From the creative writing team that brought you Harley Quinn and the artist who drew the last arc of Supergirl comes a brand new series: Starfire! I am a big fan of the character from the animated TV show, so I’m rather excited about this myself. Is it good?
Starfire #1 (DC Comics)
In looking for a new place to live and mingle with the people, Kori (aka Starfire) has chosen Key West, Florida. She enlists the city’s sheriff, Stella Gomez, to help her settle in and find a place there. Considering Kori’s naïveté, she may have a bit of difficulty fitting or even staying under the radar.
If I recall, DC Comics decided to go with a looser continuity route, letting books not be as bogged down by it as much as possible and letting writers go in their own direction, choosing what they want to use and what they don’t. At least, that’s my understanding of it and it definitely shows with Starfire #1. Outside of small details and references, this book might as well be ignoring Red Hood and the Outlaws’ continuity (which is good, because no person wants to remember Kori using drugs among many things). The result is a mix of some of her character traits from past comics, but overlaid with a LOT of naïveté and giving the sense she just recently arrived on Earth in the past year or so.
To be honest, I would be asking her if she knew her hair was on fire first before asking if she had any money.
That’s what you can expect here. Starfire is a combination of small elements of the character from the comics, but mostly her character from the animated show. To me and I’m sure plenty of others, that’s fine and it’s best to just start over. Plus, in obvious and subtle ways, she already quickly growing past some of that naïveté. To others… not as much. Having already seen disappointment and annoyance expressed towards the preview, Starfire #1 is probably not a book for fans of Red Hood and the Outlaws, for people heavy into continuity, and for those who demand a more classic portrayal of the characters. For others, it’s a very good comic and one that I found to be very enjoyable from start to finish.
The story is essentially setup here, continuing off from the Sneak Peek a couple of weeks ago. The comic does a quick rundown of Kori’s past and what her powers are for those not familiar or in need of a quick refresher, before moving onto the main focus of Kori starting to settle into her new environment. I would compare this to Harley Quinn #1 from a while ago, where that issue was all about having the character start to settle into her new environment. It’s a pretty simple tale, but a fun one with our lead interacting with Sheriff Gomez and the residents of Key West set in its own little bubble away from regular continuity to some degree (sort of like Harley Quinn or Batman Inc.). It’s not the stuff of legends, but it’s something to make you smile and chuckle.
Writing-wise, the comic is pretty good overall. Besides Starfire, the supporting cast shows potential and have some interesting points to them already (though I really do not know why Gomez is helping Starfire in the first place). The pacing is fine here, with everything moving at a decent speed that’s not too fast or too slow. The dialogue is pretty fun and there are a lot of good lines that elicit a smile or chuckle from time to time. Humor wise, this wasn’t as funny as I was expecting or hoping it would be, but there still plenty of good jokes or gags here that hit more often than not (I love how Kori was analyzing the effects that drinking beer was having on her as she drank). It’ll probably pick up and get funnier as time goes on once it moves beyond setup.
The artwork bis y Emanuela Lupacchino and she really does a great job here. While I’ll say there are quite a few female characters with similar faces, Lupacchino does a great job with drawing the characters and really capturing how pretty Starfire is without going overly cheesecake like a lot of other artists go. The layouts flow pretty well and besides maybe one or two, every panel has a background in it (yay for no featureless voids!). The locations seen in the comic look lively and there are even some nice small background gags or nice touches if you look closely enough. The colors by Hi-Fi are also quite lovely and really make the visuals pop and look beautiful. Some say it’s a bit standard looking for superhero comics, but I say it is a fine looking book from start to finish.
This raises the question of how much of a language she can learn by kissing. Is there like a set amount that varies on how long you kiss someone?
Is It Good?
Starfire #1 is a book that’s going to be divisive depending on the person. Did you like Red Hood and the Outlaws or don’t you? Do you like classic Starfire, the animated TV show Starfire, or a mixture of both? Does continuity matter a lot to you or doesn’t it? These are important questions that will definitely determine whether you like the book or you just can’t look past these issues. Either way, for me and for a lot of others, I do see this being a good book if it sounds right up your alley and you know what to expect.
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