In this article, Jenette reveals quite a bit about the soon-to-appear Firestorm, as well as his alter-egos Ronnie Raymond and Professor Charles (?!?!) Stein.  She then goes on to explain the creative process in developing new characters.  It’s a very interesting piece and was probably very enlightening for the fans at the time.  Click the image below to enlarge the article to readable size.

Thanks to my FIRE AND WATER PODCAST co-host Rob Kelly for sending me this scan!  I’d never even heard of this editorial prior to Rob sending it my way.  Thanks, Rob!

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In Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol. III #27 (Sept. 2006) by Stuart Moore and Jamal Igle, Mikhail Arkadin returned to comics after a more than fifteen year absence.  Some time prior to his reappearance, Mikhail was exposed to plutonium from a dirty bomb while inspecting a former Soviet power plant in Lithuania.  This resulted in Mikhail gaining his new powers.  He adopted a new costume and began calling himself Firestorm.  Since then he’d been operating in Eastern Europe trying to prevent nuclear disasters.  Once Firehawk informed Mikhail of Jason’s role as Firestorm, he re-adopted to his Pozhar codename.  Sadly, we also discovered that his wife Nina had left him some time ago.  When Jason first met Mikhail in issue #28, a battle nearly erupted between the two of them (in classic superhero team-up fashion).

Next, our heroes were ambushed by some atomically-powered Dolly cyborgs. In his Pozhar identity, Mikhail helped Firestorm and Firehawk defeat the man-machines.

Y’know, I really dig Pozhar’s symbol on this costume.  It’s like a zoomed-in version of the classic Firestorm symbol.  If you look, you can clearly make out the edge of the sun symbol, along with the three electron paths.  Nice attention to detail, Mr. Igle!

Then, in an effort to trace the origins of the Dolly attackers, our favorite Nuclear heroes freed the Pionic Man (a former Firestorm foe) from his containment at S.T.A.R. Labs.  This lead to Hewitt Enterprises, the place where Lorraine first became Firehawk against her will (in Fury of Firestorm #17, way back in Oct. 1983).  Mikhail joined Lorraine and Professor Stein in their investigation at Hewitt Enterprises.  There they met Victor Hewitt, CEO of the company and son of Henry Hewitt.

Later, Jason discovered that Victor Hewitt was actually Henry Hewitt (a.k.a. former Firestorm villain Tokomak).  After being defeated by Firestorm way back in Fury of Firestorm Annual #1 (1983), Henry merged with a clone of himself taking on the role of his own son, Victor Hewitt.  Victor had been manipulating events in Firestorm’s life for quite some time, including directing the actions of: the Pupil, the Pionic Man, the Dollies, and even Jason’s girlfriend Gehenna (who turned out to be another altered clone of Henry Hewitt – awkward!).  Victor explained his imminent plan for causing numerous nuclear disasters around the world, while at the same time making himself invincible. Jason, Professor Stein, Firehawk, the Pionic Man, and Pozhar put a stop to Tokomak before he could realize his mad scheme.  During the final battle, Jason unintentionally caused Tokomak’s death.

With the world saved, our heroes took some time to catch their breath.  When we last saw Mikhail, he and Lorraine were ringing in 2007 with a New Year’s Eve kiss.

This was Mikhail’s last appearance before the New 52.  I gotta say, there are certainly worse ways to go out.  Way to go, Mikhail!

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

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Gail Simone on Newsarama

Fury of Firestorm co-plotter and scripter Gail Simone recently spoke with Newsarama about the new series. Below are a few of her responses during the interview.

