Black Bison storms the townhouse of Senator Reilly and kidnaps Lorraine Reilly. Firestorm battles an army of animated animal statues, brought to life by Black Bison's powerful medicine-magic. Firestorm fights Black Bison in Central Park.
Firestorm826's Panel-by-Panel Story Summary (Spoiler Alert)
Riding his bicycle in Central Park while thinking of his new high score playing ‘Missile Command’, a youngster is startled to see Firestorm sitting in the classic thinker pose atop a large marble statue. Distracted, the youth swerves out of control and starts to fall. Professor Stein alerts Ronnie, and Firestorm reacts with a swift nuclear blast to turn the sidewalk underneath the falling bicyclist into a soft mattress. With danger averted, Firestorm returns to thinking of the recent appearance of Black Bison, a super-being that his history teacher John Ravenhair became after a mystical Native American spell (see issue 1). Ronnie mentions Black Bison’s weird costume and powers, and questions out loud about why fancy threads turn some folks goofy. Standing up nearby, the youngster notices his dented bicycle. He asks the ‘creep’, Firestorm, what he is going to do about the bike. Firestorm zaps the bike with nuclear energy, rearranging its form to good as new. Flustered, the youth jumps on and rides off fast, vowing to avoid Central Park and stick to the video game arcades.
Reviewing recent events, Ronnie recalls being at the New York Museum of Natural History on a field trip with John Ravenhair’s class. A new exhibit of Native American artifacts had just opened at the museum, with the prominent pieces donated by the benefactor who presided over the opening ceremony, Senator Walter Reilly. John was speaking to the class when he suddenly became dizzy and grabbed at his chest. At the same time in a park close by, John’s great-grandfather, who earlier gave John the golden talisman of the Bison Cult, is chanting a powerful Native American magic spell.
John’s girlfriend, school nurse Vanessa Tremont, took over the class as John stumbled to a nearby bathroom. Ronnie, distracted by arch-rival Cliff Carmichael’s antics then hears a thunderous noise coming from the bathroom as the form of John Ravenhair exploded out into the museum. John Ravenhair plowed through the students, and Ronnie quickly found a secluded spot to transform into Firestorm. On John’s trail, Firestorm finds him now wearing traditional headdress and holding a magical shaman coup stick, artifacts that John removed from a museum exhibit display case after shattering the glass. Using the coup stick, John reanimated the lifeless wild animals in a nearby exhibit, causing them to threaten Ronnie’s classmates in a wild stampede. Firestorm hastily diverts his attention to helping his classmates, including Doreen Day, who is cornered by an angry mountain lion. John Ravenhair jumps on the back of a reanimated white stallion and proclaimed that he is now Black Bison, the great and powerful shaman of the Bison Cult. He then galloped out of the museum and disappeared into nearby Central Park. Ronnie and Stein wonder just who and where Black Bison is.
With horse-drawn tourist carriages and horse trails criss-crossing Central Park, Firestorm’s efforts to find Black Bison have been unsuccessful. Stein suggests temporarily halting the search so he can return to his work at Concordance Research. Ronnie agrees, and Firestorm lands on the rooftop of Stein’s Manhattan office building for their separation transformation.
Entering the building, Ronnie and Stein are approached by Stein’s co-worker, Harry Carew, who asks about Stein’s sudden departure from the earlier meeting. Carew, thinking of Stein’s apparent sudden ‘illness’ at the meeting, suggests that Stein get in shape and jogs off. In Stein’s office, he and Ronnie see TV news coverage of John Ravenhair’s bizarre transformation at the museum. Ronnie is surprised to see Doreen being interviewed on TV. She mentions that both John and Ronnie haven’t been seen since the incident. Ronnie swiftly departs. Stein laments never having memories of the events that occur while he is in the form of Firestorm, and continues to watch news coverage. The reporter turns from Doreen to Senator Reilly, who recounts his long history as a collector of Native American historical artifacts. Hoping that the artifacts taken by John will be returned unharmed, the Senator expresses his feeling that Native American heritage is common to all Americans and together must be preserved. Stein switches off the television.
