Firehawk (comics)
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Firehawk is a superheroine in the DC Comics Universe.
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[edit] Origin
The daughter of Senator Walter Reilly, Lorraine Reilly was kidnapped and transformed by Multiplex at the behest of industrialist Henry Hewitt who wanted to recreate the accident that had created Firestorm. Henry Hewitt's experiments gave her the ability to generate intense heat and tremendous energy blasts. Hewitt then used the data he'd gathered to transform himself into the villain known as Tokamak. As Firehawk, she also had wings of "atomic fire" enabling flight.
Brainwashed into attacking Firestorm, Firehawk was defeated, after which she soon reverted to her usual self, remembering little of what had happened. She was later jogged into becoming Firehawk again, but this time as a hero. Since then, she battled crime and evil on a regular basis.
Originally, Firehawk was intended as the love interest of Firestorm - or rather of Ronnie Raymond, one of the people who made up Firestorm. Later, she was involved in an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Booster Gold.
[edit] History
Lorraine announced her retirement from superheroism in Identity Crisis, in order to spend time with her father. Shortly afterwards, she was contacted by Ed Raymond, Ronnie's father, to investigate Jason Rusch, the new Firestorm, and discover if there was a connection to Ronnie, who had been killed during Identity Crisis.
While Lorraine was observing Jason, he was attacked by an old Firestorm foe, Killer Frost. Needing someone to merge with to create Firestorm, Jason merged with an unwilling Lorraine. However, perhaps because Lorraine was a metahuman, or perhaps because of the nuclear nature of Lorraine's powers, the merge allowed Ronnie Raymond's consciousness to manifest from within the Firestorm matrix, becoming the dominant persona in the new Firestorm.
Unfortunately, both Lorraine and Ronnie began to dissipate, 'burned out' by the Firestorm matrix. Jason ended the merge, and Ronnie apparently disappeared again; however, Lorraine was able to say goodbye before he went. With Lorraine and Jason separated, Killer Frost attacked again, clubbing Lorraine to the floor and leaving her for dead. Fortunately, the supervillain was scared off by the police before she could kill her victims. Lorraine spent some time afterwards recovering from her injuries.
During Infinite Crisis, Firehawk assisted Donna Troy in recruiting heroes to aid Donna in battling a cosmic threat to the universe. Lorraine brought Firestorm in for Donna's strikeforce (Firestorm #19). As the Crisis unfolded, Lorraine remained on Earth, bringing her alter-ego out of retirement to fight an unknown nuclear-powered adversary (Firestorm #21).
Firestorm appeared to hold mixed feelings against Lorraine, still blaming her for Mick's death while in space, after returning active during the 52 ordeal he agreed to join her in a short lived new Justice League, disbanded after only one week in disgrace, thus putting her political career at risk and further straining their shaky relationship. One year after Infinite Crisis, Lorraine and Jason are merged as Firestorm, while Martin Stein, Jason's normal partner in the Firestorm merge, is missing. While they're merged, Jason can use Lorraine's powers along with his own. When the two are separated, Lorraine can still use her powers as Firehawk on her own. However, if Lorraine and Jason are separated by a distance of more than a mile, there are serious consequences; Lorraine loses her powers, while Jason manifests uncontrollable blasts of energy.
Sometime in the year after Infinite Crisis, Lorraine took her father's seat on the Senate, becoming the junior Senator from New York. She also revamped her Firehawk costume (Firestorm #23).
[edit] Trivia
- Firehawk's flames changed from red to blue in Fury of Firestorm # 42. Blue and Gold Costume Design by Rafael Kayanan.
[edit] Powers
- Firehawk has a wide array of thermal and radioactive powers. She can create bird-like wings of atomic flame and fly at high speeds. She can fire blasts of fiery thermal energy or bursts of searing radiation. She can lower her molecular density to the point that she can fly through solid matter. She can even manipulate energy fields, such as draining stolen energy back from Parasite. In Crisis on Infinite Earths, she is shown creating a new costume for herself by rearranging molecules.
