The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Man #2

The Good: The beginning is definitely intriguing. We got hit with a lot last issue, and it's coming together in a totally new way after the finale.
The pacing settles out a bit after the wildly rushed finale last issue.
Fury's speach, at least at the start, consisted entirely of choices, or opposites, or something. I'm not sure what the literary term is. But he says only stuff like "Move. Or burn" "Duck. And cover." It seemed to set up something interesting due to the dual nature in Fury's creation.
The dialogue in general is a lot of fun, something I expect from Gail Simone. Jason and Ronnie don't sound like poorly written petulant children anymore, they still go out of their way to fight a bit, but their willingness to cooperate is believable enough. And the dynamic being built between the 2 is actually developing into something interesting on several levels.
The tension in this issue is set pretty high. We begin with Ronnie and Jason as Fury, a being that is nigh-invincible, and as they start to wrest control, they find themselves powerless fugitives with barely a clue where to go, in the rain, under a bridge.
The hyenas are pretty interesting villains. They're high on power, completely aware of their overwhelming insanity, but without motivation to fight it. They let loose in their mission. The adrenaline of the ops isn't enough, they need drugs to enhance it.
The depths to which the secret government group goes to frame Ronnie and Jason is impressive.
 
The Bad: You know, that cover by all rights SHOULD be excellent, but it just isn't. Something about it just doesn't quite work for me at all. Maybe it's the ridiculously awkward posing of everything, Fury's odd attempts to smother the cover, the main focus being either his huge shoulder or the tiny figures in the back, or the attempt to show school stuff and yet have a chaotic nonexistent background at the same time. Yuck.
While they were Fury, or Firestorms, Jason and Ronnie had balanced out more. After they split back, suddenly they aren't as well written. The get a  lot more dull and wooden.
Nobody reacts to a SCHOOL BOMBING!? Especially Jason and Ronnie.
Tweakers?
 
In Conclusion: 3.5/5
Things are getting better. Ronnie and Jason aren't as horrendously unlikeable characters most of the time, and there's still a lot of intrigue keeping the series tantalizing. The artwork's starting to lose its luster a bit, I feel like it's almost just a gimmick, or something. UGH. I can't think of the word, it's right on the tip of my tongue.... It's something that's great ebcause of how unique it is, but doesn't have the ability to measure up otherwise after too long. Whatever. It was cool and all, but I think it's a bit too cartoony and/or surreal for this series. Better than the first issue, but still nothing spectacular.