In this review of The Fury of Firestorm #1, the Nuclear Man is out of his mind and out of control. How do you stop someone who commands the elements?
THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #1
Written by JEFF LEMIRE
Art and Main Cover: RAFAEL DE LATORRE
Variant Covers: CHRIS BURNHAM, RILEY ROSSMO, JEFF LEMIRE, JORGE CORONA
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: 4/8/26
This review contains spoilers
The Fury of Firestorm #1 begins as a flaming trail akin to a meteor streaking across the sky is seen over Bedford, Colorado. It is the Nuclear Man. He seems off, though, walking around the town silently, ignoring people until the third day he’s there. Suddenly, he turns the entire town into glass and chalk. Naturally, the townspeople don’t like this, but the Nuclear Man isn’t concerned and he transforms them, as well. After it’s done, he seems to have remorse for his actions and cries, but quickly moves past this emotional outburst. He proceeds to completely twist and obliterate Bedford, turning the entire area into a flaming ruin.
The story shifts to Lorraine Reilly, also known as Firehawk, waking up to military forces knocking on her door, asking her to come with them immediately. Due to her history with Ronnie Raymond, they think she can help with the situation in Bedford. They fly her there, briefing her on the details that Dr. Martin Stein is no longer part of the Firestorm matrix, so it’s apparently only Ronnie controlling things.
She transforms into Firehawk and is accompanied by two soldiers in protective suits that are supposed to be impervious to Firestorm’s abilities. When she approaches the Nuclear Man and calls him Ronnie, he only responds with, “You?” The soldiers order him to stand down, but he transmutes one of them into nothingness. Lorraine then realizes it’s not Ronnie she’s dealing with.
We then get a few pages that seem to be happening within Firestorm’s mind, where Ronnie and Dr. Stein are communicating, but they’re interrupted by a dark Nuclear Man who vaporizes the human form of Ronnie, while claiming he no longer belongs to Raymond.
As The Fury of Firestorm #1 ends, the Nuclear Man snaps out of this daydream and attacks Firehawk, blasting her back to the army base. Lorraine knows she’s no match for Firestorm and tells the base commander they have to find Professor Stein.
Analysis
Writer Jeff Lemire has crafted a Firestorm who is clearly out of control in The Fury of Firestorm #1. Given the fact that Stein is no longer part of the matrix, it seems that Ronnie has lost his grip on reality. That doesn’t explain how the Nuclear Man still exists, though, as it’s supposed to take both of them to fly the ship, so to speak.
This is a character who has complete control over the elements and can do whatever he wants with them at any time. Power like that could be unstoppable and Lemire is giving us a frightening glimpse of that in this story. There’s a definite horror vibe jumping off the pages and I’m here for it.
There’s also a lot of mystery as to what’s going on, but it sets the hook nicely. We get a quick peek at Stein right at the end while he’s burning some papers with “Is it sentient?” written on them. Has the Firestorm matrix totally consumed Ronnie or is there some measure of control left in there? That remains to be seen, but I really like the direction Lemire is taking us.
I’ve always loved the look of this character and artist Rafael de Latorre draws him perfectly in The Fury of Firestorm #1. I like the slight variation in the suit design de Latorre uses to distinguish between the out of control Nuclear Man and the Ronnie version of Firestorm in the “dream” sequence. The colors used by Marcelo Maiolo are also spot on. The choice to make the dream sequence look more like Bronze Age comics contrasts well with the sleeker, modern age look to coloring.
Final Thoughts
The Fury of Firestorm #1 kicks off an exciting six-issue series with plenty of element-transforming goodness. This version of Firestorm is wild and deadly, but excessively intriguing. This DC Next Level title is not one to miss! Have fun, comic lovers!
