The Fury of Firestorm #24

History

The Blue Devil insert was edited by Len Wein, who had actively steered the character away from a planned debut in DC's horror anthology Tales of the Unexpected after the project's original editor moved to a different division; Wein decided that a humorous, high-energy tone better suited Paris Cullins' bold artwork. The concept had originally been pitched — and declined — by Steve Ditko before landing with Cullins, who had recently worked with writers Gary Cohn and Dan Mishkin on a House of Mystery story. Notably, the preview pages were drawn roughly a year before Blue Devil #1 reached stands, meaning a visible jump in Cullins' artistic polish between the two publications; after the preview was completed, Cullins was commissioned to develop the series' full visual style before returning to finish issue #1. The main Firestorm story, 'Terminal Velocity,' was scripted by Gerry Conway from a plot by Carla Conway, penciled by Rafael Kayanan, and inked by Romeo Tanghal, representing the regular creative team on the title at that time.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Blue Devil (Daniel Cassidy), Hollywood stuntman bonded to a high-tech demonic exo-suit, in a 16-page preview insert; the insert leads directly into Blue Devil #1, also cover-dated June 1984.
• The Blue Devil preview insert was written by Gary Cohn and Dan Mishkin, penciled by Paris Cullins, and inked by Pablo Marcos, with Len Wein serving as editor.
• The preview's story — titled 'The Costume Makes the Man? Man! What a Costume!' — pits Blue Devil against the Trickster (James Jesse, a Flash rogue), who attempts to steal Cassidy's powered stunt suit before it is fully completed.
• The main feature, 'Terminal Velocity' (23 pages), was scripted by Gerry Conway from a Carla Conway plot, with pencils by Rafael Kayanan and inks by Romeo Tanghal; it reveals the origin of Bug (Barney Bonner) and Byte (Blythe Bonner), two siblings who gained cyberkinetic and electrical abilities after an accidental electrocution.
• The issue also features Firehawk (Lorraine Reilly) as a co-lead alongside Firestorm, with supporting appearances from Doreen Day and Cliff Carmichael, and marks the last sequential appearance of Bug and Byte as recurring Firestorm villains.
• Blue Devil's supporting cast — movie producer Marla Bloom, stuntman/actor Wayne Tarrant, cameraman Norm Paxton, and young gopher Eddie Bloomberg (later Kid Devil/Red Devil) — all make their first appearances within this insert.
• The Blue Devil character had originally been offered to Steve Ditko, who declined; editor Dave Manak then suggested Cullins, and when Manak moved to DC's Special Projects Division, Len Wein took over as editor and shaped the series' humorous, action-forward tone.
• Blue Devil went on to appear in animation (Justice League Unlimited, Young Justice), live-action television (portrayed by Ian Ziering in the DC Universe Swamp Thing series), and was released as part of DC Universe Classics action figure wave 13.

Cast · 13 characters

Full credits

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers