Firestorm

This page is for the first Firestorm – Ronnie Raymond. For the other part of the first Firestorm see Professor Martin Stein & for the second Firestorm see Firestorm (Rusch)

The Beginning

The first Firestorm was an amalgam of two people – Bradley High School student Ronnie Raymond and Vandermeer University Professor Martin Stein.

Ronnie Raymond was new at his high school, he was a football and basketball player and just wanted to fit in. Ronnie tried to impress a girl named Doreen Day. He finally caught the attention of Doreen, only for a jerk named Cliff Carmichael to decide Ronnie was his rival. Cliff made Ronnie look like an idiot so he had to find a way to redeem himself, and impress Doreen. In order to achieve this task Raymond joined an anti-nuclear activist group led by Eddie Earhart. (Later it was noted that Earhart was using this group as a cover up for his criminal activities) Ronnie tried to stop them when their protests turned violent. The group wanted to blow up an experimental nuclear power facility that had been designed by Martin Stein. Unfortunately for Stein his former assistant Danton Black (later known as Multiplex) who he had fired after he claimed that he was the one who created the plant, and Stein stole his credit rigged the plant to explode. The Anti-Nuclear Activist group knocked Stein unconscious, and tied up Ronnie Raymond, thus leaving them both to die. Earhart told Raymond, that he would pin the explosion upon his head as he was planning to blow the facility up as well. The explosion then breached the nuclear reactor, and caused the atomic blast.

The explosion that followed fused them into one being. Ronnie being the one who physically controlled the body as he was the only one conscious during the blast, and Prof. Stein acting as a voice in the back of his mind. (usually portrayed as a disembodied head) Ronnie then realized that the explosion had given him extraordinary abilities. He had flaming hair, could shoot “fusion blasts” from his hands, phase through solid objects, and re-arrange atomic matter. They adopted the moniker Firestorm, and set out to be a hero.

When Raymond and Professor Stein split, however, problems emerged. Stein couldn’t remember his time as Firestorm, and could not trigger the hero’s manifestation. When his time as Firestorm ended, Stein would often find himself in a strange place or situation, with no memory of how he got there. He turned to alcohol and was bent on self-destruction. Unfortunately when Stein took to drinking, the Firestorm persona would sometimes appear inebriated when summoned. Eventually Ronnie revealed the truth about Firestorm to Professor Stein, and he slowly began to remember his double life as Firestorm. Ronnie, and Stein later became great friends. Unfortunately they had to be very careful as both of them had the ability to summon the Firestorm persona. It wasn’t until Ronnie showed the Professor photos of the merger was he able to recall any time as Firestorm. Eventually he developed the ability to remember his adventures thus making it easier on his consciousness.

College Life

Raymond, on the other hand, was trying to balance the life of a student with that of being a super-hero. He would often find himself battling a rogues gallery of strange villains, often while trying desperately to hide his double identity. It was later revealed that Ronnie Raymond’s actual name was Ronald Rockwell, but his surname was changed to Raymond after a gangster bombed the Rockwell’s car killing Ronnie’s mother in the process.

Firestorm became a popular hero, and a member of several incarnations of the Justice League of America. Fans were able to relate with the secret identity aspect of the character, and enjoyed Martin’s constant guidance. Firestorm was bestowed the honor of being the youngest member of the Justice League.

Later Ronnie graduated from high school. He was worried that Prof. Stein, and him would be unable to continue as Firestorm because they would be so far apart as Stein was going to be teaching at the University of Pittsburgh. He later realized that he could attend that college in the future and did, guaranteeing time with his friend Martin Stein, and becoming Firestorm when needed. When Crisis on Infinite Earths came around it matured Firestorm. Captain Atom was a product of the event, and a new nuclear hero. Ronnie was jealous of this new hero, and tried many times to oppose him. He regarded Captain Atom as his rival, but they later reconciled and Captain Atom became a mentor towards Ronnie until drastic events changed Firestorm forever.

