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Classic Fury of Firestorm #9, Aquaman #29, Batman & Aquaman #29 – FIRE & WATER #83

Continuing THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST coverage of the classic Fury of Firestorm series from 1982! 

Firestorm and Aquaman: The Fire and Water Podcast

The 83rd episode of THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST is now available for your listening pleasure! THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST is the official podcast of FIRESTORM FAN and THE AQUAMAN SHRINE.

This episode Rob and Shag dive into Aquaman #29 by Jeff Parker, Paul Pelletier, Sean Parsons, and Rain Beredo, followed by look at Batman and Aquaman #29 by Peter Tomasi, Pat Gleason, and Mick Gray. Plus part two of Firestorm vs. Typhoon in The Fury of Firestorm #9 (Feb. 1983) by Gerry Conway, guest penciller Jerome Moore, Rodin Rodriguez, and Gene D’Angelo.

You can find the 83rd episode of THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST on iTunes. While you’re there, please drop us a review on the iTunes page. Every comment helps! Alternatively, you may download the podcast by right-clicking here, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (32 MB).

As always, thanks to my co-host Rob Kelly, Sea King of THE AQUAMAN SHRINE, for doing all the post-production on these episodes! Opening theme, “That Time is Now,” by Michael Kohler. Special thanks to Daniel Adams and Ashton Burge with their band The Bad Mamma Jammas for our fantastic original closing theme! This episode brought to you in part by InStockTrades.com!

Have a question or comment? Looking for more great content?

The Fury of Firestorm The Nuclear Man vol II #9 cover by Pat Broderick and Dick Giordano! Interior story and art by Gerry Conway, Jerome Moore and Rodin Rodriguez! Click to enlarge!

Fury of Firestorm The Nuclear Man vol II #9 cover by Pat Broderick and Dick Giordano

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8 Comments

  1. Another episode of the Fire & Water Podcast completed with minimal collateral damage. Well done, gentlemen!

    I might be alone in this, but I’m not a fan of Pete Tomasi’s writing or Patrick Gleason’s art. I dropped GREEN LANTERN CORPS in the middle of its “Blackest Night” tie-ins because Tomasi’s scripts felt really herky-jerky/all-over-the-place. Gleason’s art on the Sub-Diego storyline in AQUAMAN had strong points, like the atmospheric backgrounds, but I didn’t like his characters, particularly Aquaman and the Justice League. I think Shag is right that Gleason would be rock solid on a horror comic, but I don’t want to see him drawing larger-than-life superheroes.

    Looking at the first page of FIRESTORM #9 on Tumblr, you guys are right that it does look different than the rest of the book. Maybe Jerome Moore inked that page himself, but when he fell behind on the schedule, Rodriguez came on to ink the rest of the issue?

  2. Benton Grey says:

    Hey Shag, this is unrelated to this episode, but I thought you might get a kick out of this little preview. One of the artists who creates content for Freedom Force just previewed a skin (3d texture) for Plastique!
    http://freedomreborn.net/forums/index.php?topic=49230.msg771752#msg771752

  3. Frank says:

    I attended twelve schools in as many years, then tested out, so a high school reunion was never an option for me. I’m sure as a consequence of not having to endure the same jerks for over a decade, I always found high school reunion stories alluring. The truth is though, there’s no one from grade school I knew long enough to even seriously wonder about where they ended up, and I probably wasn’t even a footnote in the biographies of anyone whose life I briefly passed through. So far, the reunion issue has been the strongest appeal for me to buy the first Jeff Parker trade paperback.

    I still haven’t tried Arrow. I saw enough Smallville to plant an aversion, and I hear this show is about Oliver Queen. Who thought that was a good idea?

    Iwangis is the Creature King. You guys are talking about the Creature King of the Sea. Jack Miller wrote both stories, so the distinction is essential!

    Just a reminder: Jerome K. Moore was a designer on some DC Universe original animated movies, specifically Crisis on Two Worlds.

    Sebastian Bach has said some unfortunate things that I would tut-tut at, but he was a series regular on several seasons of Gilmore Girls, so I’ll give him a pass. Also, if the Firestorm/Aquaman podcast rates the lead singer of Skid Row, my combined blogging Klout would be extremely lucky to pull in barbarian saxophonist Tim Cappello.

