That sound you hear is a bunch of Match-heads scratching their noggin’ thinking, “What the heck is the JSI?!?” The JSI was a team featured in the altered timeline of the Trinity maxi-series.

From Trinity #22, Gehenna up against Cyborg, Damage, and Tomorrow Woman.

We don’t post about Gehenna often enough around here.  If you are unfamiliar with Gehenna, shame on you. Along with Jason Rusch, she made up half of the Firestorm matrix from 2007 – 2009.

Support Firestorm (and Gehenna)! Fan the flame!

In this first panel, Jason gets busted by Dick Grayson (a.k.a. Night-Stick-in-the-Mud-Wing) for trying to liven up the party.

In this next panel, Jason keeps the fun going by using his atomic restructuring powers to play DJ!  And he’s apparently got a special message just for me!  Seriously folks, this is an unaltered panel.

Thanks, Jason! You know I’m rockin’ it! … and is that Wonder Woman grinding on the Shaggy Man?!?!? That’s some wild party!

Don’t forget to pick up The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #4 on sale this Wednesday!

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

Below you’ll find the commentary relevant to Gehenna’s death in Blackest Night #3.  Notice Geoff’s comments at the end…

In case you have trouble reading the graphic above, here is Geoff’s quote:

GEOFF JOHNS: This was the hardest death scene I ever wrote.  The torture is not only on Gen, but Jason.  I knew this was going to have major fallout well beyond BLACKEST NIGHT and into BRIGHTEST DAY after Ronnie Raymond returned. Firestorm, like Aquaman and Martian Manhunter, is one of DC’s mainstays in my opinion and deserves some more spotlight in the center of the DCU.

That death scene was seriously gut-wrenching for Firestorm fans and those just learning about the character during Blackest Night.  Given the emotional and graphic nature of the scene, I’m content knowing Geoff struggled writing Gehenna’s death and understood the downstream impact.  I’m also heartened by Geoff’s comment about Firestorm being one of DC’s mainstays!  If it weren’t for Geoff’s love of Firestorm, the character probably wouldn’t have been a major player in Brightest Day.  Thanks Geoff for re-popularizing our favorite hot-head!

My thanks to match-head Ed “The Unique Geek” for the heads-up on this!

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Stuart Moore wrote FIRESTORM vol III for 19 issues from 2005 through 2007.  Thanks to the length of his run, Stuart has written Jason Rusch more than any other writer.  Stuart’s run brought dramatic changes for the FIRESTORM title, including: the return of Professor Martin Stein and Mikhail Arkadin, Firehawk joined the Firestorm matrix, incredible growth in Jason’s character, the introduction of Gehenna, and much more!

Stuart Moore has been a writer, a book editor, and an award-winning comics editor. He’s written many titles, such as: NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT, CLOAK & DAGGER, WOLVERINE NOIR, THE 99, DETECTIVE COMICS, EARTHLIGHT, PARA, SHADRACH STONE, and much more!  Before turning to writing, Stuart was a book editor at St. Martin’s Press, publishing a wide variety of science fiction and pop culture books. More recently he served as editor of the Virgin Comics / SciFi Channel comics line, and of the bestselling Marvel Knights imprint, where his credits included Brian Michael Bendis’s ALIAS and DAREDEVIL and the Garth Ennis/Steve Dillon PUNISHER. At DC Comics, Stuart was a founding editor of the acclaimed Vertigo imprint, where he won the Will Eisner award for Best Editor 1996 and the Don Thompson Award for Favorite Editor 1999. His editorial credits there include PREACHER, THE INVISIBLES, SWAMP THING, HELLBLAZER, THE BOOKS OF MAGIC, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, and too many others to mention.

Stuart was kind enough to spend some time discussing his run on Firestorm with FIRESTORM FAN.

BACKGROUND

FIRESTORM FAN: How did you first get interested in reading comics and what were some of your favorites?

STUART MOORE: Most people I know either liked DC or Marvel growing up…I have a slightly different story. When I was young, I only read DC Comics; I think I still have a copy of ACTION from when I was five years old. Then, when I was in high school, a friend sat me down with huge piles of Marvel comics — this was before trade paperbacks, but it was the same effect, just enormously long, sprawling runs of stories. And it completely changed me, opened up my mind to all this great, crazy stuff. So to me, DC Comics are the books I loved as a kid, but Marvel are the really exciting, dangerous ones.

