The 146th 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 week Shag and Rob finally get caught up on YOUR Listener Feedback! Plus, a Nuclear Sub World Tour 2015 back-up feature guest-starring Chris Franklin! Part of a crossover with the Super Mates Podcast!

You can find the 146th 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 play the podcast using the player below or by right-clicking “download”, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (128 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!

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• or leave a comment below!

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These promotions cover issues starting around Fury of Firestorm #22, and run all the way up to #100. One of the things I love is finding plots or concepts in the promotions that never appeared in the comic. These were story ideas the author was considering while planning future months, but ultimately chose not to pursue. I find those “road not taken” ideas fascinating.

These scans were compiled by Match-head and Nuclear Sub, Joe X! My apologies to Joe for taking so long to post these pages. He sent them to me way back in July 2014! Sorry, Joe! I chose not to crop the surrounding page(s) as they make for fascinating reading. You’ll notice the Firestorm entries have been highlighted in yellow to make it easier to find. Click each image to enlarge and read!

Amazing Heroes #39 – January 15, 1984

Note the mention of the never-published Firestorm Graphic Novel. Man, I would have loved to have seen that book!

Amazing Heroes #62 – January 1, 1985

Note the mention that Cliff Carmichael will be Ronnie’s roommate in college. I don’t recall that happening, but to be honest it’s been a while since I read issues in the 40s & 50s. I may be mis-remembering.

Amazing Heroes Preview Special #1 – Summer 1985

Note the mention of Firehawk joining the Justice League! Wow! This was during the Justice League Detroit era, so Firestorm was no longer on the team. That would have been fantastic to see Firehawk battling crime without Firestorm. A real chance to spread her wings (pun intended) and show the readers she’s a strong independent character. Also, another mention of the never-published Firestorm Graphic Novel.

Amazing Heroes Preview Special #2 – Winter 1986

Note the interesting ideas about Firestorm working for the Police and concerns of brutality. That would have been an interesting plot thread to see develop. Another mention of the never-published Firestorm Graphic Novel and Conway’s hope to place Firehawk in the Justice League!

Amazing Heroes Preview Special #3 – Summer 1986

This one is a little sad. This promotional copy would have been written about the time Gerry Conway was let go from the Firestorm book. Notice editor Denny O’Neil is being interviewed instead of Gerry. Many of these ideas were either never realized, or written by subsequent writers. There is mention of a new villain named “Lava” that never appeared. Also, Denny definitively put an end to the hopes of a Firestorm Graphic Novel.

Amazing Heroes Preview Special #4 – Winter 1987

Shades of the Blank Slate Firestorm being hinted at here.

Amazing Heroes Preview Special – Summer 1987

Pretty  much everything here happens exactly as they described (except the spelling of Zuggernaut). I’m surprised they gave away so much of the plot in this preview magazine. I’m glad I didn’t read this before the issues; all the surprises would have been spoiled!

Amazing Heroes #133 – January 15, 1988

Again with the major spoilers! Geez! Save your 75 cents kids. Read this and you don’t even need to pick up the issues to know what is happening!

 Amazing Heroes #145 – July 15, 1988

More issue by issue spoilers this time. Plus, a nice mention of Firestorm’s rising sales, and suggestion of a Soyuz mini-series that never materialized.

Amazing Heroes #157/Preview Special #8 – January 15, 1989

Building towards the Elemental Firestorm storyline! Interesting that they compare Rasputin to John Constantine. Plus an abandoned plot of Doreen in trouble. Man, it would have been great if the Parasite had eaten Doreen!

Amazing Heroes #170/Preview Special #9 – August 1989

Whoa, satire? We’ve come a long way.

Amazing Heroes Preview Special #10 – March, 1990

A slight hint about the series ending with issue #100 in the phrase, “… final, fateful changes…”  Other than that, no real way to tell the adventures of our favorite Nuclear Man (or Elemental Man by this point) would be coming to an end.

What a fun trip down memory lane! Plus some new realizations about abandoned plot threads. My thanks to Joe X for sending these my way!

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During the Bronze Age, each issue of DC Comics contained an in-house promotional page called “Daily Planet”. The modern equivalent would be the Channel 52 strips or the DC Comics All Access pages. Typical Daily Planet editions included information on upcoming releases or feature articles. The February 25, 1980 edition appearing in Brave and the Bold #162 announces Firestorm is joining the JLA at the suggestion of Superman. It goes on to explain that Ronnie Raymond, a.k.a. Firestorm the Nuclear Man is the youngest hero ever to join the group. Plus, our hero finds himself in the midst of a crisis involving the Satin Satan! All this and more in Justice League of America #179 on sale March 10, 1980. Also in the Daily Planet you catch a glimpse of the cover to that issue by Jim Starlin. Click the image below to enlarge.

