Created by Stuart Moore & Jamal Igle in FIRESTORM #14 (August 2005), Dr. Phaedon is an ill-tempered scientist working for STAR Labs specializing in nanotechnology and miniaturization. When we first meet him, he works for STAR Labs Detroit, and later STAR Labs San Francisco. And the STAR Labs Detroit office is hilariously low rent! I love that they worked in the STAR Labs sloping front into a shopping center facade — Bwah-ha-ha!! Beneath the dentist and Pizza Tent on the marquee too! LOL!

The Detroit office is small, so they combine anti-gravity technology with office space efficiency! Clever!

Because of the anti-gravity work stations, Dr Phaedon always wears a belt with flying jets. He’s also always seen with magnifying tech goggles, usually resting on his forehead.

Dr Phaedon is probably best known for his stormy relationship with his wife, Nanette. They often argue openly in the STAR Labs office. Usually the arguments are about money, or that STAR Labs Detroit was laying off all their employees. Nanette is furious with her husband and STAR Labs. It’s worth noting that Phaedon is really an unpleasant and brusque guy, bordering upon rude. No wonder his wife hates him. In a private conversation with Dr Phaedon’s boss, Jason Rusch referred to Dr Phaedon as a “tool” (and the boss agreed with him).

While in the San Francisco office, one of the arguments between Dr Phaedon and his wife gets out of hand. In his anger, Dr Phaedon blasts her with some tech that accidentally miniaturizes Nanette. While shrunken inside the computers, Nanette begins sabotaging STAR Labs systems. Then in her miniature state, she helps defeat an OMAC that is terrorizing the STAR Labs San Francisco office. Husband and wife begin to make amends, but Nanette abandons him when it was over with OMAC.

To see Dr. Allen Phaedon in animation, be sure to check out the new YOUNG JUSTICE: OUTSIDERS season over on DC UNIVERSE!

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Each design is gorgeous and exploding with creativity! These are so cool, I hope CrissCross re-purposes these designs elsewhere. I love them all, but if I had to pick a favorite for Firestorm, I’d probably go with Version 7. How about you?

Starting with version #5 below, you’ll notice CrissCross references Jim Lee’s Firestorm designs. I’m guessing he’s referring to Jim Lee’s designs from 2003 that later appeared in Wizard Magazine. Click here to see Jim Lee’s designs.

Wow! Some truly amazing designs!  My thanks to CrissCross for allowing me to present them here. Be sure to visit CrissCross on his blog, Facebook, and Twitter!

My thanks to Abel Padilla for bringing these to my attention. THANKS!

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ESSENTIAL FIRESTORM READING:

Ronnie Raymond & Professor Martin Stein

• Firestorm The Nuclear Man 1-5 (1978): Firestorm’s earliest adventures. Collected
• DC Comics Presents 17 (1980): Firestorm returns to action with Superman & receives an invitation. Collected
• The Flash 289-299, 301-303 (1980-1981): Firestorm 8 page back-up stories. Partially Collected
• Fury of Firestorm 1-9 (1982-1983): Firestorm’s most successful run. Fun stories!
• Fury of Firestorm 14-18; Fury of Firestorm Annual 1 (1983): Excellent story introducing Firehawk and Tokamak. My personal favorite!

Jason Rusch

• Firestorm 1-3 (2004): The origin of Jason as Firestorm Available Digitally
• Firestorm 8-13 (2005): Jason teams-up with Firehawk and … deceased Ronnie Raymond? Partially Collected
• Firestorm The Nuclear Man 28-32 (2006-2007): Jason and Professor Stein together in a fantastic adventure
• Blackest Night 1-8 (2009-2010): Firestorm changed forever. Collected

New 52: Ronnie Raymond & Jason Rusch

• The Fury of Firestorm The Nuclear Man 13-20 (2012-2013): The New 52 Firestorm returned to a more iconic version. Collected

In my opinion, the comics above are the most essential Firestorm stories.  Up next are other Firestorm appearances definitely worth your time!