A Blank Slate

After a few years, Professor Stein was diagnosed with malignant cancer. The realization that his death would also be the death of Firestorm led the hero to try to leave a legacy, in the form of forcing the nuclear powers of the world to give up their arsenals.

This flagrant opposition to American and Soviet leadership led the two superpowers to try and bring him down. To do so, the Soviets sent their own Nuclear Man, an experimental soldier code-named Phozar, to bring him down. The resulting battle resulted in a massive nuclear explosion and the birth of a new, tripartite Firestorm.

This Firestorm was made from the physical forms of Raymond and Phozar (whose real name was Mikhail Arkadin), but was proven to be controlled by the disembodied and amnesiac mind of Martin Stein. Not knowing who he was, or anything about the world he was in, the new Firestorm was a dangerous force in the world. Fortunately, this incarnation was short-lived.

An Elemental Change

Firestorm was revealed to be the potential Fire Elemental, and gained yet another form. This new form was composed of the combination of Ronnie and Mikhail, but had its own mind. Stein’s mind was returned to his comatose form and regained consciousness.

The elemental Firestorm also struggled to find his place in the world, consulting other elementals, such as Swamp Thing, Naiad and Red Tornado to find out what he was supposed to be doing. His quest was cut short, however, by the appearance of the Apokolyptian villain, Brimstone.

During the battle, the technoseed that powered Brimstone was hurled into the sun, where it threatened to cause a chain reaction that would set off a supernova. In order to stop it, Firestorm would have to leave Earth, but as an elemental, he was bound to the planet. Martin Stein found a solution – he piloted a high-altitude jet into low Earth orbit with the assistance of Firestorm, flying as high as he could. Once that point was reached, Stein triggered an explosion that resulted in the destruction and re-formation of Firestorm. Mikhail and Ronnie were returned to themselves, and Stein became the sole possessor of Firestorm’s powers.

He dove into the sun and destroyed the technoseed, creating a wormhole that flung him into the far reaches of the universe.

The Firestorm with Arkadin proved to be a transitional phase, as in 1989, Ostrander fundamentally changed the character of Firestorm by revealing that Firestorm was a “Fire Elemental”. Firestorm now became something of an environmental crusader, formed from Ronnie Raymond, Mikhail Arkadin, and a Soviet clone of the previous Firestorm, but with a new mind. Professor Stein, no longer part of the composite at all, continued to play a role, but the focus was on this radically-different character.^[1] New artist Tom Mandrake would create a new look to match. It was during this phase that Firestorm met and befriended Shango and the Orishas, the elemental gods of Africa. He also met their chief deity and Shango’s older brother Obatala, Lord of the White Cloth.

By the series’ 100th issue, Stein learned that he was destined to be the true Fire Elemental and would have been were it not for Ron Raymond also being there by circumstance. Raymond and Arkadin were returned to their old lives, and Stein as Firestorm was accidentally exiled to deep space in the process of saving the Earth. He thereafter spent many years traveling through space as a wanderer, returning to Earth on only two occasions: the War of the Gods crossover event, and again in the JLA spin-off Extreme Justice #5, where Stein cured Raymond of his leukemia and allowed Raymond to retain the original Firestorm persona on his own.

After the transition to the elemental Firestorm, all of the main characters from the series vanished from the comics for some time after the cancellation of the Firestorm comic in 1990. Raymond eventually returned in the pages of Extreme Justice.^[6] Raymond, at the time was undergoing treatment for leukemia, regained his original powers after a chemotherapy session. It took the combined might of the Justice League led by Captain Atom, and the returned elemental Firestorm to restore Ronnie’s health. Firestorm began to appear regularly in a number of DC titles, though lacking the guidance and knowledge necessary to use his skills wisely. Firestorm was drafted by Batman into a “replacement” Justice League that was commissioned in case something befell the original team (in this case, being stranded in the distant past in “The Obsidian Age” storyline). After the original team returned, Firestorm stayed on as a reserve member and participated in events such as a team-up with the Justice Society of America (in JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice) and the intercompany crossover JLA/Avengers. He was also briefly a member of the Power Company.

