I never grow tired of Hembeck! I adored his work in Marvel Age and the DC Comics strips on the “Daily Planet” pages! Joy!

Click here for some other fun Fred Hembeck Firestorm art! Also, Mr. Hembeck is available for commission work (he even does sketch cards starting at $10 a piece)! Click here for details!

Support Firestorm (and Fred Hembeck)! Fan the flame!

Match-head Nico Lizarraga sent me a scan of a Hembeck Firestorm sketch card he acquired a while ago. Love it!

For some other fun Fred Hembeck Firestorm art, click here and click here! Also, visit Fred Hembeck’s website by clicking here.

Support Firestorm (and Fred Hembeck)! Fan the flame!

So cleverly done, with so many in-jokes too! I’m am flattered and completely humbled by the guys putting this together for me.  THANK YOU, XUM & MICHAEL!

You can keep up with Xum on his website and on Twitter; while you can keep up with Michael on his website and Twitter.

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

I love this soooo much! It’s even funnier as this Firestorm fought the Golden Age Aquaman! My thanks to Xum for sharing this super-fun piece with us!

Support Firestorm (and Xum Yukinori)! Fan the flame!

One story within Justice League #39 features Typhoon vs Aquaman & Red Tornado! Great match-up with wind and water on each side!

Another story within the issue is a seven-page adaption of of DC Comics Presents #17 featuring Superman & Firestorm vs Killer Frost!

So much fun! I love that these comics were spawned by Russell’s disappointment in modern comics. Such a positive and creative way to respond! Be sure to head over to Russell’s website to read the entire comic, which includes other adventures with Martian Manhunter, John Stewart, Wonder Woman, Hawkman & Hawkwoman, Batgirl, Elongated Man, and even The Warlord!

Support Firestorm (and Lil’ Russell Burbage)! Fan the flame!

To be perfectly clear, this is not a bashing of Alex Ross. I love, LOVE, L-O-V-E his artwork and would be thrilled to see Firestorm fully-rendered by such a masterful artist! It’s just disappointing we haven’t had that opportunity.

Alex Ross began his professional comic book career 25 years ago. In that quarter century he’s rendered the Justice League dozens and dozens of times; and yet he’s only rendered Firestorm once. Just once. And to be specific, that one time he was painting over George Perez’s pencils, so Ross didn’t have a choice about which characters to render.

Alex Ross has demonstrated his love of the Satellite Era Justice League on numerous occasions, yet Firestorm has never crept into any of those renderings. As Firestorm was the final member of the Satellite Era League, you’d think he’d be included. Heck, Ross often includes other heroes from DC’s pantheon that weren’t even members of the Satellite League (i.e. Plastic Man, Captain Marvel, & Metamorpho).

As a fan of Firestorm (a.k.a. Match-head), you can’t help but feel disappointed.

I’ve been researching the lack of Firestorm rendered by Alex Ross for years. While I don’t have a concrete answer, I have some circumstantial evidence worth considering.

Exhibit A: We know Alex Ross is interested in the Silver Age versions of DC’s heroes. Below you’ll find an excerpt from an interview with Ross conducted back in 2004 by The AV Club of The Onion. Click here to read the entire interview.

The Onion: Looking at your work, Bruce Timm’s animated series, Alan Moore’s America’s Best Comics line, and, to a certain extent, Grant Morrison’s run on JLA, there seem to have been efforts to return to a Silver Age approach. Even Superman’s dog Krypto is back.

Alex Ross: What you have is a bunch of 40-year-olds and thirtysomethings like myself. We grew up with this stuff thinking of it a certain way, and we’re rejecting what was kind of knocked around on us the last few years. Basically, what still is going on in modern continuity, especially at DC Comics, is a rejection of everything they did in the 1990s to compete with the then-hip-and-happening changes coming from the more tumultuous time of what Marvel and then Image comics did. We’re sort of in a repairing stage. Those of us who are kind of these Silver Age purists who think you don’t need to fix what isn’t broken, we’re getting our way because more of us are in control at the moment.

Exhibit B: We know Alex Ross and Paul Dini made a conscious decision about which members of the JLA to feature in their gorgeous treasury-sized, JLA: Secret Origins and JLA: Liberty and Justice. Below is an excerpt from an interview with Paul Dini printed in the back of JLA: Secret Origins.

Exhibit C: From JLA: Secret Origins, here is a preliminary sketch for a series of panels including Firestorm, followed by the final version of those panels without Firestorm. Notice the JLA Satellite panel width is expanded to accommodate the missing Firestorm panel. Most importantly, notice the Firestorm commentary on the bottom right of the sketch.

There it is Match-heads, the strongest evidence for Alex Ross’s aversion to Firestorm.

“Firestorm? No! Iris Allen is dead when he shows up”

We don’t know if that note was written by Alex Ross or Paul Dini, but regardless it played a role in their decision to exclude Firestorm from JLA: Secret Origins and JLA: Liberty and Justice. I believe I understand where they are coming from with that decision. Some people consider the death of Iris Allen to be the beginning of darker storytelling for the DC heroes. It occurred in the middle of the Bronze Age, as comics marched towards the “Modern Age”. Or perhaps Ross and Dini prefer the Flash before he suffered the tragedy of losing his wife. If Ross doesn’t want to stray into the “darker” era of DC Comics, then that’s a reasonable cut-off point. Putting this on a timeline, Firestorm was created prior to the death of Iris Allen, but he hadn’t joined the JLA yet.

