Warning, the following contains SPOILERS for Forever Evil #3 and several crossover issues.
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Seriously, if you are following the Forever Evil story line and haven’t read issue #3 yet, I strongly encourage you to avoid reading what follows.
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I’ve been following Forever Evil somewhat, but haven’t been completely enthralled by the story. In fact, I haven’t been to my local comic shop in a couple weeks and completely missed just how relevant Forever Evil #3 was to the character of Firestorm! My thanks to Keith G. Baker and Joe Slab for drawing my attention to this comic!
ETHAN VAN SCIVER VARIANT COVER
Check out below the Forever Evil #3 variant cover by Ethan Van Sciver featuring our favorite Nuclear Man!! Firestorm looks amazing, and the faces in his mouth look great too! Though, took me a moment to realize that was Superman and not Cosmic Boy. Also, I spy Aquaman… a little FIRE AND WATER action going on here! Click the image to enlarge.
RETURN OF THE BIG BANG SPARK
We didn’t have to wait long for a big Firestorm moment, it happened right there on page 1! Deathstorm blows a hole in Firestorm and states Firestorm’s power source is “the spark of creation”. This hearkens back to Geoff Johns’ Brightest Day where he introduced the concept that Firestorm is powered by THE spark that triggered The Big Bang, the creation of the universe. Click the image to enlarge.
THE PRISON REVEALED
Then on page 2 was the BIG SHOCKER! After the conclusion of Trinity War and prior to Forever Evil #1, many heroes were captured and locked away in a secret prison. We saw glimpses of this prison over in Justice League of America #8. Turns out the prison… is Firestorm!! Whoa!! Let that sink in for a moment and check out the splash page below. Click to enlarge.
SHAG’S COMMENTARY
Wow! Firestorm only got a 1 1/2 pages, but it sure felt like a lot more! We don’t know much at this point, but here are some things that have struck me so far.
- Making Firestorm the prison is a seriously cool idea for his powers!! Also, that splash page by David Finch is simply breathtaking! Look at his eye-beams and face!! Later I hope they further explore the impact of Ronnie & Jason merging with so many people.
- I wonder how long Geoff Johns has been planning to use Firestorm in this way. For example, was this an idea that struck him while plotting Forever Evil, or does it stretch back further? The cynic in me wonders if the whole reason for adding Firestorm to the Justice League was prompted by the opportunity to use him in this way. I hope not. I hope Firestorm gets a chance to properly explore his League membership.
- “The spark of creation” rears it’s head again. I’m just gonna put it out there, I’m not a fan of this Firestorm origin. Geoff Johns introduced the concept in Brightest Day #10 that the Firestorm Matrix is the spark that preceded The Big Bang. Yes, THE spark that triggered The Big Bang, the creation of the universe. As a science fiction concept, that’s pretty interesting. As an Earthbound superhero in ongoing serialized fiction, I’m not sure how that is supposed to work. How do you go from being the caretaker of The Big Bang Spark, to slugging it out with Hyena all in the same day? If Firestorm was some cosmic-level hero like Silver Surfer, I suppose I could get on-board a little easier. As it stands, Ronnie Raymond can’t even get to class on time, let alone protect the universe from the next Big Bang. On a related note, you can’t help but wonder if the other Firestorm Protocol characters had a piece of the Big Bang Spark inside them as well.
- Two observations with a dash of speculation… When Geoff Johns last wrote Firestorm, he introduced the Big Bang Spark into Firestorm’s origin. Since the start of The New 52, there has been no mention of the Big Bang Spark in relation to Firestorm. Then Geoff Johns starts writing the character of Firestorm in Justice League and Forever Evil, and suddenly the Big Bang Spark is reintroduced. Along the same lines, when Geoff Johns last wrote Captain Cold, he carried a cold gun to freeze things. Since the start of The New 52, Captain Cold had internalized his cold gun and now projected cold from his own body. In Forever Evil #3, Deathstorm rewrote Captain Cold’s DNA thus removing his cold powers. Captain Cold is once again an ordinary human that will need to rely on weapons and gimmicks to freeze things. So… did the story demand Firestorm and Captain Cold be returned to their previous status? Or did Geoff Johns simply revert the characters to versions he was more familiar with, disregarding any changes subsequent writers had introduced? I’ll admit it’s pessimistic, but it makes you wonder.
Again, I’m totally blown away by the concept of Firestorm as a prison! Very creative and an exciting opportunity for the Nuclear Man! I can’t wait to see where this goes next!
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