Created by S. M. Iger and Reed Crandall for Quality Comics, Rod Reilly was the first of four costumed heroes to go by the moniker Firebrand. (The remaining three were all produced by DC long after the Quality properties were acquired by National).
Son of millionaire steel tycoon Ed "Emerald" Reilly, Rod fit snugly into the "bored playboy" trope of superhero origins. He just "decided" that he wanted to become a crime fighter, so he started training under the tutelage of his eventual sidekick, ex-prize boxer Slugger Dunn.
My initial impression of Firebrand was that he was a fists-and-mask-only sort of guy. However, his entry at Public Domain Superheroes, informed me that Firebrand also exhibited lariat skills and even used vacuum cups (a la Midnight?) in some of his adventures.
Firebrand's agility (as witnessed by his tightrope walking skills) and facility with the lariat are hard to explain given the premise of his being trained by Slugger Dunn. I wouldn't think that's a typical skill set for the ring. For his own part, Reilly's a wealthy playboy. How much cattle-roping do you suppose he's done up to this point in his life?
In his initial incarnation, Firebrand had a publishing life of roughly a year (Police Comics #1-#13). After Quality went belly up, and sold its properties to DC (roughly 1956), the Firebrand went into literary storage until being revived in the pages of Freedom Fighters #10 (OCT 1977).
[NOTE: Though, technically, Reilly re-appeared in Freedom Fighters #10, it was not until Freedom Fighters #12 that his identity was revealed.]According to Wikipedia there were plans to have Firebrand killed off in the pages of Freedom Fighters, but the title was cancelled prior to that happening. (A story subsequently published in the Cancelled Comics Cavalcade showed Firebrand dying in battle with a villain named the Silver Ghost).
By the early 80s, DC had decided to let Rod Reilly live...but he wasn't going to continue as Firebrand. Rather, in the pages of the The All-Star Squadron #1 (SEP 1981) it was retconned that Rod had been injured during the Pearl Harbor attack, thus requiring the ending of his superhero career. The very same issue introduced Danette Reilly (Rod's younger sister) who--conveniently enough--acquired fire-based powers and took up his mantle as the new Firebrand.
Having completed that quick tour through the publishing history of the original Firebrand, let's take a closer look at his inaugural appearance.
Firebrand's First Appearance: Police Comics #1
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| Police Comics #1 (AUG 1941) |
The story proper opens with some really stunning artwork (especially for the era) depicting assassinations of New York City window cleaners and steeplejacks. ()
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| I've heard Reed Crandall's name praised as among the greats of Golden
Age artists, but this is my first exposure to his work. I now appreciate what all the buzz is about. |
We quickly learn that these are part of a protection racket.
Meanwhile, on a nearby penthouse terrace, we're introduced to Rod Reilly. Reilly is kicked back in a wicker chair enjoying an (apparently adult) beverage and waxing philosophical with his butler/pal Slugger Dunn about how a man should live a life of excitement rather than boredom.
Slugger replies that the nearby steeplejack who's being taken as the exemplar of "excitement" would envy Rod if he knew the wealthy scion was actually the Firebrand. (And here, I assumed he's just envy the fact that Reilly was wealthy enough to spend the middle of the workday sipping mojitos on a penthouse rooftop.)
As it turns out, Rod seems to be admiring said steeplejack just as he's cut down by an assassin's bullet. Dashing inside, Rod reemerges moments later all garbed-up at Firebrand and showing off his mad skills.
Firebrand storms the two shooters and with naught but his fisticuffs he disarms the two would-be killers. In the melee, a rifle goes off unexpectedly fatally wounding on of the thugs. Firebrand essentially tells the guy, "Hey buddy, you're about to meet your Maker anyway. You might as well tell me why you're trying to assassinate a steeplejack." Curiously, however, the bad guy doesn't find that argument too persuasive.