FF: What attracted you to writing comics and how did you break into the business?

SM: I’d always done some writing, but I started out as a book editor, then a comics editor. When I was at DC/Vertigo, DC wasn’t really encouraging staff people to write anymore, which I understood — there’s a lot of potential for conflicts of interest there. Though I’ve come around a bit to thinking it can be managed, and that some of the best work of the ’70s and ’80s was done by writer/editors.

Anyway, I left DC in 1999 and had a short stint at Marvel Knights, then started writing full time. I wrote everything — indy stuff, my own work, short stories for anthologies. I still do, actually. Jumping around between genres, styles, and companies keeps me fresh.

FF: What do you find are the major influences on your work?

SM: There are a hell of a lot of them, actually. In comics: Alan Moore, Steve Gerber, Howard Chaykin. In books: Philip K. Dick, Charles Willeford, Cordwainer Smith, recently Rick Moody. A lot of film, too, particularly the work of Alex Cox.

FF: Who would win in a fight – Willie Lumpkin or Doiby Dickles?

SM: Bet on the mailman. He’s got all the keys.

FIRESTORM

FF: How did you get the Firestorm assignment?

SM: I’d written some JLA ADVENTURES stories for Steve Wacker, who fled to Marvel after almost a year editing the monstrous 52. At that time, Steve had recently inherited FIRESTORM, which was going through a gradual but full creative team changeover. Steve knew I had a background in science fiction and thought that would work for the character.

FF: You incorporated lots of Firestorm history into your run (i.e. Firehawk, Pozhar, Tokamak).Were you familiar with the character before taking the job? If so, do you have any favorite issues, storylines, or characters?

SM: I love the character…I actually got hooked in the first few issues of the very first run, when it was abruptly canceled in the middle of a storyline. It was the purest example of a Marvel-style character in the middle of the DC Universe, which was pretty cool at the time. Firestorm also had a great rogues’ gallery, and Firehawk was a volatile, exciting supporting character.

FF: What aspects of Firestorm did you enjoy writing the most? What aspects did you find the most challenging to write?

SM: I really liked Jason, the character. It was very important to me to deal with his relationship with his father and his mother, whom I introduced. The stuff with the father was tricky because the book had been written into a corner: In the very first issue, before I came onboard, we’d seen Jason’s father hitting him. To my mind, once you do that, the character either has to fight back directly or else he has to roll out a series of complex, difficult distancing techniques, which people in abusive relationships do all the time. I worked pretty hard on that aspect of the story.

The pseudo-science was fun too. And the racial undertones, which were mostly in the background but very, very important to who the character was.

The challenging part was that the editorial mandates about the character changed frequently. That’s part of working on a company-owned book, and I think we rolled with it all pretty gracefully.

FF: Were there any situations where editorial or company-wide events impacted your plans? Did the Infinite Crisis, Villains United, and OMAC Project tie-in stories come naturally or did they create challenges for you?

SM: Oh, that was part of the game from day one. FIRESTORM was a borderline-selling book when I came on; we knew we had to take every opportunity offered to keep sales up. And I liked the idea of Jason, who had just graduated from high school, being the young guy thrown into the middle of the DCU, almost like an identification character for the reader. “That’s Donna Troy! She looks like a goddess!” That sort of thing.

FF: What would you say are some elements that make a story a “Firestorm story”, rather than just any other superhero story?

SM: There have been several different takes on the character, so I don’t know if you can generalize too much. But to me, it’s the interplay between the two people making up the persona. We dealt with that in a lot of different combinations. I initially resisted bringing Professor Stein back into the book, but I will say that once it was him and Jason, the character just MOVED. It shows that Gerry Conway knew what he was doing — the young kid, all energy and impulse, combined with the older man who knew the science. They’re doing a variant on that now, with Jason as the science-savvy half.

FF: While working on Firestorm, you had the opportunity to work with Jamal Igle on interiors, and Matt Haley & Brian Stelfreeze on covers. What were some characteristics these artists brought to your stories? Did you write full-script or plot-first, and how collaborative were your relationships?

SM: Full script, as I write just about everything. Jamal was a great collaborator…he’s very underrated; he can draw anything, and when you give him a little room, there’s an amazing power to his action sequences. I had a storyline in mind that we didn’t get to, a racially sensitive story about Jason’s mother, and I probably would have asked Jamal to be a more active co-plotter on that.

As for the covers, both artists were just great. I didn’t have much direct interaction with Matt or Brian, but they did superlative work.

