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As a result of the New 52 in 2011, the entire line of DC characters was relaunched, incorporating properties belonging to the company's imprints: Wildstorm, Milestone, and Vertigo. As such, elements of this character's history have been altered in some way from the previous incarnation. For a complete list of all versions of this character, see our disambiguation page. |
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Ronnie Raymond is one half of the hero Firestorm, fused together via the Firestorm Matrix with partners such as Professor Martin Stein, Jason Rusch, and presently, Doctor Ramirez. As Firestorm, Raymond has been a recurring member of the Justice League of America.
History
Before the timeline was warped and ten years of history were erased,[1] Ronald Raymond was a student[2] whose mother had died, straining his relationship with his father. His vulnerable psychological profile made him a target for Professor Martin Stein, director of the United States Government's Department of Metahuman Affairs, to be groomed as the subject of his "Project Firestorm," a scheme to make himself a superhuman and infiltrate the superheroic community. Stein arranged for the seemingly accidental explosion of a nuclear power plant, fusing himself and Raymond into an immensely powerful metahuman dubbed Firestorm.[3]
Raymond, as a component of Firestorm, was a member of the superhero team the Justice League in its "satellite" incarnation, and fought with them their recurring, dream-manipulating foe Doctor Destiny.[4] Firestorm developed a rogues' gallery that included Typhoon[5] and Killer Frost.[6] He was one of several heroes possessed by the Devil Nezha and forced to fight a fusion of Batman and Superman.[7] Later, he rescued the latter from captivity by transmuting the Kryptonite body of his guard Ultra-Morpho into vapor,[8] and participated in the superheroic community's battle with the robot forces of NewMazo.[9] During the Alien Alliance's invasion of Earth, Firestorm fought on the front lines against the attackers with heroes such as Peacemaker and the Justice League International.[10]
The New 52
Origin
Ronnie Raymond was an average high school senior and the captain of the football team. During a terrorist attack on his school, his fellow classmate Jason Rusch produced a vial, given to him by Professor Stein, which contained the "God Particle". The God Particle transformed both Jason and Ronnie into Firestorm. After an initial disagreement, they decided to work together as the Fury.[11]
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Justice League
Sharing the identity of Firestorm with Ronnie being the brawn and Jason being the brains, Firestorm was considered for recruitment into the Justice League along with several other heroes. They played a large part in the events leading up to the Trinity War, the three-way battle between the Justice League (the original headed by Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman), the Justice League of America (the A.R.G.U.S.-sponsored team led by Steve Trevor, Green Arrow and Amanda Waller), and Justice League Dark (the paranormal team including John Constantine and Zatanna).
When Superman was framed for the death of Doctor Light and the League was taken into custody, Amanda Waller had Firestorm test their ability to create certain elements: specifically, the mass production of kryptonite. Raymond and Rusch were capable of creating it with some difficulty, only for the issue to becomes moot once the Trinity War led to the invasion of the Crime Syndicate, who seemingly killed off the Justice League. In fact, the League was trapped inside Firestorm by Deathstorm (a combination of Martin Stein and an unknown corpse he had experimented on), with only Batman and Catwoman escaping the chaos.
While the Leagues were presumed dead for a time, they were eventually freed from captivity after the Syndicate was defeated by Batman and Lex Luthor's Injustice League. Batman, after gaining possession of Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth from Steve Trevor, uses the lasso to draw her and the others out of Firestorm.
Firestorm was approached as a potential member of the Justice League United,[12] and gathered with the superhero community to discuss the return of Section Eight.[13] He attempted to rescue a foundering fishing boat only to be attacked by its crew[14] and taken into the custody of the supervillain Angle Man, who planned to use Firestorm's powers to transmute stolen superhuman energies into a form he could absorb into his own body. He was defeated, however, by Superman and Wonder Woman, who freed Firestorm and delivered him to safety. [15] After Jason lost his connection to the Firestorm Matrix, Professor Martin Stein became the other half of Firestorm.
