More adjusting to life in cute ways.
Creative Staff:
Story: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Emanuela Lupacchino, Ray McCarthy
Colors: Hi-Fi
What They Say:
Starfire and the hero known as Atlee must uncover the mystery of the creatures from beneath the earth! Our heroes can tackle a monster, no sweat, but how can they survive—unemployment?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With Starfire having mostly finished off its opening arc and seemingly settled on the supporting cast for the moment, the series enters the next phase where it’s beginning to introduce more of what’s to come and just some enjoyable time around the pool. Though there’s nothing earth shattering going on here, a welcome thing actually, what we get is definitely enjoyable while it also sets up a few plot points that will become more. What makes it far more engaging though is the luscious artwork and coloring style applied, particularly digitally, that just gives this an incredible kind of pop and vibrancy to it that is hard to replicate on standard comic book paper.
The structure of this series that Palmiotti and Conner have created is one that allows it to take diversions, almost too regularly at times, while still having it feel like there’s a larger theme. That theme does tend to stick to Kori’s adjusting to life on Earth and the way other people react to her. There’s a great moment where while talking to Atlee she’s told that she’s bothering Stella too much by being up her butt. Yes, the dialogue is silly and obvious, but Lupacchino makes an utterly adorable thought balloon about how Kori literalizes it – complete with a hard hat – that you have to break out into a grin. There are lots of moments like this throughout the book, not quite as spot on in a sense as this, but it’s the combination of the writing team’s humor with the artist’s ability to bring it out without impacting the flow of the interactions that’s just fantastic.
The book has two main points going on here, both of which have some potential. While I’m intrigued about the teasing plot of everyone going to visit Atlee’s home some time, the first main plot point focuses on Soren. He and Kori have a great time out drinking together and talking, again going for what we talked about before, but it also has a moment where she sees part of his past and how disastrous it all turns out with his ability to take other people’s cancer into himself. That cycles around at the end, but it’s mostly setup at the start and some good characterization and dialogue. The other piece of the book is Kori’s interview at the Aquarium. It goes about as expected and I’m really hoping for some good sidebar kind of stories to come from this. The book takes advantage of the setting for some great designs and coloring to give it even more life. The Keys are certainly fantastic for that and the team takes huge advantage of it here.
In Summary:
Starfire is a series that I continue to pick up simply because I enjoy it. It’s not a book I’m looking for complex stories out of, though I think the character could manage it fine. What we get here are some great character interaction pieces that are beautifully illustrated and colored for maximum effect and fun. While we get the small tease of something big from space coming up soon, the bulk of the book focuses on more earthly endeavours. Hopefully we’ll see more of a blossoming relationship between the various characters as I’d like to see both Stella and Atlee become more fully realized and part of things. It’s definitely a fun book and a very enjoyable read (and viewing).
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: October 14th, 2015
MSRP: $2.99
Very much agree. Spot on. If you want grand political machinations or vast intergalactic armies, or page after page of superpowered people punching, then this book isn’t for you. But if you want a cute story about a beautiful girl finding her way in a new place, then this should scratch that itch.
Exactly. And in its own way, the less connected to other books the better as it doesn’t have to grapple with all sorts of things that detract from what makes it work