Firestorm

Teenager Ronnie Raymond and Nobel-caliber physicist Martin Stein were caught together in a nuclear plant explosion, an accident that merged them into a single super-powered being. As Firestorm, the "Nuclear Man," Ronnie found himself wielding extraordinary atomic powers while carrying an unwitting passenger — the unconscious mind of Stein — within their shared form.

Few characters made a Bronze Age entrance quite like Firestorm, who blazed onto the scene in 1978 courtesy of writer Gerry Conway and artist Al Milgrom — and has been burning bright in the DC Universe ever since, across nearly five decades of stories. With 15 key issues to their name and 171 catalog appearances, this is a character with real staying power, headlining their own long-running series in The Fury of Firestorm while also earning a place among DC's heaviest hitters in Justice League of America. The company Firestorm keeps tells you everything about their stature — sharing pages with Superman, Batman, The Flash, Clark Kent, and Bruce Wayne puts you firmly at the center of the DC cosmos. If you're building out your Bronze Age collection or chasing a character with genuine depth and history, Firestorm is an essential, electrifying place to start.