The issue opens with a lengthy recap of the previous one’s events and Conway’s found a great way to do exposition in the series. Ronnie and Professor Stein just talk about it naturally.

There’s a certain appeal to this issue of Firestorm, even though Conway tries through hard throughout. About the only time he isn’t overextending himself is with Professor Stein. Those scenes are perfectly measured.

The stuff with Ronnie–who has problems with his dad, problems with the kids at school–goes too far. Conway has a couple really nice moves in his scenes, but it’s way too obvious he’s going for melodrama and not letting the character build naturally. From scene to scene, there’s no sense of the previous scene having any effect on the character, just being a display for the reader.

Also problematic this issue is the villain–the Hyena. The Hyena talks a lot and it’s really goofy.

B- 

CREDITS

When Laughs the Hyena!; writer, Gerry Conway; penciller, Al Milgrom; inker, Jack Abel; colorist, Gene D’Angelo; letterer, Clem Robins; editor, Jack C. Harris; publisher, DC Comics.