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    Professor Martin Stein

    Character » Professor Martin Stein appears in 246 issues.

    Physics professor at Hudson University. He was consumed by a burst of radiation which fused Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein into a single composite being: Firestorm. Professor Stein is also the Fire Element of Earth.

    Short summary describing this character.

    Professor Martin Stein last edited by KillerZ on 03/12/24 08:44AM View full history

    Creation

    Martin Stein was created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom, first appearing in Firestorm #1.

    Pre/Post Crisis

    The original Firestorm was distinguished by his integrated dual identity. High school student Ronnie Raymond and Nobel Prize-winning physicist Martin Stein were caught in a nuclear accident that allowed them to fuse into the "nuclear man" Firestorm. Due to Stein's being unconscious during the accident, Raymond was prominently in command of the Firestorm form with Stein a voice of reason inside his mind. Banter between the two was a hallmark of their adventures. Initially Stein was completely ignorant of their dual identity, leaving him concerned about his unusual disappearances and blackouts, but Ronnie was eventually able to convince him of the truth, allowing them to bond as separate individuals rather than as parts of a whole. By the series' 100th issue, Stein learned that he was destined to be the true Fire Elemental and would have been were it not for Ron Raymond also being there by circumstance. Raymond and Arkadin were returned to their old lives, and Stein as Firestorm was accidentally exiled to deep space in the process of saving the Earth. He thereafter spent many years traveling through space as a wanderer, returning to Earth on only two occasions: the War of the Gods crossover event, and again in the JLA spin-off, Extreme Justice #5, where Stein cured Raymond of his leukemia and allowed Raymond to retain the original Firestorm persona on his own.

    Post Flashpoint

    Doomsday Clock

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    With the emergence of The Superman Theory, a conspiracy theory which states the exponential increase in metahuman activity, specifically in America compared to the rest of the world is a result of illegal government experiments. Firestorm is one of the heroes in suspicion, Firestorm adamantly denies such claims. Against the wishes of Stein Ronnie flew to Russia to confront Pozhar, one of the biggest proponents of The Supermen Theory.

    Whiles in Russia Firestorm got into a fight with The People’s Heroes. After an attack by Negative Woman, Firestorm fell to the ground where he got overwhelmed by protestors. In a moment of confusion Ronnie lost control and transmuted all the citizens into glass. Firestorm took one glass statue to reverse the transmutation but was unable to until he got some encouragement from Superman. The next day Firestorm returned to the accident site with a child he reverted but was immediately attacked by the Russian military.

    Superman tried to deescalate the situation however it turned into another fight against The People’s Heroes. Mid fight someone released a detonation which killed the civilians, comatose Superman and knockout Firestorm. When Stein and Ronnie woke up they are on a Justice League shuttle heading to Mars because the League believe to person responsible for framing Firestorm for the explosion is located there.

    During the battle Dr. Manhattan showed Ronnie past events which confirmed Stein intentionally caused the accident resulting in Ronnie and Stein merging into Firestorm as well as Ronnie was shown due to resembling Stein’s late son. Stein motivation to become a metahuman was so he can embed himself in metahuman communities to spy on behalf of US Government Department of Metahuman Affairs. The JSA investigation uncovered Stein and the D.M.A had a hand in creating Metamorpho, Creeper and several other metahumans.

    Powers & Abilities

    Stein's connection to the Firestorm Matrix grants him the following abilities:

    • Density Control: As Firestorm, he can change the density of himself and objects:
    • Eidetic Memory: Also called "Matrix Memory Recall", Firestorm Matrix can access the memories of each and every single being that has ever been fused into the Matrix. New beings are allowed to automatically download surface information.
    • Energy Absorption: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can absorb massive amounts of energy as well as being able to absorb many different types of energy.
    • Energy Projection: Elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix can project massive amounts of different types of energies.
    • Enhanced Physical Stats: Firestorm has superhuman levels of strength, a healing factor, and resistance to injury.
    • Enhanced Vision: Also called "Quark Vision", elements tied to the Firestorm Matrix have access to enhanced vision due to their nuclear nature. Different visions experienced are X-Ray Vision, Microscopic Vision, and Thermal Vision.
    • Flight: As Firestorm, Martin can fly at supersonic speed.
    • Intangibility: Can make himself intangible in order to pass through solid objects.
    • Matter Manipulation: Firestorms can break down and reapply subatomic particles as well as break up the molecular structure of elements and rearrange them. To do this the element must know the exact elemental make-up of the object or human. Most Firestorms cannot affect living tissue but it is possible though very unstable.

