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Rogues Gallery: Killer Frost part 1

Firestorm’s most well-known rogue is Killer Frost. As a foil for Firestorm, her basic concept is not that surprising — Firestorm is a guy that can generate heat, Killer Frost is a gal that can generate cold.  With that said, she has still proven to be an interesting and dangerous adversary for ole match-head. Today we’ll be looking at her origin and encyclopedic entries about her.  Later this week we’ll display some great images featuring Killer Frost.

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 with Killer Frost!  Click here for the second installment!

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Contest and Feedback Request

Hey there Firestorm Fans!  I hope you are enjoying this blog as much as I’m enjoying putting it together.  This is never going to be one of those sites that thousands of people visit each day.  This is really just a labor of love for me, and I’m fine with that.  However, since you are kind enough to come around here once and a while, I was wondering what you thought of the place.

I’m looking for feedback from readers of FIRESTORM FAN.com.  The incentive is one lucky respondent will win the Mattel DC Universe Firestorm action figure shown below absolutely free, compliments of Mail Me My Comics.com.  This fantastic Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm figure looks great and normally retails for around $15.

What I’m looking for is specific feedback about what you’d like to see more of here at FIRESTORM FAN.  Even if you are not interested in winning the action figure, your feedback would still be appreciated.

  • In order to be eligible to win the Mattel DC Universe Firestorm action figure, you must e-mail me at shag@onceuponageek.com before the end of the day on Tuesday, August 25th.
  • In your e-mail, please include what you’d like to see more of here at FIRESTORM FAN.  Example responses could include:
    • News coverage of upcoming Firestorm appearances (including Blackest Night)
    • Reviews of classic Firestorm comic book appearances
    • Coverage of related merchandise (i.e. action figures, apparel, trading cards, etc)
    • Creator interviews
    • Classic covers and pin-ups
    • Sketches from various artists
    • Coverage of Firestorm villains
    • Coverage of Firestorm in role-playing games
    • and so on…
  • I’ll collect all the responses.  If you’ve provided honest and genuine feedback, you’ll be entered into the drawing.  I will then randomly draw the winner from those eligible.  That person will win the free Mattel DC Universe Firestorm action figure!
  • There is only one Mattel DC Universe Firestorm action figure being given away during this contest.
  • You may only enter the contest once and must provide a legitimate e-mail address (so I can reach you if you win).
  • I’m sure there are some loopholes in my contest guidelines listed here.  Just keep in mind if you’re a “rules lawyer” and find some loophole, I’ll be following the spirit of the contest, not the letter of it.

That’s it.  Just let me know what you’d like to see more of here at FIRESTORM FAN, and you’re eligible to win the action figure above.  Special thanks to the folks over at Mail Me My Comics.com for providing the prize for this contest.

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Firestorm vol. II #57 (March 1987) – Original Art

Jon from the Fizzit Firestorm blog has really come through for us again!  He happens to own several of the original Firestorm pages and was kind enough to allow me to publish them here.  Jon’s been a great contributor to FIRESTORM FAN and my thanks go out to him.

Firestorm volume II #57 – “Due Monday”
Writer: Barbara J. Randall
Penciller: José Delbo
Inker: Steve Mitchell
Letterer: Carrie Spiegle
Colorist: Nansi Hoolahan
Editor: Denny O’Neil

This was a fill-in issue shortly after John Ostrander took over the book.  It followed immediately after the Legends crossover issues, but before Ostrander started on the road to the blank-slate Firestorm. The seven pages featured here focus only on Ronnie Raymond (not Firestorm), but are really nice and tell the beginnings of an interesting story.

Here is the synopsis of the issue from the Comic Book Database:

While trying to write a term paper, Ronnie Raymond is distracted by his neighbor’s music, which leads him to a night of paintball, stalking, and bio-terrorism!

Here is the cover of issue #57 from Comics.org.  What a really great image by regular artist Joe Brozowski.

Below you’ll find pages 1-7 of the issue.  Click each page to enlarge.

Thanks again to Jon from the Fizzit blog!  I’ll be posting some further scans from him in the coming weeks!

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How Jason Joined the JLA

I really like the way Jason joined the JLA.  See the page below from Justice League of America vol. 4 #15 (Jan. 2008) by Dwayne McDuffie and Ed Benes.

I like Batman’s demanding nature in this bit.  I think the scene works really well.  I don’t see it as condescending to Jason, but it does point out his inexperience.  Fair enough.  His time on the JLA has really helped the character grow up, or at least make him more comfortable interacting with the “big time” metahumans.

