Things settle down, at least as much as they can with Kori around.
Creative Staff:
Story: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy
What They Say:
The battle for Key West continues as Starfire and her new ally, the hero known as Atlee, square off against a mysterious beast from below! Can Kori defend her new friends and family from this new threat? And what is the creature’s dark secret?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the fourth issue of Starfire, there’s a sense of closure with the opening arc of the book, though in reality there are still a few things going on here. But that sense is one that I think works because by the end of it we have the important piece of Kori feeling like this is where she wants to be and others are largely accepting of her now. There are some minor plot points being teased out bit by bit elsewhere yet what I’m drawn to are the simple characters moments that exist, particularly with Atlee and Stella and their various configurations with Kori. I’m less enamored with the usual round of goofy male stuff and silly innuendos though I realize that it’s essentially the reality of the situation that it would unfold like that. Frustratingly so when you have someone like Kori and her disconnect with human social mores.
The fight against the Chida monster is what dominates this installment and it’s a pretty fun one as Atlee is intent on dealing it down completely. Her appearance was a bit of a surprise for me, but I know having another powered person in the background to hang with is a tried and true element of comics and she’s certainly fun enough, going back to her Power Girl days. Here, she has to deal with Kori and her whimsical ways and that makes the fight just a bit more complicated than it needs to be, at least for Atlee. The Chida monster is one that has a fairly easy way overall to deal with it that’s not too threatening or comes across as cruel and it helps that Atlee takes a moment along the way to explain her backstory to Stella so that she and her situation are humanized just a bit more. While the two deal with the creature and consign it to an inevitable end under the sea, you don’t come away from it feeling bad for said monster.
This installment does give us a couple of pages to deal with the killer threat that we had on the cruise ship before, which circles towards Kori, and also a little bit given to events on Tamaran that will impact us later. But most of what we get involves the post-battle banter and downtime. Normally, I really enjoy this kind of material because it’s where you get to know the characters. And we do get to know a lot about Atlee here as well as some really good stuff with Stella as she copes with all that’s gone on. But what I keep finding here, reminiscent of the Harley series and Power Girl as well, is that it’s just so dense that it feels like too much. It’s very dialogue heavy, which isn’t a problem, but it’s so crammed in with a very busy art design (that’s beautiful by itself) that it just comes across as overwhelming. You almost imagine the characters talking a mile a minute to get their stories across as opposed to really talking to each other.
There are cute moments within it, of course, even with the sexual innuendo that comes into play regularly with the guys, and I really like the small confusion symbolism we get from Kori as she tries to understand English idioms. That’s a little disconcerting at first, but it’s a fun little shorthand to let her express her confusion while making the reader giggle at her interpretations, especially villains coming out of the woodwork. Emanuela Lupacchino really does some great stuff here with the artwork even while trying to make sure it all fits with the copious amount of dialogue and word balloons that exist. The flow of it works really well and with the varied nature of opponents so far they’ve done a great job of capturing it. And capturing the look of Key West, particularly with the color design of the book from Hi-Fi. The combination of art and color really is a driving force here, especially with the digital editions that let it have even more pop and vibrancy.
In Summary:
Starfire does some minor lifting here to prepare us for what’s to come though I expect a curveball or two to be put into place. A lot of what we get here is action, but it’s balanced by a whole lot of dialogue and exposition, which at least tries to condense things while serving as a recap. Notably with Atlee and her origin, something I’m willing to give a break on since she’s not a hugely known character and it gives us a panel or two of Power Girl to enjoy. The team here continues to have a blast with this, but I keep getting a feeling of too much, too fast, which leaves me overwhelmed by the end of the book. It’s a very dense book in its own right, but it moves you along so quickly that it can feel like you’re getting whiplash. I’m definitely on board for more, but I’m making sure that I’m mentally prepared going into each issue now.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 9th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
