We received some exciting news about Firestorm last week and we’ve had a little time to digest this information. I thought today we’d spend reviewing what we actually know about the new series, and what we can speculate based upon what’s been revealed. Below is the published solicitation as well as the cover to the first issue.
Welcome to a major new vision of the Nuclear Man as writers Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone team up with artist Yildiray Cinar to deliver THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #1. Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond are two high school students, worlds apart – and now they’re drawn into a conspiracy of super science that bonds them forever in a way they can’t explain or control. The cover to issue #1 is by Ethan Van Sciver.
WHAT WE KNOW
- The book is entitled The Fury of Firestorm.
- Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone are co-plotting the series. Simone is writing the scripts.
- Interior art is by Yildiray Cinar. The cover to issue #1 is by Ethan Van Sciver.
- The series stars high school students Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond.
- Gail Simone said on Twitter, “…a new FURY OF FIRESTORM book that is honest to god one of the best things either of us has ever done.” If Gail believes this is one of the best projects she and Ethan have ever worked on, that says a lot given the high-quality, popular series they’ve each worked on.
SPECULATION
- Ronnie and Jason are identified as “worlds apart”. That may mean geographically or socially.
- Jason and Ronnie are “drawn into a conspiracy of super science”. Fingers crossed that the involvement of “super science” means we’ll see Professor Martin Stein!
- From the cover, we can speculate that both Ronnie and Jason have their own individual super-powers. Their costumes are somewhat opposite, each sporting the classic Firestorm puffy sleeves! Some folks are already comparing them to Superman-Red and Superman-Blue (i.e. Firestorm-Red and Firestorm-Yellow).
- Ronnie is wearing a red costume featuring a sun or star motif; notice the black star-burst lines around his eyes and the black star-burst lines behind the white chest emblem. The atomic pattern spread across Ronnie’s chest is very similar to the classic Firestorm emblem (white bands with red circles). The top of Ronnie’s headgear is straight across (like the classic Firestorm headgear). The yellow piping on Ronnie’s suit glows.
- Jason is wearing a yellow costume featuring an atomic symbol on his chest emblem. The atomic pattern spread across Jason’s chest (white bands with red circles) is facing the opposite direction of Ronnie’s. The top of Jason’s headgear is angular (similar to Jason’s previous Firestorm headgear). The red piping on Jason’s suit does not glow, and the pattern of the leg piping is slightly different from Ronnie’s.
- The cover suggests that Ronnie and Jason combine forces to create the being seen above them, some sort of Super-Storm (that’s what we’ll call him for now). Notice Ronnie and Jason’s wrists are touching. There is a circle with six radials glowing in front of their gloves, matching and combining the red circles on each of their chests. That symbol is reflected in the costume of Super-Storm. There was a second image of Super-Storm appearing on several websites last week, but it was removed by request.
- You’ll also notice the top two circles on Super-Storm’s chest emblem reflect Ronnie and Jason. The sun on Super-Storm’s right reflects the sun or star motif on Ronnie’s costume, while Jason’s atomic symbol is seen on his left-hand side. The now-removed second image of Super-Storm featured different coloring on the sun/star symbol, showing a white circle with black burst lines (more like Ronnie’s emblem). The design in the center circle suggests the Yin-Yang symbol. Super-Storm’s right eye features the same black star-burst pattern as Ronnie’s eyes.
- This leaves us wondering, how do Ronnie and Jason create Super-Storm? Do they have to touch to activate this ability (like the Wonder Twins)? Do Ronnie and Jason merge together to form one single being (like the traditional Firestorm)? Or do Ronnie and Jason summon Super-Storm as a separate being (like the Planeteers summoning Captain Planet or Psi-Force summoning Psi-Hawk)?
- Part of the solicitation reads, “…that bonds them forever in a way they can’t explain or control.” That leaves us wondering if Ronnie and Jason actually fuse together or just share some sort of connection. If they do create Super-Storm, then perhaps the line “they can’t explain or control” means that neither of them is able to control Super-Storm. He does look rather angry or furious (pun intended).
