Comic Info
Comic Name: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Dan Jurgens
Artist: Dan Jurgens
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2013
The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #14
Reprints The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #13-20 (December 2012-July 2013). As Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch try to get a handle on their ever-changing powers as Firestorm, a new threat arises from the Continuum and an interest by Dr. Megala. Losing control of the Firestorm body, Jason and Ronnie must find a way to regain control of Firestorm before Dr. Megala makes them Public Enemy #1. If Firestorm can find a way to escape Megala’s control, he might find a new threat in someone who knows Ronnie and Jason’s relationship to Firestorm.
Written and illustrated by Dan Jurgens, The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man Volume 3: Takeover follows (and retitles) The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men Volume 2: The Firestorm Protocols and replaces Joe Harris and Ethan Van Sciver as the writer. It was the final volume of the series.
Firestorm was one of those characters I always considered a “new” DC character. The character is actually almost as old as me but since he was added to the Super Friends when I was a kid, I always felt he wasn’t really part of the team (though he does have a great costume). It is that weird outsider aspect of Firestorm that kind of works here, but the series was ultimately doomed.
The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #20
The Firestorm character is always rather high concept and tricky. You have two people inside of Firestorm and one of the two people can’t really control Firestorm but can only offer advice. Originally the combo was Ronnie Raymond and Dr. Stein but then Jason Rusch became Firestorm in the early 2000s. Here, the middleman of Stein is dropped and you have two young heroes becoming Firestorm…it kind of works by the time this volume rolls around after a lot of bumps, but at this point DC had moved on…leaving this volume rather hanging.
The book serves as both a conclusion to the Captain Atom story from his own cancelled volume for the first few issues and also a throwback to the old Firestorm series at the end with many of Firestorm’s old villains resurfacing including Typhoon, Black Bison, Killer Frost, Multiplex, and Hyena. It also sets up Firestorm as a member of the JLA and the (unexplained here) return of Dr. Stein. It feels like a really traditional comic book, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men was one of the worst titles of the New 52, but The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man wasn’t that bad…unfortunately, readers would have to wade through the first to get to the second, and they didn’t. DC (probably smartly) opted to cancel The Fury of Firestorm, but at least it got a bit of a finish and showed that it could have potential (Firestorm joins the Justice League in Justice League 4: The Grid).
Related Links:
The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men 1: God Particle
The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men 2: The Firestorm Protocols
