I consider myself a huge fan of Gail Simone. I have loved about everything of hers I’ve read. Unfortunately, that percentage just went down, with this week’s release of the DC-nU Fury of Firestorm, the nuclear men. This reboot of the character seems to wipe all previous incarnations away, so I would presume he was never a member of the JLA, Extreme Justice, Power Company (do they still exist?) and the like.A team of terrorists show how bad they are by butchering a family in the quest for information about some machine they need. They actually accuse their victims of being terrorists, but seem to be operating far from anything approaching legally with their brutal killings.Meanwhile, in Walton Mills, we meet Ronnie Raymond, high school football hero, and Jason Rusch, reporter for the high school newspaper. Suffice to say they don’t hit it off well. As the terrorists kidnap a scientist to further their hunt, we see Jason having dinner with his dad, no mother, as Ronnie has dinner with his mom, no father (please tell me the parents don’t end up dating later– the “nuclear family” puns abound). Ronnie is at least thinking about some of Jason’s earlier accusations of racism at the school (45% black school that in four years has had 0 black quarterbacks is his big beef), so Ronnie’s not just a totally shallow jock.Elsewhere, the kidnapped scientist talks about how brilliant Martin Stein was (he’s apparently dead now), and how he managed to contain the “God particle” which he proved the existence of and would totally revolutionize physics and allow for transmutation. The hit squad calls in to their mysterious boss, a woman with screens of what appear to be various Firestorm variants.Back at school, Ronnie is furious over Jason’s article about him, as is Jason’s editor, the obligatory unrequited love interest. Jason, Ronnie, Tonya (the editor) and Jason’s friend Trev end up in a confrontation over it (well, Ronnie and Jason do, the others try to cool it off) when the terrorists attack here, too. Somehow or other, Stein knew of Jason, and sent him the last of his “God particles,” which is what the terrorist/thugs want. Jason grabs the container and yells “Firestorm” which somehow sets off an explosion that changes both he and Ronnie into Firestorm variants. Fire-Ronnie and Fire-Jason fight each other, as the female on the hit squad seems to have been transformed into the reboot version of long-time Firestorm foe Killer Frost. The Ronnie/Jason fight takes to the skies, where there is another explosion, and a larger, uglier creature emerges, calling itself Fury.

What I liked and what I didn’t:

Actually, I didn’t really care for much here. The total reboot, the wiping of Firestorm’s history, the two people who hate each other stuck with each other, none of it really grabbed me. I will give points for Ronnie being aware enough to wonder about Jason’s accusation, and the former version of Jason as abused child apparently being dropped.

As for the rest… the new look is ugly in my personal opinion. I feel so bad for Ronnie Raymond, now having to live through high school AGAIN. Ugh. Martin Stein’s apparent death I also don’t like, although I anticipate that eventually being revealed as a fake. The leader of the hit squad seems to be a reboot of Ronnie’s old nemesis Cliff Carmichael, formerly a high school rival, now a macho mercenary of some sort. Throw in the DC-nU near-requirement of high body count and I’m just not interested.