At Bradley High, the students are still buzzing about the events at the museum. Doreen is worried about Ronnie’s whereabouts, which Cliff Carmichael dismisses by saying Ronnie is probably hiding in a bathroom. Vanessa, still shaken, sits in the school clinic being calmed by a nurse. Cliff suggests Doreen write off Ronnie the ‘wimp’. Ronnie then appears and, pulling the collar of Cliff’s shirt, he returns the frog that Cliff so kindly gave him at the museum. Cliff squirms and Ronnie turns his attention to Doreen, who is a little perturbed at Ronnie’s disappearance. A shriek nearby from Cliff rings out as the frog slips out a hole in his pants. With his underwear showing through the hole, a very embarrassed Cliff shuffles off, promising to get even with Ronnie. Doreen takes Ronnie and says they need to talk privately.
Uptown, in a small park near a prestigious townhouse neighborhood, the form of Black Bison on horseback comes into view. He is intently gazing at the entrance of one townhouse in particular, that being the home of Senator Walter Reilly. A taxi arrives at the townhouse, and Professor Martin Stein exits. Approaching the door and ringing the doorbell, Stein is greeted by Lorraine Reilly, the Senator’s daughter. After Lorraine verifies that he is not another pesky reporter, the two exchange pleasantries. Stein asks to see her father, saying he has come to warn him. At that very moment, Black Bison explodes out of the shadows shouting a terrible war-cry! Stein tries to push Lorraine back into the safety of the house. Black Bison kicks Stein across the jaw before Lorraine can get inside, knocking Stein unconscious. Black Bison grabs Lorraine, angry that her father pillaged the heritage of Black Bison’s people. Since the Senator stole their past, Black Bison will now steal his future! Senator Reilly and one of his Secret Service guards investigate the commotion. Drawing his service revolver, the Secret Service agent orders Black Bison to release Lorraine. Black Bison’s stallion rears back, knocking the agent to the ground. Black Bison says that mere white man weapons are useless against his medicine-magic. Black Bison explains that the spirit of his great-grandfather is now alive in him, and that he is the last defender of a nation too proud to die. With Lorraine across the horse, Black Bison charges away.
At the Raymond home, Ronnie worries about Doreen being upset. Ronnie finds a note from his father on the refrigerator that explains his father will miss dinner yet again. The phone rings, and Ronnie answers. It is Professor Stein, calling from a hospital to inform Ronnie about Black Bison’s attack at the home of Senator Reilly. Stein and the Senator are being questioned by police. Under suspicion for involvement in the kidnapping of Lorraine, Stein tells Ronnie that he is too flustered to start the transformation and asks Ronnie to do it. Ronnie obliges, and their two separate forms shimmer and merge in atomic light. Firestorm appears flying up into the sky above the Raymond house. Stein suggests they head for Central Park as people in the police station notice a phone receiver swinging on its cord where Martin Stein was speaking on it seconds ago. In transit, Stein apologizes to Ronnie for criticizing pranks that Firestorm played on Cliff Carmichael. Stein now thinks pranks are a useful way for Firestorm to relieve stress. Stein says he believes that he and Ronnie are a winning combination.
