“I’m never…I’m never going to have it together like you. I know that.” — Beatrinz da Costa
Mistakes. They’re the backbone of the human developmental process and they exist to help people grow as individuals, good or bad. Naturally, when you’re as chaotic and emotional as famous D-List superheroes Fire & Ice, you have a long way to go in the developmental process and a lot of hearts to break.
Following the last issue, Starer, Bustos, and Bonvillan drop readers back onto Smallville to show the aftermath of the reality TV show fiasco and what exactly is going on between our titular heroes and the Rhoades siblings that inhabit the small and, now less than quiet, town. Something that Starer repeatedly succeeds at is the dissection of Bea and Tora’s worst habits, those that formed back during their glory days as Justice Leaguers. Starer uses their worst habits to help progress the story as she plays into the idea that the two functionally cannot be without each other as both a play on the elemental metaphor and as a way to say that their habits of seeking greed and love are sated with each other.
DC Comics
However, when outside influences such as the Rhoades get in the way of that personal relationship, it becomes a problem. A problem that manifests itself as Lobo, a drunk Ma Kent, a jealous girl, and more unethical supervillain rehabilitation. At its core, Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville is a comedy that acts as a love story, a story between two best friends, and a story of growth that doubles as an Ambush Bug revival.
Keeping the theme of the last few issues, Starer approaches everything in a Giffen manner with the comedy helping the growing emotional landscape evolve into a beautiful but hilarious ride that keeps readers going to every issue. It allows moments in the script to go from small side gags of Krypto the Super-Dog to emotional and heartfelt scenes that happen to take place in the middle of a drag bar. The world is effectively as limitless as possible and that remains the greatest strength throughout the entire miniseries.
These limitless heartfelt scenes are then translated into an artistic style by Bustos and Bonvillan as the two create a striking but personality-driven world that manages to keep the coziness of a small town alive. Their inspiration and love for Giffen and his many collaborators over the years such as small leans on a Kevin Maguire inspiration when it came to establishing the setting the characters inhabit throughout each page. Another detail that has kept the vibe of the story strong is how Bustos and Co. remain dedicated to the idea of using classic costumes and designs for many of these obscure villains they brought into the story. It helps for the larger theme of “has-beens” to thrive to new heights.
DC Comics
Another major aspect of the art of this issue is that Bustos and Bonvillan lean into the everyday chaos of normalcy as we see a lot more relaxed and sometimes romantic settings that feel calming in a series that has been pure comedic chaos since the beginning. It shows that as the story progresses, the three creators begin playing with different tones that Giffen and Co. would experiment with in their comics of old and that same passion that Giffen and his many collaborators carried in their comics has returned with the creative team of this book.
The comic repeatedly succeeds at what it is because it is a true example of returning comics to their old experimental roots. Ultimately, Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #4 is a strong continuation in an already fantastic miniseries. I can’t wait to see how Starer, Bustos, and Bonvillan continue the evolving story and help these two heroes grow to be the best remotely tolerable heroes in the DC universe.
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