FIRE & ICE WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER #1 DC COMICS
When Fire and Ice took to the streets of Smallville in 2023, it was an adorable look at small town life though the eyes of city slickers with super powers. Ma Kent was an absolute dream of a character and really grounded the first mini-series. And while Hell Freezes Over tries to recapture some of that, it’s not the same. And when it is the same, it seems like a retelling of the first mini-series. And on top of everything else, we are in the All In universe so Ice has Fire’s powers and Fire has Ice’s powers. Writer Joanne Starer has crafted a fun story but has to address the elephant in the room. Plus, it feels like she is having to backtrack a bit on Fire & Ice’s personas. As I read this, I get the impression that some of the personality break throughs from the first series have had to fallen back. There seems to be some repetition going on here from the first series. I’m preety sure that Ice setting fire to a building because she sneezed was a joke from an issue of Justice League International series back in the 1980’s/1990’s. We do get a local ladies night outing featuring Zatanna, Black Canary, and Dr. Light. We do get a cameo by Zatanna’s couisin Zach. And we do get more of the incomparable Martha Kent. (The scene of Martha singing the lyrics to Gangsta’s Paradise waiting for her turn on the karaoke stage is well worth the price of the book!) Then go with the old standby plot point of a Monkey’s Paw and a Freaky Friday and you have an ok story. I wonder what we could have had if the whole All In power switching deal hadn’t been used? Just Ice, Fire, and the Smallvbille gang continuing life from the first mini-series. Oh well, you can’t fight a company wide storyline can you? 7 out of 10 Grahams.
AQUAMAN #4 DC COMICS
I have to admit that I have never really been on board with the whole All In reboot of DC Comics. And 4 issues into the Aquaman reboot is a perfect example of why. Aquaman gets Mera’s water controlling powers but loses his ability to communicate with sea creatures. From those of us that have been with the Sea King all these years, that’s not much of an issue. He still swims really fast. He still can breath underwater. He still (apparently) has access to mythical Atlantean weapons as shown by this issue’s TriLance Saber. Getting control over water seems to me to be a better upgrade than any old doofy harpoon gadget hand. But, by far, this is the most confussing upgrade to a series in the All In universe. A Darkseid portal, an alternate reality featuring versions of secondary characters, and a quest where I don’t see much progress being made. Knowing that this storyline has at least two or three more issues to go (standard storyline lengthy due to collected volume size), I hope that we have something planned out for the next story cycle. 6 out of 10 Grahams.
ACTION COMICS #1 FACSIMILE EDITION DC COMICS
FINALLY! A comic that is made at the correct size! 1938 and the era of comics had begun in earnest! (Let’s see you find a bag and board for this one these days! Hah!) And what a way to start! Clark Kent asks Lois Lane out while working at the Daily Star! Superman still works in secret (sort of). He threatens government officials that sleep in bedrooms with solid steel doors?! He smacks around wife beaters. He jumps (NOT FLIES!) from building to building carrying corrupt villains. And, of course, he lifts that green car over his head and smashes it! And our main story ends on a cliff-hanger! But more importantly, Action Comics was, like most comics of the day, an anthology title. For my dime, (Yes, a dime! Don’t let that $9.99 price tag fool you!) I got a slew of characters that represented the interests of young boys back then. Cowboys like “Chuck” Dawson and Tex Thomson (later to become Mr. America and team up with Fatman). Magicians like Zatanna’s dad Zatara who at the time was clean shaven and being helped by his assistant Tong. As the two went head to head against the evil Huntress (Comic Historians still argue over whether or not this would be the same Huntress who would join Wildcat’s Rogues Gallery!) And adventurers like Reporter Scoop Scanlon, Boxer “Pep” Morgan, and historically inaccurate Marco Polo. We also got a text story and some wacky funny comics. Those were the days! But most importantly, they knew how to get us readers really interested. By offering us on the inside cover the chance to win a $25 prize bny coloring the first page of the black and white Chuck Dawson story! How many would be artist and colorists would deface a comic by tearing the page out and breaking out our crayons to color it and send it in? Hard to believe that if you didn’t do that and held on to the original comic, you’d have huge bank right now! 10 out of 10 Grahams.
