Below you’ll find the uninhibited cover art.  Click the image to enlarge.

Below is the cover including the trade dress noting the connection to Infinite Crisis.

Did I mention Donna Troy is super-hot?  Okay, just wanted to be sure.

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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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Stuart Moore wrote FIRESTORM vol III for 19 issues from 2005 through 2007.  Thanks to the length of his run, Stuart has written Jason Rusch more than any other writer.  Stuart’s run brought dramatic changes for the FIRESTORM title, including: the return of Professor Martin Stein and Mikhail Arkadin, Firehawk joined the Firestorm matrix, incredible growth in Jason’s character, the introduction of Gehenna, and much more!

Stuart Moore has been a writer, a book editor, and an award-winning comics editor. He’s written many titles, such as: NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT, CLOAK & DAGGER, WOLVERINE NOIR, THE 99, DETECTIVE COMICS, EARTHLIGHT, PARA, SHADRACH STONE, and much more!  Before turning to writing, Stuart was a book editor at St. Martin’s Press, publishing a wide variety of science fiction and pop culture books. More recently he served as editor of the Virgin Comics / SciFi Channel comics line, and of the bestselling Marvel Knights imprint, where his credits included Brian Michael Bendis’s ALIAS and DAREDEVIL and the Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon PUNISHER. At DC Comics, Stuart was a founding editor of the acclaimed Vertigo imprint, where he won the Will Eisner award for Best Editor 1996 and the Don Thompson Award for Favorite Editor 1999. His editorial credits there include PREACHER, THE INVISIBLES, SWAMP THING, HELLBLAZER, THE BOOKS OF MAGIC, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, and too many others to mention.

Stuart was kind enough to spend some time discussing his run on Firestorm with FIRESTORM FAN.

BACKGROUND

FIRESTORM FAN: How did you first get interested in reading comics and what were some of your favorites?

STUART MOORE: Most people I know either liked DC or Marvel growing up…I have a slightly different story. When I was young, I only read DC Comics; I think I still have a copy of ACTION from when I was five years old. Then, when I was in high school, a friend sat me down with huge piles of Marvel comics — this was before trade paperbacks, but it was the same effect, just enormously long, sprawling runs of stories. And it completely changed me, opened up my mind to all this great, crazy stuff. So to me, DC Comics are the books I loved as a kid, but Marvel are the really exciting, dangerous ones.

FF: What attracted you to writing comics and how did you break into the business?

SM: I’d always done some writing, but I started out as a book editor, then a comics editor. When I was at DC/Vertigo, DC wasn’t really encouraging staff people to write anymore, which I understood — there’s a lot of potential for conflicts of interest there. Though I’ve come around a bit to thinking it can be managed, and that some of the best work of the ’70s and ’80s was done by writer/editors.

Anyway, I left DC in 1999 and had a short stint at Marvel Knights, then started writing full time. I wrote everything — indy stuff, my own work, short stories for anthologies. I still do, actually. Jumping around between genres, styles, and companies keeps me fresh.

FF: What do you find are the major influences on your work?

SM: There are a hell of a lot of them, actually. In comics: Alan Moore, Steve Gerber, Howard Chaykin. In books: Philip K. Dick, Charles Willeford, Cordwainer Smith, recently Rick Moody. A lot of film, too, particularly the work of Alex Cox.

FF: Who would win in a fight – Willie Lumpkin or Doiby Dickles?

SM: Bet on the mailman. He’s got all the keys.

FIRESTORM

FF: How did you get the Firestorm assignment?

SM: I’d written some JLA ADVENTURES stories for Steve Wacker, who fled to Marvel after almost a year editing the monstrous 52. At that time, Steve had recently inherited FIRESTORM, which was going through a gradual but full creative team changeover. Steve knew I had a background in science fiction and thought that would work for the character.

FF: You incorporated lots of Firestorm history into your run (i.e. Firehawk, Pozhar, Tokamak).Were you familiar with the character before taking the job? If so, do you have any favorite issues, storylines, or characters?

SM: I love the character…I actually got hooked in the first few issues of the very first run, when it was abruptly canceled in the middle of a storyline. It was the purest example of a Marvel-style character in the middle of the DC Universe, which was pretty cool at the time. Firestorm also had a great rogues’ gallery, and Firehawk was a volatile, exciting supporting character.

