Firebrand
70 years ago - Danette Reilly is born.
53 years ago - 17-year-old Danette begins studying vulcanology.
45 years ago - 25-year-old Danette discovers a volcanic cave with mystical properties. she adopts her Firebrand identity to save her brother Rodney from gangsters, including gunman William Asmodeus Zard.
43 years ago - 27-year-old Danette's powers are studied by Terry Rothstein to help her understand them. They begin an intense love affair.
41 years ago - 29-year-old Danette & Terry Rothstein's relationship ends, because he can't accept that she will continue to endanger herself.
38 years ago - 32-year-old Danette joins the All-Star Squadron to stop Vandal Savage from taking over all the world's communications.
34 years ago - 36-year-old Danette fights Cyclotron with the All-Star Squadron, unaware that he is in fact Terry Rothstein.
33 years ago - 37-year-old Danette sees Terry Rothstein turns on the Injustice Society, helping the All-Star Squadron defeat them, and turn himself in.
32 years ago - 38-year-old Danette's powers fade. She retires and returns to her research.
30 years ago - 40-year-old Danette's testimony helps secure the parole of Terry Rothstein, letting him return to his wife Corrine.
27 years ago - 43-year-old Danette becomes the foster mother for Albert Rothstein. after the deaths of his parents Corrine and Terry Rothstein.
11 years ago - 59-year-old Danette's foster son Albert Rothstein's powers manifest. He becomes Nuklon.
6 years ago - 64-year-old Danette is killed by Kobra hijackers.
When we established our version of the All-Star Squadron so that is sat just a little further back in the timeline, it was a deliberate attempt to create a place for the characters who are traditionally associated with the past, but who have direct connections to modern characters. This has easily helped to untie a lot of very messy continuity knots. It does that here too, but this is actually one of the few times we didn't have to move anyone, because this character is already an original creation for the All-Star Squadron.
Firebrand's Comic HistoryThe original Firebrand, Rod Reilly, was a Quality Comics character that debuted in Police Comics #1 back in 1941. The catalog of Quality comics characters was purchased by DC in 1958 after the company closed, but only certain characters were picked up for publication by the new parent company like Plastic Man and the Blackhawks. It wasn't until 1976 that the new Freedom Fighter series that many of the Quality Comic characters saw publication again, with the original Firebrand joining them in issue #12 until the series ended with #15.
Fast forward to 1981, when Roy Thomas was building his original team set during World War 2 on Earth 2, the All-Star Squadron. He deliberately chose to use the entire caralog of DC's Golden Age heros including the Quality characters, but wasn't afraid to make some changes here and there. In the case of Firebrand, rather than use Rod Reilly he invented a new character, Rod's sister Danette. She's a socialite who developed fire powers, and who chose to don her brothers costume and join the Squadron, becoming one of the team's most reliable members. Danette is named and modeled after Roy Thomas's wife, who is an incredibly prolific comic writer herself and who even collaborated on All-Star Squadron. She still looks like the character even now. It's really clear that she has a special role to play, and it honestly does make her one of the most endearing parts of the series. |
Our Firebrand StoryIn the original comics, Danette was given a complicated former romantic relationship with Cyclotron, the semi-original character that would eventuallty be the grandfather to modern hero Atom-Smasher. It was all pretty-soap opera dramatic, but it was a fun read, and we're essentually reproducing that here.
The main utility Firebrand brings to our timeline is in her relationship with Atom-Smasher. In the comic they're a little more removed; with Danette helping to raise his mother and is effectively his grandmother, but thanks to the way we've set up our All-Star Squadron, she can actually be his foster mother. This does also set her up for a more tragic role in his life, because part of Al's story involved the tragic death of his mother at the hands of Kobra hijackers, and that means that that role is now performed by Danette. It all does work pretty well, giving her a clear role to play in the story right up into the current timeline... I just hope Roy Thomas won't be mad at me. |