Comments on: Firestorm Died in DC Universe Online Legends #23

By: Shag

Shag — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 03:17:33 +0000

My thanks to everyone for all the comments! I really appreciate the feedback and theories! You Match-heads are the best!!!

Shag

By: SDF-7

SDF-7 — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:39:40 +0000

Well, Firestorm #2 (I believe) established that the Ron/Martin merge could repair physical damage (literally healing itself) given sufficient time to concentrate on the problem. If the neck break didn’t shut down the autonomic systems (less certain how much of that form was apparently biological at all versus just an energy being that seemed biological, which frankly makes more sense) — then given a break from Black Adam, Ron could conceptually repair the damage. Or maybe even more simply, a fission/fusion sequence could reset the shared form?

That’s not something I would try if I were Ron or Martin given their physical state prior to merge would affect Firestorm, one would assume the converse would be true… and that’s not something they’d want to chance.

Personally, though — the art looks really different to me in the next issue preview. Could be a different artist, yeah — but the issue #23 Firestorm doesn’t seem to have the yellow cowl line as pronounced, the electron tracts meet in the center of the nucleus and the gloves are yellow. Issue #24 has the yellow cowl line much more prominently, red gloves — and the electron intersect just to the left (facing Firestorm) of the nucleus. Much more reminiscent of the Brightest Day merge, really.

If I thought for a second they’d devote plot time to Firestorm (hah! 😉 ), I’d wonder if the crippled Ron/Martin merge didn’t fission, lose Martin to the neck injury… and pull in Jason forming the revised Firestorm we see in the preview.

But yeah — more likely art issues.

By: Boosterrific

Boosterrific — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 07:10:58 +0000

The story takes place in the future of the DC Online Universe (or an alternate present, if that language is more satisfying). I assume that the resurrection of Firestorm is the result a miscommunication between artists and an over-worked writer (one day, DC really needs to look into getting some editors that actually look at what they are publishing), but I wondering if maybe we couldn’t rationalize a way that a neck-breaking wouldn’t be fatal to the original Ronnie/Stein Firestorm. I mean, if Batman can come back from a broken back in a few weeks, couldn’t the far more powerful Firestorm find a way to snap back (pun intended) in a few hours?

By: Collected Editions

Collected Editions — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:39:37 +0000

I have not been reading it, but like you, the preview pages that I keep seeing have started to pique my interest (guess DC posting these incessant preview pages actually works!). Marv Wolfman writing a continuity-light, long-form miniseries in which he’s tasked to use the breadth of the DC Universe in a semi-apocalyptic setting? On its face that sounds rather appealing.

By: Spinks

Spinks — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:03:44 +0000

Since it’s DC Legends, I think it’s safe to assume that it’s the classic Raymond/Stein merge. They are certainly legend material.

By: liquidcross

liquidcross — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 13:11:10 +0000

It's a completely separate universe, that ties into the DC Universe Online video game. I reviewed a few GL-centric issues a few months ago; they were pretty good!

By: Keith G. Baker

Keith G. Baker — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 12:35:29 +0000

I’ve been picking it up. It has been nothing if not incoherent. In addition to it being an alternate timeline, the story takes place in 2 (maybe 3) different time periods. So, it’s not surprising to me that MatchHead could be killed in one issue and appear again in the next. However, the character himself has had very little meaningful face-time. He has fallen into that role that he had for many years: Very visually dynamic character that artists love to draw, but writers have no clue how to write (other than to kill him dramatically).

As for the game, although I haven’t seen him make an appearance (though he is supposedly in the game somewhere), he is mentioned as having helped design the nuclear reactor that powers the Watchtower. Based on this, I would assume that we are dealing with the much-loved, classic Raymond/Stein incarnation.