Making a Splash: Firestorm in the Groovy Age

Check it out, Groove-ophiles! Back in December 1977, DC, Gerry Conway, and Al Milgrom gave us a gift that just keeps on giving! Firestorm! Yeah, his original mag lasted only five issues (thanks, in no small part, to the infamous DC Implosion), but he did join the JLA, had a much longer-lived series in the 80s, and is even appearing nowadays on the boob tube on the Flash (and soon, Legends of Tomorrow). Not bad for DC's answer to Spider-Man (and even Nova), huh? So let's dig the splashes from the five original issues of Firestorm, plus pencils for what would have been issue #6 (from Cancelled Comics Cavalcade), all by Amiable Al and a host of inkers; Firestorm's team-up with Superman from DC Comics Presents #17 (October 1979), penciled by J.L. Garcia Lopez; and Firestorm's triumphant entry into the JLA from Justice League of America #179 (March 1980), penciled by Dick Dillin.

DCnU and the Groovy Age Connection!

Fandom is all abuzz about DC's upcoming line-wide re-launch. While Ol' Groove digs rappin' about the great comics of the Groovy Age, I feel compelled to at least make some mention of this ginormous undertaking. DC has been known to shake things up: the 25 cent/52 page format of 1971/72, the DC Explosion/Implosion of 1978, Crisis on Infinite Earths in 1985, and so many more since. This, though, this is the Big One. Gotta say that rebooting every major title with an issue #1 is definitely not cool. Some of the creative teams do sound interesting. The coolness of the new looks for nearly every character vary widely (don't dig either of the Superman looks, f'rinstance, but Hawkman looks pretty far out).

But that's not what I wanna yak about.

I noticed that DC has cherry-picked from a variety of their 7+ decades, and we have a few mags that are reboots of some classic Groovy Age mags. I wanna spotlight those here today. How's that for an unexpected surprise, Groove-ophiles?

I'm going right down the line, using DC's solicitation info. Ready? Set? GO!

THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #1

 
Written by Ethan Van Sciver & Gail Simone
Art by Yildiray Cinar
Cover by Ethan Van Sciver

Welcome to a major new vision of the Nuclear Man as writers Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone team up with artist Yildiray Cinar to deliver THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #1. Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond are two high school students, worlds apart – and now they’re drawn into a conspiracy of super science that bonds them forever in a way they can’t explain or control. The cover to issue #1 is by Ethan Van Sciver.


As you can see, this is gonna be a mish-mash of just about every version of Firestorm, but at least the original, 1970s Ronnie Raymond is back as part of the equation.

SWAMP THING #1

 
Written by Scott Snyder
Art by Yannick Paquette
Cover by Yannick Paquette

DC Comics embraces its dark side. On the 40th anniversary of the character’s creation, the New York Times bestselling writer of AMERICAN VAMPIRE, Scott Snyder, teams up with Yannick Paquette (BATMAN, INCORPORATED) to bring horror back to the DC Universe in SWAMP THING #1. For years, one man served against his will as the avatar of nature. And while he may have been freed of the monster, he’s about to learn the monster will never truly let go of him.


Swamp Thing is one of the best characters to come out of the 1970s. I doubt this version is gonna bear much relation to the original, though, and that's too bad.

DEMON KNIGHTS #1

 
Written by Paul Cornell
Art by Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert
Cover by Diogenes Neves & Oclair Albert

Set in the Middle Ages, the Demon leads an unlikely team to defend civilization and preserve the last vestiges of Camelot against the tide of history. Critically-acclaimed writer Paul Cornell and artists Diogenes Neves and Oclair Albert combine sorcery, swords and superheroes in DEMON KNIGHTS #1.

The Demon as a team book? At least Kirby's kharakter is getting another shot. At least I hope it's Etrigan. Didn't name him in the solicits, did they?

FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF SHADE #1

 
Written by Jeff Lemire
Art by Alberto Ponticelli
Cover by Alberto Ponticelli

Frankenstein and his network of strange beings work for an even stranger government organization: The Super Human Advanced Defense Executive. It’s the breakout hero of Seven Soldiers as you’ve never seen him before in FRANKENSTEIN, AGENT OF SHADE #1, the first issue of a dark new series from acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire (Sweet Tooth, The Nobody) and artist Alberto Ponticelli.

As with Swamp Thing and Demon Knights, the link between this mag and DC's original Frankenstein (which ran as back-ups in the 1970s Phantom Stranger) seems quite slim.
  

