The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 is a series that’s been on my radar since the DC Relaunch was first announced. The design of Firestorm has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid and ever since I’ve been in comics I’ve always at least made a point to look at any story with Firestorm in it. This is one of my favorite characters of the DCU, so this relaunch book caught my eye. The creative team of Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone co-writing? Having two acclaimed creators and two of my personal favorites, catches my eye from the start. I’m a fan of Yildray Cinar, he did an excellent job with Legion of Superheroes, and from the previews just looked like a good fit. Anyone that’s new to the series the concept of Firestorm is he’s the Nuclear powered hero, when two people, the originals being Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein, fuse together they create Firestorm who has the power to transmute molecules and make them into different elements. Using this basic concept and bringing new ideas to the forefront, the first issue of Fury of Firestorm is off to a great start.
The Fury of Firestorm hits on a dark note, grabbing you from the start. A team of operatives called Dog Team are inside a house in Istanbul looking to get information on a subject as the reader, we’re not clued in on initially. The terrifying nature of the this sequence is captured nicely by Yildray Cinar, the emotions just flow from the panels and straight into you. The emotional and horrifying images here are haunting we’re not even in the main story yet. Dog Team works brutally and with no remorse. At first I wasn’t sure what to think of this sequence that Simone and Van Sciver started with but it fit perfectly with the story, and no spoilers but there’s a mention of someone that’s familiar to long time Firestorm fans that’s mentioned in the first pages. That made me curious in the direction this was going to take.
After the chilling first pages, you get introduced to the main cast one by one, Ronnie Raymond, The original Firestorm, plays football in high school and overall likable guy. Jason Rusch, the most recent Firestorm, works on the school newspaper with his editor Tanya watching Ronnie play for an article. There’s going to be a lot of fun in having these two characters working together in this title. I love seeing how Simone and Van Sciver have them working off each other. I also like that there’s more to the Fury of Firestorm than meets the eye, as one point when the operatives pop up, you see images of a larger plan that’s happening. When you’re at the last pages, events ramp up quickly as Professor Martin Stein, comes into play, and I’ll say the Firestorm Transformation is one of the more intense I’ve seen in any interpretation of Firestorm. How the transformation works is going to be fun to watch in further issues, and when you see what appears on the last page, you’re going to have to have the next issue in your hands now.
Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone have a hit on their hands with Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men. The characters are engaging and I’m looking forward to getting to know more about them. The operatives and who they work for are going to make for fine villains for this story arc. Yildray Cinar’s artwork is mind blowing, his work on this title shouldn’t be missed. This book didn’t let me down, for long time Firestorm fans this should be just the ticket. New readers should enjoy this a lot, the direction is compelling and should catch anyone’s eye. This is truly one of the shining gems of the New 52.