FF: What aspects of Firestorm did you enjoy writing the most? What aspects did you find the most challenging to write?

SM: I really liked Jason, the character. It was very important to me to deal with his relationship with his father and his mother, whom I introduced. The stuff with the father was tricky because the book had been written into a corner: In the very first issue, before I came onboard, we’d seen Jason’s father hitting him. To my mind, once you do that, the character either has to fight back directly or else he has to roll out a series of complex, difficult distancing techniques, which people in abusive relationships do all the time. I worked pretty hard on that aspect of the story.

The pseudo-science was fun too. And the racial undertones, which were mostly in the background but very, very important to who the character was.

The challenging part was that the editorial mandates about the character changed frequently. That’s part of working on a company-owned book, and I think we rolled with it all pretty gracefully.

FF: Were there any situations where editorial or company-wide events impacted your plans? Did the Infinite Crisis, Villains United, and OMAC Project tie-in stories come naturally or did they create challenges for you?

SM: Oh, that was part of the game from day one. FIRESTORM was a borderline-selling book when I came on; we knew we had to take every opportunity offered to keep sales up. And I liked the idea of Jason, who had just graduated from high school, being the young guy thrown into the middle of the DCU, almost like an identification character for the reader. “That’s Donna Troy! She looks like a goddess!” That sort of thing.

FF: What would you say are some elements that make a story a “Firestorm story”, rather than just any other superhero story?

SM: There have been several different takes on the character, so I don’t know if you can generalize too much. But to me, it’s the interplay between the two people making up the persona. We dealt with that in a lot of different combinations. I initially resisted bringing Professor Stein back into the book, but I will say that once it was him and Jason, the character just MOVED. It shows that Gerry Conway knew what he was doing — the young kid, all energy and impulse, combined with the older man who knew the science. They’re doing a variant on that now, with Jason as the science-savvy half.

FF: While working on Firestorm, you had the opportunity to work with Jamal Igle on interiors, and Matt Haley & Brian Stelfreeze on covers. What were some characteristics these artists brought to your stories? Did you write full-script or plot-first, and how collaborative were your relationships?

SM: Full script, as I write just about everything. Jamal was a great collaborator…he’s very underrated; he can draw anything, and when you give him a little room, there’s an amazing power to his action sequences. I had a storyline in mind that we didn’t get to, a racially sensitive story about Jason’s mother, and I probably would have asked Jamal to be a more active co-plotter on that.

As for the covers, both artists were just great. I didn’t have much direct interaction with Matt or Brian, but they did superlative work.

FF: You created some interesting supporting characters for the Firestorm title. Were there any you enjoyed writing more than others?

SM: Gehenna was a lot of fun…her directness, her lack of tact. I thought Professor Stein would be a drag, but I kind of liked him as the shell-shocked older guy among all these young people. And Lorraine, Firehawk, was great to write. I loved that she had a whole career, a calling that was important to her and that had nothing to do with being a superhero. Sometimes she seemed like the only adult in the whole book.

FF: Just to satisfy my fanboy curiosity, I always had the sense you were leading up to Jason and Doctor Otaki merging to become Firestorm. Was that ever part of your plans?

SM: No, that was never the plan. I can’t remember exactly how she fit in…I think she was just there as one of Jason’s many mentors, somebody who’d been through real bad shit on a level he’d hopefully never know.

FF: Any thoughts about what happened to Gehenna after your Firestorm run and in Blackest Night?

SM: It wasn’t what I’d have done, but that’s fine. When you create characters for company-owned books, they always live on (or die, in this case) after you’re done with them.

FF: In the climatic battle with Tokamak, he said to Jason, “I know why you’re Firestorm”. Jason never uncovered what that meant. Can you tell us anything about that cryptic message?

SM: I did have something in mind for that…after all, it was never really explained why the Firestorm energy chose Jason when Ron Raymond died, though the Earth-8 thing provides a certain justification, now. Anyway, I had an idea for an extended story involving Jason’s ancestry and the origins of life on Earth, little stuff like that. I’m sure there are notes for it around somewhere, which I’ll use for something else. But I deliberately wrote the ending so it could also be read just as Tokamak screwing with him, giving him one final jab.

