Black Canary in Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 2: JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA ANNUAL #3

Black Canary left the Justice League of America roughly one year before the Crisis on Infinite Earths universe-altering series when Aquaman took over the team and ushered in the era known as Justice League Detroit.  She and Green Arrow teamed up with Green Lanterns John Stewart and Katma Tui at the beginning of the Crisis event before coming back to the JLA for the series' annual in 1985.

Justice League of America Annual #3: "Force of Nature" was written by Dan Mishkin with pencils by Rick Hoburg, inks by Mike Gustovich, and a cover by Paris Cullins and Mike Machlan.

The story begins with the android Red Tornado alone on the Justice League Satellite.  The satellite is badly damaged and plummeting toward the Earth while inside Red Tornado tries to hold the structure together.  Reddy also questions his humanity, but his existential crisis is interrupted by the satellite exploding.  Pieces of the satellite shower Earth in flames as the debris catches fire on reentry.

Below, Green Arrow and Black Canary have been rescued by Firestorm and ride a--a balloon in the shape of a puppy?  Really, Ronnie?!

In Detroit, Martian Manhunter watches the bulk of the satellite wreckage crashing toward the city's Renaissance Center.  J'Onn grabs Steel and Vibe just as Firestorm arrives with Dinah and Ollie.  Firestorm uses his atomic restructuring power to divert some of the debris, while Black Canary, Green Arrow, Steel and Vibe deal with the bits of fiery detritus that Firestorm misses.

But the largest chunk of the satellite, the command center, is still barreling down on the heart of Detroit.  J'Onn J'Onzz risks his life by throwing himself against the fireball.  Despite fire being his greatest weakness, his superior Martian strength is able to knock the satellite debris some ways from downtown.  Firestorm uses his powers to push the wreckage clear of the city and into the water of one of the Great Lakes.

In the aftermath, the Justice League members past and present begin to bicker amongst themselves with Green Arrow and Vibe about to throw down.  Firestorm separates them and calls their attention to the missing Red Tornado who was still on the satellite.  J'Onn, too, tries to settle the heated tempers and scans for Reddy.

The scene changes to New York City where Kathy Sutton, Red Tornado's boo, comes home from  the grocery store to find Reddy's face haunting her television screen beckoning her to join him.

Across the country, Ralph Dibny, the World Famous Elongated Man, and Zatanna Zatara, Mistress of Magic arrive at S.T.A.R. Labs to investigate a series of freak storms and unnatural weather problems across the globe.  Ralph surmises the influx of anti-matter energy is responsible for the storms, but a scientist confesses that S.T.A.R. Labs has been deploying experimental weather control satellites--weather control satellites that they're no longer able to control.

Elongated Man and Zatanna help the scientists try to override the weather satellites operations but fail to stop the satellites before the lab's control center is destroyed by malfunctioning equipment and another storm caused by a space warp opening up directly above the two heroes.

Back in Detroit, J'Onn brings Black Canary, Green Arrow and the rest of the League members to their current headquarters.  Ollie and Vibe continue to snap at each other.  Then some doctor comes out and describes the fate of Red Tornado.

Firestorm reveals to the others that Red Tornado's body was inhabited by the spirit of the Tornado Champion, but their discussion in cut off by Elongated Man's distress call.  The League watch on the monitor as Elongated Man and Zatanna are caught up in the storm and sucked into the space warp.

Meanwhile, Kathy Sutton follows Red Tornado's trail through hijacked electronic messages.

Then the Detroit heroes save some people trapped at a hydroelectric plant.  Black Canary, meanwhile, goes to Gotham City with Green Arrow and Firestorm.  They're flying into the city when Ollie spots Kathy Sutton standing on top of a bridge in the middle of the storm.  Kathy is rescued by Geo-Force and brought to Batman and Black Lightning.

Kathy is telling Batman and the Outsiders about following Red Tornado's summons when Dinah and the others land and tell them Reddy is dead.  Then Superman arrives and is unable to travel through the space-warp.  They reason that the rogue weather-control satellites are preventing the heroes from going through the warp, and J'Onn has been unable to destroy the satellites in space.  Superman flies up to help the Martian.

Geo-Force uses his positive gravity power to try and collapse the warp, but it doesn't work.  Instead, it pulls the jet nearly crushing the heroes.

Geo's powers create a crazy kind of backlash effect that sends Black Canary, Green Arrow, Firestorm and Kathy Sutton into the space warp.  Batman and the Outsiders cannot follow, because screw the Outsiders!

In space, Superman and J'Onn destroy one of the weather satellites, while the malevolent spirit controlling voices his rededication to his plan, whatever that might be.

At the hydroelectric dam, one space warp opens dumping Ralph and Zatanna on the Detroit Leaguers.  Another warp opens up dropping Dinah and the others.  Vibe acts like a dick, which is Ollie's thing, so Green Arrow smacks Vibe, calling him a punk.

Zatanna notices that the weather has changed, that something is affecting the wind and air pressure specifically.  In space, Superman and Martian Manhunter destroy the last of the satellites which plays right into the hands of the Tornado Champion that has been causing all of the storms.

The gathered heroes watch as the giant tornado takes a familiar form: Red Tornado.  The tornado spirit explains how Red Tornado's android self was able to interface with the electronic satellites in orbit, and the Champion's spirit overrode their programming making them go bad.

