| Firestorm | |
|---|---|
 Ronnie Raymond as depicted inFirestorm the Nuclear Man #3 (May 1978). Art byAl Milgrom. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Firestorm #1 (March 1978) |
| Created by | Gerry Conway (writer) Al Milgrom (artist) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Ronald Roy "Ronnie" Raymond |
| Species | Metahuman |
| Team affiliations | Justice League Power Company Extreme Justice |
| Abilities |
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Ronald Roy "Ronnie"Raymond is a character appearing in comics published byDC Comics. He is one of several characters calledFirestorm and is normally fused together withMartin Stein orJason Rusch. He first appeared inFirestorm the Nuclear Man #1 (March 1978), and was created by writerGerry Conway and artistAl Milgrom.[1][2]
Ronnie Raymond has made several appearances in DC-related media, such asThe Flash, in which he is portrayed byRobbie Amell. Additionally,Mark L. Taylor,Bill Fagerbakke, andP. J. Byrne have voiced the character in animation.
The firstFirestorm series was short-lived, canceled abruptly in a company-wide cutback (the "DC Implosion")[3] with #5 (the first part of a multiple-issue story) the last to be distributed, and #6 included inCancelled Comic Cavalcade. Gerry Conway added Firestorm to the roster ofJustice League of America. This led to a series of eight-page stories in the back ofThe Flash (with art byGeorge Pérez), and a revival of a monthly Firestorm comic in 1982.The Fury of Firestorm (later calledFirestorm the Nuclear Man) lasted from 1982 until 1990.
Ronnie Raymond was killed byShadow Thief during theIdentity Crisis event in 2004 and succeeded byJason Rusch. Raymond was resurrected in theBrightest Day event in 2010, with both him and Rusch appearing as Firestorm inThe New 52 seriesThe Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men. The series was written byGail Simone andEthan Van Sciver and drawn byYıldıray Çınar.
The original Firestorm was distinguished by his integrated dual identity. High school student Ronnie Raymond and Nobel Prize-winning physicistMartin Stein were caught in an accident that allowed them to fuse into Firestorm the Nuclear Man. Due to Stein being unconscious during the accident, Ronnie was prominently in command of the Firestorm form with Stein a voice of reason inside his mind, able to offer Ronnie advice on how to use their powers without actually having any control over their dual form. Banter between the two was a hallmark of their adventures.[1] Stein was initially completely unaware of their dual identity, leaving him concerned about his unusual disappearances and blackouts, but Ronnie was eventually able to convince Stein of the truth, allowing them to bond as separate individuals rather than as parts of a whole.
After the accident, Firestorm took to defendingNew York City from such threats asMultiplex andKiller Frost. The 1982 series began with the teenaged Ronnie adjusting to his newfound role and later delved into the issue of thenuclear arms race.The Fury of Firestorm slowly developed the lives of Ronnie and Stein, as Ronnie struggled with high school while having friends likeJefferson Jackson and moved towards graduation, and Stein found a life outside the lab. A second nuclear hero,Firehawk, was added as a love interest for Firestorm in 1984. In the same year, the character ofFelicity Smoak was introduced, initially having a combative relationship with Ronnie, but eventually becoming his stepmother following her marriage to his father Ed.[4] The series also tried to create a sense of fun, something that Gerry Conway felt was missing during his years writingSpider-Man;[3] the banter between Ronnie and Stein contributed to this. Upon graduation from high school, Ronnie entered college inPittsburgh, where Stein had been hired as a professor. Afterward, together they searched for a cure for their bond.
When Conway left the series in 1986,John Ostrander (with artist Joe Brozowski) began writing the Firestorm stories. His first major story arc pitted Firestorm against the world as he, acting on a suggestion from the terminally ill Stein, demands that the United States and theSoviet Union destroy all of theirnuclear weapons.[5] After confrontations with theJustice League and most of his enemies, Firestorm faces the Russian nuclear superheroPozhar in theNevada desert, where an atomic bomb was dropped on them. A new Firestorm is created, composed of Firestorm and Pozhar, but controlled by the disembodiedamnesiac mind of Stein.[6]
In 1989, Ostrander fundamentally changed the character of Firestorm by revealing that Firestorm was a "Fire Elemental". Firestorm now became something of an environmental crusader, formed from Ronnie, Arkadin andSvarozhich, a Soviet clone of the previous Firestorm, but with a new mind. Stein is no longer part of the Firestorm matrix, but continues to play a supporting role, with the focus being on the radically different Firestorm.[1] New artistTom Mandrake would create a new look to match. It was during this phase that Firestorm met and befriendedSango and the Orishas, the elemental gods ofNigeria. He also met their chief deity and Sango's older brother Obatala, Lord of the White Cloth.
