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Classic Fury of Firestorm #11, Aquaman #31, and Aquaman & the Others #3 – FIRE & WATER #91

Continuing THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST coverage of the classic Fury of Firestorm series from the 1980s!

Firestorm and Aquaman: The Fire and Water Podcast

The 91st episode of THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST is now available for your listening pleasure! THE FIRE AND WATER PODCAST is the official podcast of FIRESTORM FAN and THE AQUAMAN SHRINE.

This episode Rob and Shag get into the weeds while the King of the Seven Seas battles the Avatar of the Green! Swamp Thing guest stars in Aquaman #31 by Jeff Parker, Paul Pelletier, Sean Parsons, Alvaro Martinez, Raul Fernandez, and Rain Beredo. Next, the coming of the newest Aqua-foe, Legend, in Aquaman and the Others #3 by Dan Jurgens, Lan Medina, and Allen Martinez. Finally, the Nuclear Man is in double-trouble with two Hyenas in The Fury of Firestorm #11 (Apr. 1983) by Gerry Conway, Pat Broderick, Rodin Rodriguez, Gene D’Angelo, and Adam Kubert!

You can find the 91st 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 (29 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! This episode brought to you in part by InStockTrades.com!

Have a question or comment? Looking for more great content?

The Fury of Firestorm The Nuclear Man vol II #11 cover by Pat Broderick and Dick Giordano! Interior story and art by Gerry Conway, Pat Broderick and Rodin Rodriguez! Click to enlarge!

Fury of Firestorm #11 cover by Pat Broderick & Dick Giordano

Thanks for listening! Support Firestorm and Aquaman! Fan the Flame and Ride the Wave!

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9 Comments

  1. I enjoyed Snyder’s SWAMP THING for a while until I realized that he was writing the character as a super hero, just as Lemire was doing with ANIMAL MAN, and Milligan and Lemire did with JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK. The books weren’t a different genre, they were just superhero comics and it contributed to the homogenization of the DC Universe with the New 52. All of the books felt like they had the same voice and same tone.

    I probably do 75-80% of my comic book buying and reading digitally, but I read most of them on my laptop. I’ll occasionally read them on my phone, but the experience is less than enjoyable. My wife has an iPad but she uses it all the time and I’ve wanted a tablet of my own. While I love the iPad interface and functionality, I went with a Kindle Fire because it was half the price of an iPad mini. I have a rarely-used first generation Nook that made for a decent reader of ebooks but nothing else.

    Other than the Free Comic Book Day Future’s End #0, I haven’t read a New 52 comic since Thanksgiving. The two comics I miss the most are AQUAMAN and GREEN ARROW. Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino were doing amazing things with the Emerald Archer, and it sounds like Parker and Pelletier are rocking and rolling with the King of the Seven Seas, as well. Listening to you guys describe Aquaman makes it harder and harder to stay away. I feel cracks forming in my wall against mainstream DC.

    Looking at the picture of Legend on the Fire & Water Tumblr (thanks!), his design has a real steampunk look and a striking similarity to a fairly new Batman villain called The Architect that debuted four years ago in the miniseries “Gates of Gotham”.

    Rob, Aquaman may have been skipped by the Secret Origins series from the ’80s, but as I’m sure you know, DOLPHIN got a story in the giant-sized fiftieth and final issue. That issue also featured Black Canary’s origin retold by everyone’s favorite, Alan Brennert.

  2. Hey, I’m a visual person, so sue me. You tell me all about this page blah, blah, blah, but you have a site tailor-made to house YOUR images, and you don’t post it? That’s all I was saying. No need to label people here.

    I will add that when I comment on other women, either real or fictitious and get a somewhat displeased look from my wife, I respond with “I’m not dead, ya know.”

    Her reply; “You could be.”

    It’s nice to see Swamp Thing actually look like…Swamp Thing! The antler look was just ridiculous, I’m sorry. LOVE the 90s toon theme song. It is indeed awful, but it’s great in it’s awfulness.

    Chris

  3. Kyle Benning says:

    I wonder if the Sensation Comics will be in the same vein as the great Adventures of Superman non-continuity book or Legends of the Dark Knight series, and be digital first and then have 3-4 weeks of stories collected and released in hard issue format with a $3.99 price tag? This is the first I’ve heard of this Wonder Woman series, so I hope that’s the case! I’d be all over that.