• Firestorm first premiered: Firestorm The Nuclear Man #1 (cover dated March 1978)
• Iris Allen is murdered: The Flash #275 (cover dated July 1979)
• Firestorm joins the JLA: Justice League of America #179 (cover dated June 1980)

In case you are wondering, Zatanna was the second-to-last member added to the Satellite Era JLA. Since Ross typically includes Zatanna, I checked and sure enough she joined the JLA in Justice League of America #161 (cover dated December 1978), seven months before the death of Iris Allen. Though if you want to get nit-picky, Zatanna wasn’t wearing her classic stage magician’s costume while she was with the JLA during this era. I imagine Ross overlooks that fact in favor of Zatanna’s most iconic costume.

Exhibit D: We can accept that Alex Ross may only want to draw the Satellite Era JLA as they appeared prior to the death of Iris Allen. However, Ross has rendered a few modern day JLA pieces, each lacking a certain Nuclear Man. Below you’ll find team shots including latter-day JLA additions, such as: Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Mister Miracle, Big Barda, Orion, Lightray, John Stewart, Hawkgirl, Geo-Force, Vixen, Black Lightning, and Red Arrow. Was the exclusion of Firestorm intentional or simply a case of circumstance?

Summary of Findings: Evidence indicates Alex Ross prefers to render the Satellite Era Justice League as they appeared prior to the death of Iris West; therefore, no Firestorm. The lack of Firestorm’s inclusion in Ross’s modern day JLA work is inconclusive.

Final Verdict: Does Alex Ross hate Firestorm? I don’t think there is enough evidence to confirm or deny this statement. However, 25 years in the comics industry with a reputation for rendering the JLA and he’s only drawn Firestorm once? It certainly seems to indicate a lack of interest in the character.

With all this said, I still love Alex Ross’s work! To keep up with Alex, follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and his website!

I’m not the only one wondering about Alex Ross’s aversion to Firestorm. Check out Dale Bagwell’s blog post on this very concern!

Support Firestorm (and Alex Ross)! Fan the Flame!

Check out this post-it note Firestorm sketch by Todd from his Facebook page at the end of 2014! Love it!

Such a great artist! For further Todd Nauck Firestorm artwork, click here!

If you want to meet Todd in person, attend the Emerald City Comic Con on March 27-29, 2015! Find him in Artist Alley at table EE-01. If you are interested in keeping up with Todd online, visit him on: Twitter, Facebook, deviantART, Instagram, Tumblr, and his own website! Tell him FIRESTORM FAN sent you!

Support Firestorm (and Todd Nauck)! Fan the flame!

Be sure to follow Kevin Maguire on Facebook, Twitter, and his website.

Support Firestorm (and Kevin Maguire)! Fan the flame!

If you’re not familiar with Luke Daab, he’s an artist, a writer, a musician and a puppeteer. Luke has created artwork for McDonald’s restaurants, Star Wars, DC Comics, Transformers, Kung Fu Panda, and more! We’ve featured a handful of Luke’s fantastic artworks previously – click here to see (and hear) more. You can support Luke via his Patreon page.

Support Firestorm! Fan the flame!

THE FLASH Season 1, Episode 13 Description; “The Nuclear Man”
ROBBIE AMELL AND VICTOR GARBER GUEST STAR AS FIRESTORM — After Ronnie (Robbie Amell) attacks a physicist (Bill Dow), Barry (Grant Gustin) and the team realize they need to go after Caitlin’s (Danielle Panabaker) fiancé who is now a dangerous meta-human. They deduce the best way to track Ronnie is to find Dr. Martin Stein (guest star Victor Garber) who was working on a project called F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. Barry struggles to balance his duties as The Flash and his relationship with Linda Park (Malese Jow), and Joe (Jesse L. Martin) enlists Cisco’s (Carlos Valdes) help to reinvestigate the murder of Nora Allen (Michelle Harrison). General Eiling (Clancy Brown) returns to Central City. Glen Winter directed the episode written by Andrew Kreisberg & Katherine Walczak.

THE FLASH Season 1, Episode 14 Description; “Fallout”
GENERAL EILING TARGETS FIRESTORM — After the nuclear explosion separates Ronnie (guest star Robbie Amell) and Dr. Stein (guest star Victor Garber), Barry (Grant Gustin) and the team believe both men are safe. Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) is thrilled to have her fiancé back and prepares to resume their life together while Dr. Stein returns to his wife. However, when General Eiling (guest star Clancy Brown) targets Firestorm, Ronnie and Dr. Stein must decide if they are safer together or apart. Meanwhile, Mason Bridge (guest star Roger Hayworth) tells Iris (Candice Patton) that there is something secretive going on at S.T.A.R. Labs and Dr. Stein gives Barry some important information about time travel. Steve Surjik directed the episode written by Keto Shimizu & Ben Sokolowski.

Outrageous! Exciting times ahead for us Match-heads! Speaking of The Flash and Firestorm, check this super-fun drawing by Luke Daab! If you’re not familiar with Luke Daab, he’s an artist, a writer, a musician and a puppeteer. Luke has created artwork for McDonald’s restaurants, Star Wars, DC Comics, Transformers, Kung Fu Panda, and more! We’ve featured a handful of Luke’s fantastic artworks previously – click here to see (and hear) more. You can support Luke via his Patreon page.

Finally, my thanks to Jenn Fujikawa for featuring our own FIRESTORM FAN website in her recent article for The Nerdist! Yes, that’s right, Firestorm Fan was mentioned on The Nerdist website! Does that mean we’ve finally “made it”?!?!

Jenn wrote a fun article for their Home Geekonomics series recapping some unique ways fans have shown their Firestorm fandom. In addition to writing, Jenn is also an awesome geeky baker! Check out the article, then show Jenn some support on Twitter, her recipe website, and her design website!

Support Firestorm (and Luke Dabb and Jenn Fujikawa)! Fan the Flame!