FF: You created some interesting supporting characters for the Firestorm title. Were there any you enjoyed writing more than others?

SM: Gehenna was a lot of fun…her directness, her lack of tact. I thought Professor Stein would be a drag, but I kind of liked him as the shell-shocked older guy among all these young people. And Lorraine, Firehawk, was great to write. I loved that she had a whole career, a calling that was important to her and that had nothing to do with being a superhero. Sometimes she seemed like the only adult in the whole book.

FF: Just to satisfy my fanboy curiosity, I always had the sense you were leading up to Jason and Doctor Otaki merging to become Firestorm. Was that ever part of your plans?

SM: No, that was never the plan. I can’t remember exactly how she fit in…I think she was just there as one of Jason’s many mentors, somebody who’d been through real bad shit on a level he’d hopefully never know.

FF: Any thoughts about what happened to Gehenna after your Firestorm run and in Blackest Night?

SM: It wasn’t what I’d have done, but that’s fine. When you create characters for company-owned books, they always live on (or die, in this case) after you’re done with them.

FF: In the climatic battle with Tokamak, he said to Jason, “I know why you’re Firestorm”. Jason never uncovered what that meant. Can you tell us anything about that cryptic message?

SM: I did have something in mind for that…after all, it was never really explained why the Firestorm energy chose Jason when Ron Raymond died, though the Earth-8 thing provides a certain justification, now. Anyway, I had an idea for an extended story involving Jason’s ancestry and the origins of life on Earth, little stuff like that. I’m sure there are notes for it around somewhere, which I’ll use for something else. But I deliberately wrote the ending so it could also be read just as Tokamak screwing with him, giving him one final jab.

FF: Why did you leave the Firestorm book?

SM: I left because it was canceled. Then they decided to extend it for three more issues, tying it heavily into some New Gods continuity, and they brought the late, much-missed Dwayne McDuffie on to do those. But the book was already dead.

AFTER YOUR FIRESTORM RUN

FF: You recently had the opportunity to write the Ronnie Raymond/Jason Rusch incarnation of Firestorm in JLA/The 99. What differences did you find writing Firestorm for that mini-series versus your previous Firestorm experience?

SM: I originally thought I’d stay away from that character, leaving those scenes to Fabian (my cowriter), precisely because it WAS so different from the character I’d written. But through circumstance, I wound up writing a lot of those scenes, and I really enjoyed it. Firestorm’s role in JLA/99 kept growing because of his powers — he’s a great team-up player because he’s very mobile, and because he can actually draw members of the other team inside himself.

FF: You’ve written more Jason Rusch stories than any other writer. Any words of advice for Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver, and Yildiray Cinar as they relaunch Firestorm?

SM: Oh god, I wouldn’t presume to give advice. Those guys know what they’re doing. The initial graphics look fantastic.

FF: What comic books are you reading nowadays?

SM: Most of my mainstream work is at Marvel these days, and I read basically everything there by Bendis, Fraction, Millar, lots of other guys I don’t want to offend by forgetting to mention. I’ll read anything by Grant Morrison, whom I’ve known forever. I’ve recently been catching up on SCALPED, THE BOYS, and SCOTT PILGRIM, all of which are absolutely amazing in completely different ways. But I read a lot more prose these days.

FF: Looking back at all the work you’ve amassed during your career, what are you most proud of? What do you consider a high point both personally and creatively?

SM: FIRESTORM is the longest run I’ve had on a company-owned book, and I’m still proud of the character work in particular on that book. My original graphic novels PARA and EARTHLIGHT are both very personal works that I like quite a bit. I also really like the Wolverine stories I’ve written, particularly WOLVERINE #41 (“The Package”), WOLVERINE NOIR, and the UNDER THE BOARDWALK special. But the answer to that question changes every day. I wrote some STARGATE ATLANTIS comics that absolutely no one read — I have scientific proof — but that came out really nicely.

FF: Are there any projects you are currently working on or have coming up?

SM: I’ve just finished up NAMOR at Marvel, which finished off pretty strong, I think. Since then I’ve written a bit of SPIDER-MAN and I’m currently adapting the upcoming JOHN CARTER film into a young adult novel for Disney. In July, I had a WOLVERINE/DEADPOOL: THE DECOY one-shot,  from Marvel, and a sort-of adaptation of the new CONAN film, THE MASK OF ACHERON, from Dark Horse. I have a few original comics projects in development, and I also run a small graphic-novel packaging partnership called Botfriend. I like to keep busy.