    Good to see Aquaman getting so much love, his great book and rise popularity is the biggest success of the New 52 in my opinion. Another great issue of Aquaman with some gorgeous art by Pelletier! I hope he and Parker will have a long run on the book, they are shaping up to be a great creative team and I’m loving their run.

    And another great issue of Aquaman and the Others, I’m loving this series! Medina’s art is growing on me as well. Aquaman rocks, it’s great seeing DC finally give Aquaman his due and realize his potential.

    That 90’s Swamp Thing intro is epically awful. I love it.
    Swamp Thing! You are Amazing! You Fight Everything…NAAASSTTYYYY!!!

    The 90’s Superhero cartoons gave us some (not so) great cheesy songs. Everybody remember the Human Torch rap in an episode of the 1994 Fantastic Four cartoon? It was during the episode where the Mole Man is capturing landmark buildings with his earthquake machine. Here’s a little taste of these incredible lyrics from Johnny:

    “You’re busy playing cool, now she’s gone, she’s gone. Gone unto another while I sing my funky song. I never pass up the chance, I know this song seems long, but when the time is right for me and you, I just flame on, FLAME ON! And on and on and on, Flame On, I just Flame On!”

    There was also an episode that featured a Thing “It’s Clobberin’ Time” music video. Good stuff there!

    Asbestos Pillows? Sure I guess Mesothelioma is a fair trade off for a nap when you’re beat. Tired or Lung Disease? Apparently Firestorm will take Lung Disease. It’s too bad that Doreen going punk didn’t involve going to a concert and being crushed in a rioting mob. Doreen must have taken the movie Grease a little too literally, and changed her look a la Olivia Newton John. All joking aside, another great issue of some classic Firestorm with gorgeous Broderick art.

    Another great episode fellas! Getting closer to #100! Can’t wait to hear what you cover next week. Fan the Flame and Ride the Wave.

  4. Martin Gray says:

    Yeah, I was thinking Grease too, with Doreen.

    ‘Doreen and Ronnie’ – even in the 1970s those names were ridiculously dated. Now ‘Martin’, that’s timeless.

    Shag, the daft antlers vanished when Soule came on board Swamp Thing.

    And Count, I say try an issue of new Aquaman, support the DC books that aren’t horrible, it may send a message.

    Now I’m trying to remember where the sublplot with Stein’s ex went. Did Ronnie start lusting after her?

  5. Shag – I just received my Amazon Kindle Fire HD and to my horror it doesn’t support most of the comic reading apps I wanted. Yeah, ComiXology works, but no Marvel Digital Unlimited, no Dark Horse Comics, no Mark Waid’s Thrillbent. I should’ve shelled out the extra money for an iPad Mini. $@#% everything I said in the above post!

  6. Michael Chiaroscuro says:

    Hey guys, another great episode! With regards to Aquaman in the New 52, I couldn’t agree more with Kyle Benning’s comment – Arthur has been the best thing about the relaunch/reboot. It’s ironic in a way, because at least with Parker’s run, the book has really been more of an homage to old school DC in a lot of ways – lots of swashbuckling adventure and humor, neither of which are exactly what DC is known for these days. So while I’m not thrilled with DC’s line of books in general these days, I am extremely happy with the Aqua books – including AATO, which so far has provided more fun and old school adventure as well.

    This raises some interesting topics for discussion – with so much venom online from fans towards DC since the start of the New 52, it’s become almost sacrilege to admit you like any DC books. I’ve sampled several since the start of the New 52 and have only stuck with Aquaman and Batman ’66 (and I missed a few issues of that one but not intentionally), but I hear great things about Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and while I haven’t read a Superman book in ages, I’m actually stoked to check out his series later this month to see what John Romita Jr. does on the book. So my point is, while I’m not thrilled with the New 52 and I miss the old continuity so much it actually makes me sad if I think about for too long (!) I know there are still some quality books out there from DC. Not a lot, but some. So I’ve been trying to enjoy the ones I like from DC while telling myself that at some point, this whole dark-and-gritty for dark-and- gritty’s sake era will shift into something more satisfying later on, because comics are cyclical and I”m sure this won’t be the default mode of DC forever…will it??

    Curious, Shaq and Rob – are you guys reading any other books from DC right now besides the big event books and Aquaman? And if so, what are your thoughts on those books?

