Firestorm #3

Firestorm #3 (1978)
by Gerry Conway & Al Milgrom

The villain origins retrospective is coming to a close: there are six to seven reviews scheduled for it, all except one being DC.
Like the only Firestorm villain to be relevant.

Honestly it’s even impressive Firestorm managed to get ONE big villain, considering his original series gets cancelled after just five issues.

If you only pick up this particular issue he doesn’t make a good first impression, because his first scene is harassing a guy for making fun of him.

I think this might be the first time Firestorm shows up in my reviews. If you’re unfamiliar with the character, he’s actually TWO characters (a student and a scientist) who fuse into a single being.

The teenager is the one with full control of his body AND of when the two fuse, at least in this period: the scientist doesn’t even KNOW he’s part of Firestorm!!!
I’m glad they got rid of it, because once they fuse they have a good chemistry and because it was a crappy way to treat this poor guy.

Firestorm was one of the most blatant attempts to create the next Spider-Man. He’s far from being just a Spider-Man copycat, sure, but you cannot tell me it wasn’t intentional.

However this issue will focus more on the scientist, who is working for the US government to create a new energy source.

This is where the professor meets a former student: Doctor Frost, who shockingly won’t use her actual name as a supervillain.
I mean it’s RIGHT THERE, and it’s not like “Dr. Frost” would be clumsier than “Mr. Freeze”.

Dr. Frost resents being ignored in favor of her male colleague, and the scene is treated with the usual subtlety of the 70s.

Doctor, maybe the reason you’re ostracized isn’t because you’re a woman… but because you’re nuts.

Unfortunately for her, the professor is so oblivious that I’m not even sure he knows she’s a woman.

Dr. Frost, being a super-genius of international fame, then proceeds to lock herself inside her own machine.

Much to my surprise, however, it turns out the professor wasn’t as oblivious as he seemed: this is quite insightful on his part!

Once she leaves the machine, Crystal Frost (yes that is her actual name) has been turned into Killer Frost.
Complete with not only blue skin, but also with a dress and fancy jewelry. Where the heck did she get that!? I can imagine the jewels are probably ice crystals, but she was wearing pants!!!

Killer Frost then proceeds to freeze the guards and SOMEHOW gain the ability to fly.

I find it extremely funny that the reason given is that she’s creating cold air beneath her, because for years the official explanation of how the Human Torch can fly is that he creates HOT air beneath him.

There are many reasons why Firestorm didn’t turn out to be the next Spider-Man, but one of the reasons might be that his private life tends to be quite boring to follow.

Just as the teenager is being adored by his peers, the scientist is nearly murdered by Killer Frost…

…so the teenager has to turn into Firestorm and become the most hated guy in school.
This feels extremely forced, drama for drama’s sake.

This ends up having Firestorm make out with Killer Frost.

Okay Killer Frost is nuts but I don’t think she’s supposed to be a complete idiot… THIS IS THE NEXT PANEL, how the heck does she think the professor managed to get away!?!?

You might think Killer Frost would be a terrible match for Firestorm, but surprise: attacking her with heat makes her MORE powerful!!!

However, while Firestorm’s looks would certainly make anyone think his powers are exclusively fire-based, it’s the least of his abilities. It’s his power to affect molecules that makes him ridiculously overpowered.

As if THAT wasn’t overpowered enough, he can also turn intangible.

Firestorm already has trouble affecting organic matter with his powers, but Killer Frost’s advantage over him is that she constantly absorbs heat.

Thankfully the professor deduces that this means that Killer Frost NEEDS heat to keep going…

…so Firestorm traps her inside a freezer!!!

I don’t think this is going to do any good to her already already screwed-up mind.

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Historical significance: 4/❆
Despite turning out to be a legacy character, the original Killer Frost doesn’t exactly leave a huge mark.

Silver Age-ness: 2/❆
This series at least TRIES to have SOME scientific plausibility.

Does it stand the test of time? 6/❆
It’s fine, but the growing pains are still there. Killer Frost herself is pretty underdeveloped as a character… she goes from hating men to a murder spree REALLY fast. Granted there are not-so-subtle hints that she wasn’t mentally stable to begin with, but not by THAT much.

The dynamic between the student and the professor, typically the best part of Firestorm, is very very rough in this early series… the kid in particular is just insufferable.

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How close is this to the modern character?: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I have not read nearly enough Killer Frost stories to give a honest opinion.

The first time I ever say the character was at the very beginning of Crisis on Infinite Earths, where George Perez did (of course) a killer job with her.
Pun intended.

But that was actually the SECOND Killer Frost!!!
The original died in 1984, in issue #21 of the second Firestorm series…

…only to be succeeded in 1985 by fellow scientist Louise Lincoln, who has a decidedly less funny but also less interesting name than “Crystal Frost”, in issue #34.

The Louise Lincoln version stayed around well after Crisis, until 2011’s “New 52” continuity where she was replaced by Caitlin Snow.

I haven’t read a single story featuring Caitlin, but I guess DC decided (correctly) that she had a much better name because by the time of 2016’s “DC Rebirth” continuity they decided to stick with Caitlin Snow as the official Killer Frost.

She even got to redeem herself and join the Justice League (under the name Frost), which is cool I guess. Pun intended.

I have to mention that Killer Frost was a major character in the Flash TV series, but I can’t say anything about it since (at the time of this review) I have not seen a single episode.

For such a relatively minor villain she seems to be a favorite of basically any animated DC project, because she pops up everywhere (most of the time voiced by the amazingly talented Jennifer Hale), and most versions I’ve seen absolutely kill it. Pun intended.