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Nuclear News – More Firestorm Toys Announced and other SDCC News

Welcome to another installment of FIRESTORM FAN’s Nuclear News! Lots of Firestorm news came out of the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC).  Y’know, considering the current version of Firestorm doesn’t have his own book anymore, and the other version of Firestorm is dead… there sure are a lot of things going on!

The biggest Firestorm news out of SDCC is that there are several new Firestorm action figures on the horizon.

  • Mattel is producing a Firestorm action figure for the Justice League Unlimited line.  The figure is the classic Firestorm altered to fit the Justice League Unlimited cartoon style.  It will be sold as a single figure at Target and is due out sometime in 2009.  Picture from Toy News International.

  • Mattel is also producing a Firestorm action figure for the DC Universe: Infinite Heroes line.  This is their relatively new line of DC characters done in the smaller 3 3/4 inch scale.  This figure will also be the classic Firestorm.  It will be sold as a single figure and is due out sometime in 2009.  Picture from Toy News International (but was cleaned up considerably before posting here).

  • There will be a Firestorm action figure in the Batman: The Brave & the Bold line, however, this one will be the Jason Rusch Firestorm. His look will be altered slightly to fit the Batman: The Brave & the Bold cartoon style.  Picture from Michael Crawford’s Review of the Week.

  • It was announced that Firestorm will appear in the upcoming DC Universe Online MMORPG.  While the established DC characters will not be playable, they will make appearances in the game.  See Video Games Blogger.com for a complete list of characters.
  • During the Batman: The Brave & the Bold panel at SDCC, they confirmed Firestorm will appear in season 2 of the cartoon series.  See ComicVine for more details.
  • While at SDCC, they revealed a few members of James Robinson’s upcoming Justice League of America team. Unfortunately, Firestorm wasn’t on the list of people revealed.  There are still a few unrevealed members of the team at this point, so there is a chance Firestorm will remain a JLAer.  See Newsarama for more details.
  • And finally, here is a guy who dressed up as Firestorm at SDCC.  It takes a brave man to wear black eye make-up and a flaming wig in public. Picture from Reliable Comics Flickr.

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Nuclear News – 2009.07.23

Welcome to another installment of FIRESTORM FAN’s Nuclear News! Lots going on with Firestorm right now, so let’s jump right in…

  • Newsarama did a page-by-page summary of Blackest Night #1.  If you didn’t get a chance to read the issue, there are some nice moments related to Ronnie Raymond.  
  • IGN featured a really great interview with Geoff Johns about Blackest Night.  Firestorm is mentioned in the interview.
  • Can’t wait for the DC Direct Black Lantern Firestorm action figure?  Then check out this custom action figure selling on eBay right now.  My thanks to ComicByComic.com for originally drawing my attention to this.
  • The San Diego Comic Con has started and at least three Firestorm-related creators will be there: Jamal Igle, Dwayne McDuffie, and Geoff Johns.  If you’re going to the Con, be sure to attend one of the panels for these guys and tell them how much you love Firestorm!
  • If you haven’t been keeping up with Justice League of America, Jason Rusch/Firestorm recently met the Shadow Thief.  For those of you who don’t remember, Shadow Thief is the one who killed Ronnie Raymond/Firestorm.  Luke over at Being Carter Hall published a fantastic page from JLA where Shadow Thief gets some payback from Firestorm.
  • Gerry Conway (Firestorm creator and primary Firestorm writer from 1978 – 1986) has been in the news quite a bit lately thanks to the success of his current mini-series, The Last Days of Animal Man.  Here are links to two interviews he’s done recently:
  • If you like trivia, check out the Firestorm trivia thread over at the DC Comics Message Board.  Please feel free to chime in and join the fun!
  • Finally, DC has released a new Firestorm Black Lantern sketch by Ethan Van Sciver.  Enjoy!

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Firestorm Writer John Ostrander Needs Your Help

John Ostrander, long-time writer of Firestorm volume II, needs your help.  John has been battling glaucoma for years now.  If he loses this battle, he loses his eyesight.

John recently had some very expensive surgery.  Without the surgery, he would not have been able to retain his sight.  Unfortunately, the resulting medical bills are more than John can afford.  This is where we come in…

A benefit auction has been announced to raise money to pay the medical expenses of John Ostrander.  His friends and colleagues Mike Gold, Adriane Nash and Peter Katz have organized the benefit auction with the aid of Wizard Entertainment to help pay the medical bills after John’s insurance ran out. The event will take place on the Saturday night (August 9) of Wizard World Chicago Comic-Con in a nearby hotel.  If the auction isn’t an option for you, they are taking donations as well.

