Born in a nuclear explosion that caused the fusion of Martin and Ron into one being -- with powers including Flight, Molecular restructuring and the ability to become intangible -- Ron decided to name him Firestorm. The fact that Ron was conscious during the explosion lead to him becoming the 'physical' side of Firestorm while Martin would become a silent partner only heard by Ron and offering his scientific advice and experience.

For a while Martin was unaware of his part in Firestorm. Having no memory of the merger he began to worry and turned to alcohol as he had when his marriage began to fail and his life began to fall apart. Ron knew he had to tell Martin what was going on, but he was frightened that they would have to stop being Firestorm. However Martin was relieved when Ron told him. He now had the answer to a question that had turned his life inside out. Holding onto the memories of the merge from this point on, Ron and Martin shared a friendship that spanned the generation gap but it wasn't without its problems.

This created some great stories such as the time Ron forced a merger against Martin's will, left unable to operate as Firestorm due to Martin's lack of cooperation, and was forced to flee. Only after did Ron realize that he had committed a form of rape. By violating Martin and forcing the merger the writers gave us one of the most mature stories Firestorm had seen.

Martin Stein was a renowned scientist who believed his design for a nuclear power plant to be his crowning achievement. His own personal life crumbling around him Martin threw himself into his work and created a power plant that could run using less people then ever before. However on the eve of the plants opening one of Martin's colleagues suspended operation of the plants opening claiming the plant was his design not Martin's. Frustrated over the closure of the plant Martin decided to go ahead with the start up procedure alone.

Ronald Raymand was a high school jock desperate to impress one of his classmates Doreen Ron. So he joined an environmentalist group who planned to stop the plant going on line. Ron joined them on their raid of the plant on the eve of its opening. Once inside, Ron was knocked unconscious by the group and left behind as a scapegoat having no ties to the group once Ray's body was identified. Planting explosive devices through the plant, they were discovered by Martin. Overpowered by the group, Martin's body was dragged next to Ron's and left for dead.

Coming around, Ron grabbed Martin's body just as they were caught in an explosion brought on by the bombs and the plants reactor coming on-line. Merged into a single being, Ron was suprised not just by the fact that he could absorb all of the excess radiation produced by the bomb, but also that he even knew what that meant. Communicating with him, Martin explained his theory that the unique radiation from the reactors core must have merged them and due to Ron being conscious during the explosion he was in control of the body.

For years after, Firestorm's adventures followed him through high school and collage for Ron and work and teaching for Martin. He joined the Justice League, and gained experience fighting foes such as the Parasite and Killer Frost. Living through experiences such as the Legends saga and the battle with Brimstone, eventually Martin contracted cancer, and chemotherapy was useless due to an immunity to the treatment, most likely due to his initial exposure during the Firestorm merge. He wanted to make the world a safer place to be and take away the threat of nuclear war. Firestorm demanded that the leaders of the world dismantle there nuclear arsenals and make measures to phase out nuclear energy. This set the stage for a revamping of the character that would carry on for the next few years. With both the Russian's and American's branding Firestorm as an outlaw the Justice League and Suicide Squad were dispatched to stop Firestorm.

Eventually battling a Russian hero codenamed Pozhar, Martin's brain tumor reached its final stage, and the pain caused Firestorm to split into his two halves. Unable to relink with Martin, Pozhar who was already injured offered some of his power to help 'kickstart' the two. However the powers in the government decided that Firestorm was too much risk and detonated a nuclear missile over the area where they did battle. The result of this was a new Firestorm with his own mind. Martin Stein was no longer part of Firestorm, but Mikhal Ardkin the Russian Pozhar was.

This revamp gave Firestorm a slightly new look. The costume was still the same, but his physical appearance was thinner then before, and his personality had changed. His mind was a blank slate that needed to be filled. Over this time it was learned that Martin didn't die in the desert as was initially thought, but had been given amnesia and was found in a care home by Ron's father. It turned out that Martin suffered from black-outs and they seemed to occur at the same time as the Firestorm merger. Martin was the template for the new Firestorm personality, and as he was suffering from amnesia Firestorm had no memories of his own. Creating a totally new character opened many new possibilities very few of which were handled well, and many people who had been following the series since its early issues felt that he had been changed for the worst. The character quickly became a lifeless version of his former funloving self, and for some it was too much too fast. The comic no longer contained the Firestorm we knew and loved; this would eventually lead to the books cancellation.

