Martin Stein

Early years
The creation of the Hudson power plant was the brainchild of Nobel Prize winning physicist, Doctor Martin Stein. Before committing himself to the field of atomic research, Stein was a physics professor at Hudson University. It was here that he met several impressionable young students, including Crystal Frost and Louise Lincoln. Frost had developed a schoolgirl crush on Stein, but the older man was unwilling to reciprocate her affection as he was married to a woman named Clarissa Clemens. Frost's amorous feelings towards Stein would return to haunt him many years later.

Stein eventually came to develop the layout for the Hudson Nuclear Power Plant, the country's first completely safe atomic testing center. His commitment to the plant became an obsession with Stein, and he sacrificed everything, even his marriage, to see it come to fruition. Unwilling to play second-fiddle to Stein's career, Clarissa Clemens sued for divorce. Marital issues only represented the beginning of Stein's troubles however. Working under Stein's employ was an unscrupulous man named Danton Black. Black began covertly stealing Martin's research in the hopes of selling it to a rival firm. Martin discovered his colleague's transgressions however, and promptly fired him. Black swore revenge against Stein and returned on that fateful night when the Coalition to Resist Atomic Power staged their attack against the plant.

Coalition leader, Eddie Earhart raided the reactor core room and confronted Martin Stein. Taking him by surprise, he easily overcame the older man knocking him out cold. By this point, Ronnie Raymond realized that there was a lot more to the Coalition's aims than he previously believed. Ronnie attempted to stop Eddie, but the terrorist punched the high school student in the jaw, knocking him out as well. When Ronnie came to, he discovered that the Coalition had wired several pounds worth of TNT to explode inside the reactor. He grabbed the unconscious Stein and attempted to drag him out of the building. They were nearly out the front door when the TNT exploded. Both men (as well as Danton Black) were consumed by the brilliant burst of radiation. The excess power fused Ronnie Raymond and Martin Stein into a single composite being – Firestorm.