Very few villains see themselves as such…
Creative Staff:
Story: Marguerite Bennett
Art: Carmen Carnero
Colors: J. Nanjan
Letterer: Wes Abbott
What They Say:
Killer Frost origin! How did she become a killer ice queen beauty and how did she end up tangled in the disillusions of Hugo Strange? Find out here!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With a fun little one-off the last time around, Bombshells brings has back to the current arc in Leningrad, though it bounces around a whole lot with backstory and context. Marguerite Bennett has largely mastered this over the course of the run as we see the ties that bind in fun and amusing ways throughout while still keeping things centrally focused. It also doesn’t hurt that we get Carmen Carnero back on the artwork as I adore the way she brings some of these characters to life. It also doesn’t hurt that with the way it moves between time and places that the layouts works really well to bring it all together in a smooth way with great flow to it. Carnero has been a relatively recent addition to the book and one that really clicks well with it.
With this arc looking to place Killer Frost as the focus, it does so by giving us more of her origin story. This takes us back to the late 1800’s where we see her as a young girl that has some troublesome lineage at the wrong time and place that results in her and her mother being tossed in a cold well to die. That simply unlocks her abilities through trauma and ushers her into the hands of The Joker’s Daughter. Through her we learn once again that this is just a title as opposed to a name and that Louise, who becomes Killer Frost, is but the first potential heir to the title. That process takes us through a few other people we know with Raven having been one and Paul Von Gunther as well. It’s interesting to see these ties that bind them together over the years as Frost embraces her role in everything and making her own way in the world with abandon.
All of this does lead us to the present where we realize that the three potential heirs are all together around Leningrad in different places, and it’s amusing to hear Frost call them her sisters. The bonding time in the past is varied, focusing more on Frost herself and only Paula getting a little more exposition about her desire to deal with the land of the Amazons as those who may be right for cleansing the world. That also plays into the time in 1938 where Frost takes Hugo Strange under wing with his proposals for cloning and removing impurities from the race in order to save the world. These are dark things and we see them being called out in quiet ways from familiar faces ahead of the war going on in full, but it’s a reminder that more forceful words and actions were needed before it went too far.
In Summary:
Bombshells is working the setup phase for the next phase of this arc in and around Leningrad and it’s definitely well timed. Having enjoyed the mainline continuity reworking of Frost through Justice League of America earlier this year, getting more time with a very different Killer Frost (in addition to the TV version, oh what a golden age we live in!) is very welcome. Bennett is putting all the pieces together and there’s some really great backstory being woven here which Carmen Carnero brings together beautifully. It’s a fun and engaging book from start to finish with the combination of story and art and especially once again with Nanjan’s color work that just pops wonderfully here in digital form. This series continues to be just a delight.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: April 21st, 2017
MSRP: $0.99
