronnie.

Thanks to Blue Beetle’s quick thinking and Amazing Man’s powers, they were successful in draining off Firestorm’s excess energy.  Once things calmed down, we found Ronnie had once again become Firestorm, this time without anyone else in the matrix.  Though his powers had returned, Ronnie was still suffering from Leukemia.  To make matters more complicated, Professor Martin Stein in the guise of the Firestorm Elemental chose this moment to return to Earth.

Extreme Justice #5 focused almost exclusively on Ronnie Raymond as Firestorm and Professor Stein as the Firestorm Elemental.  When the Firestorm Elemental arrived on Earth, he was several stories tall and his elemental powers were causing numerous fires to break out.  The Firestorm Elemental had been exploring deep space for the past five years and had lost touch with Professor Stein’s humanity.  The Elemental had returned to Earth with the intention of absorbing Ronnie into the Elemental being, joining their consciousness into one.

Below are six pages from Extreme Justice #5 that cover the highlights of the issue…

Next, the Firestorm Elemental showed Ronnie some of the wonders of the universe in an attempt to change his mind about  merging together.  Ronnie still chose to decline the offer.  We pick up the story as the Firestorm Elemental returned them to the real world…

So there you have it.  Ronnie’s Firestorm powers were reactivated by chemotherapy and/or gene therapy, and his Leukemia was cured by the Firestorm Elemental.  Seems to me Ronnie owes a huge debt of gratitude to the following folks: Skeets, Blue Beetle, Amazing Man, and the Elemental Firestorm.

Firestorm stayed with the Extreme Justice team for about a year until his alcoholism began interfering with his superheroics.  After Extreme Justice, Firestorm languished in obscurity for nearly 10 years.  During this period he joined the JLA and the Power Company, but his appearances were few and far between.  Ronnie remained active as Firestorm until his death in the 2004 mini-series Identity Crisis.

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Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

I heard from numerous sources that Manhunter was a fantastic and underrated series.  I’d never gotten around to reading it… at least until now.  My good friend Erika from Girls-Gone-Geek was kind enough to loan me this trade paperback.  I was apprehensive about whether I would like it and put off reading the collection.  After finally cracking the cover, I devoured this 224 page tome in no time!  I simply couldn’t put it down!  Obviously the Firestorm element of the trade captured my interest, but I was also fascinated by the Manhunter legacy plot.  I’m a huge fan of the Ostrander/Yale Manhunter series from the 1980s.

The majority of the book deals with the legacy of the hero name “Manhunter”.  The Shadow Thief’s trial is definitely important to the collection, but it’s not the main plot.  Below you’ll find a few relevant pages to Firestorm:

Superman takes the stand

A little later Felicity Smoake-Raymond took the stand.

Wow.  Powerful stuff.  It’s interesting to note that Felicity, Ronnie’s step-mother, revealed Firestorm’s secret identity to the world.  Now that Ronnie is back from the grave, should we assume this was either retconned away or fixed with magic?  Inquiring minds want to know!

Even though Firestorm’s trial isn’t the main crux of the trade, it’s still worth reading. It’s a well-written and compelling superhero comic.  The lead character, Kate Spencer, is somewhat like Daredevil except she uses high-tech gadgets instead of super-senses to battle crime.  You should be able to order Manhunter: Trial by Fire from your local comic book shop.  The story is written by Marc Andreyko and drawn by Javier Pina, Jesus Saiz, Brad Walker, and Diego Olmos.  Its 224 pages of superhero action for only $17.99.  That’s a great deal!  If you haven’t read this series already, I highly recommend it.  I can’t wait to read the next trade in the series!

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During the Extreme Justice series in the mid-90s, Ronnie Raymond began drinking heavily.  At the start of the series, Ronnie was no longer Firestorm and was undergoing treatment for leukemia.  Due to a series of incidents involving chemotherapy, the Justice League, and the Elemental Firestorm, Ronnie was miraculously cured of leukemia and he regained his Firestorm powers (this time he was flying solo with no one else sharing the matrix).  Somewhere in here Ronnie adopted a “live for today” attitude.  This translated into Ronnie drinking more often.  Eventually Ronnie’s drinking interfered with his superheroic activities.  See below…

Extreme Justice #16  (May 1996)

• Writer: Robert L. Washington III
• Pencils: Tom Morgan
• Inks: Ken Branch

Now we skip forward a few pages…

The follow-up to this story was published in Showcase ’96 two months later.  It was a surprisingly dark and serious look at addiction.  See below…

Showcase ’96 #6 & #7  (July & August 1996)

• Storm’s Clearing – Part 1: Drying Out and Chasing the Clouds Away
• Writer: Robert L. Washington III
• Artist: Randy DuBurke

The second issue continued the dark and serious themes.  Here is how the story ended…

As you can see, DC took the time to deal with Ronnie’s alcoholism very seriously.  It’s not often that a comic addresses real-life issues like alcoholism in such a way.   Whether you liked these stories or not, you gotta admire DC for being brave enough to publish them.

So as you can imagine, long-time fans of Firestorm are concerned about Ronnie falling off the wagon.  To be fair, in Brightest Day we’ve only see Ronnie drink a few times.  We don’t actually know how much or how often he’s been drinking.  It’s implied that he’s getting blitzed a lot, but we don’t know for sure.  It’s quite possible this is part of the building story.  Perhaps Brightest Day will deal with Ronnie’s continued struggle with alcoholism.  In 2002 during a JLA story it was revealed that Ronnie had at least one night of binge drinking, but that is the only reference I’m aware of after Showcase ’96 and prior to Brightest Day.  Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi are excellent writers and I’m hopeful this Brightest Day subplot will resolve itself, yet pay respect to what has come before.

