Firestorm #26 - DC

This character has been around since the early 70's, but they've never really done anything with him that elevated him to anything other than a supporting character. Even before, when he had his own book, he was, at the most, a reserve member of the JLA. And this is considering that he, like Captain Atom, could be one of the most powerful members of the DC Universe. Not so much in strength maybe, but in the potential for his power. Now fast forward 30 years later, and we have a new series. The original 2 characters, Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein, one is supposedly dead, though how a being of energy can die I'm not sure, and the other was killed off in this issue. You can probably tell that I question the finality of those character's demise. You don't really know for sure that Martin is dead this issue, but that's what Firestorm and Firehawk are lead to believe. It's 1 year later with this book also, and Firehawk, Lorraine Riley, is part of the Firestorm matrix, with Jason. So much so in fact, that they can't be more than a mile apart when they're separated or they will explode. Jason, who I'm guessing is probably somewhere between 20 and 24, also has an admirer in the form of an 17 to 18 year old girl named Gehenna, who can teleport. Now this issue the Thinker, I think, has Martin captive because he's trying to learn information about Firestorm and Firehawk. He has these automatons that were lent to him by someone, we're not sure who, to help him out. This is supposedly how Martin dies, through the course of interrogations and questioning. Although it seems a bit anti-climatic to have been searching for him these last few issues only to find him dead. We'll see. Anyways, at the end of the story Jason and Lorraine find Martin, but have to separate to get him. They are subsequently captured. That is how the story ends, with the Thinker asking Jason if he is going to try to merge with a dead man to become Firestorm. I think that Stuart Moore has done a great job with this series so far. I also have become increasingly respectful of Jamal Igle's artwork. It has grown a lot over the course of this series. This book has so much potential. I just hope it lives up to it.