Firestorm the Nuclear Man: Reborn

Quite a lively treat, all things considered. This new approach to Firestorm is a strange combination of elements, but generally there's a brash energy here, hampered only slightly by a feeling of "too much". Between Firestorm: Reborn and my recent experience with Swamp Thing: Healing The Breach, I'm finding comics to be almost dizzingly complex when it comes to their juggling of innerspace realms (the Firestorm matrix in this case, and the Green, over in Swamp Thing, though let's not go there now, or fizz will start to come out of your ears), weird science (manipulating reality at the atomic level, transmutation of free matter, in Firestorm: Reborn, or strange meldings of organic matter and machines over in Swamp Thing: Healing The Breach, but never mind Swamp Thing at this point, or your head will burst), plus the usual human-relationships stuff mixed with super-villain skullduggery. Throw in complex backstory, usually related to some monumental crossover (Infinite Crisis, anyone?), not to mention tie-ins to Firestorm's earlier series, plus room for guest-stars, and the creative team is flirting with a real mess. What really threatens to clutter things up here is the inclusion of Firehawk--a superhero in her own right--as the "other half" of the composite being known as Firestorm; Jason Rusch is the Firestorm main-man, if you will--the brave youth who can link with another human being to transform into our title character, in all his orange and yellow glory. I find that Firestorm: Reborn is just a tad too hectic, with Firehawk sometimes fighting as her own self, and sometimes being absorbed into the Firestorm entity--in a weird way it sometimes makes Firestorm himself seem like a really powerful fifth wheel, or more likely, makes Firehawk seem inadequate ("see how you do by yourself, Firehawk, cuz I'm too tuckered out, but if you're losing again, we'll transform into Firestorm"). It's a very weird dynamic, and, not to spoil things, but I'm glad that part of the aim of this fun tale is to bring the Jason Rusch/Firehawk merger to a conclusion. It means that the creative team knows this should get resolved, if only for Firehawk's benefit, and move on. This decision makes the story better, and it also helps that the characters themselves--including Jason's girlfriend, Gehenna, who also has super-powers, and wants to further complicate things by joining in the battles--are frustrated by all the hectic transforming, merging, quick travelling, and fitting in of regular lives (school or a job, though there's not much room for that here). Meanwhile, I love cold-based villains, and in Firestorm: Reborn I get two for the price of one, brrrrrrrrrr. Killer Frost and Mr. Freeze. That said, Freeze is not very impressive here, with barely any dialogue as he assists in helping Frost turn Firestorm into a human rocket, so she can make a quick trip to the Sun, where she can increase her power and destroy said Sun at the same time, how chillingly effici

I've been collecting comics for almost 2 decades now and I can say this about the new firestorm book. It is, without a doubt, a very thought provoking storyline that does more than just do SMASH! BANG! BOOM! and other stereotypical comic tales. It includes abuse, horror of what the powers can do, as well as having to take on the "baggage" from the previous incarnation / predecessor of this hero. The art has character and you can actually distinguish who is who with the art, while in other books, that is a hard thing to do. The redesign of the Firestrom character is seen not only in the writing of the character but in the art with the drawing & color which gives a unique look to this character who has been around for decades. Good book. Good read. Well worth your time and money!

The art by Jamal and Keith was great; love the new look. I enjoyed Stuart's writing with the twist and turns. Again, a lot of fun! ~R