History: Pozhar was a nuclear-powered Russian superhero who formed the Firestorm-matrix for a time with Ronnie Raymond.

(Firestorm: The Nuclear Man II #28 (fb, BTS), 29 (fb, BTS)) - Mikhail was working as a nuclear plant inspector in Lithuania when regained his powers in a nuclear accident caused by Tokamak, who was trying to scare humanity with nuclear Armageddon. Mikhail took the name Firestorm, operating low-profile in eastern Europe preventing nuclear disasters.

(Firestorm: The Nuclear Man II #27-29) - Firestorm visited senator Lorraine Reilley, aka Firehawk, in Washington, and asked if she remembered her old friend. She told him that Stein had a new man who formed the Firestorm-matrix with him, so Mikhail decided to change his name to Pozhar again. Firehawk brought Pozhar to NYC to catch up with Stein and meet Jason Rusch, the new Firestorm, but before they could get to talking they were attacked by a horde of Dollies created by Tokamak. Jason severely disliked Pozhar, seeing him as a pale imitation, but nonetheless worked well with him as a team. The heroes defeated the Dollies by combining their powers, and Stein realized there was a connection between the Dollies and several other villains Firestorm had battled in the past year. He suspected that whoever created them was the mastermind behind the nuclear accidents occurring worldwide He planned on working out the details, and the next day Firestorm, Firehawk and Pozhar traveled to S.T.A.R. Labs to see what they could learn from the Pionic Man, one of Tokamak’s creations.

(Firestorm: The Nuclear Man II #30, 31) - Pionic Man turned out to be grateful for his current condition, and gave Firestorm a hug. He revealed that his benefactor never gave his name, but operated out of a Hewitt Enterprises on the Brooklyn waterfront. Jason insisted on making things right with his girlfriend Gehenna, so he separated from Stein, who told him they could handle the investigation for a while. Stein, Pozhar and Reilley visited Hewitt Enterprises, and while they were waiting to meet the owner of Hewitt Pozhar commented that Jason was hot-headed, and wanted to know if they could trust him as Firestorm. Lorraine and Stein said they had total faith in him, and Pozhar promised he accepted their judgment. The heroes met Victor Hewitt, son of old Firestorm nemesis Tokamak, and he assured them he didn’t share his father’s vendetta. Jason and Gehenna made up, and since she wanted in on his adventure they went exploring an upstate lab that Stein suspected. Jason realized that Gehenna had been created by their master villain. He reached out to Stein and formed Firestorm, slamming her against a wall and demanding to know if she was a spy. Stein was horrified, he told Jason to let her go and stop acting like the bully his father was. Jason calmed down, and realized Gehenna had always been truthful with him. When she described her father, Firestorm realized he was Tokamak. The heroes reconvened at Hewitt Enterprises, where Tokamak, the Pupil and the Dollies were waiting. Tokamak revealed he’d been posing as his own son, in actuality he was a clone. He was detonating explosives set in nuclear power plants around the world, and using a giant energy-collecting Dollie orbiting Earth to transfer the power to himself. He said he planned on bringing the planet to the brink of destruction with a nuclear blast from his own body to warn people against nuclear proliferation. Firestorm added Firehawk to the matrix, and Tokamak told them the nuclear energy flooding into him was keyed to his DNA, so even if they killed him he’d still win. Jason remembered that the Firestorm matrix had its own DNA, and hoped that Tokamak and his clone’s matrix did as well. Against Stein’s warning that it was unethical to use their power on a person he separated Tokamak, who was still dying of radiation poison9ing after his final confrontation with the original Firestorm. He died in Firestorm’s arms, amazed that he’d been defeated.

(Firestorm: The Nuclear Man II #32) - On New Year’s Eve Pozhar was still in town, reluctant to return to Russia after his wife left him, so Lorraine invited him out for a date. They rang in the new year with a kiss.

Comments: Created by John Ostrander & Joe Brozowski.

Pozhar translates as "destructive fire" in Russian.

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