DC Comics has been killing it since “DC All-In” started in 2024, paying off the promise of the new editorial staff they brought in during the “Dawn of DC” publishing initiative. While the Absolute books get all the praise, DC is creaming Marvel in sales and not just because of those brilliant alternate universe books; they’ve been putting out some of the best superhero comics on the shelves with its main line books, working hard to rebuild the glories of the DC Multiverse from the days before Crisis on Infinite Earths. While the publisher has had a problem in the past bringing back classic characters and ideas, they’ve been doing a fantastic job lately, with numerous miniseries getting extensions over the last few years.
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One of the books that excited some fans but didn’t really seem like it would have legs is Fury of Firestorm.Firestorm was introduced as DC’s Spider-Man, a young hero who was more like the greats of the Marvel Universe than those of DC. The character was huge in the ’80s, fading away over the decades, and since then DC has been trying to bring him back to prominence. The current series, from writer Jeff Lemire and artist Rafael de Latorre, was first announced for eight issues, but word of mouth from critics and fans have drove sales, leading it to become the latest book to get extended at DC Comics.
Fury of Firestorm Has Wowed Readers From the First Issue, Earning Its Extension With Great Storytelling
Firestorm is one of those characters that can be something of a hard sell, as the various Firestorm reboots of the 21st century have learned. Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein ended up being bonded into the Firestorm matrix, gaining fantastic powers like super strength, invulnerability, intangibility, flight, and complete control over matter and energy. He had the power level of a DC great, but the book was as much about Ronnie and Martin dealing with their new lives as superheroes.
Their relationship was always one of the most wholesome in comics – an older mentor trying to help a young man come to terms with adulthood life – but that changed when Doomsday Clock set up the idea of the Superman Project. The US government decided to create their own superhumans after Superman showed up, leading to Stein picking Raymond as the other part of the Firestorm matrix. This change is fundamental to the current volume and it’s one of the things that makes it so exciting.
Fury of Firestorm opened with a mindless Firestorm destroying Bedford, Colorado and moving towards his hometown of Pittsburgh, with his former partner and girlfriend Firehawk and Stein trying to figure out a way to reach Ronnie inside of Firestorm. The matrix has seemingly come to life and it wants to recreate the world in whatever way it sees fit. The book has been more of a horror comic than a superhero one as Stein and Firehawk face off against a force that can destroy the Justice League, subverting reader expectation of what this book would be brilliantly.
With issue #6 hitting stores, DC has announced that the book will be extended to issue #15, beating out previous extensions like Absolute Martian Manhunter and Absolute Green Arrow that only got up to issue #12. Issue #6 brings the story to a head, as Firehawk and Stein try the last ditch machine that the professor created to get through to the Firestorm matrix and reach Ronnie, sending the book off to its next phase.
This is actually the second time the book has been extended; it was first scheduled for eight issues, boosted up to nine, and now has had another half a year added to it. Lemire had this to say about the series: “The Fury of Firestormhas been one of those dream projects that just keeps giving. Much like the Firestorm matrix, the story has taken on a life of its own and just keeps expanding into new and unexpected directions.”
Fury of Firestorm Has Proven to Be the Gift That Keeps on Giving
Fury of Firestorm has been, month in and month out, one of the best things on the comic shelves. Comics have changed a lot since Firestorm’s first series premiered back in the ’70s and this latest volume is able to bring the concept into the present with aplomb, making it feel new while paying homage to the hits of the past. There were a lot of ways this book could have gone, but it’s safe to say that no one expected it to be anything like this. Lemire and de Latorre have been able to find new directions to take the character, setting him up for the bright future of the DC Multiverse, and DC is rewarding fans with more Firestorm goodness.
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