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DC Rebirth
He was among the heroes who paid respects after the apparent death of Superman,[1] and those who were defeated in battle with the Devastator, failing to prevent the alternate-universe-Batman from retrieving the Cosmic Tuning Fork from Superman's Fortress of Solitude.[16] He participated in relief efforts in the aftermath of a tropical storm,[17] and attended a ceremony in Superman's honor.[18] As a Justice League member, he was commemorated with a statue bearing his costume at the entrance of the Hall of Justice.[19]
After Wonder Woman and Aquaman discovered the key to the Graveyard of Gods, Firestorm got infected and turned into a mysterious aquatic creature. He was eventually turned back to normal after the Justice League defeated Black Manta and Cheetah.[20][21] Firestorm was a patient of the Sanctuary, a mental health counseling facility for superheroes.[22] After Lois Lane asked for his help, he was able to save Superman from Leviathan Forces.[23]
Doomsday Clock
Firestorm was caught up in a scheme by Ozymandias, a manipulative would-be messiah from another world, to destroy the public's faith in Superman: he discovered the truth of Firestorm's origin and leaked it to his Russian counterpart Pozhar,[2] who went public with the claim that Firestorm, among other metahumans, had been created by the United States Government. Embroiled in controversy, Raymond profanely denounced this "Supermen Theory" and insulted Pozhar in a broadcast interview.[6] He was continually hounded by the media,[24] and eventually illegally entered Russia to confront Pozhar and his teammates. There, he was knocked out of the sky by the Russian heroes and overcome by a crowd of protesters. Losing control, he inadvertently turned the civilians to glass, despite the fact that he had previously been unable to transmute organic matter. Firestorm fled with the body of an affected child, and was found in hiding at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine by Superman. With his encouragement, Raymond was able to restore the child to flesh and blood—alive. Firestorm and Superman returned to the transformed crowd and were engaged by the Russian military and superheroes. Superman and Firestorm were forced to respond when several glass civilians were destroyed by stray bullets and Russian tanks, and the area was engulfed in an explosion of blue light seemingly created by Firestorm, shattering the glass crowd,[25] splitting Firestorm apart and leaving his components unconscious.[3]
In reality, the blast had been orchestrated by Ozymandias to frame another from his world, Doctor Manhattan.[2] The rest of Earth's heroes traced the false culprit to Mars, and Raymond and Stein awoke aboard a Justice League spaceship en route. On Mars, they confronted Manhattan, who easily dispatched them, and brought Raymond back in time to the creation of Firestorm to show him the true nature of his origin: that "Supermen Theory" was partially correct, and that Stein had deliberately engineered the creation of Firestorm.[3] After Manhattan undid the alterations to reality and unraveled Ozymandias' plot, Raymond and Stein were both brought back to Earth, where Raymond was admitted to the All-Star Clinic, a superhuman medical center run by Doctor Mid-Nite, for treatment.[26]
Dark Nights: Death Metal
Despite the revelation of his manipulation by Stein, Raymond would rejoin him as Firestorm, but ensured that the professor did not have control of the gestalt hero.[27] With the rest of the Justice League's reserves, he was activated to oppose Lex Luthor and Perpetua's forces of Doom,[28] and informed of Superman's secret identity as Clark Kent.[29] After humanity chose Doom over Justice,[30] Firestorm and the rest of the heroes from Prime Earth were imprisoned in New Apokolips by the Batman Who Laughs. He was eventually freed by Wonder Woman and Batman, and helped them lead a fight on the remaining Earths of the Multiverse against Perpetua.[31] After Wonder Woman defeated The Darkest Knight, the Multiverse and all its heroes are seemingly returned to normal.[32]
Infinite Frontier
Though he was not on the Justice League's roster, Firestorm joined the League and the interplanetary law enforcers of the United Order in battle with the extraterrestrial Synmar Utopica at the Hall of Justice, and, when the alien was trapped within the Phantom Zone, backed Superman in refusing to turn over the Phantom Zone Projector to the United Order.[33]
