Ronnie Raymond / Martin Stein / Mikhail Arkadin

In 1986, Conway abruptly left the series, and John Ostrander (with artist Joe Brozowski) took over the reins. Ostrander sought to make Firestorm more relevant to the world and a good deal grittier. His first major story arc pitted Firestorm against the world, as the hero, acting on a suggestion from a terminally ill Prof. Stein, demanded the United States and the Soviet Union destroy all of their nuclear weapons. After tussles with the Justice League and most of his enemies, Firestorm faced off against a Russian nuclear superhero named Pozhar in the Nevada desert, where they had an atomic bomb dropped on them. A new Firestorm resulted, a fusion of the two heroes: this new Firestorm was composed of Raymond and the Russian Mikhail Arkadin but controlled by the disembodied amnesiac mind of Stein. The stories featuring this version of the hero were highly political, with a good deal of action taking place in Brooklyn.