Wave 2 - Firestorm

Firestorm is another of those complicated and imaginative comic characters to come from the late 70's. Originally, he was formed when High School student Ronnie Raymond and physicist Martin Stein were caught in a nuclear blast that fused the two together as the super-powerful Firestorm. While both Stein and Raymond retained their personalities, it was Ronnie was who mostly in control as Firestorm with Stein serving as the 'voice of reason' inside his head. The witty dialogue between the two personalities became a trademark of the character.

But there were more nuclear catastrophes and personality mergings to be had in Firestorm's future. When an atomic bomb was dropped on the hero during a battle with a Russian supervillain, the two super-powered beings merged and Ronnie and Martin took on the third persona of Mikhail Arkadin. At this point Stein became little more than a disembodied mind and Firestorm's adventures took on a highly political tone as influenced by the cold war. Later, Firestorm's origin was revealed as that of a fire elemental creature that was bonded to Ronnie Raymond. Stein's character was eliminated altogether and the new Firestorm took on the role of an environmental crusader.

This dramatic shift of origin and personality didn't sit well with fans and the character sort of 'fizzled out'. Seeking to breathe new life into the character, DC killed him. Heh. Firestorm was impaled on a magical sword and his atomic essence 'drifted' into the body of African-American teenager Jason Rusch. Rusch became the new Firestorm and now battles on as a member of the Justice League of America.

Firestorm's super powers are atomic in nature, being able to expel atomic blasts, absorb high-levels of energy, and fly at very high speed. He can also manipulate inorganic matter on a molecular level, rearranging the atomic structure of elements to transform objects. Firestorm also demonstrates superhuman strength, microscopic vision, and the ability to phase through solid objects.

Classic

Modern (coming soon!)

Firestorm is sort of Black Manta’s antithesis. At first glance, he looks freakin’ awesome, but once you study him closer, you’ll see a lot of flaws. I mean, his sculpt and detail are still great. The level of sculpting detail has been so consistent with this line that I’m starting to take it for granted. So I don’t want to discount how great he is in that category.

Where Firestorm fails is in the paint department. He has two shades of red on his body, where he should really only have one. His costuming around his face is a much darker shade than the red on the rest of his body. And, his upper knees (lower thigh) are unpainted, but cast in a red color that isn’t even close to the rest of his leg. He has a similar problem with his painted yellow pieces not matching his molded yellow pieces. His translucent fiery hair is pretty neat though!

Color matching issues notwithstanding, Firestorm is a great addition to the collection. There is going to be a running change to Firestorm to release his variant modern version in future case mixes. Hopefully Mattel will fix up some of the paint issues on that version. Then it will be spot on!