FF: Why did you leave the Firestorm book?

SM: I left because it was canceled. Then they decided to extend it for three more issues, tying it heavily into some New Gods continuity, and they brought the late, much-missed Dwayne McDuffie on to do those. But the book was already dead.

AFTER YOUR FIRESTORM RUN

FF: You recently had the opportunity to write the Ronnie Raymond/Jason Rusch incarnation of Firestorm in JLA/The 99. What differences did you find writing Firestorm for that mini-series versus your previous Firestorm experience?

SM: I originally thought I’d stay away from that character, leaving those scenes to Fabian (my cowriter), precisely because it WAS so different from the character I’d written. But through circumstance, I wound up writing a lot of those scenes, and I really enjoyed it. Firestorm’s role in JLA/99 kept growing because of his powers — he’s a great team-up player because he’s very mobile, and because he can actually draw members of the other team inside himself.

FF: You’ve written more Jason Rusch stories than any other writer. Any words of advice for Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver, and Yildiray Cinar as they relaunch Firestorm?

SM: Oh god, I wouldn’t presume to give advice. Those guys know what they’re doing. The initial graphics look fantastic.

FF: What comic books are you reading nowadays?

SM: Most of my mainstream work is at Marvel these days, and I read basically everything there by Bendis, Fraction, Millar, lots of other guys I don’t want to offend by forgetting to mention. I’ll read anything by Grant Morrison, whom I’ve known forever. I’ve recently been catching up on SCALPED, THE BOYS, and SCOTT PILGRIM, all of which are absolutely amazing in completely different ways. But I read a lot more prose these days.

FF: Looking back at all the work you’ve amassed during your career, what are you most proud of? What do you consider a high point both personally and creatively?

SM: FIRESTORM is the longest run I’ve had on a company-owned book, and I’m still proud of the character work in particular on that book. My original graphic novels PARA and EARTHLIGHT are both very personal works that I like quite a bit. I also really like the Wolverine stories I’ve written, particularly WOLVERINE #41 (“The Package”), WOLVERINE NOIR, and the UNDER THE BOARDWALK special. But the answer to that question changes every day. I wrote some STARGATE ATLANTIS comics that absolutely no one read — I have scientific proof — but that came out really nicely.

FF: Are there any projects you are currently working on or have coming up?

SM: I’ve just finished up NAMOR at Marvel, which finished off pretty strong, I think. Since then I’ve written a bit of SPIDER-MAN and I’m currently adapting the upcoming JOHN CARTER film into a young adult novel for Disney. In July, I had a WOLVERINE/DEADPOOL: THE DECOY one-shot,  from Marvel, and a sort-of adaptation of the new CONAN film, THE MASK OF ACHERON, from Dark Horse. I have a few original comics projects in development, and I also run a small graphic-novel packaging partnership called Botfriend. I like to keep busy.

FF: What would your dream comic book project be?

SM: I don’t think in terms of ultimates and dreams; but a long-form, creator-owned monthly would be great. Other than that, I’m happy bouncing around.

Thanks to Stuart Moore for generously donating his time to this interview! To keep up with Stuart, check out on his blog, Pensive Mischief, and follow him on Twitter. Be sure to tell him FIRESTORM FAN sent you!  For more on Stuart’s era of Firestorm, click here for a FIRESTORM FAN interview with artist Jamal Igle!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the interview!

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From Firestorm vol 3 #1 ~ written by Dan Jolley, pencils by ChrisCross, and inks by John Dell
Notice Jason’s black eye? Guess who gave that to him…

From Firestorm vol 3 #3 ~ written by Dan Jolley, pencils by ChrisCross, and inks by Rob Stull

From Firestorm vol 3 #6 ~ written by Dan Jolley, pencils by Chris Batista,
and inks by Dan Green

To be fair, I should mention that Alvin became a better person as the series went on.  But still, he’s not winning any Father of the Year awards.

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Fellow Firestorm fan Chad Bokelman sent me the scan below by Scott Kolins of the Black Lantern Firestorm.  Kolins drew Blackest Night: Flash in which Black Lantern Firestorm made an appearance.  Chad now has this sketch framed and proudly displayed in his bedroom.  As Chad said to me, he keeps this in the bedroom because it might be a turn off for a girl to come over and see a framed zombie superhero sketch in his living room.     Some of my own personal favorite works by Scott Kolins include: Flash, Final Crisis: Rogues’ Revenge, and Omega Flight.

