Fury of Firestorm Annual #3
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeFury of Firestorm Annual #3 is notable primarily as the sole appearance of the villain Sparx (Frido Kelp), a street-level drug addict whose electrical powers are an accidental byproduct of the same sunspot activity that simultaneously weakens Firestorm — a tidy bit of mid-1980s DC science-fiction plotting that grounds a superhero threat in cause-and-effect rather than pure villainy. The annual also demonstrates writer Gerry Conway's consistent interest in exploring the limits and vulnerabilities of Firestorm's nuclear powers, a thematic thread that ran through the entire 1982–1990 series. While Sparx the villain never returned, the issue serves as a quiet snapshot of the Copper Age DC annual format: a done-in-one, oversized story that gave the creative team room to test ideas outside the monthly continuity grind.
In "Sparx," Firestorm faces a strange new challenge when reduced sunspot activity begins to affect his powers—leaving him vulnerable in ways he hasn’t experienced before. Meanwhile, a junkie named Frido gains unpredictable electrical abilities tied to the same solar shifts, setting the stage for an unexpected clash of forces. Written by Gerry Conway and illustrated by Rafael Kayanan, with inks by Ian Akin and Brian Garvey, and colors by Nansi Hoolahan, the story unfolds with a grounded, character-driven tension. The cover, penciled by Kayanan and inked by Dick Giordano, captures the electric intensity of the moment.
ComicBooks.com Value
This exact issue on ebay
Raw — MINT ▾ $3.99–$9.99 3 listings
Raw — FN/VF ▾ $2.99–$9.79 2 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $1.12–$22 17 listings
More listings for this title
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The annual was produced by the regular Fury of Firestorm team of 1985 — writer and series editor Gerry Conway, penciller Rafael Kayanan, and inkers Ian Akin and Brian Garvey, with a cover finished by Dick Giordano. Editor Janice Race oversaw the letters page. The issue slots chronologically between the monthly issues #40 and #41, placing it squarely in the pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths period when the title was still in full swing before the universe-reshaping crossover began bleeding into the book with issue #41.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Written by Gerry Conway with pencils by Rafael Kayanan, inks by Ian Akin and Brian Garvey, cover inks by Dick Giordano, colors by Nansi Hoolahan, and letters by Duncan Andrews.
- The single story, titled 'Sparx,' introduces and concludes the villain Sparx — real name Frido Kelp — a drug addict accidentally granted electrical powers by unusual sunspot activity; he does not appear again in DC continuity.
- The same solar sunspot activity that empowers Frido is depicted as temporarily diminishing Firestorm's own abilities, making this an early exploration of external environmental factors as a weakness for the Nuclear Man.
- Felicity Smoak — who would decades later become a breakout character in the CW's Arrow television series — appears as a supporting character; she was already an established presence in the series, having debuted in Fury of Firestorm #23 (May 1984).
- The issue exists in three editions: a Direct Market edition, a Newsstand edition, and a Canadian edition (with a higher cover price).
- The story is set chronologically between The Fury of Firestorm #40 and #41 — just before issue #41 drew the series into DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover.
- The villain name 'Sparx' was reused years later for an entirely different character (D.C. Force, a young hero introduced during DC's 1993 Bloodlines annual event) — the two share only the name and electrical powers.
Full credits
Variants (2)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.