RETRO REVIEW: DC Comics Presents Superman and Firestorm #17

In the late 1970s, DC introduced the anthology style title, DC Comics Presents, which saw a variety of their heroes teaming up for adventures. However, issue 17 with Superman and Firestorm, was a little less team-up and a little more versus story.

Superman gets a request from STAR Labs in New York to thaw out Killer Frost so that her body can be studied. Unfortunately for the Man of Steel, she isn’t actually dead, and once she’s freed from the ice, Killer Frost uses her ice powers to put him under her thrall. Professor Stein, who tried to stop the experiment, combines with Ronnie Raymond to form Firestorm and attempt to free Superman from Killer Frost’s control.

A very entertaining entry into the DC Comics Presents lineup, it was written by Firestorm’s co-creator Gerry Conway and boasted art by José Luis García-López. Early Firestorm comics excelled at showing the struggles of learning how to be a superhero and maintain a personal life. That is on display in this issue, with the added intensity of trying to stop Superman himself from doing something terrible. It’s straightforward, it’s sincere, and the art is beautiful from front to back.

–Amanda Sheriff