Below is another Firestorm sketch by Yildiray Cinar, artist on DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes.  This time out he’s tackled Jason Rusch’s first costume.  Wow!  This guy is amazing.  To see his previous Firestorm sketches, both of the Elemental version, please click here and click here.

Below you’ll find two Firestorm sketches by Ramon Villalobos;  one done in 2005, the other in 2010.  The two sketches demonstrate how Villalobos art style has changed over the past five years.  You can find Ramon Villalobos on his website and Twitter.

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Below you’ll see the solicited artwork from 2005 for those individual issues, and then the final covers.  You’ll notice the coloring on the final two covers changed dramatically between the time of solicitation and the final product.

Here is the official solicitation.  Be sure to tell your local comic book shop to order this for you, don’t assume they’ll stock it otherwise.  At $7.99 they may not order many copies for the shelf.

DC COMICS PRESENTS: BRIGHTEST DAY #2

Written by JOHN OSTRANDER and DAN JOLLEY; Art by BRYAN HITCH, PAUL NEARY, DALE EAGLESHAM, WADE VON GRAWBADGER, JAMAL IGLE, ROB STULL, LARY STUCKER, DOUG MAHNKE and PATRICK GLEASON; Cover by IVAN REIS and OCLAIR ALBERT

Spotlighting Martian Manhunter and Firestorm – two heroes who returned after BLACKEST NIGHT as the BRIGHTEST DAY dawned in the DC Universe! First, Blue Beetle and Booster Gold guest-star in a story from MARTIAN MANHUNTER #24, while three travelers seek answers on Mars in the distant future in a tale from issue #11. Then, in an epic from FIRESTORM #11-13, Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond clash for the first time as they battle some of their greatest foes.

96pg. | Color | $7.99 US | On Sale November 10, 2010

You really can’t lose with this collection – Jason Rusch meeting Ronnie Raymond for the first time! Artwork by Dale Eaglesham and Jamal Igle! John Ostrander’s writing! Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, and Martian Manhunter!  This collection is a win-win all the way around!  I can’t wait!

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*** SPOILER SPACE ***

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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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Below you can see the magazine poly-bagged with the figurine.  The white circular sticker is a warning that if you get the lead figurine anywhere near your house your entire family will die an agonizing death.  Well… something like that.  Its lead folks, don’t put it in your mouth.

Below is a close-up of the lead figurine.  Dude, this thing is a work of beauty!  He’s about 3.75 inches tall, just a bit shorter than the recent Infinite Heroes action figure.  This is probably the most faithful representation of the Ronnie Raymond/Martin Stein Firestorm costume ever produced for a figure.  The 1985 Super Powers figure and the 2004 DC Direct figure are probably the closest behind this lead figurine.  They got everything correct – chest emblem, gloves, boots, puffy sleeves, design on the briefs, even the headgear.  It looks great!  It’s just a shame it’s made from lead, rather than plastic or pewter.

The magazine itself provides a detailed history of Firestorm in all his incarnations.  Included are recaps of some classic Firestorm story lines, specifically Legends and Firestorm the Nuclear Man: Reborn (trade paperback collecting the post-One Year Later adventures). There is also a feature on the people who have united to become the Nuclear Man.  Finally, installment #37 of the DC Timeline covering 99 BC to 1 BC (not specific to Firestorm, but obviously a feature every issue of the magazine).

The magazine does a wonderful job breaking up the text with gorgeous images from Firestorm’s history.  I’ve provided a few snapshots below to give you a flavor of how the magazine looks.  Stephen Wiacek, writer of the articles, clearly knows his Firestorm history.  The only thing I found unusual was the disproportionate amount of time spent on the “Blank Slate” incarnation of Firestorm.  While I like the “Blank Slate” version, it was odd to see more space dedicated to him as compared to the Elemental version or Jason Rusch.

Overall this was a great purchase!  The figurine is fantastic and the magazine is an enjoyable read for Firestorm novices and experts.  If your local comic shop doesn’t have it in stock, ask if they can order it.  It’s worth your time and money.

