Firestorm is out of control, experimenting on the folk of a small town. It makes sense that the Justice League would intervene.
It doesn’t make sense that despite having known various versions of Firestorm for years, the heroes come in without a plan.
The voiceover belongs to Martin Stein, the original other half of the Firestorm Matrix with Ronnie Raymond. But Martin, we learn, has been locked out of the equation by Ronnie after he learned Everything He Thought He Knew Was Wrong. A flashback makes Martin’s betrayal clear.
We see scenes from last issue’s reframed, making it clear Martin really did use Ronnie, blasting him to atoms and merging with him to make something new, something he could control.
Well, that was the idea. As the League falls before the fury of Firestorm, independent nuclear heroine Firehawk tracks down present-day Martin, hoping he can stop the terrifying creature.
Lorraine found Martin with the help of another old friend.
Former Firestorm participant Jason Rusch, we learn, has a very good reason to avoid risking being crispy fried beyond, you know, not wanting to be crispy fried.
So, last month I noted the nods to the Doomsday Clock maxi-series of a few years ago, and hoped Lemire was going to zag rather than zig.
Apparently not.
And that’s depressing. It’s not even original, Grant Morrison decided decades ago that The Chief was behind the accidents that created his Doom Patrol members and Doomsday Clock writer Geoff Johns chose to taint other favourite DC boffins in 2019.
Things I did enjoy in this issue’s story would be the determination of Firehawk and return of Jason. I wasn’t keen on the conversation between Martin and the eminently sensible new character Nancy being a post-coital moment, it seems a tad forced… hey, scientists have sex too!
And it’s weird that while the Firestorm thing was careless with human life in the first issue, here he doesn’t kill a single superhero, even though they’re active aggressors. Could it be that locked-in Ronnie is exerting some influence on the pure Firestorm?
There’s no denying Lemire’s craft is high level, it’s the choices I’m not keen on. Is anybody?
Artist Rafael De Latorre gifts us another 20 pages of superb storytelling, with sharp compositions and character work. The rogue Firestorm is eerie, scary, while Firehawk looks magnificent, burning with spirit. Martin veers between professional when he’s before a panel of politicians, to smug after his liaison with Nancy, to basic Ben Gunn. Jason Rusch looks odd with glasses, when did that become a thing? As for the Leaguers, they look good, but lost.
Colourist Marcelo Maiolo more than pulls his weight, controlling the mood of the various scenes and settings. As with last issue, I especially like the occasional Bronze Age comic page effects, right down to the off-white around the panels. And Lucas Gattoni’s understated letters fit the quiet horror of the issue.
De Latorre and Maiolo perfectly predict the interiors with their gloomy cover,
And that pretty much sums up this issue – it’s a well-done comic, but who buys a Firestorm comic to be depressed?
Last issue’s credits page managed to call co-creator Gerry Conway, who died recently, ‘Gary’ Conway. This time the credit page at least gets his name right.
But I’m not sure this is the best issue to dedicate to the man who wrote the most joyful young hero in comics.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
The Doomsday Clock is what I hear in my head as I reach the end of my buying this book.
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That’s a shame, but understandable.
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The fight made no sense. The Flash could have taken Firestorm out before he saw him coming. Martian Manhunter could have used a telepathic attack instead of a chokehold. Supergirl was just there because her movie is coming out (Firestorm has beaten Superman a few times by creating kryptonite and the League should have known this).
Also, I’m not a fan of Professor Stein essentially being a villain. It works for the plot here but it’s a smack in the face to longtime fans. This series was originally supposed to be 6 issues so hopefully Lemire has a decent conclusion set up, but I’m not optimistic given how mediocre his JSA and Absolute Flash have been.
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Raphael de LaTorre’s art looks great. The colors, too
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Too right, I hope Latorre and Maiolo stay together a long while.
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Yep, the fight was the least convincing since the JLA were taken out by Deathstroke in Identity Crisis.
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Firestorm was never a personal favorite, but he always worked when they used the “two guys in one body” conceit in a clever way. This series is doing essentially the opposite. Lemire and De Latorre are very talented, so it is at least readable. That is more than I can say about some comics.
As you noted, Professor Stein is being morally compromised is an unbelievably boring, overdone twist. All the Silver Age super-geniuses have revealed to be problematic at this stage: Professor X, Reed Richards, Niles Caulder, etc. It says something depressing about modern comic book writers that they cannot imagine being smart, affluent, and altruistic.
It is such a bleak worldview.
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It really is. I hope we don’t get to see another ‘true origin’ of the Metal Men in this round of continuity, it’s bad enough we suffered the Mike Carlin version.
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Anj here.