OTHER WORTHWHILE FIRESTORM APPEARANCES:

Firestorm-centric Justice League of America appearances:

• JLA 179-180 (1980): Firestorm joins the JLA
• JLA 183-185 (1980) : JLA travels to Apokolips. Collected
• JLA 192 & 193 (1981): Red Tornado goes wild. Collected
• JLA 205 (1982): Professor Stein vs Hector Hammond
• JLA 207-209, and All-Star Squadron 14 & 15 (1982): Crisis on Earth-Prime. Collected
• JLA 228-230, JLA Annual #2 (1984): Mars/Earth War and aftermath

Stories that dramatically changed Firestorm’s composition and personality:

• Fury of Firestorm 62-64, Fury of Firestorm Annual 5, Firestorm 65 (1987): Birth of the “Blank Slate” Firestorm
• Firestorm 85-100 (1989-1990): The Elemental era of Firestorm

Major DC Events Involving Firestorm:

• Crisis on Infinite Earths 1-12 (1985-1986): Collected
• Legends 1-6 (1986-1987): Available Digitally
• Brightest Day 0-24 (2010-2011): Collected Vol 1, Vol 2, Vol 3
• Forever Evil 1-7 (2013-2014): Collected

There you go. While Firestorm has appeared in hundreds of other comics, these are the ones I’d recommend to a new reader of the character. If you disagree with my selections, or think of other important appearances, sound off in the comments!

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Drunkula has a unique, and quite possibly psychotic, sense of humor. To completely mess with his reader’s minds, and my own, he switched-up his site. I stumbled across this change while reading a Google Alert for the term “Firestorm Fan”. At first I didn’t realize what I was reading. I thought it was a reference to my own site. Upon the third reading I realized something was desperately amiss. Below is a screen shot of his blog as it appeared on April Fool’s Day! To sell the prank, Drunkula wrote a full-on review of Firestorm v3 #3. That’s dedication! You can still read the post by clicking here (be sure to check the comments).

Too funny! I was laughing hysterically at Drunkula’s April Fool’s Day fun! They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! I’ll take that! Be sure to check out site on a regular basis. It’s full of fun reviews, great images, and hilarious action figure funnies.

Drunkula wasn’t alone in his April Fool’s Day hijinks! Anj over at the Supergirl-themed blog, Comic Box Commentary, also jumped in the fun. He re-dressed his site as a Nightshade blog, stating he was fed up with Supergirl. Below is a screen shot of his blog as it appeared on April Fool’s Day! You can still read the post by clicking here (be sure to check the comments on this one too).

Be sure to also visit Anj’s site on a regular basis. He does an excellent job covering Supergirl in all her various forms (classic, New 52, Power Girl, etc).

Thanks for the laughs guys! If you enjoyed these pranks, then check out the 2011 April Fool’s Day blog crossover in which 9 different blogs pulled similar stunts. In that instance, Firestorm Fan was rebranded as “B’wana Beast’s Blog!” Love me some April Fool’s Day fun!

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This time around Rob and Shag welcome a special guest, fellow podcaster and comics blogger Luke Jaconetti! Luke runs a Hawkman blog, so he understands the pain of having your favorite character’s series cancelled… over and over and over again. We cover all the cancellations of our respective characters and discuss some of our thoughts. So strap on your wings and prepare for Aquaman, Firestorm, and Hawkman… to be cancelled again.

You can find the 56th 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 (46 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!

Be sure to check out Luke’s blogs and podcasts:

• Being Carter Hall blog
• Earth Destruction Directive podcast
• Vault Of Startling Monster Horror Tales Of Terror podcast
• El Jacone’s Comic Book Bunker blog

Have a question or comment? Send us an e-mail at firewaterpodcast@comcast.net. Visit our Tumblr site at fireandwaterpodcast.tumblr.com.

Check out the covers to the final issues of Firestorm!

Firestorm v1 #5 (October-November 1978)

Firestorm v2 #100 (August 1990)

Firestorm v3 #35 (June 2007)

Firestorm v4 #20 (July 2013)

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We’ll start with three pages from the classic Fury of Firestorm #36 featuring Plastique, Firehawk, and our favorite Nuclear Man by Rafael Kayanan and Alan Kupperberg!

Fury of Firestorm v2 #36 page 16 by Rafael Kayanan & Alan Kupperberg. Click to enlarge.

Fury of Firestorm v2 #36 page 19 by Rafael Kayanan & Alan Kupperberg. Click to enlarge.

