Lorraine Reilly, the heroine Firehawk, has tracked down Professor Martin Stein, formerly half of Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. The other 50 per cent, Ronnie Raymond – her onetime boyfriend – is currently alone inside Firestorm, but very much not in control. He’s a prisoner inside the Matrix and the now sentient Firestorm, untethered from humanity. has been testing his powers in horrific ways.
Lorraine is experiencing a separate horror, as she reads Stein’s old scientific papers and learns the truth about ‘Project Firestorm’ – that Ronnie was used as fodder for the creation of a near-god. The Nuclear Man was one of a number of people altered without their permission (Metamorpho, the Doom Patrol) or even built (the Metal Men) to be weapons for the US government. Stein protests that he’s not the man he was then,
Problem being, he’s anything but apologetic.
See that light in her eye? It’s the Firehawk version of ‘Hulking out’.
‘People are dead…’ If a heroic Firestorm ever returns, even though he’s not responsible, how would Ronnie deal with that? It may turn out to be a moot point, Lorraine learns later as she and Stein head for Pittsburgh with a Hail Mary device, an improvised doohickey that might just absorb the now sentient Matrix.
Metamorpho, Rex Mason, being another unwitting pawn in the Superman Project, and Will Magnus being one of the masterminds, things could get interesting when Lorraine shows up with a truth bomb or two.
Before setting off with Stein, though, Lorraine has something big to face up to herself. Much of this issue is Lorraine thinking of her past with Ronnie, how he was there for her origin, how they fell in love, the similarity of their powers. The memories were bound to raise questions.
What a scumbag.
The Firestorm Matrix creature doesn’t appear this month, it’s the Lorraine and Stein Show, and a very intense show it is. When we see Firestorm it’s the classic version, in flashback
I hate how writer Jeff Lemire is making the Doomsday Clock Superman Theory the focus of this series. Sure, Doomsday Clock was technically DC canon, but everyone had ignored the Firestorm business in there for years. Was anyone asking for a new series wrecking Martin Stein, a beloved character to fans? It’s really sad in a comic that’s so well crafted – Lemire’s script is nicely nuanced and Rafael De Latorre’s art is gorgeous, made better by the colours of Marcelo Maiolo.
All three creators come together brilliantly in a page that shows where Firehawk is emotionally after learning Stein was, at several steps removed, behind her fateful encounter with a nuclear reactor. The way writer and artists use the Benday dots of comic books of old to bring to life a metaphor slipped into Lorraine’s narration of the issue is masterful.
Well, like a molecule I’m positive Lemire could engineer similarly memorable moments in a Firestorm series that doesn’t trample over the classic character. Heck,we’re four issues in and we’ve only seen a few panels of present-day Ronnie, and then he’s suffering, a man without agency. The heroes – Lorraine and Ronnie – can’t turn the tables of the inhuman Matrix creature fast enough for my liking. And this idiot, craven Stein needs to go to jail.
Lucas Gattoni merits a ‘well done’ for quality lettering, I do like how Firestorm’s internal narrative matches her hair.
Speaking of which, her foamy mop is rather out of control on De Latorre and Mioalo’s romantic cover; I’m less keen on the colours, they’re a tad too muddy, murkier even than the modern day sections inside.
All in all, this is a well-done comic, but far more grim than I’d like. Can Lemire get us out of this black hole to the Depressoverse? Does he even want to? I really hope so, Firestorm was created to be a bright sport in a serious superhero universe – how about honouring recently deceased co-creator Gerry Conway by taking him back there?
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
I am reading this, but not loving it.
The whole secret cabal of smart guys thing is a bit trite.
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It’s a symptom of how society now views that kind of character IRL or fiction. Prof X has become villainous too. The only ones who escape this are the ones killed off and not revived in modern times and the smart guy from Challengers.
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It really is done to death, Dean.
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Haven’t read this issue, or the review yet (or even issue 3, which just dropped on DCUI), but I wanted to leave this here: In Jeff Lemire’s interview on a recent Word Balloon, he said something about considering the Project Firestorm thread from Doomsday Clock as something of a gift — a juicy plot left by Johns for some future writer to explore. So I wouldn’t expect him to overturn the premise of it anytime soon, despite our hopes. But from the two issues I’ve seen so far, he’s at least making a compelling comic out of it, which is job one.