FF: What would your dream comic book project be?

SM: I don’t think in terms of ultimates and dreams; but a long-form, creator-owned monthly would be great. Other than that, I’m happy bouncing around.

Thanks to Stuart Moore for generously donating his time to this interview! To keep up with Stuart, check out on his blog, Pensive Mischief, and follow him on Twitter. Be sure to tell him FIRESTORM FAN sent you!  For more on Stuart’s era of Firestorm, click here for a FIRESTORM FAN interview with artist Jamal Igle!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed the interview!

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

]]> http://firestormfan.com/2011/08/17/stuart-moore-interview/feed/ 4 http://firestormfan.com/2011/04/26/blackest-night-2-brightest-day/ http://firestormfan.com/2011/04/26/blackest-night-2-brightest-day/#comments Tue, 26 Apr 2011 09:03:41 +0000 http://firestormfan.com/?p=3459 Tomorrow will see the release of Brightest Day #24, the final issue in the year-long saga.  However, if you really think about it this story began with Blackest Night.  Firestorm fans have their fingers crossed that our hero will exit Brightest Day ready to start a new life of adventure with Ronnie and Jason working together as the Nuclear Man.  Today we’ll look at Firestorm’s long journey to reach this point.  Be sure to hang around to the end as today we’re featuring a blog crossover event!

BACKGROUND

To better understand Firestorm’s role in Blackest Night and Brightest Day, you have to look back a bit further. In Identity Crisis #5 (December 2004), Ronnie Raymond was killed by the Shadow Thief.  It wasn’t a glorious death, it was a simple on-the-job accident.   In Firestorm vol 3 #1 (July 2004), the Firestorm matrix crashed down on Jason Rusch transforming him into the new Firestorm.   While Ronnie’s death and Jason becoming Firestorm happened out of order from the reader’s perspective, it was straightened out within the pages of the comics after a few months.

Jason had a rotating cast of partners join him within the Firestorm matrix; most notably: his best friend Mick Wong, Professor Martin Stein, Firehawk, and his girlfriend Gehenna.  Jason Rusch’s monthly Firestorm series was canceled with issue #35 (June 2007). Jason and Gehenna continued together as Firestorm and eventually joined the JLA in Justice League of America vol 4 #15 (January 2008).  They operated with the team through Justice League of America vol 4 #37 (released September 2009).

SPOILER WARNING – This post contains SPOILERS for Blackest Night #1-8 and Brightest Day #1-23.  You’ve been warned!

BLACKEST NIGHT #0 (released May 2009) through #8 (released April 2010)

Blackest Night was written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Ivan Reis.  Firestorm’s involvement with Blackest Night pre-dated the series itself by months.  In September 2008, Geoff Johns publicly announced that Ronnie Raymond would be a Black Lantern in Blackest Night.  This got the Firestorm fan community buzzing!  It was a long wait for us match-heads until Blackest Night finally hit the stands.

At the beginning of the Blackest Night storyline, Jason and Gehenna visited the grave of Ronnie Raymond with Professor Martin Stein.

Next up we saw Jason and Gehenna struggle as they discussed their relationship.  Gehenna wanted to get married one day and start a family with Jason.  Jason wanted that as well, but at the time he was more concerned with finishing college. It didn’t make it any easier that Gehenna could read his mind when they were merged as Firestorm.  She could sense what Jason was really feeling, regardless of what he said or didn’t say out loud.

While at the Hall of Justice, Firestorm (Jason and Gehenna) and other heroes were ambushed by a collection of Black Lanterns.

One particular Black Lantern was a representation of Ronnie Raymond as Firestorm.  This Black Lantern Firestorm managed to forcibly remove Gehenna from the Firestorm matrix. The Black Lantern then forced Jason to bond with him and watch in horror as he transformed Gen into table salt.

This was an incredibly gruesome scene that resonated with most readers, whether they were a fan of Firestorm or not.   Jason remained trapped in the Black Lantern Firestorm matrix, struggling to free himself.  At the end of Blackest Night, Nekron is destroyed and the White Lantern resurrected twelve deceased heroes and villains.  Ronnie Raymond was among those resurrected.  Apparently with resurrection also come new costumes.  Who knew!?!?