Firestorm's original powers included Flight, the ability to become intangible and affect his own density so he could become invisible and pass through objects, and he also had above-average strength. But the coolest thing about this guy was his ability to manipulate the molecular structure of inanimate objects. So anything he could think of he could make. One time this power was used with true genius was when Ron defused a potential riot by replacing bullets in guns with water and attacking everyone secretly with custard pies! Staying on the sidelines and not being seen, he created an atmosphere where it was impossible for anyone to stay angry with each other.

One side affect of this power was it couldn't be used on anything organic. To do so would cause a feedback that would render Firestorm powerless and put him in great pain. He could however focus on objects such as soil and plants as he did during the "Eden" storyline. Repulsed by the living conditions of the people of Eteopia, the Firestorm composed of Ron and Mikhal created a virtual paradise in the middle of Hell. It was during this time that a fourth person entered the mix. A native was caught in the merger and Firestorm took on a new look once again. With his features looking more Lion than human this Firestorm ceased to exist as the native died.

It was revealed soon after that Firestorm was in fact the Earth elemental of Fire. Martin was intended to be the elemental but Ron was thrown into the mix by accident. Becoming the elemental, but with Mikhal and Ron still trapped inside, Firestorm began to become confused between his elemental feeling to cleanse the planet of the humans who were destroying it and the feeling of the two men trapped inside. Firestorm stood on the side of man during the Elemental war when the Red Tornado -- a former member of the JLA -- and the new water elemental determined that they must cleanse the Earth. Firestorm and the Swamp Thing were able to fight the other two elementals back and convinced them to give humanity another chance.

Eventually Martin became Firestorm alone to battle Brimstone on the Sun. Sales dropped as the story quality did. Firestorm's writers turned a book that was constantly fun and entertaining into a character who eventually became dull and without life and eventually Firestorm was cancelled racking up the big 100.

Firestorm's revamp created quite a bit of confusion which lead to more old readers putting the comic down than new ones were picking up. The cancellation of this title was a real shame because a great character had just been given some bad treatment. Firestorm would become one of DC's most underused characters (along with Captain Atom and Booster Gold) who was capable of doing so much more within his own series. But one thing that Firestorm did have over other comics was that the two leading characters lived in different countries from one another. Ron in America and Mikhal in Russia. This made for some interesting situations and the strange part was that the two leading characters would only interact when Firestorm was merged.

That was the end of Firestorm's title, with Martin stranded on the other side of the Universe as a result of his battle with Brimstone. It seemed as though he was in for comic book limbo, and with a short almost cameo appearance in "War of the Gods" Firestorm disappeared again until he popped up in his original costume in Extreme Justice. After discovering that he had cancer and the traditional radiation treatments being ineffective the same as they were with Martin he went to the old UN JLA headquarters seeking help. Discovering it empty and the pain starting to build up Ron erupted into a violent energy reaction out of his control. Arriving on the scene Captain Atom got Amazing Man to siphon of the excess energy from Ron. The radiation treatment for his cancer seemed to reactivate Ron's Firestorm powers and this in turn eliminated his cancer. Sensing that Ron had become Firestorm again he returned to Earth for a short time and the two were reunited. With the cancellation of Extreme Justice, Firestorm is once again without a home.

This character has had so much time and energy spent on him with five different versions created:

1) Ron/Martin
2) Ron/Mikhal
3) Elemental (with Ron/Mikhal)
4) Elemental (Martin alone)
5) Firestorm (Ron alone)

It seems that with two Firestorm's out there both of which are one half of the original team that merged into Ol' Flamehead this could make for some great stories alternating between the two characters. Martin who is in space as the Elemental version of Firestorm and Ron on Earth with the original Firestorm costume and powers. It has also been established that these two have some sort of psychic link. Firestorm ranks up with Captain Atom as DC's most underused character, and it's about time he was given his own book again, and this time it needs to be done right.