• I’ve gone back and read some of the original Firestorm stories, and they are quite remarkable, they are full of fun ideas, and some genuine optimism, and some really likeable characters. They were also created by some of my favorite writers, guys like Gerry Conway and John Ostrander.  I think the problem we had was that the world’s view of nuclear energy got some serious rethinking recently, with events in Japan and elsewhere. Whether that’s fair or not, it’s something that is very powerful. To me, Fury represents terror, the kind of panic that started with the cold war, that we are dealing with forces just barely under control, and when they are set loose, the results are devastating.
• Our heroes are basically good guys, they’re decent young men. Fury isn’t decent, and he’s someone even the Justice League have to keep a close eye on. He adds that measure of unpredictability that both Ethan and I cherish.
• Our lives are connected to strings pulled by people we didn’t vote for, and don’t even know exist. People who control technology control seismic shifts in the way we live, they control whether or not we have a career. Zither is that face behind the curtain, for good or ill.
• I love that guy [Yildiray Cinar] — he’s perfect for this, his dynamism, his monsters, I just love his storytelling and designs. And he loves drawing Firestorm. Also, he’s an idea man. He adds tremendously to the stories.

Ethan Van Sciver on the DC Comics Message Boards

As reported previously, Fury of Firestorm co-plotter and cover artist Ethan Van Sciver has been spending some time lately over on the DC Comics Message Board in the Firestorm forum. He created a thread allowing fans to directly ask him questions about the new Firestorm series. The thread is entitled, “FIRESTORM QUESTIONS FOR ETHAN VAN SCIVER! Ask here!”  You should really visit the message board and check out this thread.  Lots of great discussion on Firestorm, Ethan’s art, and much more.  Here are a few of Ethan’s responses relating to the current Firestorm series:

• Martin Stein did much, much more than develop a Nuclear Power Plant in our post-Flashpoint DCU FIRESTORM book. A Nobel Prize wouldn’t cover it. But wait and see. He’s a complicated man.
• I never meant to imply that kids wouldn’t want to read about Martin Stein. In fact, he’s the entire crux of this series. You’re going to be reading a lot about him. He’s a much bigger force, and a much more mysterious fellow in our series than he ever was before, and you’re going to be hearing some very strange things about him soon.
• As co-plotter, I worked with Gail to establish what the FIRESTORM PROTOCOL is, what our boys can do, what the overall conspiracy is, and where we should be headed. Issue to issue, I turn in a rough outline of key bullet points, and Gail does all the rest. I plotted issue #4 by myself, however, just for fun.
• I want to use ALL classic Firestorm friends and villains in fresh new ways.
• Yildiray and I designed the FIRESTORM suits together with input from Gail and editorial, and I created and designed FURY. Yildiray really is a fantastic designer, and we’re letting him do all of the design work now, which is fairly extensive. I like his ideas.
• Yildiray is awesome, but yeah, I’d like to take a crack at interiors as soon as possible. Just for fun, like a fill in. We’ll let you know when. I haven’t done interiors in ages, and kinda feel like it’s time to get back into it again.
• Ronnie and Jason’s parents are vital to the series, and play a big role in their lives and the decisions they make. You’ll see what I mean very soon!
• Ronnie and Jason are both just shy of their 18th birthdays, and are juniors in high school. They live in Walton Mills, which is a nice suburb of Pittsburgh.
• Firestorm will interact with the Justice League soon.
• As for FURY, yes, he’s a big fiery Hulk. But he’s something much, much more important than that. Nothing is what it seems on the surface right now.
• Ronnie and Jason are still young and inexperienced. They have no idea how powerful they are, nor do they have a clue of the power they are capable of wielding. Right now, if Ronnie or Jadon went toe to toe with Superman, I think they’d have problems. As Fury, they are a match for Superman. Or they will be once they figure out how to control the Fury entity. If Ronnie and Jason fully understood the vast power available to them, they could take down the Green Lantern Corps.
• Fury, He’s a vessel that exists because of the conflict between Ronnie and Jason. But obviously, there’s much, much more to it that can’t be discussed until more stuff is revealed. His “tough talk” is something Gail contrived. I thought Fury would be silent and uncontrollable, and cause mass destruction. He’s ghostly, representing nuclear annihilation. A grim reaper. But that’s only what’s on the outside. Ronnie and Jason see through his eyes. They ought to turn around.

Rachel Gluckstern on Comic Book Resources

Fury of Firestorm editor Rachel Gluckstern sat down with Comic Book Resources recently to talk about the series.  My thanks to match-head Keith G. Baker for the heads-up about this interview.  Below are a few of her responses during the interview.

