We open with a cracking cover from illustrator Rafael De Latorre and colourist Marcelo Maiolo, with the Firestorm of different time periods facing two of his staunchest allies.
On the left, Hawkman, his onetime Justice League of America colleague. And on the right, Firehawk, Ronnie Raymond’s former girlfriend. Previous issues of this mini-series have set up a conflict with Firehawk Lorraine Reilly, but when did Hawkman attack the nuclear man?
The book opens with a look back to the day Firestorm joined the League I remember JLA #179 well, the in-control Ronnie couldn’t contain his excitement at being invited into the ranks of the World’s Greatest Super-Heroes.
Here’s the 2026 version of the occasion.
Oh the gloom, it’s almost laughable, but this is where we are. This series is expanding the ‘should’ve been immediately forgotten’ notion that kindly Professor Martin Stein actually groomed student Ronnie Raymond and blew them both up to create Firestorm. The only way I can deal with the glow-down for DC’s happiest hero is to assume this isn’t a tweak to Earth One Firestorm’s origins, it’s a complete rewrite.
And with that, I can indeed appreciate the comic’s good points. Such as the feeling of foreboding as we segue from the memories of Ronnie and Martin’s first League mission to present day Pittsburgh. There the brooding Firestorm Matrix, fresh from experimenting on human beings, sits within a crystal, as Lorraine and Martin look on.
The plan is for Lorraine to distract the being long enough for Martin to use a machine he’s cobbled together to extract Ronnie from the Matrix.
Lorraine transforms into Firehawk, and receives a second harsh judgment.
But while the Matrix attacks, the subsumed Ronnie is responding…
Once again, Lorraine is the star of the show, with her determination to save Ronnie and anger at Martin. As he waits for his ‘decoupling’ machine to boot up, there is a sign he has regrets about his actions.
He seems genuine, but the climax of the issue really makes you wonder. And that’s a testament to the skill of writer Jeff Lemire, whose story direction isn’t easy to predict.
Before we get to the final page there’s the entirety of the sequence with Lorraine, the Matrix and… Ronnie. As our viewpoint character for the Firestorm series’ golden years, Ronnie is someone I really miss. Hopefully he’ll soon escape and give the Matrix – and more importantly. Martin – a piece of his mind.
Or rather, take it back.
De Latorres and Maiolo continue to impress with their switching back and forth between ‘Today’ and ‘Then’; the only thing stopping the Bronze Age sequences looking authentic is the choice to tone down the primary colours. The clarity of storytelling is undeniable, straightforward yet stylish, with occasional flourishes. Such as this.
Maiolo’s saturated colours for the modern scenes add intensity, deepening the drama, while Lucas Gattoni’s lettering reveals different voices.
Oh, and why did Firestorm and Hawkman fight? Well, if we could see the other side of Carter Hall’s face the reason would be evident – Eclipso!
This mini-series is such an odd experience for me; I don’t just admire the craft, I enjoy the results. And yet, it saddens me.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
Yeah, heroes we enjoy heroing are targets these days of writers thinking they need to spoil that. I’m hoping we’re misinterpreting the last page but I don’t trust Lemire. My hope is the professor is the insane one and all his exposition has been delusions and he’s just turned the matrix on everything to fit the delusions. (I can dream!) TBH though, I probably won’t read anything by Lemire ever again. He’s shat on two propertie I love, this one at least very very well done with excellent art but still.
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Now, I don’t like the idea of Martin being mad, but that would be a great way of explaining things away. And I think he’s been a tad nutso previously, and got over it.
You are a genius!
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