Terrified little men! What do you know of suffering? What do you know of fear? HeeHee I'll teach you fear! 
- — Hyena
Firestorm (Volume 2) #11 is an issue of the series Firestorm (Volume 2) with a cover date of April, 1983.
Synopsis for "Waking Darkness"
Firestorm falls asleep on top of the Statue of Liberty. He begins suffering from bizarre fever dreams involving people from both Ronnie Raymond's life as well as Martin Stein's. He later snaps out of it and separates into his two respective identities.
Ronnie later meets Clarissa Clemens who speaks with him at length concerning her desire to get back with Stein. Ronnie promises her that he will speak with Martin. After meeting with Clarissa, Ronnie goes to class at Bradley High School. He begins feeling ill and finds himself having trouble paying attention.
Elsewhere, Professor Stein goes to the office of Quentin Quale at Concordance Research. He begs Quentin to renew his contract, but Quale adamantly declares that there is no longer a place for him at Concordance Research. Stein leaves the office and prompts the transformation into Firestorm.
Firestorm begins flying about Manhattan, but his illness worsens. Stein suspects that it may be related to the wound he received at the hands of the Hyena. He flies to Eastside Hospital where he finds the Hyena waiting for him. The two get into a fight and the Hyena easily thrashes him. Firestorm falls unconscious and the Hyena darts out of the front doors of the building.
When Firestorm comes to, he discovers that he is slowly transforming into a Were-hyena himself. Hyena (Summer Day) visits him and tells Firestorm that the second Hyena is Dr. Jivan Shi. The two were once romantically involved and Summer is responsible for infecting him with the same curse that causes her to transform into a were-hyena. After explaining herself, Summer transforms into the Hyena and stalks off to hunt down Jivan.
Firestorm flies off after them and encounters both Hyenas atop the World Trade Center. He haphazardly fires a nuclear blast at Summer, who topples from the top of the building and begins plummeting to her death.
Appearing in "Waking Darkness"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Bert Day
- Clarissa Clemens
- Dave (a police officer) (Single appearance)
- Doreen Day
- Jefferson Jackson
- Harry Carew
- Helen Day
- Quentin Quale
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
Locations:
- Phoenix
- Phoenix Medical Center
- New York City
- Manhattan
- Bradley High School
- Concordance Research
- Eastside Hospital
- Statue of Liberty
- World Trade Center
- Manhattan
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- This issue contains flashbacks of events that take place between Flash (Volume 1) #304 and Firestorm (Volume 2) #10.
- The origin of Hyena II is revealed in this issue.
- Doreen Day gets a new haircut in this issue.
- Jefferson Jackson makes a reference to "nurse Tremont". This would be Vanessa Tremont, the paramour of Firestorm's foe, Black Bison.
- Harry Carew only makes a cameo appearance in this issue.
- In this issue, Clarissa Clemens name is given as Clement. In subsequent issues however, she is always addressed as Clarissa Clemens.
Trivia
- This comic book features advertisements for the following products:
- —MPC model sets
- —TSR – Dungeons & Dragons role playing supplement
- —Grit Magazine
- —DC Comics – Masterworks Series (Frank Frazetta)
- —Bubble Yum bubble gum
- —DC Comics comic book subscription service
- —DC Comics – The Omega Men comic book series
See Also
Recommended Reading
- Firestorm Recommended Reading
- Firestorm (Volume 1)
- The Flash (Volume 1): The Flash #289– #304
- Firestorm (Volume 2)
- Justice League of America (Volume 1): Justice League of America #179– #225 & Justice League of America Annual #1–2
- Extreme Justice (Volume 1)
- JLA #69– #82
- Identity Crisis #5
- Firestorm (Volume 3)
- Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men (Volume 1)
- Legends of Tomorrow (Volume 1)