Superman and Firestorm recognize that Reddy had been taken over by the persona of the Tornado Tyrant, who now wants to remake the world in his skewed version of perfection.  While the heroes engage the Tyrant in battle, we cut back to Detroit where Sue Dibny witnesses a whirling wind steal away the broken android body of Red Tornado.

The Justice Leaguers fight Tornado Tyrant but they're not accomplishing much.  Kathy Sutton thinks there is still a semblance of her lover's soul inside the storm and runs away from Green Arrow.  The whirlwind picks her up, and in the eye of the storm Kathy confronts Red Tornado, but his soul isn't the gentle man she loved.  He's crazy and wants her to join him in his quest to conquer the world.

She's able to calm him enough that he lets his guard down.

Superman, Martian Manhunter, Vibe and Firestorm try to contain the Tornado Tyrant but he busts free and rants against them.  Then, like a bratty little kid, he flies off threatening to get them back someday.

I think I would have enjoyed this story if I cared at all about Red Tornado and his history but I really, really don't.  I don't care much about the new Justice Leaguers from Detroit, either.  J'Onn and Firestorm got some cool moments to shine in this story, but Black Canary, Green Arrow, Elongated Man and Zatanna were little more than bystanders for most of the action.

Despite the end-of-the-world style natural disasters and potential for mass destruction that would make Michael Bay squee with delight, the story feels a little too small for a 41-page annual.  Part of that is Hoburg's artwork which never really elevates the dynamic scenes, but part of it, too, is Mishkin's story which is really too straight-and-narrow for a comic of this length.

The Origin of Black Canary: 1983 Part 2 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #220

I've waited months to review Justice League of America #220, a story that radically reimagines not only Black Canary's history but her whole identity and status as a member of both the Justice League of Earth 1 and the Justice Society of Earth 2.  At last, the time is right to cover this story, because according to the 1976 Super DC Calendar, today, April 10th, is Black Canary's birthday.

Justice League of America #220: "The Doppelgänger Gambit" is written by Roy Thomas with pencil art by Chuck Patton and inks by Romeo Tanghal and Pablo Marcos.  George Perez delivers a cover with not one but two Black Canaries--one corpse-like in a casket beside the late Larry Lance, and the other looking on in horror with members of the Justice Society of America, Red Tornado and Sargon the Sorcerer, all while the Earth 1 Johnny Thunder and the Thunderbolt loom menacingly.  The cover boasts that this issue includes the "true origin of the Black Canary".

Gerry Conway already wrote an amazing origin story for Black Canary with only one noticeable problem that I can see: it dated her.  Conway's story specifically locked Dinah into an era that was becoming evermore recognizable as the past.  The Justice League members were supposed to be young and in their prime, but the math would make Black Canary out to be something like sixty-two years old.

DC needed a retcon to explain this age discrepancy so that Black Canary could have functioned in both eras, on both teams, without qualifying for an AARP card.  And in the late 1980s they would write that retcon and it would work wonders.  But before they got there, Roy Thomas would craft a Black Canary origin story (supposedly inspired by a Marv Wolfman idea) that would make even Hawkman's history look straightforward.

Last time, for reasons unknown and inexplicable to characters who know him, Johnny Thunder's genie-like Thunderbolt attacked the Justice League of America during its annual meeting with the Justice Society.  Barry Allen, Hal Jordan, Firestorm, Elongated Man, and Zatanna were struck down by the mad Thunderbolt and now lie comatose in the JLA Satellite.  Only Black Canary and Red Tornado, both of whom originated from Earth 2, as well as Justice Society members Jay Garrick, Power Girl, Huntress, Hourman, and Starman came through the battle relatively unscathed.

Almost immediately after the attack, pairs of super villains from both worlds launched attacks against ancient temples of worship.  While Starman took Black Canary to the Thunderbolt Dimension to investigate the Johnny Thunder connection, the JSA members went planet side to take on the villains.

Power Girl shows her eagerness to tackle the villains, while Red Tornado advises caution and a strategy session to plan their counterstrike.  (Red Tornado is the worst.)  The unexpected arrival of Sargon the Sorcerer prompts half of the JSA to lash out at the mage.  Sargon mildly flirts with Huntress while magically besting her, Power Girl and Red Tornado, who, seriously, is the worst.

Sargon tells the Flash and Hourman that he was working with the Spectre when the Thunderbolt struck him down in his Earth 1 human host, Jim Corrigan.  The Flash welcomes Sargon's help and sends him out with Power Girl, who sounds less than thrilled.

In the Thunderbolt Dimension, Black Canary and Starman were captured, not by the Johnny Thunder they suspected--the Johnny Black Canary befriended in her very first published adventures--but the Johnny Thunder of Earth 1.  This Johnny Thunder is crazy and vengeful and he's taken control of the Thunderolt.

But far more shocking than their enemy's identity is what he shows them: a glass casket with the bodies of Black Canary's late husband, Larry Lance, and another body that looks exactly like her.  Johnny also holds captive the original and noble Johnny Thunder of Earth 2.

At Evil Johnny's command, Thunderbolt tells the story of how he and Good Johnny fought crime in the '40s on Earth 2, how Black Canary joined them in their crusade for justice, and how Thunderbolt was injured during one of their adventures, explaining why Johnny Thunder's monthly adventures went away in favor of Dinah's solo stories.