    I’d be remiss if I didn’t conclude with saying that I am reading more from Marvel at the moment and I think overall Marvel’s line of books is far superior to DC’s right now. I think they have more quality titles to enjoy right now. I see a book like Hawkeye, or She-Hulk, and I wonder why DC can’t give fans something similar for, say, Blue Beetle and/or Booster Gold? Series that tell character-driven tales, with creative teams that have a particular voice (and style), so that fans can really get attached to the book for a long run. I feel Parker and Pelletier are doing that with Aquaman, but there just isn’t enough of it from DC right now. Give us more, DC!

    Ride the wave and fan the flame, guys. Have a great weekend.

  7. Frank says:

    At least the third time listening to this episode. I tried commenting earlier in the week, but it got ate by teh interweb gremlins, and I was out of town for a few days, so…

    “Medina” is Rob’s “nuclear.” I’m happy that Shag went for ebullient by way of a fumbled “ho(u)st.” Then again, he knew how to correctly pronounce “Chimera,” which I just learned I’ve been mispronouncing since the Bloodlines character was introduced a couple of decades ago. I think the Gillman makes a clever choice to join the Aquaman rogues gallery, especially as analogues remain in vogue.

    I’m happy to hear Rob’s considering downloading Sensation Comics. I still haven’t made the switch to digital comics, but I’ll be picking up the print version of the “Digital First” series starting in August. Obviously I love Wonder Woman, and since DC Comics hasn’t published a book featuring that character since 2011, I look forward to her return. Diana never got much anthology love, aside from a few Legends of the DC Universe arcs. It would be great if more creators figured out the character through the process of writing a short story, and hopefully they won’t try to write a “Wonder Woman” story based on what they think they’re supposed to do. The character has a great deal of elasticity, more so than contemporaries like Superman and Captain America, so long as the writer can find her core.

    I’m glad to hear the Namorification of Aquaman stops a bit short with the DC Sea King not only faltering against Swamp Thing, but having a sense of humor about it. So far, the only issue to make me consider hopping back aboard the book was the high school reunion episode.

    I wonder if there’s a relationship between Aquaman’s absence from Secret Origins and The Legend of Aquaman Special? Maybe after the early foul-up with Captain Marvel, they didn’t want to confuse the audience with multiple Aquaman origins, or create a toxic soup as happened with Hawkman? Mark Waid had to have a pow-wow to figure out how to do a Martian Manhunter story at the same time his origin redefining mini-series was coming out, so I doubt one canceled the other out, but maybe Legend was upgraded out of SO? Both books were edited by Waid, after all, even though the 1989 mini-series that spun out of it was overseen by Barbara Kesel.

    I ended up with a couple of Swamp Thing action figures that I think my stepfather found/stole and gave to me. I probably still have them somewhere. The Troggs lift was cute, and let’s be honest, the original Chip Taylor lyrics weren’t much better. For some reason, I dug the music associated with Swamp Thing, especially the closing credits score on Return and the use of CCR. I’ve never seen the first movie.

    As with most things in life, the description of Summer’s near nudity is way more enticing than the (literally) clinical depiction of it. Man, comic book creators creamed in their jeans over The Howling. Look at the Hyena’s werewolfification, Bill Sienkiewicz’s* redesign of Jack Russell in Moon Knight, and Superman #422 for proof.

    Does Rob intentionally use distorted versions of popular songs to avoid bot detection?

    I finally added “Sienkiewicz” to my browser’s dictionary because I consistently spell it correctly from memory, and I’m sick of double checking on Google. Just had to brag.

  8. I’ve refrained from commenting for a while now, but because nobody has said anything close to what I was thinking, I’m jumping on board.

    This issue of FIRESTORM was stupid. The Hyena is probably the dumbest returning villain I’ve seen in a long time. You think the Rainbow Raider is stupid? Atleast you can tell he’s a boy. Look at this cover. There are TWO Hyena men attacking Firestorm, right? Except one of them is supposed to have a twig and berries and one is supposed to have melons. And as those of us with pets can attest, boy dogs and girl dogs DO look different.

    I’m sorry, but I can’t stand a story that is based on a premise that is absolutely wrong. If you can’t tell that a naked were-hyena person has a penis when she should have nipplies, you’re blind. Even Daredevil would be able to tell the difference!!

    Please tell me that in the next issue this story moves away from the non-mystery of “who is the Hyena?” and heads into actual thriller mode?

    Little Hyena Hater
    Hollywood, California

  9. Martin Stein Returns says:

    Clarissa Clement’s hair is indeed purple because she is Pariah’s little-known malevolent sister.

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