Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #5: The Past Returns

Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #5 sees all of the latent emotions and concealed feelings between the titular characters come to a head as pandemonium breaks out in Superman’s hometown. Thus far this series has seen a rift grow between Fire and Ice as they have very different opinions on how they should be living their lives since they were grounded in Smallville. Just when their friendship was nearly coming to an end, the duo decide to make up, but not before the true villains behind this narrative rear their familiar heads. 

Anyone reading this series has been on board for a variety of reasons, the mature melodramatic exploration of a deteriorating friendship, a look at some often forgotten DC heroes, or the fantastic exploration and celebration of the iconic Justice League International series. Regardless of your reason for hopping on, writer Joanne Starer makes sure that each of these aspects are delivered upon in a fun, well thought out, and comedic manner. Not enough praise has been given to how though out and professionally written this series has been, with Starer using Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #5 making sure to make sure that none of the elements of these series are forgotten. Starer also brings back some long forgotten villains from these character’s histories, further proving her knowledge not just as a writer but as a fan. All of these elements create a very great read, especially in the grand scope of the series as an entirety.

Natacha Bustos continues to stun with the art direction for this series, capturing elements of the various different mediums that inspire a story like this. The most notable inspiration has to be a mix between the 1960s and 2000s romance/melodrama comics. All of these elements come together to make an excellent modern rendition of a story in that same vein. Additionally, the colors from Tamra Bonvillain work perfectly with this art style in order to give this series a very unique tone, especially when compared to everything else coming out right now, specifically from DC. Needless to say a lot of credit needs to be given to this art team as they have done a great job in capturing the vision set out as a creative team.

Rounding out the creative team is Ariana Maher who does a fine job with the letters here. While nothing out of the ordinary or spectacular is done with the lettering, that is only a positive in the overall making of this series. The lettering never distracts in any way from the storytelling or excellent art, allowing the entire book to be read in a logical, well paced manner.