Friday, October 21, 2011

YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE #9 - February 1998


Bury My Heart at the Bottle City of Love

Credits: Dan Raspler (writer), Dev Madan & Christopher Jones (layouts), Keith Champagne (finishes), Bill Oakley (letterer), Noelle Giddings (colorist)


The team recuperates from their exposure to fear gas, discusses where they were when they learned Superman was alive, and, I hope you’re sitting down for this, some romantic subplots continue…


Bonfire and Frostbite are off on the beach, engaged in lengthy foreplay that’s often depicted in giant splash pages.


Hard Drive wants to know where Bonfire and Frostbite are, incensed that they might be off having s-e-x.


Zip-Kid is ordered by her boyfriend Lou to quit the team.


Monstergirl shows actual human emotions this issue. She talks to Thunderhead about his problems with Bonfire, and apparently feels some remorse over manipulating the big idiot. Later, she joins Off-Ramp on one of his global joyrides, an honor he rarely shares with anyone.


It’s obvious this was never intended to be a plot-heavy series, but this is the first issue that feels padded. Frostbite and Bonfire’s relationship has been teased since the first issue, so I get that their “first time” is supposed to be a big deal, but I don’t need splash page after splash page to sell the idea. I’m not too interested in what exactly they’re into sexually either, so the lovingly rendered pages of Bonfire biting Frostbite’s fingers and scratching his chest are particularly gratuitous. I do like the conversation scenes, which add more insight into what “real” life must be like in the DC Universe. Hearing descriptions of total strangers joining together in pure happiness and dancing in the street at the news of Superman’s revival adds a touch of verisimilitude to this universe. I’m trying to think of a modern real world parallel, but all I can come up with is the reaction to Bin Laden’s death, oddly enough.

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