Death at the Hands of a new Crisis

Ronnie Raymond did not escape unscathed. He soon discovered that he had leukemia, and underwent treatment for it. During these treatments, the Firestorm powers reasserted themselves, giving Raymond another chance to be a hero. But he was a sick hero, and it took the combined efforts of the Justice League and the surprising return of the elemental Firestorm Martin Stein. Martin wanted Ronnie to merge with him so he could live forever, Ronnie declined which enraged Stein. Eventually with the help of Extreme Justice Ronnie was able to come to terms with the professor thus allowing him to edit Ronnie’s molecular structure and curing his cancer. He kept his powers and worked with Extreme Justice, The Power Company, and the JLA . He battled alcoholism during that time, which hindered his ability as a hero. He contemplated quitting many a time, but took on his addiction and eventually won by seeking help.

Raymond continued to act as Firestorm from that point, while he attended college until his untimely death during Identity Crisis. He was impaled on the Shining Knight’s sword by The Shadow Thief. Knowing that his death was imminent Ronnie fled the scene by flying into the sky seconds later he exploded. Marking the end of an era.

In 2004, DC revived the Firestorm comic for the second time, with writer Dan Jolley and artist Chris Cross, but instead of the original Firestorm, Ronnie Raymond, there was a new protagonist; the teenager Jason Rusch.

Jason was a seventeen-year-old living in Detroit, who wanted nothing more than to escape his home city. He lived with his father who had turned abusive after he lost his hand in an industrial accident. His mother left his father sometime after the accident, leaving the young Jason with his father. With the loss of a job he needed to fund college, Jason turned to a local thug for money, accepting a job as a courier. It was on that job that he encountered the Firestorm matrix, searching for a new host after Ronnie Raymond’s death. In the aftermath, Jason struggled to cope with his new identity and powers – a struggle that led to the death of the man who’d hired him.

Eventually, Jason managed to develop a degree of control over his powers. Ronnie eventually returned within the Firestorm matrix in Firestorm #9, remaining with Jason as part of Firestorm until he appeared to dissipate in Firestorm #13.

Shortly after Jason’s eighteenth birthday, a few weeks after Raymond’s dissipation, Jason was kidnapped by the new Secret Society of Super Villains for use as a power source in a hidden complex. Freed when the new Secret Six launched a raid on the complex, Jason discovered two important things: he had a fellow prisoner, a mysterious girl named Gehenna, and his imprisonment by the Society had significantly depowered him (Firestorm #17).

Together, Jason and Gehenna escaped the complex. Gehenna disappeared in the aftermath, but telepathically promised Firestorm that she’d see him again. In Firestorm #19, Donna Troy recruited Firestorm – this time comprising Jason and his best friend Mick Wong – for her outer space team to fight the oncoming instability from Infinite Crisis.

Blackest Night

In Blackest Night #0, released on Free Comic Book Day 2009, the Black Hand, an agent of the Black Lantern Corps, is seen visiting Ronnie Raymond’s grave site. In Blackest Night Professor Stein is seen with Jason Rusch and his girlfriend Geheena saying that the day Ronnie died he has never stopped praying that he would return. Geheena then says to Jason that they should become Firestorm as she notes that it is raining but all the plants and everything are dying. Firestorm appears on the final page of Blackest Night saying that he has “dibs on the Flash.”