By the series' 100th issue, Stein learned that he was destined to be the true Fire Elemental and would have been were it not for Ronnie also being there by circumstance. Ronnie and Arkadin were returned to their old lives, and Stein as Firestorm was accidentally exiled to deep space in the process of saving Earth. He thereafter spent many years traveling through space as a wanderer, rarely returning to Earth.
After the transition to the elemental Firestorm, all of the main characters from the series vanished from the comics for some time after the cancellation of theFirestorm comic in 1990. Ronnie eventually returned in the pages ofExtreme Justice.[7] Ronnie, at the time undergoing treatment for leukemia, regained his original powers after achemotherapy session. It took the combined might of the Justice League led byCaptain Atom and the returned elemental Firestorm to restore Ronnie's health. Firestorm began to appear regularly in a number of DC titles, though lacking the guidance and knowledge necessary to use his skills wisely. Firestorm joins a backup Justice League team as well asPower Company.
During theIdentity Crisis miniseries, Ronnie is killed byShadow Thief, withJason Rusch subsequently replacing him as the host of the Firestorm matrix.[1][8] In the 2009–2010Blackest Night miniseries, Ronnie is revived as aBlack Lantern and killsGehenna, Jason's girlfriend.[9][10] He goes on to attack the Justice League satellite. Jason then briefly asserts himself, allowing the heroes to escape. Regaining control, Ronnie proceeds to absorb Jason's willpower. Like other Black Lanterns, the undead Firestorm mimics Ronnie's personality, often wisecracking and exhibiting other stereotypical teenage behavior.[11] In the final battle againstNekron, Ronnie is restored to life alongside Jason.[12]
In the 2010–2011Brightest Day miniseries, Ronnie and Jason begin operating together as Firestorm and learn that the Black Lantern variation still exists within the Firestorm matrix as a separate entity namedDeathstorm.[13] Deathstorm tells Stein that he intends to create enough emotional instability between Ronnie and Jason that the Firestorm matrix will trigger anotherBig Bang, thereby destroying the universe. He then absorbs Stein to use his knowledge against Ronnie. An internal argument between Ronnie and Jason ignites the spark, transporting them to the antimatter universe ofQward.[14][15] When Ronnie and Jason confront him, Deathstorm brings Stein out of the Firestorm matrix to taunt them with. Deathstorm attempts to turn Ronnie and Jason into salt, but Stein takes the brunt of the attack and dies. Jason and Ronnie decide to truly work together to avenge Stein's death. TheLife Entity declares that Ronnie has accomplished his mission, creating a burst of white energy that obliterates Deathstorm and returns Ronnie and Jason to Earth.[16]
After the events of the 2011Flashpoint storyline,The New 52 reality altered Firestorm's personal history to the point of being completely restarted. Ronnie Raymond is reintroduced as a high school senior and the captain of the football team.[17] During a terrorist attack on their school, his classmate Jason Rusch gives him a vial that he obtained from Martin Stein, which contains the "god particle", one of Stein's creations. The particle transforms both Jason and Ronnie into Firestorm, and the two briefly battle before accidentally merging into a creature known asFury.[18] Sharing the identity of Firestorm, with Ronnie being the brawn and Jason being the brains, Firestorm is considered for recruitment into the Justice League along with several other heroes.
TheDC Rebirth relaunch restores a version of Firestorm's original origin to continuity. InDoomsday Clock,Doctor Manhattan informs Ronnie that Stein deliberately caused the accident that transformed the two into Firestorm to studymetahumans.[19][20] Despite this, the two continue to work together until Lazarus Pit resin corrupts the Firestorm matrix and causes Stein to age rapidly.[21][22]
Ronnie Raymond / Firestorm appears in theJustice League Unlimited tie-in comic.[40]
Gerry Conway, the writer who co-created the character with artist Rafael Kayanan in a 1984 issue ofFirestorm.
Professor Martin Stein groomed Ronnie Raymond to turn them both into a government-controlled superbeing, to be named Firestorm. A suggestion that others were formed in similar ways. And now Raymond has seen the truth – at least the truth shown him by Manhattan.
Doctor Stein had it even worse, being aged to the equivalent of a human at the end of their natural lifespan and left comatose as a result. Whereas once the firestorm matrix only asked for a temporary sacrifice of autonomy, it now drains more from one person using the matrix. The process has become more parasitic than symbiotic.
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