- I’ve seen some speculation online about the red circles on Super-Storm’s chest emblem. Two of the red circles are occupied with Ronnie and Jason representations, while four remain blank. Some folks have suggested that perhaps Super-Storm is the merger of six people, or that up to six people could be part of the creation.
- Some folks have noted a resemblance between Super-Storm and the Anti-Monitor.
Lots of questions! That wraps up my wondering and guessing. A little comic book speculation helps build excitement and anticipation! I’m looking forward to this book! Do you have any further ideas or observations? Be sure to share them in the comments!
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I thought that symbol on the upper left of Super-Storm’s chest looked more like Sun Boy’s from the Legion of Superheroes than Ronnie’s.
Super-Storm is clearly wearing the Anti-Monitor’s armor. If the Brightest Day retcon that Firestorm was created from the big bang spark is still true following Flashpoint, that may explain them being connected in some way.
@Chocotaco – Great point about the Anti-Monitor armor and the Big Bang spark. Those could definitely be related. Also, in Brightest Day the Anti-Monitor blasted Firestorm which caused the countdown in the BD cliffhanger.
In regard to the upper left symbol, the coloring is more like Ronnie’s in the second image that was released last week – white circle with black burst lines. That second image was removed from most sites by the request of DC. I’ve updated this post with this information.
So Ronnie with the atomic fire powers, Jason with the molecular manipulation powers, then.
It’s not really Firestorm unless he’s got a talking head next to him (even though yes, that’s happened over the years), so I’m thinking maybe either of them can become Firestorm, with the other riding shotgun. It’s all about who calls the powers forth first.
In Brightest Day, Prof. Stein died (booo!) but our combined hero had to deal with the “voice” of the Black Lantern Firestorm, which “Super-Storm” here shares a zombied face with. And I don’t know how the reboot/relaunch will affect Firestorm’s history, but it seems strange that BD would give Firestorm that ticking bomb cliffhanger and then not exploit it (BD was bu Johns who is the architect of the Flushpoint). So if the new book somehow follows from BD, the countdown may be to an anti-matter Firestorm that could destroy our positive matter universe. However, the combined symbols on the anti-Firestorm’s chest reveal another layer that makes the cover harder to see as a simply symbolic representation of that possibility.
Thanks for the insights, Shag! This is definitely one of the Relaunch books I find most intriguing.
I really enjoyed your speculation about the new Firestorm. Honestly I don’t know what the heck is going on but I know that I like it and can’t wait to read it. I tend to agree with the theory that there is more space to include more characters in the Super-storm matrix as indicated by the blank circles on his chest. Maybe Firehawk (haven’t seen much of her lately) or Captain Atom will be added to the matrix. On second thought probably not Capt Atom since he has his own new book as part of the Relaunch although he would make a nice fit in this theory. Regardless, with the talented team of creators at the helm of this title it promises to be the best Firestorm book in a long time.
I hope “Super-storm” doesn’t last, don’t like that look AT ALL! Having said that, it appears to me that both Ronnie and Jason are “under the hood,” in that they both have the under part of the suit and “super-storm” has the over, all be it in armor form. So I was taking that to mean that they are the foundation and “super-storm” is the manifestation of both or more.
What if Super-Storm is the new Deathstorm? Perhaps he got some kind of makeover in the wake of Flashpoint?
Very interesting speculation. The nature of Firestorm makes the character ripe for just this sort of investigation.
The idea that Super-Storm might be the combined form of up to 6 people suggests a thematic connection with the Super Sentai (AKA Power Rangers in the US), where a team of (generally) 5 individuals (typically later joined by a 6th) each have their own powers but can combine them when necessary (typically giant guns and giant robots). Perhaps the Firestorm Matrix is seeking out “The Six” who can form the “Perfect Super-Storm?” With each one of “The Six” bringing some element of the Nuclear Man to the table?
Also, “super science” has me personally hoping for the mad scientist crew (or some subset thereof) from Oolong Island.
Unfortunately, with Gail Simone handling the writing chores, this title will have to be one I sample before I buy. Her track record with me is not the strongest, and her work has a habit of rubbing me the wrong way… like a cheese grater.
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