In an interview Conway discussed his reasoning and influences while creating the character "I always loved the idea of the hair on fire, I think it goes back to Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, an entire flaming character, of course." Conway further elaborated, "I'd been playing around with the idea of a teenage superhero for DC, who could sort of fill the hole that had been left in my heart by leaving Spider-Man behind. I'd been thinking about the tropes — one of which was the meek, mild alter ego, the brainy kid who, in wish fulfillment, gets superpowers, is extremely powerful… able to do things that he hadn't been able to do before. That was, I think, the major motivating force—I wanted to play on that trope. To do that, I wanted to flip it around: create a guy who wasn't the brightest guy in the room, the not-terribly-smart guy who became a superpowered character. The way I'd make that work: I'd bring him into contact with the smarter person, who would also share the powers. This led to… the multiple-people-in-one, Professor Stein/ Ronnie Raymond dynamic."[6]
Jack Kirby's design for Lightray's costume influenced the look of artist Al Milgrom's creation of Firestorm. In an interview from 2019, Milgrom admitted: "The facemask on Firestorm, the way it comes around the chin, was probably inspired by Lightray more than anything... I liked the [Lightray] head-covering thing; I said, "I'm stealin' it!".[7]
Publication history
The first Firestorm series was short-lived, canceled after issue 5, a victim of the company-wide "DC Implosion".[8] The sixth issue was included in Cancelled Comic Cavalcade.
Writer Gerry Conway added Firestorm to the roster of Justice League of America.[9] This led to a series of eight-page stories in the back of The Flash (issues 289–304; with art by George Pérez, Jim Starlin and others), and a revival of a monthly Firestorm comic in 1982. The Fury of Firestorm (later called Firestorm the Nuclear Man) lasted from 1982 until 1990.
Firestorm (vol. 3) ran from 2004 to 2007, and introduced the second Firestorm, Jason Rusch, following Ronnie Raymond's death in Identity Crisis.
The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men, a series starring Raymond and Rusch, ran from 2012 to 2013 as part of The New 52 continuity reboot. It was initially written by Gail Simone and Ethan Van Sciver and drawn by Yıldıray Çınar.[10]Joe Harris replaced Simone starting in issue #7, while Van Sciver also provided the art for issues #7 and 8 before Çınar returned.[11] Veteran writer/artist Dan Jurgens took over the series with issue #13 in 2012, until the series' end with issue #20 in 2013.
In 2016, Firestorm was one of the features in the Legends of Tomorrow television series, which united Martin Stein and Jefferson Jackson as Firestorm.
The original Firestorm was distinguished by his integrated dual identity. High school student Ronnie Raymond and Nobel Prize-winning physicistMartin Stein were caught in an accident that allowed them to fuse into Firestorm the Nuclear Man. Due to Stein being unconscious during the accident, Raymond was prominently in command of the Firestorm form with Stein a voice of reason inside his mind, able to offer Raymond advice on how to use their powers without actually having any control over their dual form. Banter between the two was a hallmark of their adventures.[1] Stein was initially completely unaware of their dual identity, leaving him concerned about his unusual disappearances and blackouts, but Ronnie was eventually able to convince him of the truth, allowing them to bond as separate individuals rather than as parts of a whole.
Ronnie Raymond / Martin Stein / Mikhail Arkadin
When Conway left the series in 1986, John Ostrander (with artist Joe Brozowski) began writing the Firestorm stories. His first major story arc pitted Firestorm against the world as the hero, acting on a suggestion from a terminally ill Professor Stein, demanded that the United States and the Soviet Union destroy all of their nuclear weapons.[12] After confrontations with the Justice League and most of his enemies, Firestorm faced the Russian nuclear superhero Pozhar in the Nevada desert, where an atomic bomb was dropped on them. A new Firestorm resulted, a fusion of the two heroes: this new Firestorm was composed of Ronnie Raymond and the Russian Mikhail Arkadin but controlled by Stein's disembodied amnesiac mind.[13][14][15]
Fire Elemental
The Firestorm with Arkadin proved to be a transitional phase, as in 1989 Ostrander fundamentally changed the character of Firestorm by revealing that Firestorm was a "Fire Elemental". Firestorm now became something of an environmental crusader, formed from Ronnie Raymond, Mikhail Arkadin, and Svarozhich, a Soviet clone of the previous Firestorm, but with a new mind. Martin Stein, no longer part of the composite at all, continued to play a role, but the focus was on this radically different character.[1] New artist Tom Mandrake would create a new look to match. During this time, Firestorm meets Sango and the Orishas, the elemental gods of Nigeria.