• …we don’t want people to physically look for Professor Stein in these pages, but rather, pay attention to what Jason is experiencing as he interacts with the Firestorm Protocols and what happens when Jason and Ronnie are combined into Fury. That’s really where I want to guide readers attention.
• Pohzar is going to be a very interesting addition to the book, particularly his connection to Professor Stein. We’re not going to physically see Professor Stein in the present day, at least not anytime soon that I’m aware of, but his presence kind of overshadows things, particularly with the revelation we will have in issue three. Going forward from there, Pohzar is going to shed a whole new light on him, too. It’s going to be pretty intense!
• I want people to really pay attention to Fury as well, when Ronnie and Jason combine into Fury, to see if there is any sort of hints there that they might find interesting regarding Professor Stein and the boys in general.
• I think my job is to make sure they can tell the best story possible through their talents. I kind of just hope that I can help them focus on what they need to tell and let them tell it. Now, there’s no end of big ideas coming from them, and we have these weekly meetings and we’re always in contact — it’s a very thorough collaboration going on at every moment. My role is to stay informed and to make sure everybody’s not contradicting each other and that’s about it! [Laughs] But it’s really great, and Ethan, particularly, just loves to bring in everybody at any given moment. He wants Yildiray [Cinar] on these calls, which is a little difficult because Yildiray lives in Turkey, and he’s always throwing off these big ideas and Gail really comes through with the voice. It’s a fascinating collaboration. I’m really glad to be a part of it. They’re really doing the hard work! And Ethan has to do the covers, too, and Gail does the scripts. It’s very equal and solid collaboration, it’s very exciting.

Maybe it’s just me, but Gluckstern’s comments lead me to wonder if the Fury entity is secretly being controlled by Professor Martin Stein.  Fury doesn’t display the Professor’s typical behavior, but perhaps it’s his subconscious (like it was during the “Blank Slate” era).  Just some speculation on my part.

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You can find the eighth 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 (39 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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If you’ve never read Firestorm The Nuclear Man #1 (Mar. 1978) written by Gerry Conway and drawn by Al Milgrom, then you probably don’t know who I’m talking about.  Eddie Earhart was a 1970s hipster who sported gold chains, a receding hairline with a Mike Brady-like perm, and thick mutton chops with connecting ‘stache.  I’m sure you can tell by the description he was a real class act.  Eddie was the leader of an environmentalist group known as the Coalition to Resist Atomic Power (yes, the acronym is C.R.A.P. – well played, Mr. Conway).  The Coalition held protest rallies at power plants in the attempt to slow the spread of nuclear power. After watching Clark Kent interview Eddie Earhart on television, Ronnie Raymond decided to join the Coalition in the hope of impressing Doreen Day.  Ronnie did a lot of dumb things in his teenage years and I’d say joining a nuclear protest group to win a girl’s heart is pretty high on that list.

Ronnie joined the Coalition and soon discovered that Eddie and his group had a darker agenda.  That evening several members of the Coalition broke into the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant with the intention of blowing it up.  Eddie had the idea to bring Ronnie along to take the blame from the authorities for their terrorist actions.  Eddie knocked Ronnie unconscious when the teenager attempted to stop the Coalition.  Meanwhile, Professor Martin Stein (sporting a friggin’ cool pipe!) was in the process of bringing the power plant online.  Stein discovered Eddie and his gang, which resulted in being knocked out himself.  I tell ya, Eddie should’ve been a boxer the way he knocked people out with one punch.  Next, Eddie set the explosives by the atomic pile and the unconscious forms of Ronnie and the Professor.

The resulting explosion transformed Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein into Firestorm the Nuclear Man (but you probably already knew that part).  After briefly testing his new powers, Firestorm tracked Eddie and the Coalition to another nuclear power plant in Jersey.  Firestorm made quick work of the Coalition members and managed to punch Eddie Earhart twice — once for the Professor and once for Ronnie I suppose.