Good Johnny took off, devastated that the woman he fell in love with favored Larry Lance over him.  In subsequent years, he stayed out of her life while she grew closer to both Larry and the Justice Society.  Until, of course, the day the Justice Society of America quit fighting crime by refusing to divulge their real identities before Congress.

The Wizard... "the greatest super criminal in the history of the planet"?!!  That's a helluva stretch, but I will concede after this story he might be Black Canary's greatest villain.  Maybe.

A desperate Dinah and Larry Lance bring their infant baby to Johnny Thunder, who summons Thunderbolt.  The genie offers to take the baby to the Thunderbolt Dimension where her destructive sonic powers won't harm anyone.  The caveat being, of course, that once there the child can never leave.  If Dinah and Larry send their child with Thunderbolt, she'll be safe, but they'll never see her again.

Approximately ten years after this story is published, the X-Men's Cyclops and Jean Grey would face a similar dilemma when their infant was infected with a virus and needed to be sent into the future to save his life, resulting in their child becoming the militaristic leader of X-Force, Cable.  And that scenario makes only a little bit more sense than what Roy Thomas will offer up later in this issue.

Dinah and Larry agonize over the decision--I would think--but finally surrender their baby to the protection of Thunderbolt.  He brings the baby to the Thunderbolt Dimension and keeps her in suspended animation, but then he goes a little off-script and wipes the memory from Dinah, Larry, and Johnny Thunder.  He convinces them that the baby died... because it will be easier for them to deal with...  Yep.

Black Canary, much like any attentive reader, is full of questions.  But Evil Johnny interrupts the story to draw attention to the ensuing battles on Earth 1 between the heroic and villainous pairings.

In Mexico, Chronos and the Fiddler have seized an ancient pyramid.  Jay Garrick and Hourman rush to intervene but they're thwarted by a time-holograph created by Chronos, and then the Fiddler plays a little ditty causing the heroes to keep dancing until they die.

Meanwhile, Dr. Alchemy and the Icicle have taken over one of the Great Pyramids of Egypt when Huntress and Red Tornado come liberate the place.  Reddy drops Huntress off on the sloping face of the pyramid, but Icicle freezes the side, causing Huntress to slide down.  But being the daughter of Batman and Catwoman affords Huntress a healthy amount of agility and preparedness.  She manages to throw a batarang that knocks out Icicle even as she's sliding down.

At the same time, Red Tornado is battling Dr. Alchemy, who maneuvers the android into position so that Huntress slides off the pyramid and crashes right into him.  The result is that Huntress and Red Tornado are both knocked out, spoiling all of the good will Huntress gained by swatting Icicle.  God, Red Tornado sucks.

And at Stonehenge, we find the last duo, Power Girl and Sargon squaring off against the wicked mages, Felix Faust and the Wizard.  The bad guys use their magic to fool Power Girl and Sargon into striking each other, knocking each other unconscious.  Then, naturally, Wizard and Faust bicker amongst each other, because that's what villains do.

Back in the Thunderbolt Dimension, Evil Johnny taunts his hostages and brags of the devious goings-on that he's fostered down on Earth 1.  Unbeknownst to Evil Johnny, some of the electric sprites of the dimension have come to started rescuing Good Johnny from his bonds.  Just when Evil Johnny is ordering the genie to murder Black Canary and Starman, Good Johnny breaks free and shouts out the magic words that put Thunderbolt back in control.

Freed of Evil Johnny's influence, Thunderbolt races to the JLA Satellite to revive the Leaguers he hurt last issue.  And before long, the heroes of Earth 1 snap back into action.

Elongated Man and Barry Allen help Jay and Hourman take out Chronos and the Fiddler.  Firestorm and Hal Jordan help Huntress and Red Tornado take out Dr. Alchemy and the Icicle.   And Zatanna helps Power Girl and Sargon take out Felix Faust and the Wizard.

In the Thunderbolt Dimension, Evil Johnny is captured though still trying to regain control over the genie.  Black Canary is overwhelmed by the image of what looks like herself and her dead husband.  Is it a daughter she never knew or something even stranger, she wonders.

Oh, it's stranger.  And it's the kind of story that only Bob Haney Superman and the Spectre could tell.

So... Superman thought it best that Black Canary swap bodies and memories with her own daughter who lived a decades in suspended animation.  Dinah Drake effectively dies with her husband, while her consciousness takes over the dormant body of her daughter.

Aside from Red Tornado totally being the worst, what can we gather from this issue?

This ending is so, sooooo $@#%ed up!  I guess at this point Black Canary is considered to be the daughter of the original Black Canary, but she's full of her mother's memories and experiences.  What happens to her now will shape her life as though she's a different person, but couldn't that be said of any character.

The whole motive for this retcon was to de-age Black Canary.  And Roy Thomas did so by putting the character in the identical body of a child she never remembered having.  But the tale ends with her crying and being carried off--happily--in Superman's arms, so I guess it's a wash.  After all, that's how issue #74 ended when her husband died right in front of her.  Maybe that's one of Superman's untapped powers; he can make Black Canary get over any traumatic event.

