Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1: Not Your Grandaddy’s Smallville

Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 serves a dual purpose of reintroducing its titular characters while also strongly establishing itself as the most female empowering entry in the Dawn of DC initiative. Outside of the reintroductions, Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 firmly establishes itself in the ongoing DC continuity. This makes the series as easy to read as it is to jump into blindly. Fans of the Justice League International or just Fire and Ice in general will find a lot to love here, whereas anyone jumping onto this series after reading Tom King and Greg Smallwood’s Eisner winning DC Black Label series, The Human Target, may not be as receptive to this take on the titular characters. Nonetheless, there is a lot to love about Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1, particularly its approach to a feminist message.

Fire and Ice are often seen as some of the more ancillary and pointless characters from the JLI series, which is also ironically where they gained most of their prominence. A poignant part of this issue, which is something also explored in The Human Target, is the discussion of Ice’s death and resurrection. While it’s not directly stated in the issue, Ice has always been well known for two things, her romantic relationship with Guy Gardner, and her death and resurrection. One large aspect of giving this character agency is putting her in a context where she can grow beyond these things and make a character of her own. This is exactly where writer Joanne Starer takes her here, presenting an Ice who is out to find her own identity.

Fire is also in a similar predicament, but instead of finding an identity outside of the superheroics, she is unable to let go of that life. Much like Ice, Fire has always been stuck in the same bubble of continuity where she’s been participating in the same roles for years. The fact that Ice and Fire are both striving to escape their stereotypes and previous roles but in two completely different ways is absolutely fascinating. Starer has broken one of the many, long established tropes for women in media, allowing these two women to strive for the same goal in their own unique ways. This includes giving the book a mainly female cast, such as Martha Kent who welcomes the duo to Smallville with open arms. 

Starer not only breaks the mold of female representation in comics with Fire and Ice, but also in the brief portrayal of Superman. Instead of Superman’s arrival being seen as black and white: the man who comes to fix all of the problems, or the man who thinks he can fix all the problems, he is instead portrayed in a third, more nuanced light. Yes, he does arrive to solve the problem, but not because he only believes that Fire and Ice are not capable, but because Fire was reckless in her endeavor to regain notariety. Ice explains this in a very poignant manner, showing Fire that while her intentions may have made sense in her mind, they ultimately set her goal back several steps because she immediately bit off more than she could chew. Starer portrays this conflict in a multifaceted manner, showing that it is harder for a woman to be seen as powerful amongst a patriarchal society, and that there is not one quick way to achieve that goal.

Natacha Bustos, from Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur fame, pencils this issue, giving this book a very particular look and feel. Her pencils simultaneously feel animated and jubilant, while also harkening back to early 1950s romance comics. This is exemplary of the kinds of molds that this series is breaking, tackling the subject headfirst. The only detriment to this art happens to be the fantastic cover from Terry and Rachel Dodson. Both the interior and cover art display fantastic portrayals of these characters; however, the art styles are completely different. The cover displays a more traditional approach to modern comic book art while the interiors take on the previously mentioned feel. The Dodsons are fantastic artists and their work should not be understated; yet, the dramatic differences from the interior work makes for a huge shock that may come as a detriment to the issue as a whole.

Tamra Bonvillain does the colors here which very much enchanted the plot and themes of the issue. Bonvillain understands that both of these characters are prancing around town in full costume, yet chooses to give Ice’s blue suit a much more subdued feel in comparison to Fire’s dramatically vibrant green. This ties back into the idea that Fire is looking to continue her time in the spotlight, striving to gain more public attention, while Ice is looking to settle down and establish herself in a different way. This also exemplifies the character’s feelings, where Ice’s subdued colors show her comfort within Smallville while Fire’s vibrancy contrasts with the town, showing that she wishes she could be anywhere else.

Rounding off the creative team is Ariana Maher on letters. With an all female creative team, it makes sense to pick Maher for this book, seeing as though she is one of the most prevalent letterers in today’s comic book landscape. Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 is a very exposition heavy issue but that just means that Maher has to work extra hard to keep things copacetic throughout all the pages. Thankfully Maher works well with Bustos’s uniquely designed pages, allowing the art to tell the story and using the letters to guide the reader naturally through everything.

On a final note, a lot of DC fans may be flocking to this series after falling in love with Ice in The Human Target. It’s important to note that these are two different interpretations of the character. During the Dawn of DC panel at San Diego Comic Con, Starer even confessed that she did not read The Human Target prior to writing this issue. This was in an attempt to make sure that her thoughts on these characters were all her own, and not just reiterations of what King and Smallwood had already done. Ironically, many of Ice’s character beats here mirror her journey over in The Human Target, although there is a distinct difference in the way that Starer and King write the character. Fans of The Human Target should still check this out but just don’t be shocked when the events of that series are not mentioned here.