Throughout The Fury of Firestorm, most of the focus has been placed on Ronnie Raymond and the different bonds he’s formed in his life, specifically with Martin Stein – the other half of Firestorm. But with last issue’s reveal that Stein was manipulating Ronnie into becoming Firestorm, and Ronnie’s rejection of his former mentor leading to the Firestorm Matrix becoming sentient and causing unparalleled havoc, the time has come for another of Ronnie’s former bonds to take the stage. Enter Lorraine Reilly, aka the atomic powered Firehawk!
To be fair, Lorraine has been a major part of the book as she’s been tasked by the U.S. Government to try and handle the Firestorm matrix. The Fury of Firestorm #4 takes things a step further and shifts to her point of view, as she confronts Stein while reflecting on her romantic relationship with Ronnie. Jeff Lemire does a great job of paralleling the romance between Ronnie and Lorraine with actual atomic bonds in chemistry. The phrase “opposites attract” comes from the fact that it’s actually how particles pull together in real life. And as Lorraine reflects, the differences between her and Ronnie could fill up a textbook yet she loves him anyway.
It leads into another major revelation concerning Stein and other major scientists in the DC Universe, which I’m a bit split on. On the one hand, it’s nice to see characters like Metamorpho, the Metal Men and the Doom Patrol getting love; as a fan of DC’s animated shows, particularly Justice League Unlimited, I do love it when DC remembers that it has characters other than Batman in its roster. On the other hand, tying together some of the weirder DC heroes into a big conspiracy strips away some of the weirdness that makes them stand out.
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Rafael de Latorre continues to turn in artwork that plays with our perceptions, particularly when it comes to Lorraine and Ronnie. Once again, de Latorre shifts to a more Silver Age inspired style when it comes to the flashbacks, especially in a two page spread that finds the duo fighting Killer Frost and then embracing for the first time. Marcelo Maiolo and Lucas Gattoni also bring their own visual flair, as Maiolo’s colors highlight the bright red fire of Ronnie’s Firestorm form and the royal blue flames that Lorraine utilizes as Firehawk. It also spreads to Gattoni’s letters, as the same hue takes over Lorriane’s eyes and later her words whenever she transforms into Firehawk.
Perhaps the best moment features a series of panels that close in on an image of Ronnie and Lorraine embracing. As each panel proceeds, it zooms in on the Ben-Day dots within the comic…and then an image of the molecules itself, as if to showcase how connected these two are on a truly subatomic level. It’s a great bit of visual work that feels thematically in step with the bigger moments the book is playing with.
The Fury of Firestorm #4 is all about bonds: how they can be formed, and how they can be broken. It also continues to redefine the Nuclear Man and the people around him in ways you wouldn’t expect, as the search for Firestorm heats up.
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