Fire and Ice: When Hell Freezes Over #2 review

The Absolute Power event ended with JLI stalwarts Fire and Ice facing a life with their powers swapped over. So far Bea has been doing OK with Tora’s ice casting, but Tora is freaked out by being able to generate dangerous blasts of flame. Finding a monkey’s paw in Zatanna’s top hat, Bea wishes for she and Tora to have the correct powers. The magic works – but not as she had hoped – as the best pals wake next day with their minds in one another’s bodies!

As the second issue of this speedy sequel to last year’s Fire and Ice: Welcome to Smallville begins, the girls are trying to make the best of things. Still running a beauty parlour in Smallville, they’ve agreed to appear at a fundraiser organised by Martha Kent.

After an amusingly cheeky moment involving Ice and a terrible jumper, we cross the world and see new trouble may be heading for Smallville.

Grodd’s ’little sister’ is Linka, who shares his ‘force of mind’ power but has no idea he’s recently had a massive boost, having gained the mental abilities of the Martian Manhunter. For now, though, things are about to get more complicated in Kansas, as Bea drowns her sorrows after Tora accidentally bared her boobs – that is, Bea’s – at the fundraiser.

Feeling frustrated that the situation isn’t being taken seriously enough by her friends in the bar, Bea – who has been wearing the cuff fuelling the Monkey’s Paw power – has an outburst

I’m sure you can guess where that goes….

Two issues in returning writer Joanne Starer is knocking it out of the proverbial park. Our leading ladies are spot-on personality wise – Tora shy but no pushover, Tora, fiery yet sensitive. The power-swapping storyline is providing plenty of entertainment, with the supporting cast introduced last series carrying more of the story. I’m especially interested in Honey’s suspicions on new guy in town Mo Mozek, smarmy brother of supervillain former resident Smarty Pants. And Zatanna’s cousin Zachary Zatara, a member of Geoff Johns’s Teen Titans for about five minutes, is getting a nice spotlight as in-house magic expert – towards the close of the issue he gives Tora and Bea information that promises fun next month.

I had to concentrate to keep who was in whose body straight – at one point one of the characters even gets it wrong.

Honey means Tora, in green, who’s just burnt her top off in public.

I’m impressed by how connected this series is with current DC Universe events, I never expected the Justice League Unlimited/World’s Finest tie-in. And Starer has a great handle on former JLI office manager L-Ron, who wants to be Mayor of Smallville.

The only story point that doesn’t work for me is the business with Bea thinking Tora is ashamed of her body because she’s wearing a jumper… Tora always wears jumpers, she’s the Justice League’s resident sweater girl. At the same time, it’s an interesting moment for Bea.

Artist Stephen Byrne is a great fit for this series, his storytelling as smooth as his character work. He’s having great fun with the swapped superheroines, especially when it comes to Bea-in-Tora… she looks to have had extensive extensions work between issue 1 and 2. The perks of owning a beauty parlour, I suppose. Byrne puts a lot of work into populating the backgrounds with individualise folk.

Tamra Bonvillain colours, I particularly appreciate the contrast between sunny Smallville and Grodd’s Gorilla City lair. And Ariana Maher’s letters are unassumingly good.

Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson give us a typically cute cover, I do think that leafy circle/no idea behind them could usefully be lost, it’s just visual clutter.

You can read this new mini without having seen the first series – it’s a good sequel, and looks set to be better than Welcome to Smallville. Give it a go.