    It’s a tricky balance between creating villains that work for a hero’s environment and becoming a one note joke. Since it’s so rare for a Firestorm rogue to possess any value, I’m shocked to find Typhoon a solid selection for trading up to Aquaman’s oceanic adventures.

    In my work life, wherever I land, I become known for bringing in caseloads of Pepsi Max. It has lots of caffeine and ginseng, but 0 calories with about half the aspartame of other name brands. It has more flavor bite than any diet pop I’ve tried, and I did lengthy taste tests to come to that conclusion. Tab, Fresca, Diet Rite– I was both thorough and historically conscientious!

    I wasn’t aware Jack Kirby was involved in assembing the Losers. If I can overcome my increasingly all-consuming disdain for anything related to DC Comics, I might check that out.

    So glad Shag can finally get head from Professor Stein!

    I liked ¡mpact Comics Who’s Who, too! I still need a copy of #2, but I have the other two in the official three ring binder! I look forward to your coverage it more than Star Trek or Legion.

    I still haven’t set up a Comixology account, or read many comics on a computer overall, but I’m very serious about starting a Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited account this year, so one will likely follow the other.

    The lack of concern amongst publishers regarding overexposure is just another indication of the desperation in current comics publishing. This industry is dying, and considering it has been doing so very very slowly since the 1950s, it’s amazing how clearly audible the death rattle sounds. If the only things selling over 20K have “Batman” or “Avengers” in the title, all Big Two comics become Secret Mighty Batusi ones. Like Shag, I can’t tell you which Avengers titles are core, or why so many exist, and I am apathetic about the lot. I was going to get the first volume of Hickman’s New Avengers, and would have under the title “The Illuminati,” but as it stood I think I just passed. Since I lost my taste for the biggest name characters a long time ago, they’re just offering more of what I haven’t wanted in years, with Image, Dark Horse, Avatar and other publishers reaping the benefit.

    I’m glad that in spite of my getting so far behind in commenting on the podcast, you guys are even further behind in covering them in Listener Feedback. I doubt that I was even missed! Off to download episode #82!

  4. Martin Stein Returns says:

    Shag, I might be wrong because this is just off the top of my head, but I think the Elemental Firestorm did in fact fight Typhoon. Typhoon was part of a group called the Captains of Industry as a hired gun, run by that corporate CEO that was also a huge polluter that the Elemental Firestorm wanted to put out of business. I think the reason it wasn’t memorable is because Elemental Firestorm defeated Typhoon so quickly, as a way to impress upon the readers how powerful the Elemental Firestorm was now, in that he could make short work of a villain that gave so much trouble to the old version of Firestorm.

    Honestly, it never made much sense to me that Elemental Firestorm was supposed to be so much more powerful than the original Firestorm. The original Firestorm could turn anything into anything else. That’s one hell of a superpower. Elemental Firestorm was essentially the Human Torch with more of an attitude. I’m sorry, but turn-lead-into-gold powers are more impressive than fire powers. Even Blank Slate Firestorm had that weird Pozhar turn-the-ground-into-a-volcano-and-make-it-burst-out-into-lava power. I actually think Blank Slate was the most powerful one of them all, except that he didn’t, well, have his head together.

  5. Siskoid says:

    You’re right Martin, the Elemental did fight Typhoon.

    Good job as usual guys. Thanks for saving me from getting the Batman-Aquaman book. It’s not an indictment of Tomasi’s run or anything, I’m just trying to bring my comics load down.

  6. Benton Grey says:

    Well, I was briefly caught up again, and now the interminable wait for my comics to be shipped begins again. Ahh well, at least I got to read the beginning of Jeff Parker’s run. In fact, I read his first two issues, and I was really quite impressed.

    I’ve got to say, THAT is how you write an Aquaman comic! Aquaman slugging it out with a giant sea monster is ALWAYS a solid idea! I agree with Rob that, at this point, the one-note Atlantian politics stuff is a bit grating, but Parker doesn’t have much choice but to continue those threads originally spun by Johns. Yet, the fact that he makes it the B-plot to a classic kaiju confrontation, highlighting the Sea King’s heroism, bravery, and strength, makes it much more palatable.

    I do feel like Aquaman’s magnified strength might be getting a bit too ridiculous, though. While Rob loved Arthur tossing a car with each hand, I felt like we’re seeing Aquaman get a bit too far away from his original power levels. That is, however, a very minor quibble, and far preferred to the opposite problem that has so long plagued our favorite character. I suppose that this is a new universe, and everything is tending towards the more EXTREME in terms of character interpretations and power levels. While I don’t care for the trend, if good Aquaman stories are told within this setting, I suppose I can swallow my qualms.

