The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #2 – Review

By: Ethan Van Sciver & Gail Simone (writers), Yildiray Cinar (artist), Steve Buccellato (colorist)

The Story: I suppose since the world’s going to end soon, I can skip that book report, right?

The Review: Like a lot of heroes in the DC galaxy of stars, Firestorm has always been one of those oddballs that no one really knew what to do with.  A frequent Justice Leaguer with his own solo for a time, he possesses some exceptional powers and an interesting origin, yet writers have so far failed to establish him as a true icon with major pull.  The big obstacle to “getting” the character is his identity and agenda have always come secondary to his appearance and abilities.

Who better than Gail Simone, one of DC’s finest character writers, to rectify the situation?  Last issue had our two protagonists too busy squabbling and getting a handle on their destabilizing transformation for them to interact coherently.  Now, somewhat past their initial prejudices (how can anyone take racist nonsense seriously once faced with the threat of global winter?), their dialogue feels smoother and more natural, though resentment continues to bubble underneath.

By default, Jason takes charge of the situation, seeing as how he actually knows the science behind the Firestorm Protocol and all.  For all that, you can see he feels just as helpless and at a loss as the others.  His recitation of advanced physics seems like his way of processing the insanity happening to them, though it irritates the heck out of his already frazzled companions: “…time is tied into the quantum field.  It could be that—”  “Rusch.  For once, just…”

Ronnie’s complete meltdown (so to speak) last time didn’t make him out as the most admirable character in the world, but as he calms down, you get to see more of his startling innocence.  He may be a jock, but he also has a somewhat childlike naivety (“Just…just wanna go home.”), one that grows even more endearing during his monologue about waking up to a looped emergency broadcast test and believing the world had ended.  You very much feel for the guy after that.

Now it turns out Tonya, for better or worse, will be a member of this threesome—which may turn out to be a pretty apt description, considering the obvious foundation for a love triangle Simone lays here.  Beyond the role of romantic interest, Tonya’s thoughtful assertiveness (“I’m talking now, Jason.”) serves a nice balance between the two young men she’s been thrown with, and her clear-eyed insights into the situation may serve as a dire prophecy of disaster to come.

The problem is you don’t really feel convinced a disaster is on the verge of happening.  Though everyone seems to insist nuclear Armageddon is upon them, you have no clear idea how this Firestorm thing will make it happen, so it’s hard to take the notion seriously.  What you can take seriously are the thugs after these kids, who, despite Ronnie’s diagnosis that “They’re all tweakers!” demonstrate a strict, top-notch, completely amoral professionalism.

Cinar’s soft, bland, middle-of-the-road style may prove the undoing of the tone and ideas the script calls for.  It lacks the edginess needed to give intensity to the dramatic scenes or peril to the action sequences.  The clash between Cinar’s vanilla art and Simone’s penetrating words really dampens the issue’s quality in many ways, and that’s before we get to Buccellato’s washed out colors, as if someone tweaked the “Lightness” widget on Photoshop too far.

Conclusion: The potential of the series is starting to reveal itself now, but inappropriately middling art undermines any attempt for the title to join the majors.

Grade: B-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: – Agh—it’s true: saying “Firestorm” initiates the transformation.  This is just too anime-trope for words.

– Honestly, I’m surprised we haven’t seen more supervillains do crime while high.

– Oof.  I feel bad for the kids’ parents, who understandably are undone by the idea that their children may be murdering terrorists.  Especially Ronnie’s mom, when the cops open his closet and reveal a whole stash of weapons that are clearly unobtainable by law.