There you have it, Eddie Earhart is the man who single-handedly created Firestorm.  Eddie conned Ronnie into joining the Coalition on their bombing attack of the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant, he punched out both Ronnie and the Professor, and he set the explosives himself that blew up the nuclear reactor.  If it weren’t for Eddie, Firestorm may never have been created!  Thanks Eddie… I guess.  Kinda weird thanking such a rotten dude.

Surprisingly, Eddie Earhart never appeared in comics again.  Sure you’d see him in flashbacks of Firestorm’s creation, but he never returned to plague the Nuclear Man.  Considering how often other Firestorm villains reappeared, I’m shocked we never saw Eddie again.  If we’re lucky, perhaps Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone will figure a way to incorporate this dastardly dude into the new Firestorm continuity.

For the full story of Firestorm’s creation, pick up the Firestorm the Nuclear Man trade paperback by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom!

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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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Firestorm’s mouth and the Professor’s head is what melts my heart with this drawing!  So cute!  Maybe it’s just the crayon, but this picture makes me think of Tiny Titans.  Adorable!

Wayne posted this drawing back in April 2010 on Lousy Sketch (a hilarious name for a blog!).  I meant to post it here at the time, but somehow lost track of it.  My thanks to fellow Firestorm fan Patrick Wait for sending me a link recently to this drawing.   Thanks Patrick!

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It’s worth noting there were a few minor differences between “our” Firestorm and the Super Friends Firestorm.  Here is the Super Friends Firestorm origin explained on the SuperFriends Wiki:

High-School student Ronald Raymond, met Professor Martin Stein on the campus of Fairmont University. He would help Professor Stein on many occasions. One night, during an accidental explosion (from a molecular-fusion experiment), Ronald and Professor Stein fuse into one being; Firestorm, the nuclear man! Ronald Raymond had control of Firestorm’s body, while Martin was just a voice in Firestorm’s head.

A fairly close origin, but slightly different.  “Fairmont University”?  Ronnie helped the Professor prior to their becoming Firestorm?  Minor differences, but interesting.

Okay, so the real reason for today’s post is to show off the cool fusion of Professor Stein and Ronnie Raymond into Firestorm!

Check out the 10 minute 45 second mark of the video below to see more!

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Brightest Day #24 shipped yesterday and I was expecting some sort of announcement regarding spin-offs titles.  That’s been DC’s standard operating procedure for years now.  They produce a massive crossover, then use the buzz generated to launch a bunch of new titles.  Not so this time around.  In fact, they didn’t even promote the already-solicited Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for the Swamp Thing.  Kinda weird.

Personally I was hoping for an announcement regarding a brand-new Firestorm ongoing series.  No such luck.  However, we did get the following curiosity-piquing page.

While we didn’t get an announcement of where to find Firestorm after Brightest Day, DC clearly has ideas to continue his adventures.  Such a great cliffhanger!  And that photo of Ronnie and the Professor just makes you want to cry, doesn’t it.  Great page by Scott Clark and Dave Beaty!

I couldn’t help but wonder about the significance of 89 1/2 days from now.  Was there a hidden meaning?  Does the combination of the numbers 89:14:32:59 mean anything?  Nothing I can think of.  Could it be a reference to a particular date?  Would Firestorm’s next adventure be published in 89 1/2 days?  Time to do some math!  If you start from yesterday at lunchtime (when new comics typically go on sale) and move the calendar forward 89 1/2 days, you land on July 26, 2011.   Near as I can tell, that day doesn’t have any significance for Firestorm.  I don’t see any new comics solicited that week that might tie into the Nuclear Man either.   Then I remembered that Brightest Day #24 was originally supposed to ship the week before.  The final issue was delayed by one week.  So let’s do that math again, but start from lunchtime on April 20.  Leaping forward 89 1/2 days lands us on July 19, 2011.  While it’s one day off, it’s worth noting that the Firestorm The Nuclear Man trade paperback ships on July 20, 2011.  So could the countdown clock be a subtle nod to the release of the trade paperback collecting Firestorm’s earliest adventures?  I doubt it, but it’s fun to speculate these conspiracy-like theories.  Also worth noting, 89 1/2 days in “comic book time” might last two years in the real-world.  For example, in “comic book time” Clark Kent has been Superman for only 10 years.  That’s 70+ years worth of real-world adventures packed into just 10 “comic book time” years.  

