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Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)

Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin and The Supermen Theory returns to the DC Universe with The Fury of Firestorm #3 (Spoilers)



Article Summary

  • Doomsday Clock’s Supermen Theory returns as The Fury of Firestorm #3 restores Firestorm’s origin to a secret US project.
  • The issue revives Geoff Johns’ twist that Martin Stein groomed Ronnie Raymond and engineered the accident that created Firestorm.
  • Firestorm is recast as a controllable metahuman weapon, built to monitor heroes and potentially neutralise Superman.
  • DC’s newer canon now aligns Doomsday Clock with The New History of the DC Universe, making the Supermen Project matter again.

Doomsday Clock, DC's unauthorised sequel to Watchmen by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank, included The Supermen Theory, that the US Government was deeply involved in creating the superhero and supervillain characters that populate the world, mostly in the USA. Specifically, the allegation was made in Russia in front of the world's media that the DC Comics superhero Firestorm was a creation of such a programme.

Doomsday Clock #5 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank
Doomsday Clock #5 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

Superman, however, knew that this was fake news, from Doomsday Clock #8. Firestorm was not created by a super-secret government programme.

Doomsday Clock #8 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank
Doomsday Clock #8 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

It was a nuclear accident. Well, in Doomsday Clock #9, Ronnie Raymond gets to revisit the moments before that accident, courtesy of the time-travelling Dr Manhattan.

The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre
Doomsday Clock #9 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

Professor Martin Stein groomed Ronnie Raymond to turn them both into a government-controlled superbeing, to be named Firestorm. A suggestion that others were formed in similar ways. And now Raymond has seen the truth – at least the truth shown him by Manhattan. With the backmatter underlining that this was also an espionage activity to embed Firestorm amongst the other superhero teams….

The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre
Doomsday Clock #9 by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

And then it all came out, as the world learned the truth.

How much of this was to be considered DC Comics canon was up in the air, as Geoff Johns left DC Comics, And then The New History of The DC Universe by Mark Waid and Mike Allred set up The Supermen Project with Will Magnus, Nilkes Caulder, Martin Stein and Simon Stagg.

Milestone's History Changed To Reflect The Deal With DC- Or Lex Luthor
The New History of the DC Universe

Scientists who, by hook or by crook, would invent much of the modern DC Universe.

Milestone's History Changed To Reflect The Deal With DC- Or Lex Luthor
The New History of the DC Universe

And yes, mostly by crook when it came to it… including Firestorm.

Milestone's History Changed To Reflect The Deal With DC- Or Lex Luthor
The New History of the DC Universe

And then in the new Fury of Firestorm #1 by Jeff Lemire and Rafael de Latorre, Project Firestorm reared its head. again.

Aquaman, Superboy, Supergirl & Firestorm In The Wake Of KO (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #1 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

And to be fair, over the years, he has been quite a lot of people.

Aquaman, Superboy, Supergirl & Firestorm In The Wake Of KO (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #1 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

But what about The Superman Theory? Was Firestorm created deliberately by Professor Stein? Did he groom teenage Ronnie Raymond to be a controllable superhero, with Stein as part of the matrix?

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

In today's The Fury of Firestorm #3, we go straight to that secret government programme straight from Doomsday Clock

The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

Now Firestorm is pitched as a way to control the emerging superheroes at the time. And the death of Stein's child as a motivating factor, as seen in the Doomsday Clock letter is restored.

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

And that includes a way to take down Superman. Or, indeed, Supergirl.

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

Should the reason ever arise. Firestorm as a weapon that can pull Kryptonite from the air…

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

But it's not an altruistic act, even from that perspective. Steib wants in, literally.

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

But also being part of Firestorm and controlling all that power…

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

Back to grooming Ronnie Raymond. No wonder folk are so upset…

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

And he engineers the so-called nuclear accident, knowing exactly what would happen to him…

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

And to Ronnie…

Official: Firestorm's Doomsday Clock Origin Returns To DC (Spoilers)
The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre

The Supermen Project lives! The Fury of Firestorm #3 by Jeff Lemire and Rafael de Latorre is published by DC Comics today. As the folder from Doomsday Clock burns…

The Fury of Firestorm #3 Jeff Lemire, Rafael de Latorre
Lorraine is on the hunt for the only person who can bring Ronnie back from the brink: Martin Stein. But what did Martin do to cause such a rift between him and Ronnie to begin with?


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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of comic books The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne and Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from The Union Club on Greek Street, shops at Gosh, Piranha and Forbidden Planet. Father of two daughters, Amazon associate, political cartoonist.
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