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Okay, we’re three issues into Brightest Day and we’re starting to get a picture of what’s happening with Firestorm.  I’ll start with what we know, then let’s delve into speculation on where it’s going.

THE FACTS

• Jason Rusch’s girlfriend Gehenna, formerly one-half of Firestorm, was murdered by the Black Lantern Firestorm.  The Black Lantern Firestorm claimed to be the resurrected Ronnie Raymond.
• Later, Ronnie Raymond was resurrected by the light of the White Lantern with no recollection of the Black Lantern’s activities.  Ronnie quickly resumed his college partying lifestyle.
• Jason and Ronnie don’t get along.  Ronnie is coping with the fact that he died and came back, as well as that someone else has had control of the Firestorm matrix.  Meanwhile, Jason blames Ronnie for the death of Gehenna.
• When Ronnie and Jason touched in Blackest Night #0, they fused into Firestorm.  They have been unable to separate into their own individual bodies since.  They are stuck fused as Firestorm.  Ronnie currently controls the body while Jason is able to advise telepathically.
• Ray Palmer, the Atom, shrank and entered Firestorm’s body in hopes of “disarming” the Firestorm matrix.  He commented that Firestorm’s flames are no longer just for show and that it was nearly 1,000 degrees inside his body.    When the Atom arrived at the Firestorm matrix, we saw three electrons circling the nucleus.  Two electrons were bright yellow, the third was a dark gray.
• While waiting for the Atom to finish inside their body, Ronnie heard another voice telepathically that goaded him into an argument with Jason. Their body then suffered a very explosive reaction.
• At the same time Ronnie and Jason are arguing, black tendrils begin to reach out from the Firestorm matrix towards the Atom.
• The cover of Brightest Day #4 features Black Lantern Firestorm.

SPECULATION

• It seems a safe bet that the dark gray electron in the Firestorm matrix represents the Black Lantern Firestorm.  Somehow the Black Lantern Firestorm has survived inside the matrix.  That would explain the voice Ronnie heard which caused the argument with Jason.  That would explain the black tendrils chasing the Atom.
• It also seems a safe bet that the Black Lantern Firestorm will take control of the body, which would explain the cover to Brightest Day #4.
• What I’m left wondering is what exactly is the Black Lantern Firestorm.  Is it a dark reflection of Ronnie?  Is it now a dark reflection of Gehenna (which would be pretty clever)?  Is it simply a random malicious entity?
• It also seems logical that the existence of the Black Lantern Firestorm will absolve Ronnie in the blame of Gehenna’s murder.  Jason may remain uncomfortable around Ronnie, he won’t be able to blame Ronnie directly for the death of his girlfriend any longer.
• Without Nekron or the Anti-Monitor-powered black battery, where is Black Lantern Firestorm getting his power from?
• Once all this business with the Black Lantern Firestorm is finished, who will be in the matrix?  I gotta believe the Ronnie/Jason combination will be Firestorm for the foreseeable future.
• With the mention that Firestorm’s flames weren’t just for show anymore, are they going to incorporate some of the Elemental Firestorm concepts into this version?
• There was a panel in Brightest Day #1 featuring several incarnations of Firestorm.  Perhaps that was foreshadowing (along with the temperature comment) that the current Firestorm will be an amalgam of all previous versions.  That was Geoff Johns’ move with Hawkman in JSA, so it wouldn’t surprise me if he did it here with the Nuclear Man.  See my analysis below of that panel.

• The top left Firestorm was patterned after the Al Milgrom cover to Firestorm volume I #1.  This would represent the classic Firestorm.

• The bottom left Firestorm was patterned after the Matt Haley cover to Firestorm volume III #8.  This would represent the early days of Jason Rusch as Firestorm.

• The center Black Lantern Firestorm appears to be patterned after the Ethan Van Sciver variant cover to Blackest Night #3.  If you look closely at Black Lantern Firestorm’s face, you can see the similarities.