Whether there is hidden meaning in the countdown clock or not, this epilogue page provided a great cliffhanger that I can’t wait to see resolved!  Now that Brightest Day is over, what did you all think of the Firestorm segments?

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BACKGROUND

To better understand Firestorm’s role in Blackest Night and Brightest Day, you have to look back a bit further. In Identity Crisis #5 (December 2004), Ronnie Raymond was killed by the Shadow Thief.  It wasn’t a glorious death, it was a simple on-the-job accident.   In Firestorm vol 3 #1 (July 2004), the Firestorm matrix crashed down on Jason Rusch transforming him into the new Firestorm.   While Ronnie’s death and Jason becoming Firestorm happened out of order from the reader’s perspective, it was straightened out within the pages of the comics after a few months.

Jason had a rotating cast of partners join him within the Firestorm matrix; most notably: his best friend Mick Wong, Professor Martin Stein, Firehawk, and his girlfriend Gehenna.  Jason Rusch’s monthly Firestorm series was canceled with issue #35 (June 2007). Jason and Gehenna continued together as Firestorm and eventually joined the JLA in Justice League of America vol 4 #15 (January 2008).  They operated with the team through Justice League of America vol 4 #37 (released September 2009).

SPOILER WARNING – This post contains SPOILERS for Blackest Night #1-8 and Brightest Day #1-23.  You’ve been warned!

BLACKEST NIGHT #0 (released May 2009) through #8 (released April 2010)

Blackest Night was written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis.  Firestorm’s involvement with Blackest Night pre-dated the series itself by months.  In September 2008, Geoff Johns publicly announced that Ronnie Raymond would be a Black Lantern in Blackest Night.  This got the Firestorm fan community buzzing!  It was a long wait for us match-heads until Blackest Night finally hit the stands.

At the beginning of the Blackest Night storyline, Jason and Gehenna visited the grave of Ronnie Raymond with Professor Martin Stein.

Next up we saw Jason and Gehenna struggle as they discussed their relationship.  Gehenna wanted to get married one day and start a family with Jason.  Jason wanted that as well, but at the time he was more concerned with finishing college. It didn’t make it any easier that Gehenna could read his mind when they were merged as Firestorm.  She could sense what Jason was really feeling, regardless of what he said or didn’t say out loud.

While at the Hall of Justice, Firestorm (Jason and Gehenna) and other heroes were ambushed by a collection of Black Lanterns.

One particular Black Lantern was a representation of Ronnie Raymond as Firestorm.  This Black Lantern Firestorm managed to forcibly remove Gehenna from the Firestorm matrix. The Black Lantern then forced Jason to bond with him and watch in horror as he transformed Gen into table salt.

This was an incredibly gruesome scene that resonated with most readers, whether they were a fan of Firestorm or not.   Jason remained trapped in the Black Lantern Firestorm matrix, struggling to free himself.  At the end of Blackest Night, Nekron is destroyed and the White Lantern resurrected twelve deceased heroes and villains.  Ronnie Raymond was among those resurrected.  Apparently with resurrection also come new costumes.  Who knew!?!?

Ronnie didn’t seem to have any memories of events that took place after his death in Identity Crisis, this included his post-death appearances in Firestorm vol 3 and the Black Lantern’s actions in Blackest Night.  Meanwhile, Jason blamed Ronnie for Gehenna’s death.

BRIGHTEST DAY #0 (released April 2010) through #23 (released April 2011)

Brightest Day was written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi.  The Firestorm related sections were penciled by Scott Clark and inked by Dave Beaty.  For the resurrected characters, Blackest Night led directly into Brightest Day.  Brightest Day began for Firestorm fans at Gehenna’s funeral.  Jason still blamed Ronnie for the death of Gehenna, while Ronnie was acting like an apathetic frat boy.