Ronnie didn’t seem to have any memories of events that took place after his death in Identity Crisis, this included his post-death appearances in Firestorm vol 3 and the Black Lantern’s actions in Blackest Night.  Meanwhile, Jason blamed Ronnie for Gehenna’s death.

BRIGHTEST DAY #0 (released April 2010) through #23 (released April 2011)

Brightest Day was written by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi.  The Firestorm related sections were penciled by Scott Clark and inked by Dave Beaty.  For the resurrected characters, Blackest Night led directly into Brightest Day.  Brightest Day began for Firestorm fans at Gehenna’s funeral.  Jason still blamed Ronnie for the death of Gehenna, while Ronnie was acting like an apathetic frat boy.

Jason and Ronnie found themselves stuck together as Firestorm.  Ronnie controlled the body, while Jason served as the telepathic adviser.  Neither Ronnie nor Jason was happy with this situation.  Jason was used to being in control of Firestorm and Ronnie just wanted his life back to normal.  Professor Martin Stein and Ray Palmer, the Atom, stepped forward to help our young heroes.

Ronnie and Jason eventually separated back into their own bodies.  Jason threw himself into his studies, while Ronnie drowned his sorrows in alcohol.  Their grief and frustration were understandable.  The love of Jason’s life had been murdered and he was forced to play a role in the act.  Additionally, Jason felt his control over Firestorm had been ripped away from him.  Meanwhile, Ronnie was coping with the fact that he’d died and someone replaced him as Firestorm.  Additionally, Ronnie remembered the actions of the Black Lantern Firestorm, making Ronnie question whether he truly was responsible for killing Gehenna.

In an effort to save a life, Jason and Ronnie reformed Firestorm.  Needless to say they didn’t work very well together.  Around this time they became aware of a third malignant presence within the Firestorm matrix.  Ronnie and Jason began to understand they were in this dangerous situation together and began to cooperate.

Unexpectedly, the White Lantern assigned Firestorm a mission.  This resulted in Ronnie and Jason switching control positions within the Firestorm body – Jason now controlled the body while Ronnie was the telepathic adviser.  The White Lantern wanted Ronnie and Jason to learn from each other so they’d be prepared to save the White Lantern from the Black Lantern Firestorm.

Soon after the Professor dropped some real bombshells on Jason and Ronnie.  You can read all about it by clicking here, but I’ll do my best to quickly sum it up.   The Professor explained the Firestorm Matrix is the spark that preceded The Big Bang. Yes, THE spark that triggered The Big Bang, the creation of the universe.  Also, the combination of Ronnie and Jason together as Firestorm is highly unstable. Whenever they argue and get agitated, they risk accidentally triggering a new Big Bang.  If they argue, they could destroy the universe.  That’s quite an incentive to play nice.

Immediately following these revelations, the third malignant presence within the Firestorm matrix decided to make an appearance.   The Black Lantern Firestorm emerged from the matrix, literally ripping Firestorm apart.  This separated Ronnie and Jason and knocked them both unconscious.  This was a shocker as all the Black Lanterns were thought destroyed in the conclusion of Blackest Night.  The Black Lantern Firestorm rechristened himself, Deathstorm.  Deathstorm then forced Professor Stein to bond with him.

According to Brightest Day writers Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi, Deathstorm represents the dark and hardcore comic book characters from the 1990s.  That explains his attitude, dialogue, and some of his appearance.

While the appearance of Deathstorm and the subsequent kidnapping of Professor Stein were horrific, it did help clear the air between Jason and Ronnie.  Here was concrete evidence that Deathstorm was responsible for Gehenna’s death and not Ronnie.  With that, the biggest emotional barrier between Jason and Ronnie was lifted.  Ronnie and Jason quickly reformed Firestorm to combat Deathstorm, once again with Ronnie in the driver’s seat and Jason as his co-pilot.

Deathstorm transported Alvin Rusch, Jason’s dad, to the Professors laboratory and forcibly bond with him too.  His goal was to emotionally torture Ronnie and Jason which would hopefully result in a new Big Bang thus destroying the universe.  The doppelganger then retrieved the mysterious White Lantern.  Deathstorm next demonstrated that his transmutation powers were superior to Firestorm’s by transforming organic matter.  Deathstorm created a new squad of Black Lanterns based upon the recently-resurrected twelve heroes and villains.  Click the image below to enlarge.  You’ll notice the image below is an homage to the resurrection scene in Blackest Night #8.

