Firestorm #1
Firestorm (vol. 3) #1 marks the debut of Jason Rusch, the second person to carry the Firestorm identity and one of the relatively few African-American characters to headline an ongoing DC Comics series in the mid-2000s — a meaningful step in DC's broader effort that same era to diversify legacy mantles alongside characters like the Latino Blue Beetle and the relaunched Batwoman. The issue's narrative premise was deliberately ground-level and urban: rather than a privileged suburban teen, the new Firestorm is a seventeen-year-old Detroiter trapped in poverty and an abusive home, scrambling for college tuition money when the matrix finds him — a tonal departure that distinguished this volume from its predecessors. The issue also introduced a key structural twist to the Firestorm concept: unlike Ronnie Raymond, who merged almost exclusively with Martin Stein, Jason would fuse with a rotating cast of people (including best friend Mick Wong, also introduced here), making the matrix's human-fusion mechanic more unpredictable and dangerous. The series this issue launched ran 35 issues through 2007 and firmly established Rusch as a recurring DCU presence through Infinite Crisis, Blackest Night, Brightest Day, and the New 52.
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Writer Dan Jolley and artist ChrisCross conceived Jason Rusch as an explicitly contemporary reimagining of the Firestorm concept, building the character's debut directly off the death of Ronnie Raymond in Brad Meltzer's Identity Crisis (also 2004) — Raymond's demise in that crossover provided the in-universe mechanism by which the matrix sought a new host. The series was edited by Peter Tomasi with Stephen Wacker as associate editor, and Jolley helmed the title alongside ChrisCross through issue #13 before Stuart Moore and Jamal Igle took over for the remainder of the run. Following issue #22 the title was officially retitled Firestorm: The Nuclear Man (vol. 2) as part of DC's 'One Year Later' initiative, eventually concluding with issue #35.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of Jason Rusch (Firestorm III), the second person to hold the Firestorm identity, cover-dated July 2004 and published May 5, 2004.
- First appearance of Mick Wong, Jason's childhood best friend from Detroit, who later becomes one of the rotating partners Jason merges with to form Firestorm.
- First appearance of supporting cast members Alvin Rusch (Jason's abusive father, whose name is not revealed until issue #3) and Stevie Golek (a local drug dealer who gives Jason the fateful courier job).
- The unnamed gangster who merges with Jason to form Firestorm for the first time in this issue is identified in the script as 'Gordon' — a name not given in the actual comic until issue #2.
- Created by writer Dan Jolley and artist ChrisCross, with inks on the interior story by John Dell, colors by Chris Sotomayor, and letters by Phil Balsman; Peter Tomasi edited the series with Stephen Wacker as associate editor.
- The story, titled 'Eye Contact Part I,' establishes Jason as a seventeen-year-old African-American from Detroit working a restaurant job to save for college — a grounded, urban origin that contrasted sharply with the original Firestorm's suburban high-school setting.
- Unlike the original Firestorm pairing of Ronnie Raymond and the ever-present Martin Stein, this series established a new mechanic: Jason's unstable matrix requires him to merge with different individuals, resulting in varied and sometimes dangerous fusions throughout the run.
- The series launched by this issue ran 22 issues before being retitled Firestorm: The Nuclear Man (vol. 2) as part of DC's 'One Year Later' line-wide initiative, continuing through issue #35 before cancellation.
Cast · 3 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Jason Rusch finds himself in need of cash and takes a job for some suspected criminals delivering a package. On the way Jason drives through a mysterious light with seemingly no ill effect. When the delivery goes bad, Jason becomes Firestorm for the first time.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).