With Jason Rusch as the second component of Firestorm, Raymond volunteered for Justice League monitor duty on Christmas Eve, hoping to spend time with Wonder Woman, to whom he was attracted. In her place, however, they found Killer Frost, a reformed villain who had previously fought Firestorm and endangered Raymond's mother. Despite Rusch's efforts to convince him otherwise, Raymond refused to believe that Frost's turn was genuine until eventually bonding with her while foiling an attempted robbery by the Royal Flush Gang.[34] When the Gang inadvertently triggered an extradimensional invasion of Earth through the Fortress of Solitude, Firestorm fought alongside Doctor Fate against the demon Trigon.[35]
Firestorm was in the Hall of Justice alongside Detective Chimp and The Flash when Black Adam informed them of the death of the Justice League at the hands of Pariah.[36] He would eventually join the Titans and the rest of Prime Earth's heroes in a fight against Deathstroke, controlled by the Great Darkness, and his dark army.[37][38] After obtaining a portion of Black Adam's power, he and the rest of the heroes were able to defeat Deathstroke and sever the connection between Pariah and the Great Darkness.[39]
Dawn of DC
The conflict between Batman and Robin ended with the eruption of Lazarus Island into a massive volcano of magical energy,[40] completely coating the planet Earth. While Raymond was confronting Stein over lying about the true nature of their accident, Firestorm was hit by Lazarus-stained rain, causing the Matrix to fail. Raymond was unharmed, but Stein was dramatically aged and entered a coma.[27]
While a forensic team from S.T.A.R. Labs investigated the scene, a shadow demon emerged through a rift seemingly opened by the Firestorm Matrix's detonation, forcing Raymond to fuse with S.T.A.R. scientist Doctor Ramirez to form a new version of Firestorm. Firestorm was able to contain the creature in a Penning trap and send it back to the Antimatter Universe before sealing the rift. While preparing to separate, Raymond was horrified to see that Ramirez had suffered the same aging effects as Professor Stein, and concluded that the damaged Matrix had stolen their time as a source of power.[27]
Firestorm was one of many heroes to fall victim to Amanda Waller's campaign of anti-superhero disinformation, with falsified footage spreading of him rampaging through a hospital for no apparent reason.[41] After Waller's defeat, he was recruited into the newly-reformed Justice League Unlimited, and attended the unveiling of its new Watchtower satellite headquarters. He joined his teammates in battle when Darkseid breached the Watchtower.[42]
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Firestorm Matrix
- Density Control: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix have complete control over molecules and as such can change the density of solids, liquids and gases to as light as hydrogen or as heavy as uranium.
- Eidetic Memory: Also called "Matrix Memory Recall", elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can access the memories of each and every single being that has ever been fused into the Matrix. New elements are allowed to automatically download surface information.
- Energy Absorption: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can absorb massive amounts of energy as well as being able to absorb many different types of energy. Most commonly the elements and energies associate with life and the human body are absorbed. Also solar energy is a possible source of energy that can work as a "emergency battery" for elements out of power.
- Energy Projection: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can project massive amounts of different amount of energies. Naturally occurring energy projected by Firestorm are "Nuclear Blasts" however elements can project a number of different energies at will.
- Enhanced Vision: Also called "Quark Vision", elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix have access to enhanced vision due to their nuclear nature. Different visions experienced are X-Ray Vision, Microscopic Vision, and Thermal Vision.
- Flight: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can soar through the sky at amazing speeds. At first it may be difficult to achieve flight through Firestorm's nuclear nature though most master it quickly. Firestorms have been clocked at over 600mph theoretically they can fly much faster.
- Molecular Reconstruction Elements tied together into the Firestorm Matrix to create Firestorm have one main ability which all other stem from. Their "atomic fusion" or "nuclear nature" stem from nuclear physics tempering with the user's mixture of psychic energies as well as physical properties. Users accessing Firestorm or the Firestorm Matrix are called "elements" as they individually make up the Matrix. Firestorms can break down and reapply subatomic particles as well as break up the molecular structure of elements and rearrange them. To do this the element must know the exact elemental make-up of the object or human. Most Firestorms cannot affect living tissue but it is possible though very unstable.
