TRANS-SCRIBE: Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1

Monday, 11 September 2023

Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 - Comic Review

When people think about the Justice League of the 90's they tend to think about JLA and the Grant Morrison team, which is fair, as it's both a great team and a great series. But for the majority of the 90's, and some of the 80's, the Justice League was a bit less showy, had a few fewer big guns on it, and at times was more of an odd comedy book than the headline team for the DC Universe. Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville picks up with a trio of characters from these simpler, weirder times for the League and sees what they're up to today. And might just be the first introduction to these characters for many readers.

After appearing in the Power Girl Special, Fire and Ice have found themselves moving to the small town of Smallville, former home to Clark Kent, hoping to prove to Superman that they have what it takes to be seen as decent, responsible heroes. Forgoing their original plans to live on the Kent Farm with John and Martha, the two of them have bought an old hair salon in town, and have moved above the business with their old Justice League robot friend L-Ron.

Tora very quickly discovers that charms that Smallville has to offer, and quite likes the idea of getting away from the busy world for a bit, and even considers re-opening the salon. Beatrice, however, lives up to her super hero moniker, and her fiercely burning personality refuses to allow her to see the good in their new position. As the two of them try to find their new places in the world their different approaches start to create a strain on their decades long relationship.

If you're coming to Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville hoping for action, this might not be the book for you. However, if you're looking for something a bit quieter, a character driven story with a lot of charm, and lashings of humour then this might be the best that DC has to offer you right now.

As someone who really enjoyed the old Justice League International and Justice League Europe series, and the way that the books never really took things too serious, and always had time to put the characters and their interpersonal dramas first, this book really felt like a return to that kind of thing but with some much more modern sensibilities and style. Whilst the titular characters are very much at the centre of things, the book establishes some supporting characters for them to interact with. There's Martha Kent, who's a delight as always, L-Ron, who just seems to want a nice domestic life, Tamarind, who gets hired on to work the salon and is very unimpressed that her bosses are super heroes, as well as a host of Smallville residents who make brief appearances.

In only a few pages Joanne Starer manages to make the town feel like a lived in place, filled with people with their own quirks and personalities. The humour of the book helps with this a lot, and Starer manages to make things feel funny and enjoyable without turning it into something slapstick, or something that feels out of place in the wider DC Universe. Perhaps the one moment that feels like it might be going a bit too far is when King Shark turns up looking to fight, but he's presented very much like The Suicide Squad version of the character, so it's not too weird or jarring.

The art really helps with the tone too, and Natacha Bustos, and Tamra Bonvillain do a wonderful job at not just creating an enjoyable tone, but selling a lot of really enjoyable visual gags. The art has lovely bold, thick lines and bright colours with minimal shading that kind of give it both a classic comic look and keep it very modern at the same time. The use of solid colours rather than gradients really helps with this, and whilst the book has a more cartoon-like look than most of the other titles on offer from DC that it no way harms the book.

The first issue of Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville was a genuine delight to read, a book that I suspected I was going to like, but that I'm now sure that a lot of other folks are going to get a kick out of too. For those already familiar with these characters it's a great new chapter for their journeys, and for those who might only just have been introduced to them it's a wonderful jumping on point.