Firestorm: Thriving One Year Later

Now this is a One Year Later title that I fully endorse. I wasn't crazy about the new Firestorm when it launched two years ago. I always liked Ronnie Raymond and the adventures in Firestorm Volume 1 were pretty superhero stories by Gerry Conway--and John Ostrander kicked it up a notch before it ended. Volume 2 has a college kid called Jason Rusch who inherited the Firestorm matrix after the events of Identity Crisis. Stuart Moore has taken over the writing reigns and made Rusch's character and his predicament much more interesting by exploring the nature of the Firestorm matrix. It was going to be a worthy title for any DC fan's pull list regardless of OYL. In Firestorm 22, after a battle during Infinite Crisis left Jason mortally wounded, he encountered Martin Stein. For you Firestorm newbies, Stein was one-half of the classic Firestorm character. Firestorm is a matrix that combines two personalities in one form; one person is dominant and controls Firestorm, the other one gives advice. Stein, a scientist, was the best person to give advice to a kid with nuclear powers. After the conclusion of the first Firestorm series, Stein became an ethereal being and went off to explore outer space. Moore was very smart to bring him back and help Jason recreate the Firestorm matrix from scratch. It ties the series back to the first Firestorm, while paving the way to new adventures for Jason. In issue 22's story, "Building a Better Firestorm", Stein re-engineered the Firestorm matrix to allow Jason to have better control, while shutting down some powers that were just too unstable.

I was really looking forward to seeing Jason work with Stein. However, with Infinite Crisis, now all of that has occurred during the missing year. Something has happened to Stein-his whereabouts are unknown. Jason has merged with Lorraine Reilly-Firehawk-to figure out what happened to his mentor. But it's more than just a voluntary merge. Jason and Lorraine can't be physically separated for more than a mile. What happens after that distance, we'll find out next issue. But imagine the implications: if Jason goes on a date, Lorraine has to be in the same area. Lorraine, as a Senator, must keep Jason around Congress if she's working. Neither of them really likes it! Moore's really made this into an interesting superhero book. I applaud him for steering the book through the minefield of Infinite Crisis and making it even better. Check it out. Nuff said.

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