Black Lantern Firestorm is only made up of one re-animated corpse (Ronnie Raymond), so he attempts to capture Barry Allen for use as his “nerd brain” so that he can make use of more complex chemical reactions and atomic restructuring for Nekron’s assault on all life, knowledge that a scientist such as Barry would have. He fails, but in the attack on the JLA Headquarters he manages to separate the Jason/Gehenna Firestorm, and corners Gen. When Jason tries to push Ronnie away, he ends up fused with the Black Lantern, and forced to watch Ronnie torture and murder Gen by turning her into a salt statue. He cries out that he loves her, but she is unable to hear him as Jason was the inner personality that was invisible and inaudible to the outside world. The anguish that Jason feels is used by Ronnie to power up the Black Lantern power levels.

He then leads the resurrected Black Lantern villains from the JLA crypts on an attack on the few remaining defenders, but Jason briefly manages to take control and warns Mera, the Flash and the Atom to evacuate earth in light of Nekron’s imminent arrival, but Ronnie quickly regains control and continues the attack. After the heroes escape, Ronnie, along with all the other Black Lanterns, heads straight for Coast City where Nekron rises and attempts to extinguish all life.

In Coast City he comes into conflict again with the newly deputized Blue Lantern Barry Allen and Saint Walker, who try to use their power to free Jason using a Gehenna construct, and nearly succeed, but they are interrupted by the newly risen Reverse Flash, and so Jason is still trapped.

Eventually, Nekron is slain when Black Hand, his tether to the world of the living, is resurrected by the Entity, wielded by Hal Jordan and his temporary White Lantern Corps. Black Hand then vomits several white rings, one of which pushes through Nekron and destroys the central Black Lantern, releasing the Anti-Monitor. Nekron, infected by the white, is then obliterated by a blinding white light which releases 12 white rings, one of which resurrects the real Ronnie Raymond. Jason still struggles to free himself, and causes Ronnie such pain that they finally separate. Jason remains traumatized and blames Ronnie for killing Gehenna. Ronnie seems to have no memory of what his reanimated corpse did as a Black Lantern.

Brightest Day

As of Brightest Day Jason is still mourning his late girlfriend Gehenna. Ronnie’s first act of business after returning from the dead was to party with his old classmates from Pittsburgh University. At Jason’s funeral Prof. Stein admits that Ronnie has been acting strange and has barely said a word to him after his return. Ronnie shows up at the funeral only for Jason to question his credentials he still blames Ronnie for killing Geheena, and Ronnie tried to re-assure him that it was the Black Lantern Firestorm and not him. Jason becomes enraged and strikes Ronnie across the face, thus initiating the Firestorm transformation. Ronnie appears to be now in charge of the Firestorm body, with Jason acting as the disembodied floating head offering advice. It appears that Jason believes Ronnie has stolen the matrix.

Jason and Ronnie are seemingly permanently bonded together as Firestorm, much to Jason’s chagrin. Jason is still bitter towards Ronnie for killing Gehenna, while Ronnie’s body was under the control of the Black Lantern ring. Ronnie does not even wish to be firestorm anymore, wishing only to party with his friends and live the life he has gotten back.

The Atom and Professor Stein have discovered something is wrong with the matrix. Changes have began to take place, as the matrix has a disturbance within it. When the Atom penetrated the matrix in order to discover what the flaw was, it exploded. Ronnie has also experienced weird instances like seeing a composite of Gehena made completely of salt which exploded. Other strange occurrences within the matrix is a voice heard by Ronnie alone, it is now clear that it is the voice of Black Lantern Firestorm currently thriving inexplicably deep within the matrix. The entity within the White Lantern has also made Ronnie the voice within Firestorm, and Jason the one controlling it after claiming that, “Ronnie Raymond of Earth you need to study”, and “Jason Rusch of Earth you need to get your head out of the books”. A reader can be led to believe that Ronnie is learning as sometime in the future he may need to operate the Firestorm persona without a merge partner. In Stein’s lab, the boys are practicing their changed positions as Firestorm. Stein explains to them that the matrix is the spark that began the universe. He also explains that they can also end the universe if they have another burst of anger.