The action scenes with the Justice Society versus the dastardly duos is mostly underwhelming.  The way the heroes fail to stop their adversaries is forced and lame, but the timely arrival of the Justice League heroes is pretty exciting.

Black Canary has never had much of a Rogues' Gallery; her list of personal foes makes Aquaman's look like the Society of Evil.  This story, however, puts two common foes of the JSA and JLA firmly in Dinah's stack of super villains.  Johnny Thunder of Earth 1 never achieved much on the page or off, but his schemes and his connection to her personal history make him an interesting enemy for later stories.  Likewise, Black Canary now has a personal, maybe the most personal beef with the Wizard.  He cursed her own freaking child and condemned it to suspended animation for life until she took over the body.

Well, Happy Birthday, Black Canary!  You get a new body and a new history, one that will last about five years before cooler heads think of a better idea for post-Crisis on Infinite Earths.

The Origin of Black Canary: 1983 Part 1 - JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #219

Because I can't help myself when it comes to these little segues, today, April 3rd, is the birthday of the original Flash, Jay Garrick, at least according to the Super DC Calendar from 1976.  That's why I've saved my reviews of Justice League of America #219-220 until now.  The story spanning these issues doesn't just radically revise Black Canary's origin, but also prominently features Jay Garrick and the Justice Society of America.

Justice League of America #219: "Crisis in the Thunderbolt Dimension" is cowritten by series regular Gerry Conway along with Roy Thomas, who'd been writing All-Star Squadron at the time and pretty much owned anything related to the Golden Age heroes.  Pencils and inks on the issue are provided by Chuck Patton and Romeo Tanghal respectively.  The cover, depicting a familiar-looking genie called Thunderbolt attacking the Justice League while their Earth 2 counterparts look on in horror, is drawn by none other than George Perez.  The story came out in October of 1983.

The story begins with a group of heavily armed terrorists taking hostages in a public park in Central City.  While the terrorist leader announces their demands to the police, however, an unseen force begins taking down his cronies and henchmen.  See, in all their scheming, this group didn't count on two scarlet speedsters to interfere with their plans.

Both Barry Allen and Jay Garrick, each known as The Flash, the Fastest Man Alive in their worlds, race into action in a title page that pays homage to the original Flash of Two Worlds story.

Jay and Barry take turns redirecting the terrorist's machine-gun spray so that it spells JSA and JLA on the wall.  The Central City spectators and police are a bit slow to recognize Jay, who they mostly know as a fictional superhero appearing in Flash Comics.  'Cause, y'know, that made sense at the time.

After saving the day, the Flashes run to the Justice League Satellite transporter.  Jay lends voice to a concern that I've had for years about the proper naming for Earths 1 and 2.

As they speed up the side of the building and prepare to teleport to the League's orbital headquarters, the two reflect on their annual meetings and how enjoyable it is for them.  However, as they're about to leave, the weather abruptly turns stormy.  And a crackling spike of pink lighting arcs down from the sky toward the speedsters.

Jay recognizes the energy source too late.  The lightning grazes him but turns its full force on Barry.  Even the Flash of Earth 1 can't outrun the bolt that seems to strike him dead.

The Thunderbolt gives no reply.  Jay tries to attack, but it effortlessly knocks him back with a low-level blast.  He looks up just in time to see the Thunderbolt fade away.  Jay crawls over to examine Barry and finds the other Flash barely clinging to life.

Desperate, Jay knows he must get Barry up to the satellite, currently orbiting the Earth at a distance of 22,300 miles above the surface.  There the combined members of the Justice League and Justice Society of America mingle like friends at a company picnic.

I love Black Canary's half-conversation with Huntress and Power Girl.  There's so much innuendo delivered in her line before Power Girl clears up the matter.  And speaking of Power Girl, Firestorm is pining over her like a classic teenager with a crush.  And why wouldn't he?  It's Power Girl!

Green Lantern and Starman talk about boring cosmic stuff, while Elongated Man pulls Firestorm aside so that he, Zatanna, and Hourman can give the kid some dating advice.  Unfortunately, just before Firestorm asks Power Girl to visit the Trophy Room (wink wink), the frivolity is spoiled by the pink lightning bolt crashing into the room.

Black Canary and Starman recognize the energy signature of the lightning bolt, but Firestorm doesn't much care.  Unwilling to be ****-blocked by a light show, the Nuclear Man rushes to confront the lightning.  It promptly shocks him, knocking the life out of him.  Then the lightning takes the familiar form of Johnny Thunder's genie, the Thunderbolt.

Hourman pops a pill and charges the Thunderbolt with his newfound super-strength, but is easily batted away.  Green Lantern attacks with his Power Ring and Starman with his Cosmic Rod (wink wink, wait, that's not a euphemism!)  Thunderbolt absorbs the energy and redirects it, striking Green Lantern with all the power.  The Thunderbolt next turns its attention on Red Tornado, knocking the android across the room, demolishing some of the satellite's dimensional transporter in the process.  It strikes at Power Girl, Elongated Man, and Zatanna before the Mistress of Magic can cast a spell against it.

As the heroes still standing check on their wounded and ask questions, the transporter tube opens to reveal Jay Garrick carrying the unconscious Barry Allen.  The Flash, Green Lantern, Zatanna, Firestorm, and Elongated Man are all taken to the medi-lab, where they remain in critical condition.  It doesn't take long for the survivors to realize what they all have in common: Black Canary, Power Girl, Huntress, Hourman, Starman, and Jay Garrick were all born on Earth 2, and Red Tornado was first assembled there.  The next question, of course, is why does that matter?

