4 issue test #8 - Starfire

After DC’s half-assed event Convergence (which was really only there as DC was moving to a new office, although some of the tie ins were good) DC brought us the DCYou, a launch of several new titles with intent of adding diversity to the range. Also as part of this there’s a new semi-existent continuity where some books would exist as part of a wider universe and some would exist in a continuity bubble of their own. I do get why continuity can be a creative problem, especially given DCs line of editorial interferences of late. I don’t see why it’s good for a reader. A good comic should not need you to know masses of information to understand it, removing continuity entirely is only a big FU to the fans of the original continuity as a lot of books are rendered pointless.

OK, I’m going off track a bit. I don’t like the idea of the New52, sure some decent books came out of it, but most wouldn’t have been entirely impossible if it were in the old continuity. Plus continuity became an absolute mess with writers not sure what has and hasn’t happened and as a reader that made me more confused. If you’re gonna reboot, do it with full heart and start over entirely, don’t try and fit events that are convenient into the mix for the sake of it.

But I have tried a few issues of the DCYou, and over the next few weeks they will undergo the 4 issue test. Starting up, we have Starfire

Starfire had been badly treated as part of the reboot. Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 is a disgrace and is a sign of a writer who didn’t care about her character and just made her a sex object. I heard they tried to backtrack on this in later issues but I wouldn’t be surprised if that was in response to the fan outrage rather than pre-planned. So, when the DCYou came around, she ditched Red Hood and Arsenal and migrated to her own book.

Before I start I should mention DC’s Divergence line. It’s basically a set of prequel issues that were released online and contained within several Convergence tie-in issue. It’s my opinion that these should not count as part of this review. A #1 issue shouldn’t require supplementary material so that you understand it. With that said, let’s dig into Starfire #1-4 and we’ll see what we have.

I like this cover, how often do you see heroes smile these days?

Issue 1 opens with Starfire talking to Sherriff Gomez (yes, we do start a bit abruptly, but it’s relatively friendly for new readers) Gomez wants Starfire to explain her origins again, so we can get the recap. Starfire was the youngest daughter of the first house of Tamarus on Tamaran. The Citadel, a race of aliens attacked and her parents were killed during the invasion. Her sister, Blackfire (yes, they call her by her Tamaranian name but I’m trying to keep this simple) took the throne but the onslaught eventually forced her surrender

Under the surrender agreement, Blackfire stayed behind as a figurehead whilst Starfire was forced into slavery. She was tortured and experimented on and as a result she’s gained super-powers. She managed to start a revolt with other captives and escaped to Earth. She explains that her superpowers are starbolts (more relative to the green blasts from the Teen Titans cartoon than the fire blasts of old) and she is stronger and has more stamina than the average human and she can fly.

Gomez is impressed but then asks if she has money, Starfire says that she doesn’t but she does have a number of stones she’s collected. They take it to a pawn shop and the merchant there finds a diamond amongst them worth $3000. We learn as they drive away Sherriff Gomez is named Stella after her deceased grandmother. Starfire cries and says she’s sorry she had to die which sets Stella off.

Presumably later on, Stella and Starfire are in a bar having beer. The bar tender is named Pete, I have no idea whether he’s an important character later. Starfire happily downs the beer and calls out for more, Thor style. Some idiots in the background imitate her. They begin arguing over her and eventually it erupts into a brawl. Stella goes to break it up but Starfire fires a single starbolt and breaks them up.

Stella tells them to clean up and head home and they agree, terrified of Starfire. Later Stella recommends Starfire gets some new clothes, she recommends new pants but the tailor gives her a skirt, not wanting to cover up her legs. When paying Stella explains that they should prepare for a storm as her brother has warned of one incoming.

Stella takes her to her temporary accommodation. A lot on the Royal Palace Estates (Starfire thinking  she’s getting the royal treatment because she’s a princess.) We’re introduced to Boone, he has blonde hair and Starfire is attracted to him, Stella talks to Tina, the officer of the place and manages to secure a lot for Starfire but they come out to find she and Boone kissing. Boone explains that Starfire can assimilate language by kissing people, which Starfire confirms (just like in the cartoon) Stella says she already knows English, Starfire says she wanted more English.

