A learning curve for the Nuclear Man, the ballad of the Homeless Avenger, and the distant past of Krypton

Firestorm #66, Vigilante #48 and 49, Wonder Woman #11, World of Krypton #1 and 2

As we reach September of 1987 with DC: A New Dawn, the amount of comics exploded from the publisher. With the arrival of Millennium, a fifth week on the calendar, and the decision to test out biweekly releases on a lot of books, the output for the publisher doubled for the month. So let’s get into it and start looking at some great comics.

Firestorm the Nuclear Man #66 by John Ostrander and Joe Brozowski

While a lot happens in this issue, it actually starts a million years ago. An alien race annihilates an entire world because a creature known as the Zuggernaut has fallen upon it. They determined that the billions dying with the planet’s destruction are a price to pay to save billions more elsewhere. Unfortunately, they do not notice a mass of life still attached to a piece of the broken planet. Over the millennia, it floats through the galaxy until it reaches our solar system. Detecting life on the third planet, it aims the rock toward Earth. Worrisome stuff, but it won’t actually be a problem until three months from now as an event gets in the way.

Art by Joe Brozowski and Sam DeLaRosa. Owned by DC Comics and used for review purposes.

We actually turn to our two new leads as they try to get on with their life in the week since the formation of the new Firestorm. Mikhail Arkadin goes through a comprehensive evaluation by the Soviet government and Zastrow, but they find no sign of his former powers as Pozhar. Zastrow doesn’t like it, but he lets Mikhail leave and return to his family.

Ronnie Raymond has spent the week sulking. His closest friend is dead and the power he shared with him now is controlled by someone else despite still sharing his body. His father tells him that he needs to find some kind of motivation to keep himself going as wallowing in his depression doesn’t help anyone. Annoyed, Ronnie leaves for a walk.

A trio of Black men get out of their cars in what’s clearly the most racist possible corner of the city, as they are almost immediately attacked by a crowd of white people who want them dead. It’s a weirdly sharp turn to racism, the kind that usually comes with at least some kind of villain’s mental command. Here though it just seems that the people are completely super-racist as they end up chasing the men into traffic.

Ronnie sees this and his concern activates the Firestorm Matrix. Mikhail is pulled away from his home in Russia as Ronnie turns into energy himself. They form into Firestorm and set out to stop the fighting. The man he saves was doused in gasoline by the first racist he encountered and they want to set him on fire. But Firestorm’s arrival sees handguns pulled. Firestorm blocks the bullets, but the ricochet hits the gas tanks and ignites them. Firestorm flies the man to safety, but when he goes to help the others, the man points out that they will never learn from their mistakes if he helps them free.

Hal Jordan happens to pass by as this is occurring. The Green Lantern goes to put out the fire, but Firestorm repeats the words from the Black man. He tries to stop Green Lantern from dousing the fire. Green Lantern tries to make it clear they know each other from the Justice League, but Firestorm clearly states he doesn’t know Green Lantern at all. Confused by Hal’s arguments to help, Firestorm simply decides to leave and reverts back to his human components as the issue ends.

While the inciting incident features perhaps a little too much shorthand to get to the conflict, the issue does an excellent job of defining the mind of the new Firestorm. His knowledge of the way the world works is still quite limited, although perhaps influenced a bit by his components. But as a blank slate, he’s become something other than a true superhero, even as his life will be threatened by Millennium over the next couple of issues just as everyone else will.