Deathstorm was to deliver the White Lantern to the Anti-Monitor in the Anti-Matter Universe.  Before making the delivery, Deathstorm decided to have some fun and emotionally torture Professor Stein and Alvin Rusch for a while.  What a sick freak!

After a power-surge which they thought would trigger a new Big Bang, Firestorm was transported to the Anti-Matter Universe.  There they found the Anti-Matter trying to unlock the secrets of the White Lantern, along with Deathstorm and his Black Lanterns lackeys.  Firestorm attacked the villains hoping to free Professor Stein and Jason’s dad, and retrieve the White Lantern.   Ronnie and Jason were finally in sync as Firestorm and truly operated as a team.

During the battle, the Anti-Monitor blasted Firestorm forcing Ronnie and Jason to split apart.  Looking to feed off strong emotions, Deathstorm intended to kill Jason the same way he killed Gehenna by turning him into salt.  Ronnie leapt in front of Jason to save him, planning to take the blast himself.  Well apparently being heroic was in the air that day because Professor Stein leapt in front of Ronnie, taking the blast himself.  The Professor was rapidly transmuted into salt, but not before sharing a few heartfelt things with Ronnie.

At this point the White Lantern decided that Firestorm had completed his mission and Ronnie Raymond was declared, “Life Returned.”  Was his life just on loan up until this point?  Does the White Lantern represent some sort of cosmic pawn shop?!?!?  The White Lantern then destroyed the Black Lanterns, returned Firestorm to Earth with the lantern itself, and returned Jason’s dad to Detroit.

Shortly after returning to Earth, the White Lantern explained how it arranged for Ronnie and Jason to witness Professor Stein’s death to help them embrace being Firestorm.  Needless to say this didn’t sit well with Firestorm.  Apparently the White Lantern had been manipulating all the resurrected characters, ultimately leading to this moment.  With little warning, Firestorm was suddenly transformed into a Fire Elemental, along with Aquaman (water), Martian Manhunter (earth), and Hawkman & Hawkgirl (wind).  The elemental’s purpose is to defend the Earth from the Dark Avatar (Black Lantern Swamp Thing).  This was the White Lantern’s plan all along.

And that takes us to the end of Brightest Day #23.  The final issue ships tomorrow to comic book stores, ending this year-long storyline. Love it or hate it, there is no denying that Blackest Night and Brightest Day have been very good for Firestorm’s popularity.  Sure ole match-head has endured serious tragedies such as the death of Gehenna and Professor Stein, but if you look from a real-world perspective Firestorm is more popular than he’s been in decades.  That’s gotta count for something and should translate into more regular adventures for our favorite Nuclear Man.

ELEMENTAL WILD SPECULATION

So Firestorm’s an elemental … again.  Considering he previously spent several years as an elemental, this should feel like old home week for him.  It’s a safe assumption that by the end of Brightest Day (or at the very least the end of Brightest Day Aftermath: The Search for Swamp Thing), these heroes will be returned to their human form.  However, since Swamp Thing looks to become a major player in the DC Universe again, wouldn’t it be interesting if some remnant of the elemental plot carried on?  What if DC decided to continue the elemental concept after Brightest Day, but instead of these mainstream heroes being the elementals, perhaps someone from their back story that has died recently could become new elementals.  For example, what if Professor Martin Stein once again becomes a fire elemental; Tempest becomes a water elemental; D’kay or Dr Erdel’s daughter becomes the earth elemental; and finally Hath-Set or Shiera’s mother becomes the air elemental.  I’m specifying recently deceased characters because that often ties into elemental creation in DC.  I know it’s a crazy idea, but I’m grasping at straws for Professor Stein to stay around. Additionally, Professor Stein reminded the readers in Brightest Day that he was once a fire elemental. Perhaps that was foreshadowing for what comes later.  Again, I know I’m really reaching but a little harmless speculation never hurt anyone.

TODAY’S CROSSOVER

To help get everyone psyched for Brightest Day #24 and to recognize each of the elementals, we’re running a blog crossover today!  First up, enjoy these Silver Age-style fun facts about the elements courtesy of Rob from THE AQUAMAN SHRINE.

Too funny!  I love those!  Thanks, Rob!

Next, be sure to visit our blogging partners and fellow elementals today for their recaps of Brightest Day.

• The Aquaman Shrine
• The Idol-Head of Diabolu, A Martian Manhunter Blog
• Being Carter Hall

My thanks to my blogging buddies for participating in today’s crossover!  While I was already excited for the conclusion of Brightest Day, it’s more fun to celebrate with friends.

