Lorraine Reilly

Firehawk is a fictional superhero featured in comic book titles published by DC Comics. She is considered part of the mainstream DC Universe, whose history originates with Pre-Crisis, Earth-One continuity, but was largely preserved in Post-Crisis continuity following the events of the 1985-1986 storyline, Crisis on Infinite Earths. As Lorraine Reilly, the character first appeared in The Fury of Firestorm, the Nuclear Man #1. She first appeared as Firehawk in The Fury of Firstorm, the Nuclear Man #17.

Biography
Lorraine Reilly was the daughter of democratic senator, Walter Reilly. She lived with her father at their uptown Manhattan townhouse in New York City. Growing up in the shadow of such a controversial public figure was never easy for Lorraine. She frequently found herself the target of those who would seek to use her as a vehicle for sabotaging her father's political efforts. Her first exposure to super-criminal activity came in the form of a man known as Black Bison. Bison wanted revenge against Walter Reilly for allegedly destroying the proud heritage of his people. To this end, he kidnapped Lorraine Reilly and held her hostage at Central Park. The local super-hero known as Firestorm arrived and fought with Black Bison, ultimately saving Lorraine.

Lorraine developed an immediate attraction towards the nuclear hero – one that would slowly develop with each new encounter. Such encounters were seldom infrequent however, and the two met each other once again only a short time later. Firestorm arrived at the Reilly townhouse to save Lorraine and her father from the misguided efforts of the villain known as the Pied Piper. Lorraine knew that she was falling in love with Firestorm, but constantly wrestled with her emotions, acknowledging the fact that she knew very little about him.

A short time later, an industrialist named Henry Hewitt attempted to pressure Senator Reilly into voting in favor of the Hewitt Industries Bill. Such legislation would effectively create a monopoly, giving Hewitt Industries unequaled control of the Energy market. Reilly refused to knuckle under Hewitt's ambitions, so the corrupt entrepreneur took measure to assure Reilly's vote – he kidnapped his daughter.

Hewitt hired a super-villain named Multiplex to abduct Lorraine and had her taken to a secret facility located in Washington DC. Hewitt's plans for Lorraine extended beyond merely using her as a political bartering tool. He decided to use her as a guinea pig in an experiment designed to duplicate the nuclear accident that created Firestorm. Ignorant of the true nature of Firestorm's origin, Hewitt's efforts met with slightly dissimilar results. Lorraine Reilly transformed into the metahuman known as Firehawk.[1] Hewitt subjugated Firehawk and maintained control over her through various brainwashing techniques, including hypnosis and sensory deprivation.

Hewitt instructed Firehawk to track down and kill Firestorm. The two powerful beings fought one another, but Firestorm succeeded in stopping her assault. He quickly learned that this strange, flaming villain was in fact, Lorraine Reilly. He broke through the hypnosis and helped Lorraine's true personality and memory to return. Enraged at Henry Hewitt's manipulation, she agreed to work alongside Firestorm in bringing him down.

In the meantime, Henry Hewitt designed an atomic containment suit for himself and took to calling himself, Tokamak. Through the use of his agents, Multiplex and the Enforcer, he kidnapped Firehawk and Walter Reilly, securing them aboard his flying command ship. With the Reilly's safely contained, Tokamak traveled to New York to kill Firestorm himself. Although he initially hampered Firestorm's capabilities, the young hero managed to survive Tokamak's attacks and flew to Washington to rescue the Reilly's once again. He broke Lorraine free of her detention cell, whereupon she transformed once more into Firehawk.

Firehawk freed her father, and then took her anger out on Tokamak. The two fought one another at the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. Firehawk unleashed an intense volley of energy bursts overloading Tokamak's containment suit. The suit ruptured and the ensuing build-up of energy caused the costume to explode, killing Henry Hewitt. Having come to terms with her identity, Firehawk pursued a new career as a high-flying super-hero and occasional partner of Firestorm.