Conway gets through most of the issue before the problem becomes clear–he doesn’t have much of a story. He hints at future stories, with Ronnie having girlfriend troubles, Lorraine Reilly (Firehawk has joined the series as a regular) having family issues, Martin’s ex-wife stalking him again and so on and so forth, but there’s nothing going on here.
Oh, wait, Killer Frost escapes from prison. It’s a lengthy escape sequence and relatively well-done, but it’s just a prison break. Maybe if the character weren’t so shallow–and the way Conway writes her monologues about being rejected by men so painful–it’d go over better.
Conway’s definitely trying with his regular cast and now even developing Firestorm separate from Ronnie and Martin, and there’s Kayanan’s pencils. Firestorm has never looked better. Kayanan handles everything–locations, civilians, superheroes–beautifully. Kayanan is even able to make Killer Frost a welcome guest star, he illustrates her so well.
B
CREDITS
Frost Bite!; writer, Gerry Conway; penciller, Rafael Kayanan; inker, Rodin Rodriguez; colorist, Carl Gafford; letterer, Adam Kubert; editors, Nicola Cuti and Conway; publisher, DC Comics.
The cynic in me assumes the Phantom’s one panel appearance in a flashback to Flash fighting off the invaders from Mongo on Earth is so Dynamite can do a team-up limited series some time down the road. The reader in me hopes they do it and get Parker to write it.
It's one heck of a finish for the volume. Oeming's back for some of the dream sequences, with Glass finally getting around to explaining what's been going on with Karic. Sort of.
Gene Colan pencilling Firestorm (Rick Magyar inks).
It’s a little too fast of a read–Powell tries to slow it down a bit with a flashback to one of Jack Burton’s wives, who all appear to be evil women who can brainwash him into terrible deeds–but it’s another excellent issue.
Glass sets another few pieces into place for, presumably, the next volume. There simply isn’t enough time for him to get any of these plot threads resolved in the final issue of Midwinter Night’s Dream.
Some time during the first part–of four–of Bodies, I realized it didn’t have much media exploitation potential. The gimmick is simple–a similarly mutilated body is found in London at different times in history (and the future) and the police investigate. Writer Si Spencer shows his hand as far as interest–with the present and the nineteenth century getting the most emphasis. Both these periods drive the narrative, with the future and the WWII eras sort of garnish.
Strengths and weaknesses. This first Firestorm annual has a bunch of each. Oddly, Conway seems a lot more comfortable plotting out a double-size issue–maybe if all the issues had this much room, the series wouldn't be on such shaky ground. There's time for character development, not just for Ronnie and Martin, but also for Firestorm–the return of Firehawk at a key moment this issue is one of the highlights–but also for quiet moments. Conway finally has enough space.
Robocop continues to have problems, but this issue they're different ones. For instance, Magno's art isn't as detailed. He's concentrating on foreground figures and letting the backgrounds go loose (with a handful of splash page exceptions). And his figures get flatter as the issue progresses.
It's an all action issue. Glass does spend some time setting up the lengthy action sequence with a rat commander out to redeem his lost pride (during the previous volume), but not a lot. It's all distinct, because Glass is showing more of the rat culture than he's shown before–and hinting at one aspect of Templar culture never before discussed (the mice abandoning their elderly when moving camps).
Just like last issue, Dixon is writing Winterworld for the artist, in this case Butch Guice. Unlike last issue, Dixon doesn't give Guice much to do this issue.
Tuska takes over all the pencilling this issue, for better or worse. Usually worse, though at least he’s consistent between his superhero art and his civilian art. He’s also got some really silly stuff to draw, like Tokamak, the Human Reactor. Tokamak is the big villain–an evil old rich guy with superpowers and a dumb metallic outfit. He flies around. It’s really goofy.
There’s a lot going on this issue; Higgins and Siegel move between two big plots–the super-powered guys going up against a common gangster (which is against union rules) and then the boss negotiating the new contract with the city–while there are a couple little things going on.
Glass is even more expansive in terms of subplots this issue. There’s more with Pilot training his new protege, there’s the whole movement of Templars believing in Karic’s holy status (for lack of a better description), there’s how that movement is playing out in the capital and how the rats and weasels are getting on without the king. There’s even stuff with the Templar priests and a possible insurrection in their future.
After reading the first issue of Ordinary, I was worried somehow Williams would cop out in the finish. Actually, I thought he would cop out in the second issue. Instead, he cops out in the finale of the series. It’s not a one hundred percent cop out, but it’s in the high eighties. Williams gets a high B in coping out.
★★★½
As many problems as Broderick has been having on the art lately, it’s nothing compared to George Tuska, who does the first half of the issue. Maybe it’s Rodriguez’s who’s lazy because there’s no excuse for Tuska’s part of the issue. Inept is the word for it.
Way to go out on a bummer… the issue ends with Robinson informing the reader he or she has just read a truncated, rushed ending to the comic (instead of it going to issue fifteen).
Glass finds another unexpected direction for Midwinter–a much wider look at the world. He still checks in on familiar cast members, with Pilot’s return being simultaneously unwelcome and narratively strong. The reader knows the character to be villainous, yet one hopes for the sake of Pilot’s newest marks he’s changed.
I can’t believe it… Prophet ends with a weak setup for the subsequent sequel series. I never would have guessed it, not even as the issue progressed and old John and new John started on their collision course.
Conway tries for something new to the series–Ronnie and Martin interacting face to face when Martin’s in his Firestorm mode (when Professor Stein is the floating head advising Firestorm, it’s his subconscious, not his conscious)–but he’s also trying a mystery. Ronnie has forgotten something and Martin is trying to talk him into remembering.
The Stop Button 