For newer readers who might have thought Black Canary was always a native Leaguer, she recounts her story of coming to Earth 1.  It started when Starman crashed through the roof her home with Larry Lance, her husband on Earth 2.

Dinah goes on to remember how on her first day with the Justice League she let slip a tremendous blast of sonic energy.  Batman had explained that her proximity to Aquarius' energy when Larry died and mutated her, granting her a new metahuman power, her Canary Cry.  Dinah admits that Batman's explanation never quite made sense to her (or to Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas, I'd bet).

While she's daydreaming about the past, Power Girl and Red Tornado use the satellite's surveillance equipment to confirm that Superman and Wonder Woman have also been rendered unconscious by the Thunderbolt, and Aquaman, Green Arrow, Hawkman and Hawkgirl may also have been taken out like the other League members.

Huntress speculates that the problem might not emanate from a rogue Thunderbolt but from Johnny Thunder himself.  Black Canary refuses to believe her old friend could have betrayed them like this.  At that point, Power Girl reveals that pairs of super villains from both Earths are attacking ancient temples on the planet below.  From Earth 1, Chronos, Dr. Alchemy, and Felix Faust are each partnered with The Fiddler, Icicle, and the Wizard from Earth 2.

The heroes speculate that these combined villains are behind the Thunderbolt's attack on the League.  They quickly jump into action.

I'm going to say it right here, a big part of me has and always will prefer Black Canary and Starman as a couple over Black Canary and Green Arrow.  That these two had a brief but passionate affair was the best retcon James Robinson ever contributed to the DC Universe.  I just love the way these two interact, and you can see the love Ted has for her in the last panel.

Black Canary agrees to Starman's plan to track the Thunderbolt and get answers directly from the source of their problem.  He uses his Cosmic Rod (tee-hee) to transport them through space and into the alternate dimension of the genie: the Thunderbolt Dimension!

While struggling to get their bearings in the topsy-turvy alternate world, they spy someone watching them from a lofty throne.  Before they can react, the Thunderbolt attacks Starman.  Black Canary lets loose a sonic cry, but it has no effect on the genie this time.  Dinah is immobilized and the two are brought before their captor: the Johnny Thunder of Earth 1!

What's with the glass coffin holding Larry Lance and a double of Black Canary?!!  I guess you'll have to wait until next Thursday for my review of issue #220.

This is a great issue, and as one of the annual crossovers with the Golden Age heroes of Earth 2, it's a real treat to see characters like Jay Garrick, Hourman, and Starman get such a worthy place in the story.  True it's at the expense of the titular members of the Justice League, but even they get moments to shine, however briefly.  Everyone gets to use his or her power, mostly to little effect, but it still looks cool.

But naturally my favorite part of the story is the emphasis on Black Canary's pre-League roots.  She originally debuted in the Johnny Thunder strip in Flash Comics, so it's thrilling to see that history play out as her friends are stalked by Johnny Thunder's wayward djinn.  Everyone questions the culpability of Johnny Thunder, but Dinah refuses to believe her old friend could have gone bad like this.  It is more dramatic and powerful then at the end when she learns that a Johnny Thunder is behind her woes, just not the Johnny everyone suspected.

Conway and Thomas' script is impeccable in this issue, filled with nice character beats, like the dialogue between the Flashes and the cops in the first scene; and Firestorm's angst over Power Girl; and Starman coming to Black Canary alone, giving her a chance to resolve this personal conflict for herself.  All perfect moments.  Patton and Tanghal's art, too, is beautiful.  The tension and terror on the characters' face have never seemed so dramatic.  Brilliant stuff here.

In the end, though, this issue is mostly a set-up for the greatness--and wonkiness--that will come with issue #220.  That issue is full of a ton of action and a whole new origin story for Black Canary.  Come back in a week to check out my review!

Review: FIRESTORM: THE NUCLEAR MAN #3

Previously...

Teenager Jason Rusch is the new Firestorm, except he has no idea what that means or how to control his unfathomable powers.  What's more, he doesn't have the calm, fatherlike voice of Professor Stein coaching him in his head.  Instead Jason has local Michigan gangster Stevie Golek trapped in his mind.  Golek wants to use the power of Firestorm for his own ends until Jason's consciousness begins eating away at Stevie completely.  Now, all he wants is to get out.

But Jason doesn't know how to separate them.

Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #3: "E.M.Powered" is written by Dan Jolley with pencils by ChrisCross and inks by Bob Stull.  This issue came out in September, 2004.

The third part of Jolley's introduction to the All-New Sorta-Different Firestorm opens up right after last issue.  With the powers of Firestorm, Jason Rusch just blew up a Detroit meth lab full, killing people.  Bad people, most likely, but it's still causing him some emotional anguish.

Inside Jason's mind, reality is no less horrifying.  He's trapped with a gangster who moments earlier tried to murder him, and they're looking out at Jason's body demonstrating the amazing powers of the Nuclear Man.  Also, Jason's mind seems to be devouring the gangster, Stevie, who is understandably desperate to get out of this place.

