| Rod Reilly is the son of
millionaire steel tycoon "Emerald" Ed Reilly. As is typical of many other
similarly wealthy golden age characters, Rod decides to become a mystery man
because he is bored. His best friend/servant happens to be Slugger Dunn, an
ex-heavyweight boxing champ. Dunn trains Reilly to be a skilled fighter, and
the two men leave New York, seeking adventure. Wearing an all red outfit and
mask (his shirt is sometimes a transparent pink color), Firebrand has
thirteen adventures, spanning Police Comics #1-13. Firebrand's calling card
is a flaming, Olympic style torch. Picking up where
his golden age adventures left off in All Star Squadron, Reilly is revealed
to have joined the Navy, and he and Slugger Dunn are stationed in Pearl
Harbor. Rod is injured during the Japanese attack, and after his sister
Danette gains superpowers, Rod tells her of his costumed identity. Danette
Reilly becomes Firebrand II. Rod eventually recovers from his wounds and
joins the Freedom Fighters, but exactly when he joins is unclear. He is not
pictured in any of the post crisis World War II photographs of the Freedom
Fighters, which implies that Firebrand's pre-crisis history remains largely
unchanged. Pre crisis, Firebrand becomes a US secret agent working
undercover within the Nazi army (similar to the Americommando and the
Marksman), and some of his fellow heroes incorrectly believed him to be a
traitor. He eventually joins the Freedom Fighters in the late 1970's as seen
in Freedom Fighters #12. In Freedom Fighters #16 and 17, which was published
as part of canceled Comics Cavalcade #2 (the FFers series was canceled with
issue #15), Firebrand dies while battling the Silver Ghost. The Silver
Ghost's powers overload, and both hero and villain are transformed into
solid silver. Knowing no way to reverse the process, both are declared dead.
It is not known exactly how, but as seen in Crisis on Infinite Earths,
Firebrand's condition is eventually reversed. His current whereabouts are
unknown. |