• The bottom right Firestorm was patterned after the Tom Grindberg cover to Firestorm volume II #85.  However, they used the coloring from the later Tom Mandrake issues.  This would represent the Elemental Firestorm.

• I believe the top right Firestorm was patterned after the Steve Lightle cover to Extreme Justice #8.  While the facial expression is different and the pose is reversed, the coloring on the headgear is consistent.  This is the only drawing I’ve ever seen where the classic Firestorm has yellow accents on his headgear.  If so, this drawing would represent the years Ronnie flew solo with the Firestorm matrix.

• This leaves the “Blank Slate” era as the only major incarnation not represented.  It’s possible the top right panel represents the “Blank Slate” era of Firestorm, but I can’t think of a corresponding scene.

So what do you think is going to happen with Firestorm in Brightest Day?

Just a final note, my favorite scene in all of Brightest Day so far is the panel below:

“Just take care of these boys.”  Instead, Martin may as well have said, “Just take care of my boys.”  After all Ronnie and Jason are like sons to him.  Some people may not realize that in comic book time, Jason spent a year working with Professor Stein as Firestorm.  This was during the One Year Later timeframe.  Love this panel!

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This first piece from 1977 consists of early character designs Al worked on for Ronnie Raymond and Doreen Day prior to Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol I #1.  Ronnie looks a little like Snapper Carr and Rick Jones in these early rough sketches. The rough sketch of Doreen in the winter clothes is pretty consistent with the way she was dressed in #1.

Here are some early character designs for Professor Martin Stein and Cliff Carmichael.  The Professor is pretty much spot-on for his final look.  For Cliff, I love that shot of him in the wife-beater smoking a cigarette.  It shows his nerdy side, but also demonstrates that he can be a wiry tough guy.

Next up are the first three pages from the unpublished Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol I #7.  You may recall we displayed the unpublished cover to Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol I #6 a while back.  Additionally, you can read the entire unpublished issue #6 online.  However, very little is known about Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol I #7.  The end of issue #6 boldly proclaimed, “Next Issue: The Reptile Man!”  From the FIRESTORM FAN interview with Gerry Conway we know that “The Reptile Man” was most likely intended to be Killer Croc.  However, since that issue was never published, Gerry instead introduced the character as a Batman villain.

The first page below was published previously in Back Issue Magazine #20.  This was the splash page for Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol I #7.  The subsequent two pages are being presented for the first time ever here at FIRESTORM FAN.  In these pages you can see Professor Martin Stein’s subconscious is haunting him with images of Firestorm.  At this time the Professor was unaware of the part he played in the Firestorm composite being.  He simply thought he was suffering from blackouts.  I love page three especially!  The art is so amazing you don’t require any dialogue or narration to understand it perfectly.  Click pages 2 & 3 to enlarge.

Finally, we’ve got one more never-before-seen piece.  This is a great general image of Firestorm.  Al wasn’t sure if this was originally intended as a rough design for the cover of Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol I #1, a Who’s Who entry, or possibly an in-house ad.  Regardless, it’s a great looking piece of Ronnie, the Professor, and Firestorm!

My thanks again to Al for this wonderful opportunity!

In addition to co-creating Firestorm, Al Milgrom is well known for his ten-year run as editor of Marvel Fanfare; his long involvement as writer, penciller, and inker on Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man; his four-year tenure as West Coast Avengers penciller; his long stint as the inker of X-Factor; and much, much more.  For a complete list of his works, visit the Comic Book DB.  Al has created an amazing volume of work and stays busy even nowadays.  If you are a fan of Al Milgrom’s work, there are opportunities for commissions.  Be sure to check out THE ARTISTS CHOICE for all the details on Al Milgrom commissioned sketches.

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I contacted Al and commissioned an original drawing of our favorite hot-head for FIRESTORM FAN.  Al not only accepted the commission, he also provided me with scans of some exclusive and rarely-seen Firestorm artwork.  One of those images was the cover for the unpublished Firestorm the Nuclear Man #6.  Keep watching FIRESTORM FAN in the near future for further Al Milgrom gems.