Fury of Firestorm v2 #36 page 20 by Rafael Kayanan & Alan Kupperberg. Click to enlarge.

Next up are three pages from Firestorm v3 featuring Jason, his best friend Mick, and an O.M.A.C. by Patrick Olliffe and Simon Coleby!

Firestorm v3 #18 page 12 by Patrick Olliffe & Simon Coleby. Click to enlarge.

Firestorm v3 page 17 by Patrick Olliffe & Simon Coleby. Click to enlarge.

Firestorm v3 #18 page 19 by Patrick Olliffe & Simon Coleby. Click to enlarge.

And finally, something interesting that I just had to call…

ANATOMY OF AN EXTREME JUSTICE PAGE!

Below you’ll find several versions of Extreme Justice #12 page 5 by Tom Morgan & Ken Branch. First up is a straightforward pencil and ink drawing of the page. Click to enlarge.

This next one is also pencil and ink, but notice Firestorm’s hair is missing in the parts I circled. More on that in the next image.

Below is an overlay for this page featuring Firestorm’s hair (see how they match up with the image above). These were used to distinguish a specific color. After checking out this image, scroll down to see the final comic page. You’ll see how the flames below are colored red in the finished comic, rather than the usual black ink.

Below are the computer readouts for each character from this page. Presumably the creators used a computer printer to generate these fonts then added them afterwards.

Finally, here is how it all came together.  Notice Firestorm’s red hair (instead of black lines), and the computer type on the middle images. Seems like a lot of effort just to produce one page! … Especially a page of Extreme Justice. Sorry, I couldn’t resist. Easy target.

Thanks again to our good buddy Jon of the Firestorm-themed FIZZIT blog for letting us publish the artwork he purchased!  Be sure to check out Jon’s awesome Firestorm original art collection!

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You better hurry because this sale ends tomorrow, Wednesday, February 13, 2013 at 11:00pm EST.  Sorry for the short notice.  The sale has been going on since last Thursday and I had planned to promote it last week, but some other news came up as you may have noticed.

Be sure to pick up these issues! C’mon, it’s only $5 for all five issues! Show your support for the Nuclear Man! I bought my copies, shouldn’t you?

Finally, don’t forget to enter the “What Do You Like About Firestorm” contest! Given Firestorm’s recent cancellation announcement, this contest is even more important! Over 40 entries already! Enter today and you might win a prize!

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Back in 2007 Dan Jurgens did the layouts for Firestorm The Nuclear Man #33. The issue was written by Dwayne McDuffie, penciled by Ken Lashley, inked by Rob Stull, and colored by Brad Anderson. Dig out your back issues and check out this comic! Jurgens, Lashley, Stull and Anderson deliver some beautiful artwork in this story. If you study the panel design, figure positioning, and perspective, you’ll notice this comic is incredibly well put together. There is no way to know how much is Jurgens and how much is Lashley, but clearly together they make a great team!

An added bonus to rereading this issue is remembering that short-lived era when Jason would merge with Professor Stein to create Firestorm. They had a great dynamic together and not enough time to explore it. Plus, in this issue you witness Firestorm holding his own against the New God Orion! That’s not something you get to see everyday!

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Stealing an idea from my buddy Rob at The Aquaman Shrine, here are some of the more popular posts from FIRESTORM FAN in 2011:

• Ethan Van Sciver Exclusive Interview with FIRESTORM FAN
• Gail Simone Interview with FIRESTORM FAN
• Brian Clevinger: Exclusive Interview about Firestorm
• Gerry Conway & Al Milgrom Exclusive Interview
• John Ostrander: Exclusive Interview with FIRESTORM FAN
• Stuart Moore: Exclusive Interview with FIRESTORM FAN
• McDonalds Happy Meal Toy for Firestorm! & McDonalds Happy Meal Firestorm Toy: The Low Down
• Firestorm in the New Justice League?
• Blackest Night to Brightest Day: What a Long Strange Trip
• OFFICIAL: New Firestorm Series by Van Sciver, Simone, and Cinar
• B’wana Beast Cosplay – Traffic to that post is being driven by the woman cosplaying the Goblin Queen. 

To close out the year, enjoy Jason’s New Year’s Eve celebration as he rang in 2007. Story by Stuart Moore with art by Jamal Igle. I’ll talk with ya again next year!

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