- Phasing: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can phase their bodies through solid objects. Although they have direct control over an object's density they can use this ability on themselves and only themselves and affect living tissue to pass through objects.
- Psychic Link: Sometimes called "floating heads", elements that embody the Firestorm Matrix appear mostly as floating heads to represent their psychic link to the other human being or other element in the Matrix. They can be represented however they'd like but the Matrix defaults them to a disembodied head. Even disconnected an element may have latent psychic traces of the previous user.
- Regeneration: Though a majorly untested power as well as being as much a reaction from shape-shifting and a direct result of molecular reconstruction; nonetheless, Firestorm elements can regenerate large sections of misplaced or destroyed physical properties.
- Self-Sustenance: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can survive in space unaided, never need to eat to sustain life and never truly need another element to be processed or broken down by their bodies. Although users may feel these needs and would enjoy producing such bodily functions it is unnecessary.
- Superhuman Durability: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix receive an increased amount of physical resistance and durability. They can survive bullets and stab wounds as well as the physical damage of exploding constantly.
- Superhuman Strength: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix receive an increased amount of physical strength and muscle mass. Certain elements can tap into this energy and become large hulking entities however such strength can be quite destructive to the host if not used sparingly.
- Transformation: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can transform from their "normal" human forms into Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. However other entities may take whatever form they want; such as, Black Lantern Firestorm and Fury. Furthermore, elements can transform their body or body parts at will with concentration with an unknown level of restraint.
- Pyrokinesis: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can generate and engulf themselves in nuclear flames. They are also able to manipulate this fire at will and project them as fiery streams from their hands.[43]
Notes
- Martin Stein was created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom, first appearing in Firestorm #1. However, in the Prime Earth continuity, Martin Stein first appeared as part of the New 52 DC Universe in Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1 by Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver, and Yildiray Cinar.
Trivia
- While Doomsday Clock #9 states that the origin of Firestorm took place seven years before its own events, dated to 2019,[25] Inferior Five (Volume 2) #1 establishes that Firestorm was active by 1988.
Related
- 132 Appearances of Ronald Raymond (Prime Earth)
- 60 Images featuring Ronald Raymond (Prime Earth)
- 5 Quotations by or about Ronald Raymond (Prime Earth)
- Character Gallery: Ronald Raymond (Prime Earth)
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 DCU: Rebirth #1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Doomsday Clock #11
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Doomsday Clock #9
- ↑ Knight Terrors: First Blood #1
- ↑ Doomsday Clock #6
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Doomsday Clock #5
- ↑ Batman/Superman: World's Finest #4
- ↑ Batman/Superman: World's Finest #16
- ↑ Batman/Superman: World's Finest #17
- ↑ Inferior Five (Volume 2) #1
- ↑ Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1
- ↑ DC Sneak Peek: Justice League United (Digital)
- ↑ All Star Section Eight #3
- ↑ Superman/Wonder Woman #21
- ↑ Superman/Wonder Woman #24
- ↑ Batman: The Devastator #1
- ↑ Green Lanterns #40
- ↑ Action Comics #1000
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #1
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #10
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #11
- ↑ Heroes in Crisis #9
- ↑ Superman: Leviathan Rising Special #1
- ↑ Doomsday Clock #7
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 Doomsday Clock #8
- ↑ Doomsday Clock #12
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 Lazarus Planet: Legends Reborn #1
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #36
- ↑ Superman: Heroes #1
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #39
- ↑ Dark Nights: Death Metal #3
- ↑ Dark Nights: Death Metal #7
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #68
- ↑ Tis the Season to Be Freezin' #1
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #71
- ↑ Justice League (Volume 4) #75
- ↑ Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #5
- ↑ Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #6
- ↑ Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths #7
- ↑ Batman vs. Robin #4
- ↑ Absolute Power #1
- ↑ DC All In Special #1
- ↑ Legends of Tomorrow #1
Justice League member This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats. |