Jason and Ronnie found themselves stuck together as Firestorm.  Ronnie controlled the body, while Jason served as the telepathic adviser.  Neither Ronnie nor Jason was happy with this situation.  Jason was used to being in control of Firestorm and Ronnie just wanted his life back to normal.  Professor Martin Stein and Ray Palmer, the Atom, stepped forward to help our young heroes.

Ronnie and Jason eventually separated back into their own bodies.  Jason threw himself into his studies, while Ronnie drowned his sorrows in alcohol.  Their grief and frustration were understandable.  The love of Jason’s life had been murdered and he was forced to play a role in the act.  Additionally, Jason felt his control over Firestorm had been ripped away from him.  Meanwhile, Ronnie was coping with the fact that he’d died and someone replaced him as Firestorm.  Additionally, Ronnie remembered the actions of the Black Lantern Firestorm, making Ronnie question whether he truly was responsible for killing Gehenna.

In an effort to save a life, Jason and Ronnie reformed Firestorm.  Needless to say they didn’t work very well together.  Around this time they became aware of a third malignant presence within the Firestorm matrix.  Ronnie and Jason began to understand they were in this dangerous situation together and began to cooperate.

Unexpectedly, the White Lantern assigned Firestorm a mission.  This resulted in Ronnie and Jason switching control positions within the Firestorm body – Jason now controlled the body while Ronnie was the telepathic adviser.  The White Lantern wanted Ronnie and Jason to learn from each other so they’d be prepared to save the White Lantern from the Black Lantern Firestorm.

Soon after the Professor dropped some real bombshells on Jason and Ronnie.  You can read all about it by clicking here, but I’ll do my best to quickly sum it up.   The Professor explained the Firestorm Matrix is the spark that preceded The Big Bang. Yes, THE spark that triggered The Big Bang, the creation of the universe.  Also, the combination of Ronnie and Jason together as Firestorm is highly unstable. Whenever they argue and get agitated, they risk accidentally triggering a new Big Bang.  If they argue, they could destroy the universe.  That’s quite an incentive to play nice.

Immediately following these revelations, the third malignant presence within the Firestorm matrix decided to make an appearance.   The Black Lantern Firestorm emerged from the matrix, literally ripping Firestorm apart.  This separated Ronnie and Jason and knocked them both unconscious.  This was a shocker as all the Black Lanterns were thought destroyed in the conclusion of Blackest Night.  The Black Lantern Firestorm rechristened himself, Deathstorm.  Deathstorm then forced Professor Stein to bond with him.

According to Brightest Day writers Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi, Deathstorm represents the dark and hardcore comic book characters from the 1990s.  That explains his attitude, dialogue, and some of his appearance.

While the appearance of Deathstorm and the subsequent kidnapping of Professor Stein were horrific, it did help clear the air between Jason and Ronnie.  Here was concrete evidence that Deathstorm was responsible for Gehenna’s death and not Ronnie.  With that, the biggest emotional barrier between Jason and Ronnie was lifted.  Ronnie and Jason quickly reformed Firestorm to combat Deathstorm, once again with Ronnie in the driver’s seat and Jason as his co-pilot.

Deathstorm transported Alvin Rusch, Jason’s dad, to the Professors laboratory and forcibly bond with him too.  His goal was to emotionally torture Ronnie and Jason which would hopefully result in a new Big Bang thus destroying the universe.  The doppelganger then retrieved the mysterious White Lantern.  Deathstorm next demonstrated that his transmutation powers were superior to Firestorm’s by transforming organic matter.  Deathstorm created a new squad of Black Lanterns based upon the recently-resurrected twelve heroes and villains.  Click the image below to enlarge.  You’ll notice the image below is an homage to the resurrection scene in Blackest Night #8.

Deathstorm was to deliver the White Lantern to the Anti-Monitor in the Anti-Matter Universe.  Before making the delivery, Deathstorm decided to have some fun and emotionally torture Professor Stein and Alvin Rusch for a while.  What a sick freak!