John gave us years of excellent Firestorm stories (as well as numerous other comics).  This is your chance to give something back to him.  I feel this is important enough that I’m posting it both here on FIRESTORM FAN and on my other blog, ONCE UPON A GEEK.

Please visit Comix4Sight.com for all the details and how to help.  Anything you can give would be appreciated.

Jamal Igle Firestorm Art

Jamal Igle (former Firestorm vol III artist and current Supergirl artist) has been kind enough to grant permission to republish some Firestorm sketches from his blog.  Jamal had a great run on Firestorm vol III, drawing issues #8-#32.  In addition to Firestorm drawings, Jamal’s blog also features other amazing artwork, updates on current projects, and his convention schedule.  You can visit Jamal’s blog by clicking here.  Be sure to stop by and tell him FIRESTORM FAN sent you!

Also, be sure to support Jamal’s current work on SupergirlSupergirl #43 ships this week – check it out!

Here is a fantastic Ronnie & Jason Commission from 2008

Before Jamal was even attached to the series, Jay Faerber (writer of Dynamo 5 and Noble Causes) and Jamal put together a Firestorm pitch. Below are two of his initial redesigns for the character.

Below is an interim costume that was created after issue #13. The reason for the interim costume was because they knew they would be changing it after ONE YEAR LATER.

Below is the first sketch Jamal did for the costume Jason Rusch now wears.

Below is a nice character study of Firehawk.

Below are two sketchs of the D.O.L.L.I. cyborg soldiers Jason fought

My thanks again to Jamal Igle for letting me republish his artwork here.  The original posts on Jamal’s blog can be found at the links below.

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Firestorm vol. II #84 (April 1989) – Original Art

Here are some scans of the original art from Firestorm vol. II #84.  Jon from the Fizzit Firestorm blog happens to own several of the original pages.  He was kind enough to allow me to publish them here.  Thanks, Jon!

Firestorm volume II #84 – “Souls of Fire”
Writer: John Ostrander
Penciller: Tom Grindberg
Inker: Sam De La Rosa
Letterer: Duncan Andrews
Colorist: Nansi Hoolahan
Asst Editor: Dan Raspler
Editor: Denny O’Neil

This is a fairly important issue.  This issue Ronnie and Mikhail begin to realize there is more to the Firestorm matrix than they understand.  This issue also features Svarozhich, a failed Russian attempt to clone Firestorm which produced a soulless creature instead.  In the issue following this, Ronnie, Mikhail and Svarozhich combine permanently (somewhat) to create the first Elemental Firestorm.

Here is the cover of issue #84 from Comics.org.

Below is page 2 from issue #84.  Click the image for a enlarged version.  I really like seeing Ronnie and Mikhail meeting face-to-face.  This is something that almost never happened in this run of Firestorm.  Nice work by Grindberg & De La Rosa showing Ronnie & Mikhail sapping power from Svarozhich.

Jon mentioned that the yellower parts in these pages are pre-printed textures that have been stuck to the page. He says it actually gives them a nice touch as opposed to just being straight black and white on the original pages.  I’m not 100% sure, but I believe that process is called zip-a-tone or screentone.

Below is page 4 from issue #84.  Click the image for a enlarged version.  A nice subway chase scene by Grindberg & De La Rosa with Ronnie, Mikhail, and Svarozhich.

Below is page 5 from issue #84.  Click the image for a enlarged version.  Here we also see Firebird, Mikhail’s telepathic niece and leader of the Russian teen team Soyuz.  Soyuz were an interesting group of supporting characters during this run of Firestorm. It’s be nice to see them again.  Also on this page, a great shot of Svarozhich flying through the subway!

Below is page 15 from issue #84.  Click the image for a enlarged version.  Here we see the mysterious Rasputin, possibly the infamous Rasputin who helped cause the Russian Romanov dynasty to fall in the early 1900s.  Regardless of his true identity, this Rasputin eventually helps Ronnie and Mikhail realize the Elemental potential of Firestorm.  Also on this page is Ronnie being a bad ass.  Love it!

Thanks again to Jon from the Fizzit blog!  I’ll be posting some further scans from him in the coming weeks!

Black Lantern Firestorm Action Figure

Over at IGN, DC Direct’s Georg Brewer gives the scoop on upcoming Blackest Night action figures from DC Direct.  One of the new figures on the horizon is Blackest Night Firestorm (see below).  This figure is scheduled to be part of Wave 4.  No release date yet, but I’ll be sure to post it here once it’s announced.

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