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

]]> http://firestormfan.com/2010/12/30/deathstorms-winter-fun/feed/ 0 http://firestormfan.com/2009/12/24/under-the-mistletoe-with-firestorm/ http://firestormfan.com/2009/12/24/under-the-mistletoe-with-firestorm/#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 14:30:06 +0000 http://firestormfan.com/?p=1444 Happy Holidays!  Here is a funny created by Andy C. of the Unique Geek listserv using the Marvel Comic Book Creator.

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

• I guess the biggest news about Firestorm this week is my own.  Gerry Conway, co-creator of Firestorm and writer of the character for nine years, was kind enough to grant an interview for FIRESTORM FAN! He was super nice and extraordinarily generous with his time. Even though Mr. Conway has had an amazing and prolific career, we focused almost exclusively on Firestorm for the interview.  Once I get the audio edited and cleaned-up (read as: edit out tons of my fanboy awestruck ramblings), it should come out to about an hour.  The interview will be posted as an audio file, as it would literally take me months to transcribe the interview.  Watch for this interview in the first part of January to commemorate the one year anniversary of the FIRESTORM FAN blog.
• I want to send a huge THANKS to Tommy from the Bat-Blog, a fantastic blog dedicated to all-things Batman! He was kind enough to give FIRESTORM FAN a shout-out last week. That was super-cool of him! Thanks Tommy!
• While Firestorm doesn’t appear in Justice League of America #39, he is mentioned several times.  Additionally, there is a very creepy scene of Black Lantern Doctor Light licking Gehenna’s transformed head from Blackest Night.  Yuck!

• Over at the Favorite Fiction blog, Marcus McElhaney postulates what would happen if Marvel Comic’s The Sentry fought Firestorm.  He even uses video from the customized Capcom fighting game to make his point.  While I’m not thrilled with the outcome of the fight, it’s still really cool to see it. Watch for Ronnie transforming into Firestorm and listen for sounds from the Super Friends cartoon. Click here to visit the Favorite Fiction blog.

If you can’t view the embedded video above, please click here.

• Over at The Fwoosh, The Knights Round Table created several Green Lantern custom Mego action figures for Custom Con 24.  The Knights Round Table is a customizing community for the 8inch and 9inch cloth scale action figure format.  Here is their Mego scale Black Lantern Firestorm.

• I stumbled across the comic strip below by Fred Hembeck on The Hembeck Files!  It appears it was originally drawn back in 1978, prior to Firestorm vol I getting canceled.

• Finally, a cute Firestorm drawing by Matt Kaufenberg.  Given the hair on Firestorm, I gotta wonder if this was based upon early pictures of the Firestorm Blammoid.  My thanks to BDog for sending this my way.

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• Blackest Night #3 (of 8 ) (shipped on September 16) – We’ve already discussed this issue at great length here.
• Justice League of America #37 (shipped September 23) – The JLA wraps-up their battle with the Royal Flush Gang.  This is the last issue of the current Justice League line-up before James Robinson takes over.  In this one, Jason is paired with Vixen.  He gets to throw a few punches, shoot a number of blasts, and transmute one thing.  Outside of that, not a major spotlight for him.
• Justice League of America 80-Page Giant (shipped September 30) –  In a fun tale, Green Arrow and the Jason Rusch Firestorm end up on a deserted island in 1942. Then a battle between The Bride of Frankenstein and Ra’s Al Ghul erupts in the skies above them. Believe it or not, Green Arrow starts quoting Star Trek’s ideals on disrupting the time/space continuum.  Lots of humor in this one.  Gehenna is used really well in this story.  Funny stuff.
• Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! #6 (of 6) (shipped October 7) – The Jason Rusch Firestorm appears in the final issue of this mini-series as he tries to help take down the Human Flame.  Check out the DC Source blog for some images from this issue.
• Justice League: Cry for Justice #4 (of 6) (shipped October 7) – A really strange cameo that’s got everyone confused.  On the final page of this issue, the “Cry for Justice” Leaguers are confronted by a more traditional JLA team.  Among them appears to be the Ronnie Raymond Firestorm.  Huh?  Speculation ranges from artist mistake to a possible early-leak of the post-Blackest Night Firestorm.  Personally I believe this to be an artist mistake.  Given how closely James Robinson works with Geoff Johns, I doubt Robinson would accidently leak the results of Blackest Night, nor do I believe James Robinson is confused about who Firestorm is currently.