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In the meantime, it’s time for more original Firestorm pages from our friend Jon at the Fizzit Firestorm-themed blog.  He happens to own several of the original Firestorm pages and has been kind enough to allow me to publish scans of them here. I’ve been horribly negligent in publishing his more recent acquisitions, so I’m playing catch up today.  Jon’s been a great contributor to FIRESTORM FAN and my thanks go out to him. You may view scans of his entire art collection online by clicking here.

Below is an amazing shot from the series 52.  This is page three from issue #24 featuring Firestorm’s attempt to create a new Justice League.  It was drawn by Phil Jimenez with inks by Andy Lanning.  Such a wonderful shot of a truly quirky team.  I love every character in this group!

Below are two preliminary sketches by Matt Haley as he tried to figure out the design for the cover to Firestorm vol III #11.

Below are two pages from Firestorm vol II #19.  These were drawn by the legendary Gene Colan. The second page was even signed by the artist!

The following page is a nice piece from Firestorm vol II issue #30 by penciller Rafael Kayanan and inker Romeo Tanghal.

These next two pages come from Firestorm vol III issue #5 and were penciled by ChrisCross and inked by Keith Champagne.  In these pages, Firestorm meets Superman and the Flash for the first time.

This next one is from Firestorm vol III issue 11 and features a great shot of Killer Frost.  This was drawn by penciller Dale Eaglesham and inker Wade von Grawbadger.

The next page is from Firestorm vol III issue 12 and features the return of the Ronnie Raymond Firestorm!  In this shot he’s chasing down his long-time foe Multiplex.  This nuclearrific page was penciled by Jamal Igle and inked by Rob Stull.

The page below is from Firestorm vol III issue 22 and features the fusing of Jason Rusch and Professor Martin Stein.  This page was penciled by Eddy Barrows and inked by Rob Stull.

Finally a nice quiet diner scene from Firestorm vol III issue 32.  This one was penciled by Jamal Igle and inked by Keith Champagne.  Be sure to watch for the characters in the background!

My thanks again to Jon at the Fizzit Firestorm-themed blog for providing me with theses scans to publish!

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Jamal was kind enough to spend some time discussing his run on Firestorm with FIRESTORM FAN.

Firestorm Fan: How did you get the Firestorm assignment and were you familiar with the character before taking the job?

Jamal Igle: Well, I was actually approached on two different occasions, once by Dan Jolley and later by Peter Tomasi, who was the editor at the time. I turned Dan down initially because although I did want to do it I was otherwise committed. The second time I was still working on one project full time and doing a fill in on Marvel Age Spider-Man when Pete asked me if i was available to do a fill in on the series and I turned him down again. I thought that would be the end of it, but Pete called the next day and offered me the series.

I said no again, hung up the phone and walked about 3 feet before screaming out loud “WHAT ARE YOU DOING???”. So I called Pete back and took the job.

I was of course very familiar with Ronnie Raymond, having grown up reading the Fury of Firestorm and watching him on the Superfriends. At one point Jay Faeber and I had pitched a Ronnie-centric Firestorm series to DC that went pretty far before ultimately being killed.

FF: You worked with both Dan Jolley and Stuart Moore on Firestorm. What were some of the differences in their writing styles? Were they full-script or plot-first? How collaborative were your relationships with them?

JI: They were both full script writers and that made it very easy for me. Style wise they were very similar but tonally very different. Dan, by the time I came on the book, was trying to right the sinking ship I guess. DC had asked him to make the series very Vertigoesque in tone but there was a bit of a backlash, not just from the book but the revelation of Ronnie’s death in Identity Crisis. So, he and the editors decided to bring in more aspects from the original series and give Ronnie a proper heroic send off. Stuart was much more about incorporating as much real science into the stories but making them more fun.

FF: Do you have any favorite issues or storylines from your time on Firestorm? Or from any other era of Firestorm?

JI: Wow, well issue 17 is one of my favorites,which had Jason taking on the Secret society. issues 24 and 25 were fun because it was the first time that I got to draw both Mr. Freeze and Batman.

FF: You designed a fantastic new costume for Jason Rusch. How did you go about creating the redesign? Were you provided any input, or was it solely your design?