After a power-surge which they thought would trigger a new Big Bang, Firestorm was transported to the Anti-Matter Universe.  There they found the Anti-Matter trying to unlock the secrets of the White Lantern, along with Deathstorm and his Black Lanterns lackeys.  Firestorm attacked the villains hoping to free Professor Stein and Jason’s dad, and retrieve the White Lantern.   Ronnie and Jason were finally in sync as Firestorm and truly operated as a team.

During the battle, the Anti-Monitor blasted Firestorm forcing Ronnie and Jason to split apart.  Looking to feed off strong emotions, Deathstorm intended to kill Jason the same way he killed Gehenna by turning him into salt.  Ronnie leapt in front of Jason to save him, planning to take the blast himself.  Well apparently being heroic was in the air that day because Professor Stein leapt in front of Ronnie, taking the blast himself.  The Professor was rapidly transmuted into salt, but not before sharing a few heartfelt things with Ronnie.

At this point the White Lantern decided that Firestorm had completed his mission and Ronnie Raymond was declared, “Life Returned.”  Was his life just on loan up until this point?  Does the White Lantern represent some sort of cosmic pawn shop?!?!?  The White Lantern then destroyed the Black Lanterns, returned Firestorm to Earth with the lantern itself, and returned Jason’s dad to Detroit.

Shortly after returning to Earth, the White Lantern explained how it arranged for Ronnie and Jason to witness Professor Stein’s death to help them embrace being Firestorm.  Needless to say this didn’t sit well with Firestorm.  Apparently the White Lantern had been manipulating all the resurrected characters, ultimately leading to this moment.  With little warning, Firestorm was suddenly transformed into a Fire Elemental, along with Aquaman (water), Martian Manhunter (earth), and Hawkman & Hawkgirl (wind).  The elemental’s purpose is to defend the Earth from the Dark Avatar (Black Lantern Swamp Thing).  This was the White Lantern’s plan all along.

And that takes us to the end of Brightest Day #23.  The final issue ships tomorrow to comic book stores, ending this year-long storyline. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that Blackest Night and Brightest Day have been very good for Firestorm’s popularity.  Sure ole match-head has endured serious tragedies such as the death of Gehenna and Professor Stein, but if you look from a real-world perspective Firestorm is more popular than he’s been in decades.  That’s gotta count for something and should translate into more regular adventures for our favorite Nuclear Man.

ELEMENTAL WILD SPECULATION

So Firestorm’s an elemental … again.  Considering he previously spent several years as an elemental, this should feel like old home week for him.  It’s a safe assumption that by the end of Brightest Day (or at the very least the end of Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing), these heroes will be returned to their human form.  However, since Swamp Thing looks to become a major player in the DC Universe again, wouldn’t it be interesting if some remnant of the elemental plot carried on?  What if DC decided to continue the elemental concept after Brightest Day, but instead of these mainstream heroes being the elementals, perhaps someone from their back story that has died recently could become new elementals.  For example, what if Professor Martin Stein once again becomes a fire elemental; Tempest becomes a water elemental; D’kay or Dr Erdel’s daughter becomes the earth elemental; and finally Hath-Set or Shiera’s mother becomes the air elemental.  I’m specifying recently deceased characters because that often ties into elemental creation in DC.  I know it’s a crazy idea, but I’m grasping at straws for Professor Stein to stay around. Additionally, Professor Stein reminded the readers in Brightest Day that he was once a fire elemental. Perhaps that was foreshadowing for what comes later.  Again, I know I’m really reaching but a little harmless speculation never hurt anyone.

TODAY’S CROSSOVER

To help get everyone psyched for Brightest Day #24 and to recognize each of the elementals, we’re running a blog crossover today!  First up, enjoy these Silver Age-style fun facts about the elements courtesy of Rob from THE AQUAMAN SHRINE.

Too funny!  I love those!  Thanks, Rob!

Next, be sure to visit our blogging partners and fellow elementals today for their recaps of Brightest Day.

• The Aquaman Shrine
• The Idol-Head of Diabolu, A Martian Manhunter Blog
• Being Carter Hall

My thanks to my blogging buddies for participating in today’s crossover!  While I was already excited for the conclusion of Brightest Day, it’s more fun to celebrate with friends.

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!