Eventually the Black Lantern Firestorm manifests itself, giving himself the moniker of “Deathstorm”. He separated Ronnie, and Jason and begins talking to the Professor and then abducts him within his consciousness. It is obvious that he is a play at the extreme style of comic from the nineties by the way that he speaks. Ronnie, and Jason merge and seek revenge while Deathstorm abducts Alvin Rush within his head as well.

A battle ensues yet, Jason and Ronnie are not triumphant against Deathstorm and he ends up resurrecting Black Lantern versions of the other 12 heroes and villains by stealing the white lantern and in turn corrupting it. Ronnie, and Jason arrive at Justice League headquarters seeking aid as they appear to be almost blowing up. Something happens, and they find themselves against a horde of Shadow Demons on the other side of the universe. There, the boys encounter the newly resurrected Anti-Monitor. As they prepare to fight a battle they know they can’t win, the Entity speaks to them. It say’s they do not have to fight the Anti-monitor, and must retrieve the White Lantern power battery. Determined, they fly back to Earth. They encounter Deathstorm and the other Black Lantern duplicates attempting to resurrect Nekron. Firestorm emits a huge white light, destroying all of the Black Lanterns, but not Deathstorm. As Deathstorm begins losing the fight, he separates from Stein and Alvin Rush. Deathstorm fires a blast at Stein just as Firestorm destroys Deathstorm. In anguish, they watch as Stein turns into a pile of salt. The Entity talks to them, saying they have accomplished their mission and Ronnie’s life is now returned. Ronnie argues with the Entity, demanding to bring Stein back. The Entity says Stein isn’t important, and they must do other things.

Deadman (a White Lantern) appears, not having any control over his ring. Having already appeared to Aquaman, Hawkman and Hawkgirl (after they completed their missions) and seemingly destroying them, he begs Firestorm to run. Surprised, Firestorm is enveloped in White light. Flames suddenly cover him and they disappear. Later, after Deadman appeared to Martian Manhunter, he, Dove, Hawk and Captain Boomerang are in the Star City forest. The Entity reveals that all of this was needed to stop Swamp Thing. The Entity reveals that Swamp Thing isn’t really Alec Holland, just Alec Holland’s psyche and mind imprinted onto nature. When Nekron attacked, he was imprinted onto nature just like Holland, thus creating the Black Lantern Swamp Thing. Swamp Thing wants to destroy the new Star city forest, thus destroying life on Earth. The Entity reveals that some were needed to be avatars of nature to battle the evil Swamp Thing until Alec Holland could return. It reveals the heroes Deadman visited, now turned into the avatars of Nature (Hawkman & Hawkgirl as the wind elementals, Firestorm as the fire elemental, Aquaman as the water elemental and Martian Manhunter as the Earth elemental). The elementals battle the evil Swamp Thing until Alec Holland is resurrected. Holland is surrounded by plants and becomes Swamp Thing. He then absorbs the elementals to defeat the evil Swamp Thing. After defeating him, Swamp Thing continues to protect nature, but first returns Hawkman, Firestorm, Aquaman and Martian Manhunter to normal, but keeping Hawkgirl as a wind elemental to help keep him pure (much to Hawkman’s rage).

After this, Ronnie and Jason are looking through Martin Stein’s records and Jason finds a file that states the matrix was damaged by Deathstorm, and they only have 90 days left until the explode.

Flashpoint

Ronnie and Jason are Firestorm in the Flashpoint universe they seem to be incarnations of where Brightest Day left off. Shortly after separating for the night, after a patrol Jason is killed by Heat Wave, who wants to become part of the Firestorm matrix. Ronnie exclaims that it’s impossible for him to become part of the Firestorm matrix by killing someone, and runs away after a battle commences.

The New 52

This is a new incarnation of Firestorm. Ronnie Raymond and Jason Rusch are both high school students once again, Ronnie is the star quarterback and Jason works for the school newspaper. Ronnie and Jason are not fond of each other at all. Martin Stein is seemingly dead and he left Jason one of several Firestorm Protocols. After a terrorist group, led by a mercenary named Cliff Carmichael, attacks the school looking for the Firestorm Protocol, Jason unleashes the matrix and both he and Ronnie become nuclear men. Jason wears a yellow suit while Ronnie is in red.

