The Fury of Firestorm #2 Review
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Rafael De Latorre
Colorist: Marcelo Maiolo
Letterer: Lucas Gattoni
Cover Artists: Rafael De Latorre & Marcelo Maiolo
Variant Cover Artists: Riley Rossmo, Mark Spears &
Sanford Greene
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99/$4.99 Card Stock
Release Date: May 13, 2026
When a nuclear power plant exploded, Ronald Raymond and Dr
Martin Stein fused to become Firestorm. But when Firestorm reaches Bedford,
Colorado, he recreates the town in six days. Then, on the seventh day, he
rests. The military can't touch him. Ronald's former girlfriend no longer
recognizes him. Can Lorraine Reilly find a way to reconnect with
"Ronnie?" Or will Firestorm destroy the world Lorraine strives to
protect? Let’s put on our flame-resistant clothes, leap into The Fury of
Firestorm #2, and see!
Story
Ronald Raymond remembers becoming Firestorm. Yet he
struggles to remember who he was. So, Ronald steps back in time from the agony
and fear of joining the Firestorm Matrix. But revisiting how he got to know Dr
Martin Stein doesn't help him remember who he is. So, Ronald peers further back
into his childhood. He remembers his attempts to please a father who never
supported him.
Yet, who Ronald was isn't the key to understanding what he
has become. Since he fused with Dr Stein, Ronald's memories have never been
truly his own. And lately, Ronald seems to be caught in a loop. He remembers
battling a villain in Pittsburgh while Dr Stein advises him. Yet, in The Fury
of Firestorm #2, Ronald knows he's no longer in control. And worse, he doesn't
know how to retake command of his body.
After portraying Firestorm as others see him, Jeff Lemire’s
story reveals the battle for dominance raging inside the former hero. In losing
his connection to Dr Stein, Ronald loses the mentor who helped him belie
ve in himself again. And as the gestalt entity yearns to
evolve, Firestorm represses the weaker aspects of its nature. No longer guided
by Ronald or Dr Stein’s principles, Firestorm loses touch with its Humanity.
While aspiring to grow, Firestorm threatens to become the world-ending threat
its creators feared in The Fury of Firestorm #2.
Art
Ronald Raymond and Dr Martin Stein’s distraught features
merge into the determined face of Firestorm. Yet as Firestorm flies away from
the explosion, closeups reveal that the agony of their transformation remains.
The images cascade down the right half of a two-page spread while the
background fractures like glass. Rafael De Latorre bookends Ronald's time in
the driver's seat with another two-page spread (turned sideways) that shows
Firestorm fragmenting until it casts Ronald into a white void. But then, Ronald
was often alone before Firestorm's birth. The other students seemed to belong
together, comprehending the lessons that boggled Ronald.
Surrounded by green plants and trees, Ronald walks across
the lawn to the professor’s office. Ronald often wears green, and Dr Stein’s
office shimmers with green and blue, while Ronald writes on a green chalkboard.
Yet Marcelo Maiolo casts Ronald’s earliest memories amid a haze, and colors
them in yellow and red. Even one of the toys the boy plays with should be green.
But instead of radiating a connection with nature, it instead looks reddish
brown in The Fury of Firestorm #2.
Ronald shares his thoughts with yellow uppercase letters in
red narrative boxes. Lucas Gattoni conveys speech with black uppercase letters
in white balloons. When Dr Stein's consciousness advises Firestorm, his
admonitions and encouragement appear in a cloud. The letters grow bold for
intonation and enlarge when Ronald stands up for himself. But the being who
transformed the citizens of Bedford, Colorado, into glass statues responds with
yellow letters in red balloons. Thanks to DC Comics for sharing this story with
us.
Final Thoughts
After an explosion fused two entities into one, Ronald Raymond
and Dr Martin Stein shared one body. As they battle villains and fly from one
fight to another, the two halves of Firestorm grow more integrated. Yet like
the child inside all of us who dared to dream big dreams, the part of him that
was Ronald Raymond bemoans the adult Firestorm has become in The Fury of
Firestorm #2.
Rating 9.8/10
To look inside, see my preview of The Fury of Firestorm #2.
For how this series began, see my preview of The Fury of Firestorm #1.