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Adding that I’ve read issue 3 now, and it’s still keeping me intrigued and very interested to see what happens next. And congratulations to Jason Rusch — I liked how Lemire and De Latorre have put him in a good place, post-Firestorm, if we never see him again. (Though I’m guessing we eventually will.)
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Yeah, I’d read Lemire’s comments, but I’d say the gift is an albatross. It’ll be interesting to read what you think when you catch up.
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My thoughts currently — and they will probably remain along these lines until the series wraps — are that with a plot thread like this, you’ve got to either explore it, or repudiate it.* And what Johns set up in Doomsday Clock, and Waid confirmed, are barely hints of a story. We don’t have many facts, so it’s actually hard to repudiate it and make that satisfying. What’s the big deal if Everything We Know about Project Firestorm Is Wrong, when we know so little? There’s not a lot of story mileage out of overturning a table that’s barely been set.
*(You can ignore the premise, too, but that, in general, is poor practice in a shared universe. Of course, sometimes there’s no choice.)
So in exploring it, Lemire and De Latorre get to play with a juicy idea that hasn’t really been squeezed. It’s really tempting! Problem is, for a lot of fans, the juice is rancid.
I’ve always liked Firestorm; I like Ronnie, and I liked Professor Stein. And I’m not crazy about a secret cabal of brainiacs working for our shady government (although the trope feels as true as it ever was these days). And yet… I’ve been enjoying the story so far, irrespective of what it does to the characters I grew up with. And maybe for DC to move forward with Firestorm, it needs to put these characters — and this shadow around the origin — to bed. Tell the story, and then move forward. Because until this story is told, we’re going to be in a holding pattern, waiting for someone to tell it.
Let’s see where Firestorm is left at issue 9. I’m hoping it’s somewhere good.
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Wise words as ever, Rob. It’s here, we may as well enjoy what entertainment there is to had, in the hope of a happy ending. Those three extra issues might allow for some magic.
Surely DC wouldn’t permanently besmirch a Martin?
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I liked the narration on opposites attracting. While that does lead to attraction, I’ve found what keeps the couple together are their commonalities.
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So true. That’s likely why LorRonnie (maybe not) never lasted.
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It seems an odd way to build an audience for a character, by making them unlikeable on every level. Even if it’s positioning the character for a triumphant win, that’s going to come at the end of the series and too late to win new readers. It’s the sort of deconstructive story that only really works if it comes during a longer run or is based on a strongly established character.
Stu
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I’m with you, Stu. The only way back from, this scenario is to declare it void and null.
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Yeah, I’m not loving what this whole “Project Superman” premise does to Martin Stein. I could get behind him being a hapless, unknowing member of the group – an absent-minded professor type – but I can’t get behind him being the leader of the DEO and a central figure in the whole thing. Also, I can’t get past the idea that he is such a good actor and has such good mental shields that he could keep this all from Ronnie for years.
As for the results? Please note that I love ALL the characters shown, but “Greatest Heroes” is not where I would rank them. The Doom Patrol & Metamorpho have always gone on about being the fringe heroes that no one really wants. The Metal Men are only effective to a point – especially if not under strong guidance. Beloved heroes? YES. Greatest heroes? Sadly, no.
Also, there have been so many times where all of these characters have gone off the grid, died (and resurrected), or done things that were against American interests. I have a hard time believing the government would allow any of that to happen with something they’ve invested so much money, time, and resources into. This is the same government that has kept Captain Atom, the Creature Commandos, and others on extremely short leashes.
I’m not saying this is a bad story base. There are some other DC characters that would work well in this framework. But I think it’s a bad story for any of the characters indicated because it’s anathema to how they have been represented for decades.
I still hope that Lemire will find a way to keep it the Project Superman in continuity but subvert it for the better. I find that less likely with each passing issue.
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Yes indeed, how can you share a psychic link and not let on to your partner that you changed everything about him via a painful explosion?
And that ‘greatest heroes’ bit did seem, to say the least, mildly ironic!
You’re spot on, unless the adventures we’ve seen have been riddled with, as Legion fandom used to say, ‘chronicler’s errors’ there’s no way the Superman Theory is true.
Keep that optimism going, Jeff, you never know…
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