Stella and Tina take Starfire to her new abode and she likes it, she pays this month's rent as Stella leaves as she has a busy night ahead of her.  On a boat, Sol, Stella’s brother and 2 others are coming back to land. He can smell in the breeze that the wind is gonna pick up bringing the storm faster. Raveena, one of the other crew tries to convince him to go and have some lunch but he seems tied up in depression.

Raveena and the other guy (I don’t think I’ve seen his name yet) talk about him as they depart. Sol lost his girlfriend/wife Maria 2 years ago to a storm and is still depressed about it. The other guy says that he needs someone else to come into his life to start healing (never guess who that’s gonna be) a moment later we see Sol looking at a picture of his girlfriend/wife on his phone and crying.

Starfire’s taking a shower and I love how the artist has decided to use soap and leaves to keep things modest, more artists should follow this style. Boone gives her a towel to cover up but she soon dresses back into her amour so she can watch the sunset. When she lands the storm has hit and Boone is helping the plants. She tells Starfire Tina’s parrot, Burtie is missing and asks if she can look out for him. Starfire quickly finds the parrot.

It seems Raveena and Sol are back on the boat and they call in saying that the winds have picked up to hurricane level and they should evacuate the Island. Stella calls her cops to assist the evacuation, and says they should call the national guard to protect the hospital. Starfire returns the Burtie to Tina as the radio alarm is going off (I only know this because of the dialogue, I can’t see any sound effects) warning of the storm. Boone has tried to stop the flooding but the trailers may already be carrying a few inches of water. Tina says they need to get to the shelter, the power goes out and the office is knocked over by a fallen tree, leaving Starfire to exit.

This tells us what we need to know about the comic, more like these please

Issue 2 opens with a news report about the hurricane, named Betty. Stella is on the phone telling officers to take people to the school until the storm passes. On the boat Sol and co get a report that a sailboat has been caught in the storm with 2 honeymooners. Sol wants to do something for them.

On a gorgeous 2-page spread we see Starfire flying Boone, Tina and Burtie to safety. As she has to destroy a car coming toward them, Burtie is flown away. Starfire delivers Tina and Boone to the school and says she’ll go after Burtie but as she claims she’s indestructible she’s hit by a sign and knocked backwards into a house. Inside there is a man taking a bath with his dogs, oblivious to the storm. She takes this man and his dogs to the school.

Sol heads to a smaller boat to go out to rescue them with the other guy (we find out here his name is Gabe) trying to stop him. Gabe reports what had happened to Stella who is naturally annoyed. She finds out that the trailer park was hit and decides to head there using the SWAT tank. She heads out and spots Starfire carrying the man from earlier.

 T

She drops them off nearby and Stella asks if Starfire could fly in this storm. Starfire says that she can as an overhead power line crashes on top of the tank. Starfire clears the debris and they head off together. We next see an old man running carrying his TV and discovering a hole underneath where one of the trailers had been, he takes a look and ends up falling down the hole. A monster comes out of the ground saying that he can smell ‘her stench’ and will bring back her skull to his master.

As Stella explains the situation with her brother Starfire spots Bertie barely holding onto a nearby street light. Starfire wants them to stop Stella refuses but when Starfire threatens to exit through the roof, she comes around and she rescues the parrot. They speak to Raveena who says they’ve lost communication with Sol, Starfire quickly heads out

Sol has managed to rescue the two honeymooners but in coming to land his ship capsizes. Starfire finds them but given the wind she can only carry two of them at once. Sol insists that she take the honeymooners first and Starfire does so but finds that he has gone under. She rescues him but loses direction and ends up taking him to the Dry Tortugas National Park. Starfire performs mouth to mouth to wake him up but can’t fly him home as she needs to recharge her powers in the sun.

