Baking in the sun takes on a new meaning.
Creative Staff:
Story: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy
What They Say:
Starfire picks up the pieces and finds her new home in the aftermath of the storm! But while our hero helps her community heal, a creature from the underworld emerges to threaten all she hopes to protect! What is this creature’s hidden motive? And why does it seem to get bigger every time Starfire punches it?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Starfire has managed to be a rather curious series in its first two installments that has left me enjoying it but uncertain about it. I can see the same kind of general approach as there is in the Harley Quinn series, though obviously this adjusts in a big way for the difference in characters and situations. With Kori having only recently arrived on Earth, as is said plainly in this installment, she’s that visitor from another world that’s uncertain about how so many things work. That’s certainly fun as a fish out of water series and this one gives us a lot of water to work with as well. Now that the hurricane storyline itself is done, having been used to setup the location and introduce the main cast, the book is now ready to move forward and bring in a few guest stars.
The first addition is a new character named Soren Hook that’s rescued by a cruise liner that’s heading for its first pickup, post-repairs and maintenance. Rescuing Hook from the sea amid the wreckage of the ship that he’s on gives us a little time with the guy to figure him out, but it’s hard to tell if that’s who he is personality wise or just a cover as it turns out he killed everyone on the ship he was on before. And proceeds to do that to the crew here. It’s one of a couple of quick scenes of strong violence in the series so far that sometimes feels a bit out of place with its lighter style. Hook comes back into play later in the issue, though by name only as Stella and Kori investigate the ship after it crashes into the dock. The other character that appears in here is a bit more established with Atlee, as she’s bartending in the Keys and is getting caught up in being sought after by her people from down below. That’s more setup than anything else, but it is fun to watch her trying to explain to Kori proper drink etiquette with the men that are buying them for her.
Amid all of this we get two very different things unfolding. The odd and disturbing scene is when one of those people from below the surface hunting for Atlee shows up and drags a few beachgoers down under, eating them alive and tossing their bones and clothes back to the surface. Yes, it’s done comically, but damn if it also felt really disturbing and uncomfortable in a “should I really laugh at that?” kind of way. That sets us up for the end of the book with Atlee. The rest of it is mostly focused on Kori learning more about the ways of the area, from proper foods to eat (ew, no drinking baking soda) to going shopping and seeing the way so many people trip over themselves trying to curry favor with her. It’s got a lot of cute moments but with seemingly everything being brand new to her it turns into a kind of overload. I’ve long liked Kori but she’s reduced to such a simple way here in order to be a new arrival on the world that with so much packed into the book it feels bogged down a bit.
In Summary:
Starfire continues to be a book that I’m having a hard time sometimes getting a handle on. I’m enjoying it overall but it just has a weird vibe to it that takes me out of it more often than not. I hate comparing books to other works but there’s some obvious riffing going on with Harley Quinn’s style that I get it, but my problems are more in character portrayal and a sense of too much dialogue coming out of it. This installment is mostly place setting and nudging things forward, which works well enough. Lupacchino and McCarthy get to work on a wide range of locales, introducing a number of background characters and playing up some of the fun of the Keys themselves. It’s definitely a quirky as hell book that I’m hoping will either find its groove or that I figure out its groove and settle into it in order to enjoy it more.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: August 12th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
Weird. I had no problem with Starfire on the “Teen Titans” show changing her hair, but on a comic book cover, it just seems strange to see her without big, and I mean BIG hair, lol.