Longtime fans may do a double take on seeing the first issue of this four-part mini-series. And well we might…
Not only has artist Nicola Scott homaged George Perez’s composition for Starfire’s spotlight issue of the 1982 Tales of the New Teen Titans mini-series, but the editors and production department have recreated the cover furniture and copy. I had a wee nose around Twitter and the new book’s chief, Andrea Shea, tells me it was all down to fellow DC editor Brittany Holzherr and Nicola Scott herself. So well done both!
The 1982 comic gave us lots of fascinating background info about the then-new Starfire. Today she’s been around four decades so there’s plenty of scope to tell a new story. We’re at the new Titans Tower in Blüdhaven, built by Dick Grayson aka Nightwing after Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman asked their proteges to step up while the Justice League goes on a break. It’s breakfast time and Kory is annoyed at Beast Boy for nicking her favourite snack. But not for long.
Before long a mission for the Titans comes through from Oracle, ie Barbara Gordon, Dick’s current girlfriend. For a long time Starfire and Dick were together.
Barbara isn’t out to compare notes, she has a solo, personal mission for Kory. A spacecraft containing visitors from a colony of her home planet, Tamaran, have landed nearby and the co-administrators of the settlement need her help.
After Starfire fixes the spaceship, she accompanies the sisters to the colony of New Palamar, whose vibe reminds her of her lost homeworld. It’s overwhelming.
Cue the cute alien goats being menaced by some very unnerving tentacles. This is a job for Starfire, and a great job she does too. She does a similarly great job when she returns to Earth and finds the rest of the Titans busy with, appropriately enough, a classic Justice League villain.
I could show you who (you’ve probably guessed) but I don’t wish to spoil this comic for you. Because if you’ve not already bought it, you should do. Trust me when I say this is the most delightful DC comic of the year so far. Over in the new Titans book. Kory is just a face in the crowd, here she’s a blaze of glory – confident, emotionally intelligent and very, very good with animals, both alien and metahuman.
Writers Shannon Hale and Dean Hale, who gave us a terrific short in Wonder Woman #750, take Kory on quite the journey. Over the course of the issue she not only saves the day several times, reminding us that among the heroes of the DC Universe she’s a true powerhouse, but she gets a new perspective on her past and present. The Hales also put a lid on any idea of tension between Kory and Babs – these are grown women – and give us the best Kory/Donna scene in, heck, decades. Remember when they were regularly seen as best mates?
I’ve never seen such a great expression of how it feels to be Kory. And while Starfire is the star of the show, her fellow Titans also shine, especially Cyborg, who shows real respect for Kory. When Tom Taylor has done with writing the Titans, could we please have the Hales on board? The only thing they do that I could do without is have folk call Starfire ‘Star’, but that’s a Taylor thing.
Can I find a quibble with Javier Rodriguez’s art? Well, Starfire doesn’t look the 6ft 4in she was originally, but I don’t thing anyone has paid attention to the classic Who’s Who in the DC Universe for years. So no, not really, the storytelling is spot-on and the characterisations are delightful – Rodriguez demonstrates his chops on the very first page with the telling body language of the breakfasting Titans and continues with energy and pizzazz.
Those clouds forming a background for Kory and Donna’s conversation show we’ve a first-rate colourist at work, and here it’s… Javier Rodriguez. I’m always extra impressed when an illustrator also displays good colour sense – here he seems to be being guided by Kory’s sunny personality. The graduated tints for the colony of New Palamar make the world look positively edible.
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou has fun with the lettering assignment, going big for emphasis without going over the top.
The entire comic is a like a blast of alpine air after being stuck in a smoggy city. The creative team give Starfire her best outing since her 2015 DC You series of a few years ago. More please!
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
I was gonna skip this. The years of her one character trait being her moaning that Dick doesn’t love her anymore turned me off of her character. I actually liked Lobdell’s take. I probably would have anyways but her not being such a whiny little bitch was awesome in itself. If you think about it, Lobdell started the Starfire renaissance. With a vocal group online aghast at it, it inspired writers to stop with the sad sack portrayal and focusing on more important parts of her characterization.
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Great point, and it probably got us the superb Starfire series.
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Aaaannnd we disagree again. It was Palmiotti as writer, right? His stuff never seemed to be integrated into the DCU much and I like that only with characters who have no DCU history (unless it’s a horrid Doll Man and Phantom Girl mini)
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The series linked to the then-current Grayson book, which was an outgrowth of Dick’s comics carrer from NTT onwards.
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I enjoyed this comic far more than I thought I would. It’s got heart. It doesn’t really reveal any new insights into Kory (in the way that the original did), but I liked it nonetheless.
Totally agree about the Donna and Kory scene. Top notch.
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Let’s hope the other issues are this good!
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Fingers crossed. I’m curious what they do with Donna’s issue. That character is a gem when handled correctly (ie. the way I remember her being lol), but *so* many creators seem to have a really difficult time getting a handle on her. It really shouldn’t be this difficult. I blame Byrne, really, and his introduction of the Sandsmarks as Julia and Vanessa clones. Baffling.
I’m not expecting much from the Raven issue, as she’s never been a favourite, and since they’ve turned her into “tv Raven” she’s even less enjoyable to me. But maybe they’ll surprise me. 🙂
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I’m intrigued by the prospect of a Raven issue – given this series is so much nodding to the original, maybe it’ll go back in the direction of Spooky Demon’s Daughter.
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I never much cared for OG Raven so I don’t mind teen goth Raven so much. Wolfman wrote a mini using this iteration so one of her creators likes this Raven more than some of the fans.
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Going back to spooky demon daughter would be… fine. Raven was never one of my favourites, but I usually appreciated her in relation to other characters. How she affected Wally… how Vic reacted to her… her opposite demeanour to Kory.
I think the only time I truly appreciated one of her storylines was in her white dress era and she was allowing herself to experience emotions and developed a crush on Dick.
Most other times I found her whingeing kinda tedious. But I appreciated what she brought to the team.
I’d be surprised if they went back to spooky witch. They seemed determined to pattern her after the tv version of the character as a romantic foil for Garth.
I think my favourite version is the sarcastic Teen Titans Go version of the character. I’d be down for that!! 🙂
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The final page of this issue did give us a a couple of panels of very TV-like Raven humour. I could take more of that.
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Honestly, I also think sarcastic goth girl is the right take for Raven these days. There’s still room for plenty of mystery in that take, but these are her friends; they KNOW her. So her original Phantom-Stranger-in-a-ball-gown characterization doesn’t really cut it anymore. Though I imagine she can turn that on and off if she wants to make an impression.
Anyway: KORY! It’s good to see her again, feeling like herself. This issue drummed on the character beats a *little* too hard for me — internal soul-searching monologues will do that — but overall I’m really impressed. I loved the diffusing of tension between Kory & Babs. The Donna scene was wonderful. And I always love Javier Rodriguez’s art & colors!
When was Tamaran destroyed? I had no idea. I would have sent a card or something.
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I could look up when Tamaran was done in but I never liked that planet anyway. They’ll be back in a jiffy, I’m sure.
Wonderful thoughts around Raven, let’s say that’s what DC is thinking rather than ‘let’s copy the telly’!
I’m so looking forward to Donna, who gets to replace Cyborg in the mini due to his having a comic… I assume it’s not been cancelled, it’s fallen off my radar.
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