HAWK & DOVE #1

Written by Sterling Gates
Art by Rob Liefeld
Cover by Rob Liefeld

It’s up to the living avatars of war and peace to root out the hidden forces who look to plunge the country into a deadly civil war in HAWK AND DOVE #1. The exciting new series will be written by Sterling Gates and illustrated by legendary superstar comics artist Rob Liefeld.

Rob Liefeld?!? DC should have begged Steves Skeates and Ditko to come back! Oh, and the black-in-place-of-white on Hawk's uniform? Bad idea.

ALL-STAR WESTERN #1

 
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Grey
Art by Moritat
Cover by Moritat

Even when Gotham City was just a one-horse town, crime was rampant – and things only get worse when bounty hunter Jonah Hex comes to town. Can Amadeus Arkham, a pioneer in criminal psychology, enlist Hex’s special brand of justice to help the Gotham Police Department track down a vicious serial killer? Featuring back-up stories starring DC’s other western heroes, ALL-STAR WESTERN #1 will be written by the fan-favorite Jonah Hex team of Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and illustrated by Moritat.

I hate the fact that DC has cancelled Jonah Hex, but this sounds pretty good (at least Gray and Palmiotti are still writing it). Bat Lash, Scalphunter, and El Diablo back-ups, please!!

OMAC #1
 

Written by Dan Didio & Keith Giffen
Art by Keith Giffen & Scott Koblish
Cover by Keith Giffen & Scott Koblish

A man loses control of his life as the omnipresent Brother Eye transforms him against his will into a powerful killing machine OMAC #1, written by DC Comics Co-Publisher Dan DiDio and co-written and illustrated by Keith Giffen and Scott Koblish.

Ol' Groove is actually a bit jazzed about this one. Genius stroke to get Giffen involved in this. Sounds like the relationship between Buddy Blank and Brother Eye is gonna be quite different in this version, but them's the breaks. Giffen rocks!


I probably should mention DC Universe Presents, which kicks off with a brand new Deadman story-arc. And Justice League Dark will give a home to such Groovy Age icons as Deadman, Shade the Changing Man, and Madame Xanadu (though the latter two will probably be closer to their Vertigo counterparts than their Groovy Age originals).

Lots of other stuff going on there, but that's fodder for other sites and blogs. Me, I'll keep my fingers crossed and dip in veeeeeeery carefully (All-Star Western and Omac for sure!). What do you think about the whole ta-do, Groove-ophiles?

Famous First Fridays: Firestorm

It was nearly Christmas '77, and DC socked it to us with an early present from writer Gerry Conway and artist Al Milgrom. Firestorm, the Nuclear Man was possibly the most anticipated new DC superhero series in years. DC did a good job of creating cool house-ads to build a following before the mag even hit the spinner-racks. I mean, all they had to do was show us...the costume. A flame-haired hero with a costume made of equal parts Kirby and disco (which, according to Answer Man, Bob Rozakis, was Milgrom channeling his inner 14 year old), man, that was instant dy-no-mite!

Another thing that made Firestorm stand out from the majority of DC's output was the fact that Conway and Milgrom, both Marvel Comics veterans, treated Firestorm like a Marvel superhero. Many fans at the time counted Firestorm as a Nova rip-off, but Firestorm was really a reverse-Spider-Man. Instead of the nerd being picked on by the jocks, half of Firestorm's alter ego (yeah, I'll explain that in a minute), Ronnie Raymond, was a jock being picked on by a nerd! That was kinda fun and different, especially if you were a high school aged comic fan like Teen Groove. The other half of Firestorm's persona was a middle-aged, frumpy, Reed Richards-level nuclear physicist by the name of Professor Martin Stein. Stein was a genius, yes, but in his own way, he was a loser, too, as you can see in the scenes with his boss Danton Black. I won't ruin the fun of reading the origin for ya, but I have to warn you, some serious CRAP brings our two unlikely heroes together (literally!).

Firestorm's mag only lasted five short issues (December, 1977-July, 1978), not because the mag was bad (it was a hoot!), but because it was a victim of the fabled DC Implosion (which I'll cover in depth soon). Firestorm popped up in DC's team-up mags (Brave and the Bold and DC Comics Presents) fairly often, and he became the last full-fledged member of the original JLA (thanks in no small part to the fact that co-creator Conway was scripting the JLA) in Justice League of America #179 (March, 1980). After a short stint as a back-up in the Flash (issues 290-299, 301-304), Firestorm was given another shot at his own title, Fury of Firestorm, which ran 64 issues (March, 1982-July, 1987). Since then, he has been killed, brought back, replaced, and last I heard, killed again. One thing's for sure, though. Firestorm will pop up again. He's too cool of a hero to waste!