Eye Contact, Part I Jason Rusch is a seventeen-year-old male African American from Detroit, Michigan. He works at Bryson's Family Treat restaurant and is struggling to save up money to pay for college tuition. Jason arrives for work one day with a large bruise across the left side of his face – as if he had been in a fight. The restaurant owner, Stan Bryson, refuses to allow him to serve tables appearing the way he does, and sends him home. He tells him that he can return to work after his face clears up.
Jason is frustrated and in desperate need of money. He stops at a drinking establishment known as the Stopwatch bar and meets with a hood named Stevie Golek. He tells Stevie of his financial troubles, and the young drug peddler tells him that he might be able to help him out. He asks Jason to come back later that evening for a special "job".
Jason returns home and telephones his friend, Mick Wong. He tells Mick about his recent woes and the potential job opportunity with Stevie Golek. Mick apparently knows Stevie quite well, and warns Jason against getting involved with him.
Jason's father, Alvin Rusch, returns home from work. Alvin is a bitter middle-aged-man who lost his left arm in a plant accident many years ago. Alvin asks Jason why he isn't at work. Jason tells him that Bryson's won't let him continue working until his face heals. Alvin flies into a rage and demands to know how Jason intends on paying his rent. The two nearly come to blows, but Jason storms out of the house.
That evening, Jason meets with Stevie Golek at the Stopwatch Bar. Stevie hands Jason a package and gives him instructions to deliver it to a specified location. Jason drives down to the Gregson storage facility. As he prepares to deliver the package, two drug dealers burst out of the front of the building and begin shooting at one another. Jason dives for cover as one of the dealers guns down several more people. One of the criminals caught in the crossfire is a man named Gordon.
Suddenly, a brilliant explosion of light and fire erupts in the middle of the scene and a wave of energy fuses Jason Rusch and Gordon into a single composite entity. This being is the new Firestorm.
