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Geoff Johns on Firestorm in Brightest Day

Firestorm in Brightest Day

Last week Geoff Johns gave a fantastic interview to IGN about Brightest Day. Click here to read the entire interview. I’ve posted below the Firestorm-related discussion points.

It appears Scott Clark and Dave Beaty are the artists drawing the majority of the Firestorm scenes…

IGN Comics: Can you talk a little about how the art chores are being broken down?

Johns: As you can tell, each artist is taking lead on a character. Ivan Reis is doing all the Aquaman and Deadman stuff; Ardian is doing Hawkman and Hawkgirl; Patrick is doing Martian Manhunter; and Scott is doing Firestorm. Everyone has their own character, and every character has a different feel.

Some interesting commentary on post-Blackest Night Firestorm…

IGN Comics: From these early issues of Brightest Day, it seems like Aquaman’s experience in Blackest Night has left him with an uncertainty about the water and his powers, and we see why in issue #1 when he summons a bunch of undead sharks. Can you talk a little bit about what Aquaman is struggling with at the onset of Brightest Day?

Johns: He’s back, but there’s something off and he feels it. Maybe more than any of the others, he feels that there’s something darker still left in all of them. He’s more in touch with that than anybody else. Except maybe Firestorm.

Finally, here Geoff discusses Firestorm directly and teasing us about what is to come…

IGN Comics: Let’s jump over to Firestorm. With the possible exception of the New Teen Titans characters, Firestorm is one of the most successful new superhero characters to be introduced in the Bronze Age of the DCU. He had a nice run and long shelf-live as far as new characters typically go, but fell off in popularity and appeal over the past two decades. What’s your take on the character and what makes him special?

Johns: I like Firestorm because I like the duality of two very different people having to work together for the betterment of those around him. Conceptually, what Gerry Conway set up there really fascinates me. It creates great drama. Especially now that you have Jason and Ronnie together. Everything Jason went through in Blackest Night and everything he’s going through now, he’s been through hell. He looks at Ronnie as this carefree type who wants to hang out with his friends and celebrate being back by throwing parties, and on the surface Ronnie just can’t see the pain and suffering he’s caused. The truth behind it, though, is that Ronnie remembers everything. He’s aware of it and trying to shut it all away. Ronnie and Jason are going to come to a pretty dramatic confrontation about everything, one that will change both of them for a while. I really wanted to bring the new, Jason, and the original, Ronnie, together.

IGN Comics: Besides the character’s duality, one of the defining aspects Gerry Conway set into place was the idea that Ronnie was the one member of the Justice League who was green behind the ears, and lacked the life and heroic experience of the others. Now, with Jason in place of Professor Stein, you have two immature characters stuck together in the Firestorm persona, and I imagine that will fuel a great deal of drama as well.

Johns: Absolutely. They’re both college students now. They’re both pretty young characters, and the responsibility they both have is about to get a lot bigger once they discover what the Firestorm matrix really is, what it means to them and how they’re going to deal with it. Or are they going to be able to deal with it?

Looking forward to further Brightest Day issues with Firestorm!

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4 Comments

  1. outburst says:

    I’m a little confused. How could they both be college students?
    DC’s continuity confuses me sometimes. Did they reboot Ronnie’s character or has been stuck in a stasis for years and years and the university just happily accepts him back despite the passing of all this time?
    I fear for Ronnie’s future.

  2. Jon says:

    Yeah the whole Ronnie-as-student thing doesn’t really work for me either (wasn’t he an underwear model in Extreme Justice? haha, ugh). Infact, I don’t particularly like Johns’ take on Ronnie in any regard (Firestorm should be a fun character, not all dark and gloomy), but the important thing is Ronnie’s back. The details beyond that don’t really matter, 3 years from now this storyline will be a memory and we’ll still have Ronnie back. Well, hopefully 😉

  3. Kello says:

    Hey Shag, I posted a little comic featuring the Ronnie/ Jason Firestorm over at Hello Kello. Click on my username for the link.

  4. I really would like to see them address the fact that Ronnie’s actually *regressed* (both in age and in attitude) since we last saw him alive.

    (And I’d like to see acknowledgment of the fact that Ronnie and Jason have “met” before, even if Ronnie doesn’t… or does he?… remember it, back in Jason’s first year or so)

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