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| Do you not understand the consequences of that sucking chest wound, pal? This isn't an "either...or" situation. |
Rod and Slugger narrowly escape in their trim black coupe, "amid a hail of police [bullets]." At the station house, the surviving thug claims he and pal Dave, "see dis guy Firebrand shootin' a window washer." Since this only confirms what the cops already suspect about Firebrand, the chief issues a shoot on sight order.
Meanwhile, the next few panels round out our character introductions. En route to a war relief ball, we're introduced to Rod's "plus one" (Joan Rogers) as well as his parents.
At the party we learn a couple of things. First, Rod Reilly is a play-ah!
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| Rod ought to be careful. Joan looks like she could go all "Red Sonja" at any moment. |
Second, we learn that a Baron Von Hanson and one of his dining companions, Sylvester Cole, look a bit too suspicious. Rod decides to do a little snooping and overhears the Baron lamenting that his wallet--containing the combination to his safe--has been stolen. The Baron ominously warns Cole that, "if anyone learns that...we're through!"
Reilly checks in with Slugger who just happened to witness one Dippy Dolan (a pickpocket) slipping out of the soiree only moments ago. On a hunch, Rod has Slugger drive him to Dolan's best-known hangout where he purchases the Baron's wallet and its contents for a mere $50. Though the reader is not shown what Rod discovers inside the wallet, presumably it must be good because the next panel our boy is all suited up as Firebrand hollerin' at Slugger to get him to the Emperor Building, fast!
After being spotted by an eagle-eyed traffic cop en route, Firebrand realizes he'll have to work fast. Leaping from the car in front of the Emperor Building, he scales the side using the handy-dandy suction cups that every crime-fighter keeps in his vehicle.
After using the freshly-purchased combination to open the safe, Firebrand discovers hundreds of diamonds! (Admittedly, however, I'm not sure what we're supposed to see as so nefarious. So far as I know, owning diamonds wasn't illegal in 1941...but I'm pretty sure that breaking and entering was.) The drama heightens when the safe door suddenly and inexplicably slams shut, trapping our hero inside the vault!
Meanwhile, the aforementioned Sylvester Cole and his cronies show up to retrieve the diamonds. Since the Baron had "lost" his combination, Cole & co. have brought along their handy dandy acetylene torch to cut through the steel door. Imagine their surprise, then...
Firebrand is single-handedly whipping the dog poo out of Cole and his boys when Slugger shows up in the doorway to check on his boss.
We, then, get a sudden information dump from Firebrand laying out exactly what criminal activities the Baron and Cole are engaged in. (There's no real explanation, however, of how Firebrand has figured this out.)
About this time, the Baron--still sporting his formal top hat--shows up with his cronies and yet another donnybrook ensues. This time, our old buddy Slugger takes an unplanned nap thanks to the Baron pistol-whipping him about the noggin. Von Hanson flees to the elevator, but Firebrand rappels down the outside of the Emperor Building, dropping onto his quarry as the Baron exits the building. Our man then proceeds to "pummel him unmercifully."
The final wrap-up page contains a bizarre couple of panels. Slugger shows up toting two bagfuls of diamonds from the vault (again, isn't this technically theft?) just in time to warn Firebrand about (a new danger unrelated to the story?)
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| What in the fat world is this?! My first thought was a lingering Cole or Von Hanson henchman...but there's nothing in the follow-up to suggest that. It feels more like somebody said, "Crandall! We need two more panels of ACTION!" What the heck?! |
Having safely dodged the car, neither of our heroes check on the driver (who you gotta believe got pretty banged up in that wreck). Rather, the sound of approaching police sirens is taken as the signal to snap-up the unconscious Baron toss him in their car and head back to the society soiree.
Reilly--apparently--changes back into his formal evening attire en route and walks the now-conscious and terrified Baron in counseling him to flee America on the next available plane lest the Firebrand "liquidate" him.
While you might be tempted to think Reilly is posing as nothing more than the proverbial "good Samaritan" to the Baron, but this panel strongly suggests there's something more manipulative behind Rod's "rescue" of Von Hanson.
Back at the Baron's Emperor Building office, the cops show up and find the unconscious Cole and a burning firebrand.
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