Gaudy dudes, went out with a bang

Firestorm - Jack of Hearts

While I think I bought the 1984 mini-series devoted to the character, I recollect virtually nothing regarding how Jack of Hearts was characterized in the 1980s. But I can say that the character’s costume is so complicated and intricate that it’s notorious as the one many comic book artists least enjoy drawing.

But I collected the second volume of Firestorm in the 1980s: I remember that Pat Broderick’s art was pretty, and that the series focused on Ronnie Raymond’s Spider-man-esque teenage exploits, and very little else. Now I see that in the late 80s the character was used to make heavy-handed comments on the arms race, and then was made to be a fire elemental, followed by somesuch other cosmic claptrap.

Commonalities:
Young dudes with very striking costumes who have recently died via spectacular explosions.

Differences:
Firestorm’s matter transmuting powers are much, much more substantial, and is a composite of two humans. Whereas Jack of Hearts was shown to be half-alien somewhere along the line.

Alternate histories:

FS: A young Ronnie Raymond is exposed to a nuclear substance created by his father that imbues him with matter-transmuting powers and alters his appearance: his eyes become opaque and his hair takes a form similar to fire. Taking the codename Firestorm, he apprentices with the likes of Green Lantern, and later discovers that he is half-alien. After spending some time spacefaring, Firestorm returns to Earth and joins the Justice League, only to commit suicide via explosion shortly afterwards.

JH: A teenage Jack Hart and a scientist are exposed to a “zero-fluid” that fuses them into one being that can expel concussive force beams; the left half of the body takes on a purplish hue. Taking the codename Jack of Hearts, the being works as a novice superhuman operative before joining the Justice League. After an extended period as a quasi-mystical figure and as a space-farer, the Jack of Hearts persona becomes wholly composed and controlled by Hart. He is killed in combat, but the mantle of Jack of Hearts has been passed to another individual.