Approaching Central Park, Firestorm sees a gauntlet of police, weapons drawn, in a standoff with Black Bison. The shaman stands over the form of Lorraine Reilly in front of an empty merry-go-round. The police use a bullhorn to order Black Bison to release Lorraine and surrender. The police promise to listen to his demands if he complies. Black Bison is angered at again being smothered by the white man’s words, and his talisman of the Bison Cult sparkles brightly in the sun. The spiritual form of John Ravenhair’s great-grandfather mistily forms above the shaman. Black Bison says there can be no peace since his people are held prisoner on their own land, denied their heritage and honor. Black Bison declares there will be war! Waving his coup stick, the merry-go-round horses come to life and charge at the police. The police fire their weapons in defense with no effect. Suddenly, a wall springs out of the ground in the path of the horses, swiftly brought into existence by a nuclear transformation blast from Firestorm flying overhead. Black Bison, seeing the wall, demands that whoever has come between him and his enemies show himself. Firestorm introduces himself to Black Bison and attempts to negotiate, mentioning the peaceful nature of John Ravenhair. Black Bison yells that John Ravenhair is dead. Raising his coup stick and shield and announcing that he is Master of Wind and Storm, Black Bison directs a blast of wind at Firestorm, pushing him back away from the park. Firestorm passes over assembled news reporters, where a TV newscaster doing a live feed describes the ongoing battle of super beings. A stunned Firestorm lands hard on the ground near a children’s zoo with Black Bison in hot pursuit.
As Firestorm picks himself up, Stein tells Ronnie that they have landed in a Central Park area called Storybook Land, an area that features statues based on “Alice in Wonderland” characters. The statues come to life, animated by the medicine-magic of Black Bison, and attack Firestorm. Nearby, Black Bison steps down from his white stallion and Lorraine Reilly awakens from her unconsciousness. She asks who Black Bison is and what he wants. Black Bison tells her that he is the living spirit of his nation’s greatest medicine man, and together they observe the statues assaulting Firestorm. The unblinking eye of TV news cameras sends images of the battle across the city and the citizens react with shock, confusion, anger, and fear.
In a taxicab, a tearful Vanessa Tremont urges the driver to get her to Central Park as fast as he can. The taxi screeches up to a Fifth Avenue park entrance, and Vanessa runs inside.
Martin Stein urges Firestorm, under relentless attack from the animated statues, to fight back and use a nuclear burst. A small atomic blast of energy suddenly emanates from Firestorm, blowing several of the statues away from him. Ronnie explains that he was hesitant to use Firestorm’s full energy and still cannot grasp that the person he knew as John Ravenhair would try to hurt him. Firestorm flies towards Black Bison and readies a powerful energy blast. Black Bison waves his coup stick, causing the ground to erupt in front of Firestorm and forcing him back into an animated statue that grabs him and holds him in its powerful grip. Black Bison explains that his coup stick gives him authority over the entire natural world, and that his magic is greater than Firestorm’s. Black Bison explains that he craves revenge for what has happened to his people, and that the daughter of Senator Reilly will begin to pay the price for the humiliation of Black Bison’s nation.
Running through police barricades, Vanessa Tremont calls out to Black Bison. Before she can reach him, an animated statue seizes her in its grasp with the intent of killing her swiftly. Hearing the screams of Vanessa, Black Bison looks and sees her. Wide-eyed, he tells his great-grandfather's spirit that it is Vanessa approaching. The mystical spell his great-grandfather cast has locked John’s soul in a battle for control between John and his great-grandfather. That war of spiritual possession raging beneath his stone-faced expression throughout the day now overwhelms Black Bison. He screams and falls to the ground in spiritual unrest. Firestorm sees an opening. Stein tells Ronnie that Black Bison’s talisman glows every time Black Bison uses his power. Firestorm moves in, grabs the brightly shimmering talisman, and pulls it off Black Bison. He flings the talisman through the air, where it falls into water past a surprised seal in the Central Park Zoo. Stein notices that as soon as the talisman was removed, the fiery eyes of Black Bison seemed to clear and the form of John Ravenhair returns.
Back in Storybook Land, Lorraine stands and embraces Firestorm, thanking him for saving her life and promising to buy him dinner. Ronnie begs the Professor to help him, and Stein playfully reminds Ronnie that he’s only a passenger in the Firestorm persona. Vanessa takes John Ravenhair in her arms. As the police approach, an exhausted John explains to her that his great-grandfather somehow took control of him. John’s love for Vanessa prevented Black Bison from harming her and broke the powerful magic of his great-grandfather's spell. Vanessa consoles him, reassuring him that they are now together again, and that is all that matters.
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