    I DO like the conflict Arthur is feeling between his responsibilities above and below the waves. He’s got more of a conflict of interests than any other hero, and I feel like that has to be at the core of his character. While the whiny Atlantians aren’t necessarily what I’d consider the most ideal way to explore that tension, I am glad that it’s present. On the other hand, Aquaman has been fighting underwater battles for quite a bit of time now, so, as Rob said, I’m looking forward to him engaging in some more straightforward superheroics on the shore in the upcoming issues. (I’ve avoided the reviews of the subsequent issues, so perhaps I am doomed to disappointment or fated for a pleasant surprise. Time, and the arrival of my box ‘o comics, will tell for me.)

    Giant monsters have so often been the purview of big guns like Superman that it is really cool seeing Aquaman take one on, for multiple reasons. First, it paints the Sea King as a heavy-weight, with big, earth-shattering responsibilities on his shoulders. He is facing a threat on the scale of something that Superman might tackle, and that is only fair for a character that SHOULD be (and at the moment seems to be) one of DC’s major players.

    Second, it highlights one of the facts I’ve always loved about Aquaman. He ISN’T Superman. He’s strong, he’s tough, and he’s fast, but he isn’t invulnerable, he can’t juggle buses, and he can’t fly (making his entrance all the more impressive). He is, quite honestly, outclassed by a threat this big, and yet he still steps up, because that’s what Aquaman has always one. When trading punches with the Shaggy Man, tying down Ultraman, or slugging it out with giant monsters, Arthur is usually not the strongest guy in the room. He has often fought above his weight class, and won! He’s indomitable, he’s unshakeable, and he’s utterly heroic in the truest sense of the word. That is a beautiful thing.

    Third, BECAUSE he isn’t Superman, he can’t JUST punch his way to victory, but Arthur has gifts Superman doesn’t. He’s got control over everything beneath the waves, and he’s got what must truly be one of the most powerful minds in the DCU. He’s smart, he’s adaptable, and he’s got the ability to fight in multiple ways. That’s something these issues demonstrate pretty well. When Aquaman can’t stop the beast by brawn, he turns to brains, first literally by using his telepathy, but then he finds a clever way to get past the creatures armored hide. That’s my type of hero.

    So, all-in-all, I am excited about Parker’s arrival on the book, and I am really looking forward to what he has in store for us.

  7. Benton Grey says:

    *because that’s what Aquaman has always DONE.* Darn typos.

  8. Kyle Benning says:

    Another note on the Superman Digests, I believe only one of them collects stories from the Superman Adventures (Superman TAS Comic) which collects:
    SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #17, 18, 40 and 41, and SUPERMAN/BATMAN MAGAZINE #1, 3, 5 and 7

    The other Digest collects random issues from the last decade or so including the following:
    ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN DIGITAL CHAPTER 1, ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #623, ACTION COMICS #810 and 0, SUPERMAN #185, the 2-page origin story from SUPERMAN: FOR TOMORROW and SUPERMAN 80-PAGE GIANT #1 and 2

    Great Instock Trades selections! I love the Invaders and that run! I think Roy really nailed Namor between his run writing the character in his solo book and in the Invaders, that series has always been one of my favorites. It’s superheroes fighting Nazis, what’s not to love?! And of course you can’t go wrong with Byrne and Alpha Flight, love Byrne and love that series!

    I have to disagree with Shag about the dynamic of heroes not getting along, if there is any dynamic the New 52 beats to death, it’s the heroes not getting along. If they had two heroes get along and be pals that would be a huge status quo change for the New 52 and one welcomed by open arms by this fan. I just miss the days of when Superman and Batman were best pals, I just want my heroes to get along.

    That kind of dynamic kind of extends to the Batman & Aquaman issue and touches upon Rob’s feelings about the whale carnage. It just seems an unneccesary product of the 90’s Image/Marvel feel that plagues the New 52. But with Harras and Jim Lee at the forefront of DC, that shouldn’t be surprising. It’s just not my taste either.

    Another fantastic and classic issue of Firestorm, I say it every month, why hasn’t this been collected?!?!

    Great episode guys! Fan the Flame and Ride the Wave!

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