5. Firestorm
I love Firestorm so much.
The concept is so great that I don’t even care which Firestorm we’re discussing. I like Jason Rusch just as much as Ronnie Raymond or Dr. Martin Stein, maybe more. But since we’re talking about the JLA lineup, let’s go with the original. Ronnie Raymond was a dumb jock of a high school student. When he showed up to protest the opening of a new nuclear plant, he met Dr. Martin Stein, a Nobel Prize-winning physicist who worked at the plant.
When the reactor malfunctioned, Stein and Raymond were both caught in the radioactive aftermath and found themselves fused into…Firestorm, the Nuclear Man. Two minds sharing the same body, with Raymond taking the lead. Along with this man with two heads scenario, Firestorm also gained the ability to transmute any non-organic matter into any other form of non-organic matter.
He was swiftly inducted into the Justice League as one of its youngest members and brightest stars, although he had the Flash sit him in the time-out chair for being a jerk a couple of times.
4. Booster Gold
Such a jerk, but I love ‘im anyway.
Michael Jon Carter was an all-star athlete in the fuuuuuuuuuuuture. But when he got caught betting on his own games, he lost his position in disgrace. Winding up as a janitor for a museum, Michael eventually came up with a plan. Stealing a super-suit, a Legion flight ring, and a security robot named Skeets, Michael hopped in a time machine and went back to the 20th century to become a superhero exclusively for fame and money.
Everyone, meet Booster Gold, going back to get ahead! Booster sought out fame with the Justice League International, where he became best buddies with someone we’ll talk about in a bit, but he eventually learned to be an actual hero, at least somewhat.
When his best friend was killed, Booster spent most of a year wallowing in his worst traits before he really came into his own as the greatest hero of the timestream. Booster Gold, the greatest hero never known.
