THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #6 – Into the Unknown

Creative Team – Jeff Lemire, Rafael De Lattore, Marcelo Maiolo, Lucas Gattoni

Published by DC Comics

Check out The Fury of Firestorm #5!

The Story

This review is brought to you by Nerd Initiative’s Megan and Matt!

Megan – After so much buildup and tension happening in the story, The Fury of Firestorm #6 was a huge issue and felt very satisfying while furthering the story. Jeff Lemire takes us somewhere we’ve never been, and in the unknown, we see the true Ronnie and what he’s capable of. The tension between Ronnie and Stein was written expertly, making you feel like you could cut through it with a knife. The heartbreak and worry of Lorraine were written in a way that made you feel what she was feeling. So much happened in this issue, and there were so many things to love. This was a fantastic issue all around and leaves us on a very interesting note. I can’t wait to see what’s next for The Fury of Firestorm!

Matt – Wow, this was a heartbreaking and yet beautiful issue that, in the end, felt earned and wrapped up nicely. There was so much passion and anger written into Ronnie and Lorraine, and the way that, between the anger at Stein and the love they share for one another, the tones switched so well. Lemire put on a masterclass in storytelling with this issue and entire mini-series as a whole. There is no big climactic battle and fight where everything is destroyed, and honestly, I prefer that. This story has always been about characters and their relationships, whether with each other or oneself. Firestorm may be gone for now, but there’s a bit of a tease, and I hope it pays off down the line.

The Art

Megan – The artists took every opportunity to flex their talents, and it shows beautifully. Rafael De Lattore gives us quite a few different settings, all of which come with their own details and own energy to feel. Inside the matrix, there was a beautiful contrast between heavy details and abstract art that really made you feel like you were in the unknown yourself. Marcel Maiolo worked beautifully off of this with their work on the colors. Maiolo did a fantastic job of differentiating the matrix against the other settings with a gorgeous mix of blues and purples. Then, at the drop of a hat, we’re met with the red and orange variations that make you feel the power of Firestorm. Each page was nothing short of stunning.

Wrapping this comic in a perfect bow was Lucas Gattoni, who handled the lettering. The dialogue is what puts you in the same headspace as the characters, and that rings very true for this issue. All of the differing emotions are felt easily when reading Ronnie or Lorraine’s dialogue. There were a few instances here that you could see Gattoni had a lot of fun with, and that’s how some of the speech bubbles were handled. For example, Stein’s was broken like a glass plate as they entered a new setting, or when a huge climactic thing happens, the speech just slowly gets engulfed by flames. Absolutely fantastic work!

Matt – Rafael deserves so much praise for how the styles blend between old-school newspaper comics and the modern artistic style shown throughout this story. The way Ronnie’s facial expressions would showcase so much betrayal and anger and then, in the next panel, show love and pain in a different manner was seamless. Marcel’s colors were bright and vibrant, giving off true power, mashing the darker tones of fire with the blue flames. Lucas’s lettering deserves a ton of praise as well because there is such an artistic style to it in this particular issue. There’s a page where the words become fractured, and it’s done so well, and then switching up when our characters power up, the color tones bring the words off the panels. In the end, the art team flexed and flexed hard as the story was allowed to show us, and by showing the details and not crowding it with dialogue or big, convoluted fight sequences, we as the audience were able to feel the emotional impact of this story.

Final Thoughts

Megan – 10/10. I probably sound like a broken record by now, but I can’t stop singing this comic run its praises. There’s so much to love about it and I look forward to each issue!

Matt – 10/10. This run deserves all the praise in the world and like Megan said, we probably sound like broken records but, this series was beautiful and every ounce of powerful. It injects new life into the character of Firestorm, paying homage to the past and setting the matrix down uncharted waters, hinting at more in the future.

Overall Grade -10/10

Let us know in the comments what you thought of this issue!