By the series' 100th issue, Stein learns that he was intended to be the true Fire Elemental and would have been being it not for Raymond also being there by circumstance. Raymond and Arkadin were returned to their old lives, and Stein as Firestorm is exiled to deep space in the process of saving the Earth. Subsequently, he spends many years traveling through space as a wanderer, rarely returning to Earth.
After the transition to the elemental Firestorm, all of the main characters from the series vanished from the comics for some time after the cancellation of the Firestorm comic in 1990. Raymond eventually returned in the pages of Extreme Justice.[16] Raymond, at the time undergoing treatment for leukemia, regained his original powers after a chemotherapy session. It took the combined might of the Justice League led by Captain Atom, and the returned elemental Firestorm, to restore Ronnie's health. Firestorm began to appear regularly in a number of DC titles, though lacking the guidance and knowledge necessary to use his skills wisely. Firestorm was drafted by Batman into a "replacement" Justice League that was commissioned in case something befell the original team (in this case, being stranded in the distant past in "The Obsidian Age" storyline). After the original team returned, Firestorm stayed on as a reserve member and participated in events such as a team-up with the Justice Society of America (in JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice) and the intercompany crossoverJLA/Avengers. He was also briefly a member of the Power Company.
Jason Rusch is the second Firestorm, introduced following Ronnie Raymond's death in Identity Crisis. He was created by writer Dan Jolley and artist ChrisCross.
Jason was a 17-year-old living in Detroit who wanted nothing more than to escape his home city. He lived with his father, who had turned abusive after he lost his hand in an industrial accident. His mother left the family sometime after the accident. With the loss of a job he needed for college tuition, Jason turned to a local thug for money, accepting a job as a courier. It was on that job that he encountered the Firestorm Matrix, searching for a new host after Ronnie Raymond's death. In the aftermath, Jason struggled to cope with his new identity and powers—a struggle that led to the death of the man who had hired him.
Jason Rusch / Martin Stein
In the 2006 miniseries Infinite Crisis, it was revealed that Martin Stein, alive in space as the "Elemental Firestorm", had sensed the presence of Jason Rusch within the Firestorm Matrix, but was unaware of Ronnie Raymond's death. When Jason, as Firestorm, was gravely wounded in the line of duty, Stein linked with him in a variation of the merge, promising Jason a new Firestorm body to let him return into battle (although Martin had been unable to save his friend Mick Wong) and asking him about Ronnie's fate.
Accepting Martin's proposal, Jason asked Stein to become the permanent second member of the Firestorm Matrix. Sensing his "errors" (including Mick's death) were the result of his youth and lack of experience, he sought the experience and maturity of Stein. Stein refused at first, but later accepted Jason's request, thus ensuring both a new Firestorm body and the reconstruction of human bodies for both Rusch and Stein.[1]
It was revealed in Infinite Crisis that Jason would have been a native of Earth-Eight in the old multiverse.[17]
Jason Rusch / Firehawk
As the storyline jumped ahead one year (and the series itself was now re-titled as Firestorm the Nuclear Man from issue #23 on), Professor Stein has mysteriously vanished, and Jason Rusch has been merging with Firehawk to become Firestorm, allowing him to use her powers as well. The two decided to look for Stein together. Stein had been kidnapped and tortured by the Pupil, a former teaching assistant of Stein's. Flanked by the D.O.L.L.I.s, a group of cyborg soldiers of limited cognitive ability, the Pupil (formerly known as Adrian Burroughs) questioned the nearly dead Stein about the secrets of the universe. Jason and Lorraine, along with the mysterious teleporter Gehenna, freed the captured Stein and restored him to full health. Jason is a college freshman at New York City's Columbus University and seems to have ties with Dani Sharpe, a member of the senior staff at LexCorp.