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Okay gang, I’ve given you ample time to read Blackest Night #3.  Issue #4 is scheduled to be released on October 28.  Let’s get down to some speculation about Firestorm’s fate after Blackest Night.

Be warned… there be SPOILERS ahead for Blackest Night #3.

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Okay, you were warned!  Here is what we know…

• There is a Black Lantern Firestorm running around who appears to be Ronnie Raymond
• Jason is trapped inside the body of the Black Lantern Firestorm
• Gehenna is dead, killed at the hands of Black Lantern Firestorm (while Jason was forced to watch/help)
• Professor Martin Stein is no longer missing.  After a couple years missing, he appeared in Blackest Night #1 with no explanation, as if he’d been around for a long time.
• Firestorm is not a member of the new Justice League of America roster.  He may be eventually, but nothing is confirmed and it won’t be for a while.

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So what happens after Blackest Night is all over?

Probably the biggest question right now about Blackest Night is whether these Black Lanterns are actually the spirits of the characters that died, or simply something evil animating their corpses.  My belief is that it’s some evil force taking on characteristics of the characters, but not truly the original characters themselves.  From a storytelling perspective, there is almost no way to redeem characters like Black Lantern Elongated Man or Black Lantern Firestorm for what they’ve done.  So it would make more sense if the Black Lanterns are some evil spirit possessing the deceased heroes’ bodies. Therefore, I don’t believe Black Lantern Firestorm is actually Ronnie Raymond.  However, I do believe the real Ronnie Raymond will return to life through some means during the Blackest Night mini-series.  Not sure how it will happen, but I suspect it will.

Another question, will there be a superhero called Firestorm when this is all over?  I believe so.  Geoff Johns (writer of Blackest Night) is a fan of Firestorm and I believe part of the reason he’s breaking down Firestorm is so that he can rebuild him better than ever.  Additionally, there have been rumors of Geoff Johns writing a secondary JLA monthly book sometime in 2010.  Given Johns’ interest in Firestorm and the major role he’s playing in Blackest Night, it would make sense if Firestorm is a member of Johns’ JLA (whatever incarnation of Firestorm comes out of Blackest Night).

So if there will be a new-improved Firestorm, who will it be?  Here are a few possibilities:

• A merger of Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond.  If this happens, its possible Jason and Ronnie could alternate who is in charge of the Firestorm body, thus changing the appearance of Firestorm back and forth between the current Firestorm and the classic Firestorm.  This may sound far-fetched, but they did it in the early issues of Firestorm vol III when Ronnie and Jason were merged for a brief period.  Additionally, from a business sense DC/Mattel is releasing three Firestorm action figures coming up – two in the classic look, one in the current look.  Since they’ve got new figures planned for both likenesses it seems feasible that both would be used in the comics as well.
• A merger of Jason Rusch and Professor Martin Stein, similar to their partnership in Firestorm vol III just before One Year Later.
• A merger of Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein.  A return of the classic Firestorm.
• A merger of Jason Rusch, Ronnie Raymond, and Professor Martin Stein.  A bit unwieldy, but possible.
• Two separate beings called Firestorm.  These two beings would be made up of some combination of Jason Rusch, Ronnie Raymond, and Professor Martin Stein.  This also seems unlikely, but Geoff Johns has been a long supporter of multiple superheroes with the same name.  He’s been working on Green Lantern and Flash for years, and he recently introduced a second Wildcat in JSA.  So it seems possible that Geoff Johns wouldn’t be opposed to having two Firestorms running around the DCU.  Alternatively, one of the beings could be named Firestorm while the other being could be named “Phoebus”.  Phoebus was a character in Kingdom Come identified as “Earth’s newest fire elemental after Firestorm.”   Geoff Johns’ spent a couple years paying homage to Kingdom Come in his final JSA run.  So it seems possible that Johns might take ideas from Kingdom Come when rebuilding Firestorm.

I’m sure there are more possibilities, but those are the ones that spring to mind right away. Personally, I think the post-Blackest Night Firestorm will be Jason Rusch merged with Ronnie Raymond.  I’d much prefer Jason merged with Professor Martin Stein, but I don’t think that is going to happen.

Share your thoughts here in the comments.  What do you think will happen?  For additional speculative discussion, you may wish to visit the Firestorm forum over on the DC Comics Message Board.

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