Here is Al Milgrom’s original Firestorm drawing done especially for FIRESTORM FAN…

It’s a thing of beauty, isn’t it.  Al did an amazing job on this drawing.  Everything looks perfect: the costume, the face, the motion of flying, the rich shadows… it’s just awesome.  Over 30 years since he helped create the character and he still draws it gorgeously.  Thanks, Al!

One of the greatest rewards of doing this blog has been reaching out to the writers and artists that have worked on Firestorm.  Everyone has been so friendly and generous with their time.  Finding out how cool these folks are makes me proud to be promoting their creative work and reaffirms my love for Firestorm comics.

In addition to co-creating Firestorm, Al Milgrom is well known for his ten-year run as editor of Marvel Fanfare; his long involvement as writer, penciller, and inker on Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man; his four-year tenure as West Coast Avengers penciller; his long stint as the inker of X-Factor; and much, much more.  For a complete list of his works, visit the Comic Book DB.  Al has created an amazing volume of work and stays busy even nowadays.  If you are a fan of Al Milgrom’s work, there are opportunities for commissions.  Be sure to check out THE ARTISTS CHOICE for all the details on Al Milgrom commissioned sketches.

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While working as a nuclear scientist at the “Atomic Institute”, Barry Dale absorbs the “power of the atom” through unconscious exposure to nuclear materials and gains superpowers as a result. As described by Barry himself: “Evidently my body is so geared as a result of working on radium and uranium that it can explode atoms and give me atomic strength.” He uses his new abilities — such as super strength, flight, speed, invulnerability, “atomic vision”, and the ability to heat his body so that he can weld metal with his hands — to fight crime.

Atoman was created by Golden Age writer Jerry Robinson and artists Mort Meskin for Spark Publications in 1946.  He managed to last a whole two issues in his own series before vanishing.  He reappeared in 1950 as the recolored Atomaster in one issue of New World Comics from Metropolitan Publishing Company.

After reading through this you gotta ask yourself, was the creation of Firestorm influenced by Atoman?  Personally, I think not.  If you listen to Gerry Conway’s thoughts on creating Firestorm, there is really no connection to a character like Atoman.  Firestorm’s ancestry lies more with Spider-Man than it does with a forgotten Golden Age hero. Also, Atoman is just one of a large number of atomic-based heroes from the Golden Age (i.e. Atomic Man, Atomic Thunderbolt, etc).

In regard to the costume, I think it’s the same as the similarities between Firestorm’s and Iron Man’s costume.  Given that red and yellow are primary colors, it’s not surprising to find costumes using these colors in similar ways. There are only so many combinations and in comics it’s quite common to see the torso piece of a superhero suit contrast with the leggings and sleeves.  Interestingly enough yellow and red was apparently the standard uniform for nuclear-powered heroes back in the day: Atoman, Firestorm, Captain Atom (during his original Charlton years), Doctor Solar: Man of the Atom (from Gold Key in the 1960s), and  Nukla (from Dell comics in the 1960s).

In conclusion, I think this is an interesting coincidence but nothing more.  We Firestorm Fans should honor Atoman as an atomic hero that came before, but not as a direct ancestor of our favorite nuclear man.  My thanks to Bob from UnderMountain for sending me information recently on Atoman.

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If you haven’t listened to part one of the interview, please click here.  As I mentioned the other day, Gerry was absolutely wonderful to talk with. I really appreciate how generous he was with his time. We talked for roughly 80 minutes about Firestorm’s creation, artists, the writing process, creator rights, the DC Implosion, merchandise, where the character has journeyed since his involvement, and much more!

Gerry and I spoke so long, I had to break the interview into two parts. The first part ran about 50 minutes long, while this second part runs about 30 minutes.

You may play part two of the interview right here on the FIRESTORM FAN site with the handy-dandy player below! I apologize for not offering the interview in text format, but transcribing an interview that long would have taken months.