She explains briefly about herself and how she previously partnered with those who specialise in rescuing humans (one of the very few references to that book). Sol says that he can use the sat phone in the area to call for a boat to find them. Stella and Raveena arrive, with Starfire eager to return home. The problem is the entire park had been wrecked in the storm. Stella instead offers her an apartment above the garage that had previously been full of Sol’s junk. He briefly objects but can’t really argue after she saved his life. Kori is more concerned with a large unusual footprint in the ground and wonders what would make one that size.

Normally I'd complain about the lack of background, but given what there is, it makes sense for this cover and gives an ominous feeling

Issue 3 opens with a Tony Stark lookalike being picked up by a ship called the Lazarus Two, his name’s Soreen Hook and his boat was caught in the storm. After eating and drinking a guard finds out that there were several others of the boat who are all dead, Soreen speaks with the voice of the guy’s father before killing him

Starfire rescues some gnomes that had fallen into the swimming pool . She and Sol are clearing it up as they discuss some history. Starfire enquires about him being less than happy about her moving there and Sol explains there are lot of painful memories tied here. Starfire hopes to gain his confidence but until then elects not to ask further. Sol thanks her for her understanding. He asks about rent and Starfire says she’ll soon have to get a job.

Sol leaves with Starfire empathising with his situation. Meanwhile we have Brian and Karla. Brian’s out surfing with Karla saying he’ll get killed. Karla sunbathes and is taken by giant hands. Brian comes back in and sees Carla’s bones and bathing suit come out of the ground before he’s taken as well. (Well, this comic had to do something to get a T rating)

Starfire looks in the fridge and after disliking the taste of baking soda she decides to go out and purchase fresh food. She meets Javi, the clothes store owner and his friend Adam who is jealous of her skin. She goes to the grocers and meets Ezra who helps her shop for food and offers to deliver what she has

Stella gets a call about a cruise ship crash and calls for Starfire’s help. Starfire takes Stella to the site where the cruise ship had crashed. They can’t get in contact with anyone and can’t get aboard as the entry port has to be opened from the inside. Starfire flies Stella aboard and they head to the bridge, Starfire blasts the door to the bridge open and inside the discover the dead crew. Stella tells Starfire to leave and have a drink at the Blue Monkey restaurant on her tab. They find a crew member alive in a closet, his name is Grant, he ran when the murders started happening. Stella takes him for questioning at the station.

Starfire heads to the restaurant and is offered drinks by 6 guys, 2 women and a cat? Starfire is confused about how to handle this so the waitress helps explain.  They bond as the monster crashes in, Starfire blasts it but it only grows larger. It’s a chida monster. Gomez hears the gunshots and sees the monster. The waitress is the monster’s target, annoyed that she buried him a while back. Her name is Atlee (the second Terra in the old universe and a major supporting character in Power Girl, a previous series handled by this artist/writer team) Starfire wonders how they can stop him without hitting him.

Another cover that tells you exactly what to expect, but not so much that it ruins it for you, a great looking cover

Issue 4 opens with Stella trying to get everyone to safety, she and the cops start shooting at it until Starfire stops them, explaining that it only makes it bigger. Atlee traps him in stone as Starfire wonders how they can eliminate him as a threat. Starfire wonders if the monster can swim and Atlee has an idea. She will punch the monster out to sea and Starfire will blast it, making it so big it will eventually sink. The monster breaks free only for Atlee to bury him in stone.

She reveals she was intended to be married to someone for politics but refused, having found someone she truly loved. Starfire is horrified by the idea, she should’ve already been at sea but couldn’t resist listening in. Atlee gives the creature one last chance before carrying out her plan but the monster refuses and she enacts her plan, using rocks to throw him to sea. Stella wants answers so we get her origin.

