Open Mike Night - Starfire #1

STARFIRE #1

Written by: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Penciled by: Emanuela Lupacchino
Inked by: Ray McCarthy
Colored by: Hi-Fi
Lettered by: Tom Napolitano
Cover by: Amanda Conner and Paul Mounts

Published by: DC
Cover Price: $2.99

Maillaro:  When I was reading this issue I was kind of torn.  It seems real strange that Starfire basically “starts from scratch” here.  She’s not familiar with Earth currency or idioms or customs. Which seems real strange since she’s clearly been on Earth for a while based on RED HOOD AND THE OUTLAWS.  BUT, I really hate the characterization of Starfire in the first few issues of that series (that was all I could stand of that series), so she kind of needed a fresh start. And Starfire is kind of ideal for a fish out of water series.  

But I am still not sure it was a great idea to scrap everything that came before just to give her this fresh start...it almost feels too little too late.  If they did this with New 52, you might have been able to snatch up some fans from the various Teen Titans cartoons.

Weaver: As far as I know, it doesn’t explicitly set this in the current DC continuity, plus you have Convergence to explain away whatever.  And the less said about Red Hood Starfire the better.

It’s interesting to me because when I think of fish out of water comics, I think about J’onn J’onnz and the Silver Surfer, both of whom have some similarities to Starfire in that they are aliens that effectively can’t go back to their homes, but the big difference is that while the Martian Manhunter and Silver Surfer are deeply introspective and trying to be as close to humanity as possible, Starfire is what she is and doesn’t care.  Does she want to fit in, sure, but on her own terms.  

Maillaro: Yeah, one of the nice parts about DCYou is that they seem to not worry at all about continuity.  It’s just a little strange at times to me.  Honestly, I did enjoy this book as a stand alone work, it’s just hard for me to place it in terms of a bigger DC Universe.    Like I said, I’m really of two minds when it comes to this.  I’ve said many times that I want a good comic and I think that should be a priority over worrying about continuity, but this one definitely pushes even my limits of what works or not.

Palmiotti and Conner had a distinct voice they wanted to give this book.  It had a nice balance of humor and drama.  I think they succeeded far more here than on Harley Quinn.  Starfire is a little more of a blank slate, and that gave them a lot of wiggle room in what they were trying to build here.  

Weaver: To me, if there isn’t a DC Universe tie in (and I know that’s a lot to ask), it can just sit in its bubble and be fine.  As far as established characters go, Starfire is one that could reasonably be sequestered out of the universe without a lot of impact.  But I wouldn’t mind even if they continued having a completely differently characterized Starfire in the main titles...well, except that it might confuse readers.

Yeah, this book was good with being funny enough to make you laugh while not going totally overboard.  We had the obligatory “Starfire doesn’t get that people are offended by nudity” moment, but nothing about this issue read particularly adult for me, even that joke.  Kids get that unexpected nakedness is funny, no matter if they know why or not.  Given that Starfire has been portrayed in other DCU titles as...oversexed, I like that they can dial that back enough to make it less ribald but still keep elements of her less restrictive views on sexuality.

Maillaro: I also loved that we got a reference to the “kissing to learn English” scam she pulled back on Dick Grayson back in the day.  “You already know English.” “Yes, I am learning more English.”  Starfire might be confused by Earth ways, but it’s clear that she’s far from innocent and naive.

My only real complaint with this issue was that the supporting cast just aren’t quite as interesting.  They tried, I will give them that, but Starfire was just a little too out there herself.  Typically the main character in a book is the normal one with wacky sidekicks.  Starfire is the wacky sidekick, which made it hard for me to care about the problems of the everyday people that found themselves caught up in her orbit.  It’s not a devastating problem, but I really did keep hoping they would get some interesting quirks or something to make me care to see more of them.

Weaver: I felt some interest in the main police officer, but I felt like they wanted us interested in her brother too, which...didn’t quite happen, for me.  However, I felt that the setting was a very large supporting character.  This story takes place in the Florida Keys, and they never let you forget that.  The setting is just as important to the story as New York is for Spider-Man, and I love when a work of fiction manages to do that.

Maillaro: The “character” of the Keys was a big part of the promotional lead up to the book too, and I agree that worked real well.   Opal City was probably my favorite character in Starman, so I totally get where you are coming from.

Yeah, the brother staring at the picture of his lost love was exactly what I was thinking of when I made the earlier comments.  It just never quite landed for me, especially with the other Coast Guard officer hovering around waiting to pick up the pieces.  I felt uncomfortable watching them, and not in an entertaining “Michael Scott” kind of way.

I did really like the look of this book too.  Starfire looked great and sexy without having to constantly be in cheesecake poses.  It is often a tricky balance to pull off with Starfire, but Emanuela Lupacchino managed it really well.  

Weaver: I agree that the art was handled well, although I’m not sure if I was more amused or annoyed by the little “Starfire doesn’t understand metaphors” pictograms.  I’m going to give it a 4.5, because some of those were kind of annoying.  The writing is a much more mixed bag, I’ll give it a 3.5

Maillaro: For the little thought bubble images, I was reminded of Impulse or Spyboy, and that is a good thing for me.  But yeah, I would still only go a 4.5.  It was real good, but not a perfect 5. And a 3.5 for the writing is fair too.   Definitely a strong start, and I will almost certainly be checking out this series again next month.

Maillaro: I am taking my wife on a romantic weekend away next weekend, so I suspect we’re probably taking the week off.  Which kind of sucks, since Prez #1 comes out next week.  Mind doing it a week late?

Weaver: No problem.  Prez is definitely a done deal for me.

Final Scores