JI: It was my design. We were given the go ahead to design a new suit actually around issue #14 , where we have what I like to call the proto-costume. We wanted the change in costume to coincide with Martin Stein’s return but One Year Later was put in place when we make the jump in issue #23 you see Jason’s current costume.

FF: Your new costume for Jason has appeared on two action figures (with a third coming out this year), numerous comics, and is set to appear in the Batman: Brave and the Bold cartoon. What is it like seeing something you designed grow beyond your original involvement?

JI: It’s pretty cool actually, you don’t really get used to it. I’ve designed a few other characters like the new Vigilante and Dreadbolt from Terror Titans.  I have to admit I get a little upset when I see other artists drawing the costume wrong, LOL.

FF: You had the opportunity to redesign several classic characters (Firehawk, Pozhar, Multiplex) as well as design some new ones yourself (Pupil, The Pionic Man, DOLLIES). Were there any you enjoyed more than the others?

JI: There were designs that never saw print that I loved but were cut for space and time issues. The Pupil is one of my favorites , I modeled him after a caricature of Peter Lorre from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon. He was just so creepy.

FF: You took over the Firestorm book with issue #8. This issue started the return of Ronnie Raymond storyline. Were you aware of some fans concerns surrounding Jason replacing Ronnie? If so, did this affect the way you approached the storytelling?

JI: I did, but I try not to think about those things. The truth is, if I let people getting upset about creative decisions bother, I wouldn’t get anything done. I don’t draw to please fans necessarily. Everyone has an opinion about what you should and shouldn’t do. I have to please myself as an artist, and be satisfied with the work first before anyone else sees it. I don’t want to sound like a tool or conceited but you can’t serve so many masters. I’m just happy that other people seem to like my work.

FF: You are truly an amazing storyteller, from action sequences to subtle facial expressions. You can do it all. Once you get the script/plot from the writer, how do you tackle it?

JI: Usually I read a script two or three times to get comfortable with the story and then I thumbnail the entire story over the course of a day, working out the major beats and getting the general layout down. I really prefer working from a full script because the dialog allows me to think about the acting each character does and staging. Depending on the script and what’s required it’s the hunt for reference. After that I take the first day of the week and layout that weeks pages. So I layout 5- 6 pages in one day and then I spend the rest of the week penciling.

FF: You’ve worked with a few different inkers, each bringing their own distinctive feel to the art. What are some characteristics that different inkers bring out in your pencils?

JI: Well, let’s concentrate with the three guys I had the longest collaborations. Rob Stull has a very graphic drawing style. Sharp angles and a very slick stylization. Keith Champagne’s work was equally as fluid but Keith in many ways was far more faithful to my line. I always liked Keith’s work because he was a brush inker like myself and inked me in a similar way that I inked my own work. Jon Sibal is phenomenal as well. His style actually brings a rougher quality than I normally have but for some reason it works so well.

FF: I understand you’ve lectured for the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art and the Art Students League of New York. Would you tell us a little more about your involvement?

JI: Well I was involved with MOCCA very early on but it wasn’t in an artistic manner. In a former life I worked in public relations so I was assisting them with their PR and marketing. I lectured a few times afterward. the League was my first actual teaching experience. I taught there for two semesters, starting their comics program.

FF:  Looking back at all the work you’ve amassed, what are you most proud of? What do you consider a high point both personally and creatively?

JI: I don’t know. I haven’t done it yet. I’m a work in progress, I feel like my work is getting better with each issue so the next project is the one I’ll be proudest of.

FF: Your work on Supergirl is awesome and has been very well-received. Are there any other projects you are currently working on or have coming up?

JI: I’ll be penciling World’s Finest #3 but it’ll be Supergirl for the next year.

FF: What would your dream comic book project be?

JI: I still haven’t done my Superman run.

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Thanks again to Jamal Igle for generously donating his time to this interview.  Be sure to visit Jamal Igle’s blog by clicking here. Jamal’s blog features amazing artwork, updates on current projects, and his convention schedule.  Be sure to stop by and tell him FIRESTORM FAN sent you!

Also, be sure to support Jamal’s current work on Supergirl.  Supergirl #45 is on stands now – check it out!

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