The Firestorm team of Jason and Firehawk made several appearances across the DC Comics Universe before the search for Martin Stein ended. This included dealing with the latest OMAC and teaming up with Superman in the "Back in Action" story arc in Action Comics. Firehawk later introduced Jason to Pozhar, a Russian superhero who was once a part of the Firestorm Matrix; together, the trio takes on a newly reborn Tokamak. This series ended with Firestorm the Nuclear Man #35 (April 2007).
In The New 52 continuity reboot, Ronnie and Jason are classmates who gain powers after obtaining Martin Stein's "God Particle". They are able to operate as separate Firestorms or merge into a creature dubbed Fury.[21][22]
Doomsday Clock
In Doomsday Clock, Doctor Manhattan informs Ronnie that Stein deliberately transformed the two into Firestorm to study metahumans.[23][24] Despite this, the two continue to work together until the Firestorm matrix is corrupted by exposure to Lazarus Pit resin and causes Stein to age rapidly.[25]
Powers and abilities
Firestorm has the ability to rearrange molecular or particle structures of any substance into most anything else, creating different atomic structures of equal mass. He can transmute the basic composition of an object (e.g., transmuting lead into gold) and can also change its shape or form at will. Much like Green Lantern's limitations, Firestorm can only create items whose workings are understood by the "driver" of the Firestorm Matrix, through he can make more complex sentient constructs out of the Matrix's energies. Unlike Green Lantern's creations, Firestorm's alterations are permanent unless he reverses them.[1]
Initially, he could not affect organic matter without painful, even lethal, feedback (i.e., fatal biophysical disruption or even localized particle motion phenomena like extreme changes in the weather). It was later revealed that Firestorm could always change organic matter, but opted not to. As Jason Rusch became Firestorm, however, this weakness appeared to have dissipated. With old and new variations, the organic limitation does not extend to his own person, as its users can molecularly change their driver self at will, allowing them to regenerate lost or damaged bodily tissue, boost immune systems, shape-shift, increase physical capabilities and survive indefinitely without food, sleep, water or air.[26] Capacities as such produce superhuman levels of strength, durability, stamina and resistance to injury great enough to challenge the New Gods or surviving the rigors of outer space and sitting near the inner corona above the Sun's photosphere without discomfort.[27] Stein has stated Firestorm's power to be theoretically infinite, harnessing the spark of creation, the Big Bang itself. However, infinite power runs the risk of burning out its host.
While the Firestorm Matrix can be utilized by a single host, it is not recommended.[28] The Matrix functions best with two people, a primary and secondary pilot, to comprehend and master it. Martin instructed Jason on how to study current and potential powers available to them within the Matrix and to manually adjust them on the fly at a later date. Its main source of energy stemmed from the ambient stellar energies of native stars and suns but could also use its co-pilot as a power source, though they will burn out over time and genetically disintegrate if not properly adjusted to its power.[29]
The merging aspect of the Matrix can enable outside fusions which assimilate any inherent abilities these others might possess. However, this can diminish its effectiveness and stability.[30] Rusch has shown he can spontaneously warp himself and others he had previously merged with to his specific location, triggering the neural pathway connection and allowing the gestalt to access each other's knowledge and memories to better utilize Firestorm's capabilities. Users of the Firestorm Matrix can access a type of ancestral memory from the continuum of past Matrix users, allowing them to access the latest knowledge of the atoms comprising it. This also translates into a form of time-space sight in which the Matrix user can glimpse the past, present, future, and alternate lives of every other Firestorm throughout reality using a collective of subatomic wormholes which exist as a part of the Matrix. This power is too complex to properly control; thus, it has been highly unreliable as an ability.