Stevie might be a killer and drug kingpin, but he's also older and smarter than Jason, and does his best to keep Jason calm during this volatile experience.

Jason struggles to separate himself from Stevie, but nothing's working.  Stevie comes up with the idea of consulting the Justice League.  I guess he really is afraid of dying because that takes some sack for a murderous meth dealer to ask Superman and "the guy who runs fast" for help.  Regardless, Stevie's logic is pretty sound; the JLA is most likely to possess the knowhow and resources to separate.

The only problem is the JLA are headquartered on the Moon, and Jason can't conceive of a way of getting there.  He doesn't have enough faith in his powers yet.

Stevie scolds Jason for being a coward and suggests that Jason's dad, Alvin Rusch, beat all the courage out of him.

Jason, he don't like that.

Stevie reasons that provoking an emotional response in Jason is what causes the Firestorm power to respond, so he keeps poking and prodding, allowing the readers to see Jason Rusch's history play out as painful memories: first the factory accident that took Alvin's hand, then Alvin's depression and violent outbursts, then Jason's mom abandoning the two of them, then Alvin beating Jason.

Jason finally finds the courage and concentration to seize control of the Firestorm.  And once he's done that, it's relatively easy to split his corporeal form from Stevie Golek's.  But Jason's sense of pride and accomplishment is short-lived.

Could be worse, though...

Jason forces himself to rationalize Stevie's death.  Stevie was, after all, a drug dealing killer who stabbed Jason and would have finished the job as soon as he got free.  So maybe his atomization isn't the worst thing in the world.

The worst thing might be Jason's dad, who has a particular way of showing his relief when Jason comes home that morning.

Alvin comes within inches of punching his son in the face, and Jason does nothing but stand there trembling.  The phone rings, disrupting Alvin's rage.  Jason goes upstairs to take the phone call from his friend Mick.  While talking to him, Firestorm seems to formulate a plan to settle things between he and his father.

And that concludes the three-part series opener for the latest Firestorm: The Nuclear Man!

I'm still not wild about ChrisCross' art on this series.  His figures and line-work are decent, but his panel breakdowns are so, soooo boring.  This is probably the worst issue yet for layouts.  Twelve of the twenty-two pages are arranged in simple four panel quadrants.  There are some truly awesome visuals to enjoy in this comic that are being wasted by a layout design that went out with the Silver Age.

I want to like Jason Rusch but he still feels way too passive in these early issues.  For most of this chapter, the driving force is the "villain" trying to save himself by giving Jason what he wants.  Almost every notable thing Firestorm does is accidental or incidental, including killing Stevie and bringing down the meth lab.  And it ends with him crying in bed about not having the guts to stand up to his father... Not exactly the stuff of classic superheroes.

And yet... there is something refreshingly classic about Firestorm in these issues: he doesn't want to see anyone die, and he shows emotion when they do!

Remember when superheroes were preoccupied with saving lives--even the bad guys?  I have a tough time believing that Superman would regard the chemists burning to death in the meth lab.  I have a tougher time believing a writer or editor in the DC offices today would even consider those implications.

Come back next week for a review of issue #4, where Jason Rusch meets members of the Justice League for the first time, and meets his first super-powered supervillain!

Fan-Casting DC's FIRESTORM: Part 5

Click here to review part 4.

So far: 

In the second Firestorm movie, titled The Fury of Firestorm, Professor Martin Stein helps his former colleague, Crystal Frost, develop a thermafrost research chamber.  But when the experiment goes wrong, Crystal is transformed into Killer Frost.  Firestorm is unable to stop her during their first confrontation.  After the battle, Professor Stein is killed.

Immediately following the death of Professor Stein (David Strathairn), we get one of those now-classic sequences where the music kicks up and all the in-scene sound is muted.  The tempo slows down as Ronnie (Reid Ewing) wakes up and rushes to his mentor's side.  He cradles the body, crying, screaming in rage, all in slow motion while the score reaches crescendo.

After Stein is dead and buried, the rest of the second act sees Ronnie (or Jason) having to deal with the death of his friend.  There is a lot of unresolved emotional baggage, because they were fighting before Stein died, and Ronnie feels like he never committed as much to being a good, responsible hero like he should have.

At this point we'll also see an agony and vengeful Ronnie attempting to harness the Firestorm matrix without merging with Stein.  The result is something similar to the Elemental Firestorm-era of the comics.  He tries to attack Killer Frost (Mena Suvari) in this form, but cannot control the powers and endangering even more lives than her.

Ronnie knows that Firestorm is the only being powerful enough to stop Killer Frost, but he cannot control Firestorm alone.  He needs to fuse with another person to fully capture the Firestorm matrix.  He needs help.  He needs a new partner.

Firestorm 2.0

This next part is contingent on who our main character has been for the first movie-and-a-half.  If the protagonist is Ronnie Raymond, then he partners with Professor Stein's last protege, a young scientific genius named Jason Rusch.

Firestorm/Jason Rusch (Luke Youngblood)

Wait, wait, waitaminute! you say.  Didn't you already cast Donald Glover as Jason Rusch?

Indeed, I did, but that was for a different role; that was for a Jason that would carry the franchise on his shoulders.  I think Donald Glover is capable of--and overdue for--driving a superhero adventure series on his own.  So if Jason Rusch was our hero from the onset of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man, I would definitely cast Glover.