My thanks to Rob Kelly, my co-host on the Fire & Water Podcast, for sending this my way!

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During the Bronze Age, each issue of DC Comics contained an in-house promotional page called “Daily Planet”. The modern equivalent would be the Channel 52 strips or the DC Comics All Access pages. Typical Daily Planet editions included information on upcoming releases or feature articles. The June 1980 edition discussed a price increase from 40 cents to 50 cents, but promised in exchange an increase of 8 pages of story. Firestorm was identified as, “.. one of the most often requested heroes of recent years ..”! Represent! The article mentioned Firestorm will begin appearing in The Flash with stories by Gerry Conway and George Perez. Nice! Click the image below to enlarge.

Love reading about all those back-up strips! That was also a nice piece on Dick Giordano. In addition to all those things mentioned, Dick was also the inker on many covers from Firestorm vol 2!

My thanks to our buddy Anj from the Supergirl blog for sending this my way!

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There is some dispute as to the exact release date of Firestorm’s first issue. The house ad above identifies the release date as December 6, 1977, however, Mike’s Amazing World of DC Comics (a fantastic and almost always accurate database) indicates the release date was December 5, 1977. Personally, I choose to go with December 6 because it appears on this really nifty advertisement. Somewhat frivolous logic, but that describes my typical judgement anyway.

Happy Birthday to the Nuclear Man! Enjoy a big slice of cake today! My thanks to Gerry Conway, Al Milgrom, and Jack C. Harris for bringing you into this world!

My thanks to Lil’ Chad Bokelman for reminding me of Match-head’s birthday today! Thanks, Chad!

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Oh yeah, and it’s John Freakin’ Byrne drawing our favorite hot-head! Sweet!

A quick nod to a few gentleman with good taste in crossovers: Martin Gray, Kyle Benning, and Anj! Good on you, boys!

For more on this ad, visit the following blogs: DC in the 80s and DC Comics of the 1980s. Yes, those are two different sites, both full of 1980s goodness!

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Check out this cool promotional blurb from Direct Currents #16 about the coming of the Elemental Firestorm! Click the image to enlarge!

Man, I love me some Elemental Firestorm! That piece makes we want to break out those issues and read them all over again!

If you aren’t familiar with Direct Currents, they were a free promotional magazine containing approximately 8 pages soliciting the titles being released by DC Comics that month. My local comic shop didn’t typically carry Direct Currents, so it was always a treat to find one in other shops.

My thanks to Michael Bailey of the Fortress of Baileytude sending this scan my way!

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During the Bronze Age, each issue of DC Comics contained an in-house promotional page called “Daily Planet”. The modern equivalent would be the Channel 52 strips or the DC Comics All Access pages. Each “Daily Planet” included information on upcoming releases and the ever-popular “Answer Man” column. The November 28, 1977 edition prominently featured our favorite Nuclear Man! This would have hit the shelves exactly one week before Firestorm #1 arrived.

Click the image below to enlarge.

Did you notice the Professor Charles Stein comment above?!??! Believe it or not, this is the second reference to Charles Stein. The first appeared a week prior to this “Daily Planet” edition in an editorial by Jenette Kahn. The editorial appeared November 21, 1977 in Teen Titans #53 (and possibly other comics as well).  Click here to read that editorial.

Either Martin’s name changed sometime prior to the first issue hitting the shelves, or this error just kept popping up. Either way, it’s an interesting peek into the promotional launch for the original series!

I came across this on Count Comics Tumblr, so my thanks to him!

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I don’t have a lot of recollections of the crossover. I should probably dig it out of my collection and re-read it. Anyone remember it well?

Below you’ll see a house ad promoting the crossover. I found this ad over on the phenomenal DC in the 80s Tumblr! Be sure to check out that site, you won’t regret it!

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If you aren’t familiar with Direct Currents, they were a free, promotional magazine containing approximately 8 pages, that solicited the titles being released by DC Comics that month. It was sort of like a monthly version of the DC Sampler that we discussed on the latest FIRE & WATER PODCAST. My local comic shop didn’t typically carry Direct Currents, so it was always a treat to find one in other shops. Just for fun, below is the cover to Direct Currents #16 promoting comics shipping in May 1989!

My thanks to Rob Kelly of The Aquaman Shrine for sending this my way! Thanks, Rob!

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