The driver can fly at supersonic speeds in an atmosphere and reach escape velocities. The driver can also adjust the driver's body's size or pull and enlarge others from the subatomic universe at will, Rusch having once dragged Ray Palmer from his microscopic size to the natural world while on Apokolips.[31] Manipulation of the self at the subatomic level allows the driver to become intangible and pass through solid objects. This allowed Rusch to communicate with John Stewart and sift through his mind telepathically after he had been taken over by the void beast.[32] Firestorm is also adept at absorbing and redistributing radiation or energy both harmlessly and productively (such as in Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #7, having both absorbed Zeta Radiation from Adam Strange's body and repurposed it to turn a universe-destroying quasar back onto itself and absorb the fallout from a massive nuclear detonation).[33]) He can generate destructive or concussive blasts of nuclear energy, through which he can also channel his transmogrification powers.[34]
While the Matrix grants the fusers unique powers, it can also accidentally bestow them on individuals caught in the Matrix by mistake. One example is Nanette Phaedon, wife of the late Allen Phaedon, who gained the ability to change her quantum state for size-shifting and flight by her own will.[29] Following Raymond's resurrection during Brightest Day, Firestorm gained the ability to switch "drivers" between Ronnie and Jason at will; before that, only the active driver was in control, with the dormant consciousness only able to advise the other on what action to take. One of the faults of a Firestorm fusion is that the stronger psyche will have dominance of the Matrix's power, such as when Jason fused with Luis Salvador who overpowered him from the passenger seat of the Matrix.[35]
During The New 52, the Firestorm Matrix could be shared through multiple users at a time. Users could fuse and become stronger, but more unstable. The entity formed between Ronnie and Jason when using the Matrix in tandem created a nuclear being called "the Fury". It was also shown that The Matrix shares a kinship to the Quantum Field in some way, enabling Firestorm users to derive its power for subatomic transmutation and manipulation.[36] Some believe it is key to the fabled God particle theory. Its merging properties can place a large burden on the user; Firestorm runs the risk of reaching critical mass and detonating.[37] At worst, the fusion of too many users in the Matrix could trigger a second Big Bang.
An evil version of Firestorm called Deathstorm was created by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi during the Blackest Night event. He was originally Ronnie Raymond's corpse reanimated as a Black Lantern.[42] He attacks Jason Rusch and kills Gehenna before eventually being destroyed and Raymond fully restored to life.[43][44][45]
Later, Black Lantern energy combines with the Firestorm Matrix to create a new version separate from Raymond.[46] He attempts to manipulate Raymond and Rusch into fighting, which would destabilize the Firestorm Matrix and destroy the universe, before being killed by the Life Entity.[47]
Earth-Three's equivalent of Deathstorm is Martin Stein, who transformed after experimenting on himself. In Trinity War, Deathstorm appears as a member of the Crime Syndicate before being killed by Mazahs.[48]
We-Are-Firestorm
A version of Firestorm crafted by Anansi in Volume Two of Justice League of America, he appears to be a form of sentient red energy and is a member of that reality's Justice League.
The Ronnie Raymond / Martin Stein incarnation of Firestorm was planned to appear in Justice League Unlimited, with writer/producer Dwayne McDuffie stating that the series' producers had permission from DC Comics to use them. However, the series' creators could not come up with a story that they liked.[citation needed] Later on, it was stated that the character was intended to be the focus of "The Greatest Story Never Told", but was ultimately replaced with Booster Gold.[49]
The Ronnie Raymond / Jason Rusch incarnation of Firestorm appears in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, voiced by Bill Fagerbakke and Tyler James Williams respectively. Producer James Tucker said, "...the smart kid has the body and he's got this dumb guy in his head telling him stuff...it's kind of a total flip of the original Firestorm".[50]
Stein, Raymond, and Jackson first appear in the live-action TV series The Flash, with Stein and Raymond as the first incarnation of Firestorm after they were fused with the former's F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. matrix during the explosion of Harrison Wells' particle accelerator. They initially lack control over their powers until Wells safely separates them, allowing the pair to master their powers and join the Flash in fighting crime until Raymond sacrifices himself to save Central City.[54] After the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. matrix begins to destabilize and threaten Stein's life, Team Flash eventually find Jackson, who joins forces with Stein to become the new Firestorm despite initial hesitancy and leaves Central City with him to hone their powers.
Additionally, Jason Rusch appears in the episode "Revenge of the Rogues", portrayed by Luc Roderique.[55]
An Earth-2 incarnation of Ronnie called Deathstorm appears in the episode "Welcome to Earth-2" as Killer Frost's significant other, and an enforcer for Zoom before being killed by the latter.
