The Thing and Firestorm

I really dug Firestorm when he first hit the scene. He was one of the first all new superheroes created after I started actively collecting comics and it was exciting to get on the ground floor for once. The idea of two people operating as one hero was quite cool to me, and his appeal didn't end there. He was a teenage hero that wasn't a sidekick, a rarity for DC at the time, and he had a truly cool look and unique powers. I was happy when he joined the JLA and always got a kick out of it when he would flirt with Power Girl during the JLA/JSA crossovers. His solo series by Gerry Conway and Pat Broderick was a favorite as well, I think I had a couple of letters printed in the first few issues.

Unfortunately after a couple of years into that series, Firestorm started to flounder a bit in my opinion, with major changes to the look of the character as well as the the men who made up his two halves. DC had finally gotten the character back to where I liked him when they killed him off. I wasn't happy about the death of Ronnie Raymond, but I have to admit I did like the Jason Rusch version that replaced him. Now Ronnie is back and sharing the Firestorm matrix with Jason, a set up that that I quite like so far. I have been enjoying Firestorm's arc in Brightest Day and hope there is much more to come.