I was also a bit dismayed that so much Doomsday Clock seeped into this book which seems to be trying to embrace the classic Firestorm in this new continuity. I can’t look at Martin Stein the same ever again. He planted the bomb. Insanity.
Really love Firehawk in this book, strong and seeking truth and justice.
And really loving the artwork. Gorgeous stuff.
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Blackening the name of ‘Martin’ is just not on.
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I’m at a wedding in Texas and won’t get my books until tomorrow at the latest. I’m on the fence with continuing this. Is Firestorm ruined by this issue or is there hope? I won’t read the review until I decide to read it or not. This is Steve commenting from his phone. In Texas.
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I honestly don’t know if the character is ruined, it depends where we go, I’m hoping for some revelation that undoes things.
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I love this series, I love Firestorm, but I agree that Martin Stein should not be a villain-like character.
I hope someone decides that this Martin Stein actually switched places with the true Doc. Maybe from Earth Three.
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Absolutely, he came along with evil Jon Kent!
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I admit that I would buy a book that was about earth one heroes or in the case of Stein part of him, that have been exchanged between earth three and earth one. Like how do they cope on earth three where things are so familiar and yet so twisted. I can imagine a multiversal war as characters suddenly find themselves in the wrong earths. Superman suddenly waking up next the earth three Lois Lane, or Superwoman as they call her, and everything turning to poop afterwards as he realizes she didn’t change places, he did.
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Intellectually I hated this but dammit, it was just so freaking well drawn and written. Jason’s revelation choked me up and Lemire used Johns’ setup perfectly. I’d be interested to know if using the truly awful Doomsday Clock’s revelations was his idea or TPTB’s. It could go either way in my mind. Has anyone read anything online either way? Now I don’t want Firestorm tarred by this mini and in a perfect world Firestorm would recrete everyone he killed before we go to a version of the status quo. I will finish this mini not because I enjoy what they’ve decided to do but because they are doing it so damn well. It’s like it’s written by a different man than who is doing JSA, which is worse than any other volume besides the one mercy killed by Flashpoint.
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I enjoyed the reveal from Jason too, but you know what would be even more attention grabbing – if after he said he was going to be a father, Lorraine had replied, ‘We never meant to fall in love’.
I’m not saying that would be a good thing…
I’ve not seen anything about whether or not the idea was Lemire’s or Editorial’s we just don’t get enough interviews with creators and editors these days.
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That’s because the old sites are just clickbait now and so are the newcomers. Comics journalism was niche to begin with and died years ago.
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I miss the days of proper fanzines!
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I am really disappointed that it seems they are retiring Jason. DC desperately needs to increase the presence of their Black heroes, not diminish them.
I’m also really bummed they are embracing the Doomsday Clock story instead of walking it back. I really don’t like the idea of Prof. Stein being a bigwig in the government. If he is at the level where he is having Senate hearings and running an entire Cabinet-level organization, he wouldn’t be able to pose as a minor scientist working at a small university as a tenured professor. It just doesn’t make sense.
Despite that, I am hoping they at least show that Stein had a true change of heart after the merge and subsequent adventures with Ronnie. I hope that he decided to turn his back on his covert mission because he saw the true altruistic good Firestorm and the other heroes were doing. Because otherwise, I don’t feel like it squares with other aspects of Firestorm’s history (like when Stein was Firestorm alone and went off into space).
I also agree that the JL wouldn’t fly in that rashly against Firestorm. They know what a potential threat he would be if something exactly like this happened.
As for the think tank, Caulder’s and Stagg’s governmental contract doesn’t really surprise me: both are arrogant enough to take the government money but believe they can manipulate it towards their own agenda. I always took Magnus as somewhat of an empty-minded professor that wouldn’t be situationally aware enough to realize what he was doing was questionable. Then again, I didn’t read the DiDio/Shane Davis Metal Men series, so I have no idea what his current status quo is.
Still, I agree the craft is high and I am curious as to where it is going to leave things. I really don’t want them to return the characters to the status quo. I want them to move them forward. But I don’t want them to rewrite the past to do so.
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I wouldn’t be surprised if Martin had very quickly had a change of heart, but never felt able to tell Ronnie – then again, given their mental connection, how could he have kept it from him. Unless the setup has been changed, I’m sure they could see into each other’s minds if they weren’t careful, and something like this would surely have been hard for Martin to suppress.
I wouldn’t be so sure they’re retiring Jason, Lemire could easily have ignored him completely. Perhaps members of the old supporting cast will prove integral In somehow saving the day. Bring on Felicity Smoak, even Doreen Day.
Good thoughts on the boffins! I shall continue to adjust my Doc Magnus action figure.
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Stein was amnesiac originally as part of Firestorm. Who knows what he even knew t the time.
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