Deathstorm from Earth-Prime appears in the eighth season, additionally portrayed by Milton Barnes, Alexa Barajas, Rick Cosnett, and Michelle Harrison.[56] This version is a cold fusion entity who obtained sentience following Earth-1 Raymond's sacrifice. Deathstorm attacks and kills indiscriminately throughout Central City to feed on grief until it is defeated by Hell Frost.
Jackson and Stein appear in the animated web series Vixen, with Drameh and Garber reprising their respective roles.[5]
Jackson and Stein appear in the live-action TV series Legends of Tomorrow, with Drameh and Garber reprising their respective roles and Graeme McComb portraying a younger version of Stein. Stein and Jackson join the Legends in traveling through and stopping evildoers across time until the "Crisis on Earth-X" crossover, during which Stein is killed by Nazis from Earth-X and takes a formula developed by Ray Palmer to prevent Jackson from dying with him.[57]
The Jason Rusch / Martin Stein incarnation of Firestorm appears as a playable character in Injustice 2, voiced by Ogie Banks and Fred Tatasciore respectively.[58]
The Jason Rusch / Martin Stein incarnation of Firestorm appears as a playable character in Lego DC Super-Villains.[59][60]
Captain Cold is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, the character first appeared in Showcase #8.
Earth-Three, or simply Earth-3 or Earth 3, is a “partially-reversed” Earth, where supervillainous counterparts of the mainstream DC superheroes reside. It first appeared in Justice League of America #29, and the concept has been rebooted several times.
The Thinker is the name of five supervillains appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
Killer Frost is a name used by several female supervillains and superheroes appearing in comic books published by DC Comics: Crystal Frost, Louise Lincoln, and Caitlin Snow. All three usually have some connection to the superhero Firestorm.
Martin Stein is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He is commonly associated with, and sometimes is, the superhero Firestorm.
Jason Thomas Rusch is a superhero in the DC Comics Universe, and the second character known as Firestorm. He first appeared in Firestorm #1, and was created by Dan Jolley and ChrisCross.
The Black Lantern Corps is a fictional organization of corporeal revenants appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum. The group is composed of deceased fictional characters in zombie form that seek to eliminate all life from the DC Universe.
"Blackest Night" is a 2009–10 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of an eponymous central miniseries, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis, along with a number of tie-in issues. Blackest Night involves Nekron, a personified force of death who reanimates deceased superheroes and seeks to eliminate all life and emotion from the universe. Geoff Johns has identified the series' central theme as emotion. The crossover was published for eight months as a limited series and in both the Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps comic titles. Various other limited series and tie-ins, including an audio drama from Darker Projects, were published.
Brightest Day is a 2010–2011 crossover storyline published by DC Comics, consisting of a year-long comic book maxiseries that began in April 2010, and a number of tie-in books. The story is a direct follow-up to the Blackest Night storyline that depicts the aftermath of the events of that storyline on the DC Universe.
The White Lantern Corps is a fictional organization appearing in comics published by DC Comics, related to the emotional spectrum.
Ronald "Ronnie" Raymond is a character appearing in comics published by DC Comics. He is one of several characters called Firestorm and is normally fused together with Martin Stein or Jason Rusch. He first appeared in Firestorm the Nuclear Man #1, and was created by writer Gerry Conway and artist Al Milgrom.
↑ McAvennie, Michael (2010). "1970s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle. Dorling Kindersley. p.177. ISBN978-0-7566-6742-9. If inventiveness is the fusion of ideas, then Firestorm was one of the most original characters to emerge from a comic book in years. Penned by Gerry Conway and drawn by Al Milgrom, the Nuclear Man was a genuine sign of the times—the explosive embodiment of a nuclear world.
↑ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Korte, Steve; Manning, Matt; Wiacek, Win; Wilson, Sven (2016). The DC Comics Encyclopedia: The Definitive Guide to the Characters of the DC Universe. DK Publishing. p.109. ISBN978-1-4654-5357-0.
↑ The Fury of Firestorm the Nuclear Men #1 (September 2011)
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