CBR: Gluckstern On "The Fury Of Firestorm" Rumors & Secrets

[CBR News]

"The Fury Of Firestorm" editor Rachel Gluckstern spoke with CBR News about the secrets revealed in the series third issue, revelations that will shake the Firestorm universe and affect the DCU as a whole.


Full article here.

[DonC]

CBR: Finally, for a while there were rumors that Gail would be leaving "Firestorm" after issue seven. Right now, it seems like both Gail and Ethan have big things planned all the way through to next year -- will there be any creative team changes after issue seven?

Gluckstern: I will just say there are huge plans, solid plans, and everybody's working on all cylinders. If there is ever anything else to announce, we will be announcing hardcore! I'm just so excited to be a part of this team, and I think issue three is going to really throw a big wrench in the works for everybody and be a really fun read. I hope people pick it up!


Interesting that she doesn't deny Gail Simone leaving the book.

[Skaddix]

I noticed that as well. Although I am not sure what DC's policy is on confirming such stuff.

[Flashpoint]

The whole problem with Firestorm is that Van Sciver's pitch to DC was to do for Firestorm what Geoff Johns did for GL, i.e., multiple Firestorms like there are multiple GLs and multiple Lantern Corps--and it's just not working.

It also doesn't help that now that they've got fan favorite Martin Stein selling Firestorm to the highest bidder like a product. If you're looking to turn off fans of Firestorm, turning Stein into a sellout (even if only in appearance with the story eventually revealing a "noble cause" for doing it) is a perfect way to alienate the fanbase of the franchise. And that hurts sales both short-term and long-term.

On top of that, Gail's dialogue in Firestorm has been shockingly bad. I'm one of Gail's fans; I love her work. But I simply couldn't get through the first issue of this series without visibly cringing while reading the dialogue. It was horrible. And the things Van Sciver was having Jason and Ronnie do in the plot made both characters severely unappealing and unheroic.

Yildiray Cinar is turning in the best artwork of his young career, but unfortunately he's been saddled with one of the books suffering from some of the worst scripts of the New 52. This book will have to make a major U-turn in the quality of the writing before I'd even remotely consider picking it up again. The story, characterization and dialogue are all depressingly unlikable.

[Skaddix]

To be fair there have always been multiple what u could consider firestorms even before GL did it. As for Stein well orginally he was trying to stop the spread of nuclear weapons so giving out firestorms to everyone creates a situation of causing everyone to not use their weapon so a nice update.

Still I agree more heroic characterization with stronger and better dialogue.

[Cavemold]

CBR worded the question wrong . So this really doesn't tell us anything about Gail status.Bad CBR !

[Flashpoint]

To be fair there have always been multiple what u could consider firestorms even before GL did it. As for Stein well orginally he was trying to stop the spread of nuclear weapons so giving out firestorms to everyone creates a situation of causing everyone to not use their weapon so a nice update.

Still I agree more heroic characterization with stronger and better dialogue.

Thanks. Yeah, both Jason and Ronnie have been real jerks in the first few issues. The racial comments and hair trigger tempers made me put the book down in disgust. They both came across too belligerant and obnoxious.

And that dialogue...YEESH! So unnatural and forced.

[Awesome!]

This was the only DCnU title out of 20+ I picked up that was bad enough to drop after #1. It was so bad I wanted to drop it halfway through #1. Initially I was excited for the creative team (minus EVS) but now I think a shakeup is the best thing for the title.

[Flashpoint]

This was the only DCnU title out of 20+ I picked up that was bad enough to drop after #1. It was so bad I wanted to drop it halfway through #1. Initially I was excited for the creative team (minus EVS) but now I think a shakeup is the best thing for the title.

ME TOO.

This was one of the books I was most looking forward to. But just getting through the first issue was a real chore. It was painful to read. Which is sad because the art by Cinar is amazing.

And I hate the whole idea of "Fury." Such a dumb character. He's nothing but a walking tower of rage and bluster--like a nuclear Red Lantern. Booooooring.

[FHIZ]

CBR: Finally, for a while there were rumors that Gail would be leaving "Firestorm" after issue seven. Right now, it seems like both Gail and Ethan have big things planned all the way through to next year -- will there be any creative team changes after issue seven?

Gluckstern: I will just say there are huge plans, solid plans, and everybody's working on all cylinders. If there is ever anything else to announce, we will be announcing hardcore! I'm just so excited to be a part of this team, and I think issue three is going to really throw a big wrench in the works for everybody and be a really fun read. I hope people pick it up!


Interesting that she doesn't deny Gail Simone leaving the book.

Yeah, if something reported by bc is not true, I've seen creators come out and straight up say its false. For example, both Paqutte and Saiz (via his agent) have expressed they're not off of Swamp Thing and Birds of Prey recently.

I realize there are NDAs in place, but I still think no one would usually have a problem withstanding "that's not true"

[Cavemold]

This book never had a chance. The concept could of been much more than what it was. The interior at for the most part was awful. The writing was not thier.

[allwillbemine]

I'm keeping an eye on it though. If something exciting happens I'll want to read about it.

And speaking of Pohzar and old Firestorm characters, what parts of the old runs are good reads? My local used book store has a lot of Firestorm issues. The 2005 series.

[Skaddix]

Thanks. Yeah, both Jason and Ronnie have been real jerks in the first few issues. The racial comments and hair trigger tempers made me put the book down in disgust. They both came across too belligerant and obnoxious.

And that dialogue...YEESH! So unnatural and forced.

Agreed part of the problem is they want the BD dynamic. Problem with that is Jason had a pretty good reason to dislike Ronnie that is not exactly reproducible with ease. It was a lot more complicated then White Dumb Jock with Single Mom and absentee dad vs Black Genius with injured Father.

[FHIZ]

Thanks. Yeah, both Jason and Ronnie have been real jerks in the first few issues. The racial comments and hair trigger tempers made me put the book down in disgust. They both came across too belligerant and obnoxious.

yeah, that's what turned me off about the first issue, Simone usually deals with stuff like race and sexuality with a certain finesse, but all of the sudden we have one charecter calling the other a racist out of the blue, and then a few pages the "mom, why don't we have any black friends?" discussion. The lack of subtlty just killed it for me, and I just found it to be a bit preachy.

[DonC]

CBR worded the question wrong . So this really doesn't tell us anything about Gail status.Bad CBR !

Josie Campbell worded the question fine. She asked straight up if there were going to be any creative changes after issue seven. She just didn't follow up on the vague answer she got.