“I’m Always here for you. We’ll do it together,” – Tora Olafsdotter
Journalists. There’s nothing scarier than someone walking up to you asking for an interview on your potentially illegal supervillain reality television show that is also being touted as an unauthorized self-help facility for criminals, all while being a salon. As nonsensical as what I’ve just said is, Joanne Starer, Natacha Bustos, and Tamra Bonvillan continue to make the strange and bizarre misadventures of Fire & Ice an entertaining one as the reader is thrown into comedic situations inspired by the late Keith Giffen’s style of comic books. Following the first issue, the trio opens the book with the appearance of Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen as he tries to interview the starring girls without any hassle which leads Bea and Tora to try and figure ways to make this as smooth as possible as bad haircuts, folk legends of a strange beast, and giant turtle men threaten to ruin what the two have going on.
DC Comics
This installment of Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville acts more as a filler chapter and uses that status as a way to paint a comedic and sometimes emotional use of Justice League International characters as a growing plot device amidst the chaos of it all. Characters like The Beefeater show a level of emotion and comedy that hasn’t been seen since Giffen’s original stint on these characters so the little moments of wackiness and excitement feels fulfilling and deserving. The same effect goes with many of the newer villains created within the series and it becomes clear that Starer’s writing sensibilities allow for her to create new and interesting faces while balancing familiar faces throughout the story. Starer also establishes the return of the classic JLI format of having an understandable chaos.
What made Giffen’s writing style unique was that while he and Levitz crafted calculated and dramatic sequences in The Legion of Super-Heroes, Giffen took to the Justice League International to refine his more comedic writing style that he had established with smaller books like The Legion of Substitute Heroes and Ambush Bug. His sense of plotting aided the growth of wacky storytelling within an age of comic books that were known for the growing popularity for dark and gritty content within the industry and he believed that sense his work on The Legion was diving into that experimental and dark world comics were showing interest for, this was his chance to take a leap as he dived into a controlled chaos that was JLI.
Starer’s writing reflects that as we see those same sensibilities and comedic experimentation flow naturally throughout each installment and it makes the larger world of Fire & Ice brilliant. This in turn makes decisions such as making the entire issue take place within Bea and Tora’s salon allows Bustos and Bonvillan to depict a sense of claustrophobia within each page as people are tight together and fighting and being as loud as they can be. The art these two tackle this issue is impressive as it shows readers a catastrophic atmosphere where there is no way to feel relaxed in that place which leads to natural scenes in which the trio show a vulnerable moment between Bea and Tora in the confessional bathroom that has cameras in it.
DC Comics
Many of the visual gags done by Bustos and Bonvillan give the book and its art a fun personality with scenes of cat lovers wagging their tails around, guys with brains for butts being highlighted each panel so you can’t not look at his rear-end, and Ambush Bug playing with scissors around as he’s left unsupervised. The charm this series holds is contagious and all that could be said is begging for readers of this to buy this comic from your local comic book store and enjoy.
As expressed in the last two reviews, Starer, Bustos, and Bonvillan show a strong understanding and love of these characters and their stories and that love is highlighted in every single page. I believe this book to be a spotlight title of the year and they continue to fulfill my beliefs in their talents and abilities to craft a love-letter to comic books and the uncontrollable chaos that was the 1980s. I can’t wait for the next installment.
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