This post was inspired by Scott Mateo’s entries on the Comic Book Resources forum and the ComicBloc forum.  On those sites Scott posted the majority of these scans.  I’ve added a few here myself to further show the impact of the story.  My thanks to Scott for his inspiration!  Visit the thread at Comic Book Resources by clicking here.  Visit the thread at ComicBloc by clicking here.

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Okay, we’re three issues into Brightest Day and we’re starting to get a picture of what’s happening with Firestorm.  I’ll start with what we know, then let’s delve into speculation on where it’s going.

THE FACTS

• Jason Rusch’s girlfriend Gehenna, formerly one-half of Firestorm, was murdered by the Black Lantern Firestorm.  The Black Lantern Firestorm claimed to be the resurrected Ronnie Raymond.
• Later, Ronnie Raymond was resurrected by the light of the White Lantern with no recollection of the Black Lantern’s activities.  Ronnie quickly resumed his college partying lifestyle.
• Jason and Ronnie don’t get along.  Ronnie is coping with the fact that he died and came back, as well as that someone else has had control of the Firestorm matrix.  Meanwhile, Jason blames Ronnie for the death of Gehenna.
• When Ronnie and Jason touched in Blackest Night #0, they fused into Firestorm.  They have been unable to separate into their own individual bodies since.  They are stuck fused as Firestorm.  Ronnie currently controls the body while Jason is able to advise telepathically.
• Ray Palmer, the Atom, shrank and entered Firestorm’s body in hopes of “disarming” the Firestorm matrix.  He commented that Firestorm’s flames are no longer just for show and that it was nearly 1,000 degrees inside his body.    When the Atom arrived at the Firestorm matrix, we saw three electrons circling the nucleus.  Two electrons were bright yellow, the third was a dark gray.
• While waiting for the Atom to finish inside their body, Ronnie heard another voice telepathically that goaded him into an argument with Jason. Their body then suffered a very explosive reaction.
• At the same time Ronnie and Jason are arguing, black tendrils begin to reach out from the Firestorm matrix towards the Atom.
• The cover of Brightest Day #4 features Black Lantern Firestorm.

SPECULATION

• It seems a safe bet that the dark gray electron in the Firestorm matrix represents the Black Lantern Firestorm.  Somehow the Black Lantern Firestorm has survived inside the matrix.  That would explain the voice Ronnie heard which caused the argument with Jason.  That would explain the black tendrils chasing the Atom.
• It also seems a safe bet that the Black Lantern Firestorm will take control of the body, which would explain the cover to Brightest Day #4.
• What I’m left wondering is what exactly is the Black Lantern Firestorm.  Is it a dark reflection of Ronnie?  Is it now a dark reflection of Gehenna (which would be pretty clever)?  Is it simply a random malicious entity?
• It also seems logical that the existence of the Black Lantern Firestorm will absolve Ronnie in the blame of Gehenna’s murder.  Jason may remain uncomfortable around Ronnie, he won’t be able to blame Ronnie directly for the death of his girlfriend any longer.
• Without Nekron or the Anti-Monitor-powered black battery, where is Black Lantern Firestorm getting his power from?
• Once all this business with the Black Lantern Firestorm is finished, who will be in the matrix?  I gotta believe the Ronnie/Jason combination will be Firestorm for the foreseeable future.
• With the mention that Firestorm’s flames weren’t just for show anymore, are they going to incorporate some of the Elemental Firestorm concepts into this version?
• There was a panel in Brightest Day #1 featuring several incarnations of Firestorm.  Perhaps that was foreshadowing (along with the temperature comment) that the current Firestorm will be an amalgam of all previous versions.  That was Geoff Johns’ move with Hawkman in JSA, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he did it here with the Nuclear Man.  See my analysis below of that panel.

• The top left Firestorm was patterned after the Al Milgrom cover to Firestorm volume I #1.  This would represent the classic Firestorm.

• The bottom left Firestorm was patterned after the Matt Haley cover to Firestorm volume III #8.  This would represent the early days of Jason Rusch as Firestorm.

• The center Black Lantern Firestorm appears to be patterned after the Ethan Van Sciver variant cover to Blackest Night #3.  If you look closely at Black Lantern Firestorm’s face, you can see the similarities.

• The bottom right Firestorm was patterned after the Tom Grindberg cover to Firestorm volume II #85.  However, they used the coloring from the later Tom Mandrake issues.  This would represent the Elemental Firestorm.

• I believe the top right Firestorm was patterned after the Steve Lightle cover to Extreme Justice #8.  While the facial expression is different and the pose is reversed, the coloring on the headgear is consistent.  This is the only drawing I’ve ever seen where the classic Firestorm has yellow accents on his headgear.  If so, this drawing would represent the years Ronnie flew solo with the Firestorm matrix.

• This leaves the “Blank Slate” era as the only major incarnation not represented.  It’s possible the top right panel represents the “Blank Slate” era of Firestorm, but I can’t think of a corresponding scene.

So what do you think is going to happen with Firestorm in Brightest Day?

Just a final note, my favorite scene in all of Brightest Day so far is the panel below:

“Just take care of these boys.”  Instead, Martin may as well have said, “Just take care of my boys.”  After all Ronnie and Jason are like sons to him.  Some people may not realize that in comic book time, Jason spent a year working with Professor Stein as Firestorm.  This was during the One Year Later timeframe.  Love this panel!

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