Alternatively, you may download the file and listen to it on an MP3 player or your computer. You may download part two of the interview by right-clicking here, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (28.5 MB).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the interview. To keep up with Gerry, be sure to check him out on Twitter and Facebook.

If that’s still not enough Gerry Conway Firestorm action for you, then check out Back Issue Magazine.  Gerry along with several others did a fantastic interview about Firestorm for Back Issue magazine three years ago. If you haven’t read it, issue #20 of Back Issue is available as a digital download from TwoMorrows Publishing. The PDF is only $2.95, so go check it out!

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Gerry Conway was one of the most prolific comic book writers of the 1970s and 80s.  His writing credits go on for miles! He’s probably best known for co-creating the Punisher and scripting the death of Gwen Stacy in the Amazing Spider-Man.  He also wrote for and produced such TV series as Law & Order and Diagnosis Murder.  Back in 1977, Gerry created Firestorm the Nuclear Man along with artist Al Milgrom.  Gerry continued to write the character of Firestorm for about nine years.  Gerry recently returned to comics after an almost 20 year absence with the insightful mini-series, The Last Days of Animal Man.

Gerry is a true professional and a joy to talk with. I really appreciate how generous he was with his time. We talked for roughly 80 minutes about Firestorm’s creation, artists, the writing process, creator rights, the DC Implosion, merchandise, where the character has journeyed since his involvement, and much more!

Given that we talked for so long, I’ve opted to break the interview into two parts.  The first part runs about 50 minutes long, while the second part runs about 30 minutes and will be available here later this week (UPDATE – part two is available now by clicking here).

You may play part one of the interview right here on the FIRESTORM FAN site with the handy-dandy player below! I apologize for not offering the interview in text format, but transcribing an interview that long would have taken months.

Alternatively, you may download the file and listen to it on an MP3 player or your computer. You may download part one of the interview by right-clicking here, choosing “Save Target/Link As”, and selecting a location on your computer to save the file (48.6 MB).

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy the interview. To keep up with Gerry, be sure to check him out on Twitter and Facebook.

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• 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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Al Milgrom, co-creator of Firestorm and artist on Firestorm vol I, recently sent me a scan of the unpublished cover to Firestorm vol I #6.  He drew the cover back in 1978, but it hasn’t been published until now.  This is a real treat, folks!  For the first time, we get to see a “new” piece of Firestorm art that’s been missing for 30 years drawn by the co-creator .  This is the Holy Grail of Firestorm artwork!  I can’t thank Mr. Milgrom enough for this opportunity!

FIRESTORM FAN.com proudly presents the cover to the unpublished Firestorm vol I #6:

Isn’t it awesome?!?!   As you can tell, this issue was intended to be Typhoon’s first appearance.  I’m really impressed with Mr. Milgrom’s usage of black in this piece. It creates a very dynamic environment.  You can really see the storm whipping around the marina.    If you take the time to look, there are lots of neat details in this piece.  From the expressions of the innocent bystanders, to the ship labeled “S.S. Milgrom”.  Firestorm looks fantastic and I love the atomic glow on his right hand!  This is truly a Milgrom gem.  Possibly the best cover from Firestorm vol I.

After studying this cover for a while, I found myself wondering what the final version would have looked like.  What colors would they have chosen and what would it look like with the logo dropped in?  So I decided to try my hand at digitally coloring this cover.  I don’t claim to be a colorist of any sort, but I thought this would be a fun project. In an attempt to be authentic, I studied other colorist styles of the time.  Doesn’t look 100% authentic, but I got it as close as possible.  If issue #6 had been published, it’s possible the cover would have looked something like this:

My thanks again to Mr. Milgrom for this opportunity!