Atlee was born in the underworld known as Strata, who raised her to be smart and powerful because of her predetermined destiny. Thanks to a metal called Quixium that alters genetics she gained superpowers. She was sent to the surface to try and stop human activity causing problems there, but she’d do it by integrating with people rather than brute force. She initially teamed up with Power Girl and they became close friends but she was less than the subtlety she needed. She tried a few areas and eventually ended up as a waitress in Key West (the area this comic takes place in)

Starfire carries out her end of the plan, blasting the creature. It grabs her but she destroys his hand and manages to escape. She returns and asks Atlee about the fate of the creature, it’ll go dormant eventually. Stella is starting to freak out because of all the cr*p happening the last 72 hours, especially as Starfire and Atlee seem to bond. She goes off to continue her investigation on the cruise ship saying they need to talk when it’s over.

On the beach, we see not Tony Stark again as he convinces a guy to drive him away in his van thing using the voice of one Major Keifer. Starfire and Atlee are sitting at the side of the pool as Stella is holding her breath underwater to calm herself down. Sol asks if he can retrieve some boxes from the apartment and Starfire agrees, even offering to help. She says it’s like the monsters just come once a superhero settles. Atlee takes accountability for the monster but argues that it’s the only thing that’s come for her and she’s lived there 2 years, Starfire’s presence only helped dispose of it.

Stella wants them to stay low-key and come to her if they have problems but Atlee argues that nothing about Starfire is low-key. Key west is one of the few places where people of all backgrounds can get along and they hope to inspire the rest of the world like that. She heads to sleep, citing a double shift the next morning

We cut to a galaxy far, far away where a bounty hunter kills one of the guards. He’s been hired to track Starfire down and report her movements. He is told to leave and dispose of the guard’s body on his way out. Back at home Starfire is having trouble with the shower, Sol gives her a hand and as she strips down for the shower, the towel and the trunks all hit Sol in the face. She has a job interview at 9am tomorrow.

She heads out, happy to see that the city is recovering so quickly and buys a philly cheese-steak sandwich and beer. Boone invites her to the table and introduces her to Vita, his girlfriend. Starfire publicly apologises for kissing him back in issue 1 and Vita is less than thrilled about it. She leaves and Boone follows. Starfire is then greeted by Not Tony Stark, now calling himself Soren (nothing’s more subtle than taking an e out of Soreen) who joins her for a drink.

That was issues 1 through 4 of Starfire, was it any good? Let’s take a closer look.

This was a fun read, each of the 4 issues felt fun. I think a lot of this is down to the gorgeous artwork of the book. Emanuela Lupacchino and Mirco Pierfederici are handling pencils whilst Ray McCarthy and Trevor Scott are doing the inking (with HiFi handling colours) and it looks gorgeous, vibrant, full of colour and energy and it’s perfectly suited to this title. If there’s one criticism I have it’s the use of large white borders that are largely unnecessary. (And you can fill the page with art, they do so on several pages)

I don’t know how much of the writing can be attributed to the artists, since there’s a lot of image work at play, but the writing is also excellent. Starfire’s character might seem a little different from the old Teen Titans comic but she’s at least it’s a well-defined, likeable character, with a bit of personality from the cartoon thrown in (NOT TEEN TITANS GO, THAT’S A PIECE OF SH*T!) (her starbolts have gone from purple to green as well, more like the cartoon as well)

It’s nice that they’ve introduced us to a whole host of supporting characters. Stella is naturally the biggest supporting character of the series but we’ve got enough set up with Sol, Boone, Tina, and Atlee for some interesting stories to come up later. Even some of the lesser supporting characters have some intrigue to them.

A running joke in the series is Starfire’s misunderstandings. Most of the time they’re played out in manga-esque thought bubbles providing some nice humour whilst not becoming annoying to those around her. Because she’s so likeable her mistakes come off as endearing rather than annoying. My only negative point is that scene on the beach with the surfer guy and his girlfriend getting consumed by the monster was absolutely unnecessary.

Ratings

#1 8.5/10

#2 8.5/10

#3 8/10

#4 8.5/10

Rating: 8.375/10

Recommendation: It’s a great book and each issue is only $2.99, BUY THIS COMIC!!!

For more reviews click here

Images used in this review are from Starfire and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use