Jason and Ronnie are now separate Firestorms and do not have to combine to become Firestorm. The creature Fury is created when both of the Firestorms combine their powers. Fury is incredibly powerful and violent leading Ronnie and Jason to create him sparingly. A military group called The Hyenas are being paid to hunt down Jason and Ronnie and the Firestorm Protocol to their financially backed global cabal. The Zither Corporation eventually had all the other Firestorm’s from different nations killed. When Ronnie and Jason finally were able to defeat Zither Corporation and went off the radar they found they could combine into Firestorm together. On one of their missions they were offered Justice League International membership.

Powers and abilities

Ronnie Raymond

• Matter Manipulation: Firestorm has the ability to rearrange the molecular to particle structure of inorganic matter, rearranging subatomic particles to create objects of different atomic characteristics of equal mass. He can not only change and transmute the atomic composition of an object (e.g., transmuting lead into gold of equal mass) but he can also change its shape. He cannot, however, affect organic matter without painful, even lethal, feedback. This organic limitation does not extend to his person as he can change himself at will, allowing him to regenerate lost and damaged tissue, boost his immune system, shapeshift, and survive indefinitely without food, water and air. Much like a Green Lantern’s limitations, Firestorm can only create items the “driver” of the Firestorm matrix is able to understand the workings of. Unlike a Green Lantern’s creations, Firestorm’s alterations are permanent unless he reverses them.

• Switching Drivers: Following Raymond’s resurrection during Brightest Day, Firestorm gained the ability to switch “drivers” between Ronnie and Jason at will.

• Flight: Firestorm has also demonstrated the ability to fly at fantastic (but unmeasured) speeds.

• Intangibility: Raymond can render himself intangible and thereby pass through solid objects harmlessly.

• Energy Manipulation: to generate destructive and concussive blasts of fusion energy from his hands, to absorb radiation harmlessly.

• Enhanced Physical Stats: Firestorm has superhuman levels of strength, a healing factor, and resistance to injury.

Characteristics

• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 179 lbs
• Eyes: Blue
• Hair: Auburn

Status

• Identity: Secret Identity
• Occupation: Student, adventurer
• Citizenship: American
• Place of Birth: New York City
• Marital Status: Single
• Known Relatives: Joanne Raymond (mother)