    Other Versions

    Earth 3 (Post Flashpoint)

    Deathstorm
    Deathstorm

    Martin Stein was considered to be one of the foremost minds in theoretical physic and biology. He would lure homeless people into becoming his guinea pigs in his quest to discover the means of creating life from death. Eventually he drew the attention from the Crime Syndicate's enemies, who hired him. Instead of helping them, he used their facilities to further his work, and began to experiment on himself. He fused his body and mind with those of a corpse, and became Deathstorm.

    Following the destruction of their own earth, Deathstorm followed the Crime Syndicate to the Earth 0 so that they can take it as their own.

    Using his greater knowledge of the Firestorm Matrix, is able to use the superhero Firestorm as a prison for the other heroes by imprisoning them inside the Matrix while in the process making Firestorm's body a ticking time bomb. From there, the Syndicate goes on to take control of the earth, using the Secret Society as their army. Deathstorm was betrayed by Superwoman who let Mazahs crush his head to absorb his powers.

    Dark Multiverse

    Infernal
    Infernal

    Martin Stein was the creator of the Firestorm Matrix in his universe, he shared it with Ronald Raymond and Jason Rusch until they died. He then merged with their corpses similar to Deathstorm and transformed into a demonic entity known as Infernal. After his reality collapsed, he sought to escape his world by creating a rift from chaos which he used the Salesman to do by giving him the ability to transfer small amounts of his power to various hosts to teether him to new realities which include Earth 0 Brimstone. During a confrontation Brimstone scarified himself to stop Infernal.

    Other Media

    The Flash

    Professor Martin Stein is played by Victor Garber. He was working on his Firestorm project with his student, Jason Rusch (played by Luc Roderique), right outside S.T.A.R. Labs when the Particle Accelerator exploded. The explosion caused him to combine with Ronnie Raymond, an employee at S.T.A.R. Labs, into the Firestorm Matrix. They had gone missing for several months until Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon find them combined in Ronnie's body. General Wade Eiling has been after the Firestorm project to use it as a weapon for the military. The Flash and the S.T.A.R. Labs team are able separate Martin and Ronnie but they decide to recombine as the nuclear hero, Firestorm. They defeat General Eiling as well as team up with the Flash and the Arrow to take down the Reverse Flash. At the end of Season 1, Ronnie sacrifices his life to save Central City from being swallowed by a black hole. During Season 2, Martin starts getting sick from not turning into Firestorm and needs a new partner to combine with. The only compatible people were Henry Hewitt and Jefferson "Jax" Jackson. Jax initially turns him down. Henry is excited about becoming Firestorm but he wasn't compatible enough so they went with Jax. The Firestorm Matrix had an effect on Henry, changing him into the nuclear villain, Tokamak. Martin and Jax then combine into the new Firestorm and team up with the Flash to defeat Tokamak.

    Legends of Tomorrow

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    Victor Garber reprises his role as Martin Stein. He and Jax had been enlisted as the new Firestorm by Rip Hunter to go back in time to stop Vandal Savage from rising in power and taking over the world in the year 2166. The other members of the team include Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Atom, White Canary, Captain Cold and Heat Wave. It is revealed during the series that Ray Palmer used to be one of his students. In a trip back to the 70's, Stein, Jax and the White Canary run into a young Martin Stein. They need to take one of his old inventions to track a piece of the Atom's suit that was lost. They later realize they need to make sure he goes to a party so he can meet his future wife, Clarissa. It almost fails but Rip makes sure that time doesn't get altered.

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