In addition to co-creating Firestorm, Al Milgrom is well known for his ten-year run as editor of Marvel Fanfare; his long involvement as writer, penciller, and inker on Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man; his four-year tenure as West Coast Avengers penciller; his long stint as the inker of X-Factor; and much, much more.  For a complete list of his works, visit the Comic Book DB.  Mr. Milgrom’s has created an amazing volume of work and stays busy even nowadays.  If you are a fan of Mr. Milgrom’s work, there are opportunities for commissions.  Be sure to check out THE ARTISTS CHOICE for all the details on Al Milgrom commissioned sketches.

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The original Killer Frost (Dr. Crystal Frost) premiered in Firestorm vol I #3 (1978) and died in The Fury of Firestorm vol II #21 (1984).  After Frost’s death, her good friend Dr. Louise Lincoln recreated the conditions that turned Crystal Frost into Killer Frost.  Lincoln was imbued with the same powers and became Killer Frost II in The Fury of Firestorm the Nuclear Man #34 (1985).  In 1995, Killer Frost II made a deal with the demon Neron which granted her even greater power.  Since then, Killer Frost has appeared in numerous places across the DC Universe (i.e. Green Lantern, Suicide Squad, Villains United, Salvation Run, Justice League of America, and even the Justice League Unlimited cartoon).  I won’t delve further into her history as the encyclopedic entries below will cover that better than I could.

Below is the cover for the original Killer Frost’s first appearance (June 1978).  Art by Al Milgrom.  Writers often use the “opposites attract” nature of hot and cold to create sexual tension between Firestorm and Killer Frost.  This helps to make their ongoing encounters more interesting.

Below is the Killer Frost entry from Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #12 (February 1986). The art in the entry below is by Al Milgrom, co-creator of Firestorm and artist on Firestorm vol I. This particular issue of Who’s Who was published around the same time as The Fury of Firestorm the Nuclear Man vol II #45, so information presented was current to that point.

If you are interested in reading the text, click to enlarge the image.

Below is the fantastic cover to Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #12 (February 1986).  I love that Killer Frost plays such an important part in the cover image. Art by Paris Cullins (of Blue Devil fame) and Dick Giordano.  Click to enlarge the image.

The entry below was published in DK’s DC Comics Encyclopedia, Updated and Expanded Edition (September 2008).  The Killer Frost entry was written by Scott Beatty.

The piece below comes from the DC Heroes Role-Playing Game second edition produced by Mayfair Games in 1989.  Specifically this came from the “Background/Roster Book”.  This wasn’t the first time Mayfair produced stats for Killer Frost, but these are the updated ones as her first edition stats were changed.

Finally we’ve got the Killer Frost Heroclix from Wizkids released in 2004 as part of the DC Unleashed set.  HeroClix is a collectible miniatures game in which players construct teams of heroes and villains to play out a battle turn-by-turn on a grid map.  This figure looks great!  The translucent blue really makes her stand out.  Nicely done, Wizkids!

That’s it for our first installment of the Firestorm Rogues Gallery!  Be sure to come back later this week for more on Killer Frost.

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We’ll label today’s lesson Experiment #1.2a.  Always use the Scientific Method to ensure the most accurate results. Now remember kids, don’t try this at home without parental supervision.

SCIENTIFIC METHOD

1. Ask a question: One of our high school students, Ronnie Raymond, has a question he’d like answered.  Ronnie asks, “Do superpowers impress girls?”  Good question, Ronnie.  Why don’t you lead us through your experiment.

2. Do background research: Ummm… Ronnie’s a bit impulsive.  He didn’t really do this step.  Additionally, he ignored Professor Martin Stein’s advice on the subject.

3. Write a hypothesis: Ronnie’s hypothesis is, “Foxy ladies totally dig superpowers.”

4. Test with an experiment: Ronnie chose a rather unique way to test his hypothesis by transmuting a discarded newspaper into a bouquet of plastic flowers.

5. Analyze data and draw a conclusion: Based upon data collected, Ronnie’s conclusion is that superpowers are so intoxicating to women that they simply pass out when confronted with them.

There you have it class.  Conclusive evidence that girls are impressed by superpowers.

A+ for Ronnie!

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