Reflections on Firebrand II(Danette Reilly)

[Fantasyartist]

Full disclosure- i've always had a soft spot for this character since she first appeared in All Star Squadron #5. From being initially timid and uncertain of her powers( in the next issue, she calls out to a mob of mind controlled Mexicans- "Keep back- I-I don't want to hurt you!") to being carried around until by other heroes until she discovers that she possesses the power of flight in her own right( as with her closest Marvel counterparts such as Firestar and both Human Torches, I'd say that in its flaming state her body's molecular structure becomes lighter than air)). Her moral and ethical evolution is remarkable, from raging against the "dirty, yellow(insert expletive here)" who crippled her brother Rod in the attack on Pearl Harbor to cooling her jets when he points out that his life was saved by a Japanese American soldier who sacrificed his own in the process.
She also has a wry sense of humor( noting that it was just as well that her clothes inherited her immunity from fire "otherwise I'd be scrounging for an asbestos fig leaf" on her debut issue as Firebrand) in addition to being ahead of her time(the 1940s) when she and the other All Stars offer Amazing Man( Will Everett) a place on the team( this is long before Civil Rights became fashionable)

last but not least, how can you NOT like a superheroine who has to wear a swimsuit under her blouse( just to satisfy the prudish mores of the 1940s))?

Terry

 

[Harlekin]

She was a decent character, yeah. Based on Roy Thomas' wife as I recall (personality-wise, that is).

 

[Fantasyartist]

Some of the things she said are relevant even nowadays-such as when Tsunami a captured Japanese spy asked if she was going to be tortured. Firebrand promptly replied "that we Americans don't go in for that torture stuff-it's all part of being a free society"( of course we can question whether the America of the 1940s was really THAT free-at least for its black citizen as well as the relocation camps for Japanese-but not German or Italian-Americans) but democracies usually correct their mistakes in the long run!

Terry