If he wasn't, though, if Jason Rusch doesn't appear until the second movie, and then as a replacement for Stein, functioning more as a supporting character than lead, well, then Glover's talent and star power would best be served with a different character (and yes, I'll name that character at another time).  In that case, I'm going with my second choice, Luke Youngblood.

Youngblood is chameleonic in his ability to capture different characters on screen--and no character is more different than Magnitude on Community.  He's also a Brit, and I think letting him keep the accent would be cool way to further differentiate him from the All-American athlete Ronnie.


On the other hand, if our main character always was Jason (played by Donald Glover, remember) but written more like Ronnie, then his new partner in the Firestorm matrix would be his girlfriend.

Gehenna (Liu Yifei)

Okay, cards on the table, I don't know who this young woman is.  There are lots of other, perhaps more recognizable Chinese actresses, but most of them I'd already cast in other roles.  But Liu Yifei's imdb credits testify to her talent, and a google images search testifies to her sweet, wholesome beauty.

Now we have two options for Firestorm, each dynamic and interesting in its own way.  By the third act, a new Firestorm is born.

In the third act, Firestorm confronts Killer Frost again.  This time, with Jason (or Gehenna) providing some clutch insight into thermodynamics, Firestorm realizes that using fire and heat against Killer Frost only empowers her.  That cold is actually her enemy.  Firestorm uses his powers to lower the temperature somehow/somewhere and Killer Frost is shut down.

Ronnie, of course, wants to kill her to avenge Professor Stein, but Jason talks him out of it.  Killer Frost is immobilized and taken into government custody.  Ronnie and Jason (or Jason and Gehenna) mourn Stein's passing, but move on as a newer, stronger version of the hero, Firestorm.

That's the second movie, in a nutshell.  The dignified, iconic Martin Stein dies to be replaced by a younger, more ethnic character, because that's what comics do.  Ronnie goes through an emotional crisis and emerges stronger, more mature, more grounded, and a better all-around hero.

But there are still Firestorm stories to be told…

Beyond the Sequel

I won't get into additional movie synopses, but here are the casting choices for some more villains and supporting players.

Black Bison/John Ravenhair (Adam Beach)

Probably the biggest actor of Native American descent in Hollywood at this time is Adam Beach.  I've seen him play a soldier a couple times, and he's always kind of a good, noble guy.  I would like to see him stretch that range, playing a good, noble guy that succumbs to his darkest urges for vengeance as Black Bison.  And Wes Studi could play his great-grandfather, Bison-Black-As-Midnight-Sky.

Plastique/Bette Sans Souci (Clemence Poesy)

Clemence Poesy was the French girl from the fourth Harry Potter movie that competed for the Goblet of Fire.  She's the one who wasn't Robert Pattinson.  Beyond that, she's beautiful and she's French.  What more could you ask for in the sexy, explosive terrorist known as Plastique?

Hyena/Summer Day (Hilary Duff)

A bit of stunt casting, and a bit of my own weird sense of humor--casting an attractive, highly visible star to play a monstrous inhuman character.  (You'll see more of these from me in future DC fan-casting posts, trust me!)  My first thought, when picking Hilary Duff to play Summer Day, the cursed were-hyena, was the darkly comic juxtaposition between her beauty and a snarling, hairy beast.  My second thought was, she could easily play the sister of Dianna Agron, already cast as Doreen Day.

Slipknot/Christopher Weiss (Marlon Brando)

After the Joker and Catwoman, Slipknot is probably DC's most recognized villain.  To really do justice to this character, you need a serious Hollywood star.  Marlon Brando's breakout performances in On the Waterfront and A Streetcar Named Desire prove he has the acting chops to make this character every bit as formidable on the screen as he appears on the comics page.

Firehawk/Lorraine Reilly (Caroline Dhavernas)

Firehawk could make for a cool sidekick or professional rival in a third or fourth Firestorm movie.  I knew I wanted to use Caroline Dhavernas in my DC Universe fan-casting after watching her in the TV series Hannibal.  I wasn't sure what character she worked for until I remembered Firehawk.  Dhavernas still has youth and beauty, but she can also play stately and more mature, two valuable characteristics for someone like Lorraine Reilly.

There you have my fan-casted outline for two Firestorm movies.  I hope you enjoyed them almost as much as I hope Warner Bros. makes them.  My fan-casted Justice League trilogy will pickup again in a week or so.  See you then!

Fan-Casting DC's FIRESTORM: Part 4

Click here to review part 3.

In the previous post, I outlined my vision for Firestorm: The Nuclear Man, the first movie in a film franchise based on the DC Comics superhero, Firestorm.  Inspired by the first couple Firestorm comics by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom, and borrowing heavily from the origin tropes utilized in Spider-Man and Iron Man, the movie finds college football star Ronnie Raymond fused with the mind of the brilliant physicist Martin Stein and gifted with amazing powers to transmute matter.

Additional powers include: flight, fire hair, puffy sleeves.

So, you ask, what are you going to do for an encore?

Relax, I shout, I'm getting to it!

Who's Who?

As I detailed last post, there are two options for the protagonist.  The star could be Ronnie Raymond, played by Reid Ewing.