Character Appearances

Ongoing Series

• 1980-1986: Justice League of America#179, 180, 183-185, 189, 190, 192, 193, 195-197, 200, 202-205, 207-209, 214, 217-224, 228-232, 239, 257
• 1980-1984: The Flash vol.1 #289-299, 301-304, 323, 327-329
• 1981-1985: Green Lantern vol. 2 #139, 194
• 1982-1987: The Fury of Firestorm #1-41, 43-64
• 1982-1991: Action Comics vol. 1 #534, 546, 554, 596, 650, 666
• 1982-1984: World’s Finest Comics #281, 300, 302
• 1982-1986: All-Star Squadron #14, 15, 54
• 1987-1991: Captain Atom vol. 2 #2, 5, 11, 17, 49, 55
• 1987-1990: Firestorm, the Nuclear Man #65-100
• 1988-2004: The Flash vol. 2 #8, 150, 205, 208, 209
• 1988-2010: Suicide Squad #9, 29, 30, 67
• 1988-1989: Justice League International #10, 24
• 1988-2005: Superman vol. 2 #14, 27, 218
• 1988-2004: Adventures of Superman #444, 449, 482, 623, 630
• 1988-1989: Starman vol. 1 #5, 6
• 1993-1996: Justice League America vol. 1 #72-75, 112, 113
• 1995-1996: Extreme Justice#0-18
• 1995-2003: Green Lantern vol. 3 #69, 81, 170
• 1999-2005: JLA #27, 38-41, 56, 58, 69, 71, 73, 75-79, 81, 82, 84, 85, 89, 100, 117, 119
• 2002-2004: JSA #33-37, 54
• 2004: The Legion #26, 27, 29, 30
• 2004-2006: Firestorm #1, 6, 8-14, 21, 22
• 2005: Manhunter vol. 3#4, 7
• 2006-2011: Justice League of America vol. 2 #0, 5, 7, 22, 28, 37, 51, 54, 59
• 2007-2009: Booster Gold vol. 2 #1, 14
• 2007:JLA: Classified #44, 45
• 2008: Superman vol. 1 #674
• 2008-2011: Superman/Batman #50, 84
• 2009-2010: Green Lantern vol. 4 #43, 51, 54
• 2011: Green Lantern Corps vol. 2 #54, 57
• 2012-2013: The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #0-20
• 2013-2015: Justice League vol.2 #16-20, 22, 23, 40
• 2013-2014: Justice League of America vol. 3 #5-8, 10, 12-14, 7.2
• 2013-2014: Justice League Dark #22-24, 27
• 2014: Justice League 3000 #4-8
• 2015-2016: Justice League 3001 #2, 5, 6
• 2015-2016: Superman/Wonder Woman#21, 24
• 2018-2020: Justice League vol. 4 #10, 11, 25, 30, 36
• 2019-2020: Superman vol. 5 #9, 19

Mini Series

• 1978 Firestorm, The Nuclear Man #1-5
• 1996:Total Justice #1998: #1, 2
• Justice League of America: The Nail #2, 3
• 2000: Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1, 2
• 2001: JLA: Incarnation #3, 4
• 2003: JLA/Avengers #2-4
• 2004: Justice League of America: Another Nail#2, 3
• 2007: World War III #2, 3
• 2019: DCeased #5, 6

Maxi Series

• 2006-2007: 52 #2, 4, 5, 37, 51
• 2007-2008: Countdown to Final Crisis #15, 44, 45
• 2008-2009: Trinity #11-16, 18-21, 23, 29, 32, 34, 39, 41, 42, 46-48, 51, 52
• 2012-2011: Brightest Day #1-4, 7, 10-12, 15-17, 19, 22-24
• 2014-2015: The New 52: Futures End #0-3, 5-7, 11, 22-26, 28, 29, 32, 48

Events

• 1985-1986: Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12
• 1986: Legends #1, 2
• 1988: Millennium #1, 4-8
• 1988: Invasion #2, 3
• 1991: War of the Gods #1, 4
• 1992: Amageddon: Inferno #1, 4
• 1995: Underworld Unleashed #2, 3
• 19996: The Final Night #1, 3
• 1999: Day of Judgement #1-5
• 2004-2005: Identity Crisis #1, 5, 6
• 2009-2010: Blackest Night #0-4, 7, 8
• 2013-2014: Forever Evil #1, 3, 7
• 2018-2019: Doomsday Clock #5-9, 11
• 2020-2021: Dark Nights: Death Metal #3, 5, 6

Television & Other Media

Super friends

Firestorm (the Raymond-Stein mix) appeared in the later seasons of the Super Friends. Due to the non-violent nature of the show, his powers were mainly limited to transmuting objects, mostly turning villains’ weapons into harmless items or neutralizing Kryptonite for Superman. Of course his weakness, namely an inability to alter “organic materials”, was known to all his enemies and exploited in every episode, mainly because he talked about it every two seconds. Silence is golden, kid. Ronnie was voiced by Mark L. Taylor

