Fictional character biography
The original Firestorm was distinguished by his integrated dual identity. High school student Ronnie Raymond and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Martin Stein were caught in an accident that allowed them to fuse into Firestorm the Nuclear Man. Due to Stein being unconscious during the accident, Ronnie was prominently in command of the Firestorm form with Stein a voice of reason inside his mind, able to offer Ronnie 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 Stein of the truth, allowing them to bond as separate individuals rather than as parts of a whole.
After the accident, Firestorm took to defending New York City from such threats as Multiplex and Killer Frost. The 1982 series began with the teenaged Ronnie adjusting to his newfound role and later delved into the issue of the nuclear arms race. The Fury of Firestorm slowly developed the lives of Ronnie and Stein, as Ronnie struggled with high school while having friends like Jefferson Jackson and moved towards graduation, and Stein found a life outside the lab. A second nuclear hero, Firehawk, was added as a love interest for Firestorm in 1984. In the same year, the character of Felicity Smoak was introduced, initially having a combative relationship with Ronnie, but eventually becoming his stepmother following her marriage to his father Ed. [4] The series also tried to create a sense of fun, something that Gerry Conway felt was missing during his years writing Spider-Man; [3] the banter between Ronnie and Stein contributed to this. Upon graduation from high school, Ronnie entered college in Pittsburgh, where Stein had been hired as a professor. Afterward, together they searched for a cure for their bond.
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 he, acting on a suggestion from the terminally ill Stein, demands that the United States and the Soviet Union destroy all of their nuclear weapons. [5] After confrontations with the Justice League and most of his enemies, Firestorm faces the Russian nuclear superhero Pozhar in the Nevada desert, where an atomic bomb was dropped on them. A new Firestorm is created, composed of Firestorm and Pozhar, but controlled by the disembodied amnesiac mind of Stein. [6]
The Firestorm form 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, Arkadin and Svarozhich, a Soviet clone of the previous Firestorm, but with a new mind. Stein was no longer part of the composite at all yet 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. It was during this phase that Firestorm met and befriended Sango and the Orishas, the elemental gods of Nigeria. He also met their chief deity and Sango's older brother Obatala, Lord of the White Cloth.
By the series' 100th issue, Stein learned that he was destined to be the true Fire Elemental and would have been were it not for Ronnie also being there by circumstance. Ronnie and Arkadin were returned to their old lives, and Stein as Firestorm was accidentally exiled to deep space in the process of saving Earth. He thereafter spent 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. Ronnie eventually returned in the pages of Extreme Justice. [7] Ronnie, 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 joins a backup Justice League team as well as Power Company.
During the Identity Crisis miniseries, Ronnie is killed by Shadow Thief, with Jason Rusch subsequently replacing him as the host of the Firestorm matrix. [1] [8] In the 2009–2010 Blackest Night miniseries, Ronnie is revived as a Black Lantern and kills Gehenna, Jason's girlfriend. [9] [10] He goes on to attack the Justice League satellite. Jason then briefly asserts himself, allowing the heroes to escape. Regaining control, Ronnie proceeds to absorb Jason's willpower. Like other Black Lanterns, the undead Firestorm mimics Ronnie's personality, often wisecracking and exhibiting other stereotypical teenage behavior. [11] In the final battle against Nekron, Ronnie is restored to life alongside Jason. [12]
In the 2010–2011 Brightest Day miniseries, Ronnie and Jason begin operating together as Firestorm and learn that the Black Lantern variation still exists within the Firestorm matrix as a separate entity named Deathstorm. [13] Deathstorm tells Stein that he intends to create enough emotional instability between Ronnie and Jason that the Firestorm matrix will trigger another Big Bang, thereby destroying the universe. He then absorbs Stein to use his knowledge against Ronnie. An internal argument between Ronnie and Jason ignites the spark, transporting them to the antimatter universe of Qward. [14] [15] When Ronnie and Jason confront him, Deathstorm brings Stein out of the Firestorm matrix to taunt them with. Deathstorm attempts to turn Ronnie and Jason into salt, but Stein takes the brunt of the attack and dies. Jason and Ronnie decide to truly work together to avenge Stein's death. The Life Entity declares that Ronnie has accomplished his mission, creating a burst of white energy that obliterates Deathstorm and returns Ronnie and Jason to Earth. [16]
The New 52
After the events of the 2011 Flashpoint storyline, The New 52 reality altered Firestorm's personal history to the point of being completely restarted. Ronnie Raymond is reintroduced as a high school senior and the captain of the football team. [17] During a terrorist attack on their school, his classmate Jason Rusch gives him a vial that he obtained from Martin Stein, which contains the "god particle", one of Stein's creations. The particle transforms both Jason and Ronnie into Firestorm, and the two briefly battle before accidentally merging into a creature known as Fury. [18] Sharing the identity of Firestorm, with Ronnie being the brawn and Jason being the brains, Firestorm is considered for recruitment into the Justice League along with several other heroes.
In Doomsday Clock , Doctor Manhattan informs Ronnie that Stein deliberately transformed the two into Firestorm to study metahumans. [19] [20] Despite this, the two continue to work together until Lazarus Pit resin corrupts the Firestorm matrix and causes Stein to age rapidly. [21] [22]