If so, his father is Edward Raymond, played by Tony Goldwyn…

…and his girlfriend is Doreen Day, played by Dianna Agron.

Or the star could be Jason Rusch played by Donald Glover.

If so, his father is Alvin Rusch played by LeVar Burton…

…and his girlfriend is Gehenna played by Yifei Liu.

Either way, the hero of the first movie is written like Ronnie, and for most of this post I will refer to the lead character as Ronnie.

The Sequel

The second movie in the Firestorm movie franchise is called The Fury of Firestorm.  In typical sequel fashion, we witness an escalation in Firestorm's profile as well as the danger level.  The main villain strikes at the heart of the hero, leading to a profound and momentous character death.  The fallout of this death leads Firestorm down a path of anger and aggression.  When Firestorm at last confronts the murderous villain again, he must avenge his fallen friend without succumbing to darkness and losing himself in vengeance.

In the beginning of the movie, we find that some time has passed--a couple months to a year.  Ronnie is still in college, preparing for another football season.  Professor Martin Stein (David Strathairn) hasn't fared so well.  The nuclear meltdown that created Firestorm and Multiplex in the first film has tainted his credibility.  He lost his teaching job at Hudson University.  His relationships are pretty strained.  Maybe he's started drinking.

The one thing Professor Stein has committed to is halting the proliferation of nuclear reactor devices based on his own notes and inventions.  When we first see Stein in the sequel, he has chartered (or stolen) a helicopter and taken it to an offshore oil refinery or ship called The Neptune Explorer.  There, a scientist is creating a nuclear powered bathysphere for deep sea observation/exploration.  Stein tries to stop the experiment, and in the process, a research technician named David Drake is caught in the bathysphere when it sorta/kinda explodes and is transformed into Typhoon.

Typhoon/David Drake (Clifton Collins, Jr.)

Clifton Collins, Jr. plays a great thuggish bad guy, and that's what I was looking for in Typhoon.  Once given his incredible powers to control winds and rain and effectively become a giant storm, the actor's performance would be a lot of motion capture for CGI.  I also thought his ethnicity would bring a new, different intensity to the character.

So Typhoon emerges, literally mad with power and ready to destroy the oil rig/ship and everyone onboard.  Stein summons Ronnie (somehow), which comes at an inopportune time for the young man.  Maybe he's about to score in practice, or maybe he's about to score with Doreen.  Either way, he is transferred to the site the bathysphere meltdown and merges with Stein to become Firestorm!

Firestorm fights Typhoon over the water and has to stop the raging storm from devastating a coastal city.  Of course, thanks to Stein's brilliance, they come up with the saving formula to stop Typhoon.

This is all in the first fifteen to twenty minutes of the movie.  Typhoon is not our main villain; this intro is just an excuse to showcase another super villain with a power he haven't really seen before.  After that, we see more of the state of Ronnie and Stein's relationship.  Ronnie actually feels smothered by the older man, who wants to use the powers to fix his own mistakes, while Ronnie wants to enjoy his normal life.

Things between Ronnie and Stein begin to sour and they get into a fight.  At the same time, an old friend walks back into Stein's life.  Doctor Crystal Frost * was a student and research assistant of Stein's, and they were lovers at one time, before she went to Antarctica to study cold energy.  Crystal wants Stein's help in creating a lab at Hudson University where she can experiment on thermafrost.  Stein, at first, wants nothing to do with it, but she convinces him.  She wants to resume their former romance, but he rebukes her advances.

He helps her build the thermafrost lab, but something in the experiment goes wrong and the cold energy affects Crystal on a subatomic level, transforming her into the nightmarish Killer Frost.

Killer Frost/Crystal Frost (Mena Suvari)

For the part of Killer Frost, I wanted an actress who is beautiful, sexy, and young-but-not-too-young.  She shouldn't look like a college student, but she should be desirable to both Stein and Ronnie.  Mena Suvari has a history of enticing an older man in American Beauty, and I think there's a psycho chick in her waiting to get out.

Frost survives the accident and is put in a containment chamber where her new physiology can be studied.  Ronnie and Stein fight over the professor's culpability in the accident and say some harsh words to each other.  While Ronnie and Stein are basically breaking up with each other, Frost awakens and busts out of her containment field.

To live, she must now drawn heat into her body, which causes everything around her to freeze.  She kills the other doctors, kills the security guards that come after her.  Ronnie and Stein temporarily table their fight and become Firestorm so they can stop Killer Frost.

Their first fight with her goes horribly, tragically wrong.  They throw every energy blast and matter trick they can think of but they cannot stop her.  Killer Frost uses her power back at them, reducing the temperature so much that Ronnie begins to lose consciousness.  Killer Frost forces them to separate, and Ronnie and Stein fall to the floor as individuals.  Ronnie is out cold (pun!) and Stein staggers in a kind of daze.

Frost captures Stein in ice.  She's a little nuts, a little jilted ex-lover, and she blames him for her present condition, even though she begged him to make the thermafrost lab in the first place.  Killer Frost kisses Martin Stein, drawing all of his body heat into her, killing him.

Yeah.  Killer Frost kills Professor Stein.

To Be Continued…

* Crystal Frost is a ridiculous name that could only exist in comics.  The second Killer Frost was named Louise Lincoln, and maybe this one needs a name like that so it's not so distracting.