Batman: The Brave & The Bold

Firestorm appeared on Batman the Brave and the Bold in an episode entitled “A Bat Divided!“, with Ronnie voiced by Bill Fagerbakke. The Firestorm which appears in this show is one we’ve never seen before. While it is part Ronnie Raymond, and Jason Rusch they are completely different characters then their comic book personae. In the cartoon Ronnie is a football coach with a hurt knee, and Jason is a chemistry nerd. Also they have a different origin story, and the Professor is absent entirely not once making an appearance. In this series Jason is in charge of the Firestorm body while Ronnie offers advice through the invisible head Firestorm is famous for. In the show, Firestorm is created when Dr. Double X attempts to steal nuclear energy, but his scheme is foiled by Batman. Double X then triggers a meltdown that not only fuses Jason and Ronnie together as Firestorm, but separates Batman into three different entities: a soft-spoken genius, a blood-thirsty brute, and a laid-back slacker. The genius Batman experiments on Firestorm to figure out how to fuse the Batmen back together, but the brute Batman attacks a bar full of costumed criminals after getting bored in the Batcave. The two other Batmen and Firestorm arrive to collect the brute Batman, but Dr. Double X kidnaps Firestorm and takes them back to his lab. Double X drains the energy from Firestorm, becoming more powerful and separating the hero back into Jason and Ronnie. Jason and Ronnie willingly reverse the machine, fusing back into Firestorm and draining Double X of his power; then Firestorm proceeded to lay the smack-down on Dr. Double X.

Firestorm returned in the two-part episode “The Siege of Starro!” as one of the heroes who helped Batman fight off Starro‘s invasion of Earth. He was also seen in the cold opening to “Darkseid Descending!“, where he and Batman battled Killer Frost.

The Flash

Ronnie Raymond is played by Robbie Amell. He works at S.T.A.R. Labs with Dr. Harrison Wells, Cisco Ramon, Hartley Rathaway, and his fiance, Caitlin Snow. After the Particle Accelerator explosion, he was accidentally combined with Professor Martin Stein (played by Victor Garber) who was outside the building working on his Firestorm project that he was working on with student, Jason Rusch (played by Luc Roderique). He was originally presumed dead but he and Stein actually went missing after the explosion for several months. He was appearing around Central City as a man on fire that Iris West had nicknamed “The Burning Man.” General Wade Eiling has been after the Firestorm project and wants to use them as a military weapon. The Flash and the S.T.A.R. Labs team help figure out a device to be able to separate Ronnie and Martin. They succeed to separate them but they decide to recombine as the nuclear hero, Firestorm, to help the Flash defeat General Eiling. They also team up with the Flash and the Arrow to take down the Reverse Flash. In the Season 1 finale, the Flash attempts to go back in time to stop his mother from dying but decides not to alter the timeline so he came back from the past and stopped the Reverse Flash from escaping to the future, where he was from. Eddie Thawne, Reverse Flash’s ancestor, decides to kill himself so that the Reverse Flash could never have existed. This caused a singularity that created a black hole in Central City that would have destroyed the universes and reset the world to timeline where Reverse Flash never existed. In the Season 2 premiere, it is revealed that the Flash attempted to save the city but Firestorm was actually the one who saved Central City and stopped the black hole from resetting the timeline. He sacrificed his life in doing so. Professor Stein eventually combines with Jefferson “Jax” Jackson to become the new Firestorm. During Season 2, the Flash and Cisco travel to Earth-2 to rescue that Earth’s version of Dr. Harrison Wells’ daughter, Jesse, from Zoom and they discover the Earth-2 version of Ronnie Raymond. That Earth’s Ronnie is called Deathstorm and he works for Zoom. He doesn’t allow Professor Stein to come out of their combination and has claimed that Stein doesn’t talk to him anymore. He is later killed by Zoom because he attacked the Flash when he was supposed to leave all speedsters unharmed and bring them to Zoom.

Legends of Tomorrow

After the events With Jax and Stein becoming the new firestorm in the Flash, they are recruited by Rip Hunter to be apart of his team (later known as the Legends) to stop savage. Firestorm becomes a key member of the team and during this time they learn the ability of transmutation.