Issue(s): Firestar #3
Cover Date: May 86
Title: "This lady kills!"
Credits:
Tom DeFalco - Writer
Mary Wilshire - Penciler
Stephen Leialoha - Inker
Ann Nocenti - Editor

Review/plot:
These issues take place after Firestar has met the X-Men and realized that she was being manipulated by Empath. Presumably she also heard from the X-Men that Emma Frost herself was not a nice person. However, after X-Men #193, Firestar returned to the Massachusetts Academy. So in order for these issues to work we have to walk a really fine line between Firestar being loyal to the White Queen without her looking too gullible. It's a real failure in that regard, especially because Emma is written as completely over-the-top in her scheming; every discussion with Firestar includes a thought bubble from Emma along the lines of "She's so naive! She believes everything I say!" or "The little fool! She actually worships me!". If Frost were shown to have some actual feelings for Firestar in addition to leading her down a not-so-righteous path, everything would have been a little more believable and/or Firestar wouldn't come out looking like such a patsy. Unfortunately, this is Tom DeFalco we're dealing with, and subtle isn't really his thing.

Incredibly, Firestar is still put in classes with Empath, and he and Roulette get up to little high school pranks at her expense.

After Empath violated her mind in Uncanny X-Men #193, it seems incredible that Firestar would tolerate his presence at all, or that Frost would think it makes sense to put them together again.

Anyway, the White Queen is helping Sebastian Shaw, the Black King, deal with the threat of Selene, the upstart Black Queen. Frost is training Firestar to be an assassin.

In order to test Firestar's instincts, the White Queen has an assassination staged on her father. She sends Firestar home with her semi-boyfriend, the Hellfire Club goon Randall. The reunion with dad doesn't go so well.

But when the assassins attack, Firestar rises to the occasion.

Wilshire is good with faces...

...but while i find her art a nice change of pace, it's not really suited for super-hero work.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Issue #3 takes place soon enough after Uncanny X-Men #193 that Sebastian Shaw is just receiving a report of the incident from the White Queen. Empath still has his powers in this issue, placing this before New Mutants #26 when he's admonished for his behavior in Uncanny #193. At the end of issue #3, the White Queen tells Sebastian Shaw that it'll be "a few months at most" before Firestar is ready for a real assignment, so presumably some time takes place between issues #3 and #4.

References:

• The White Queen puts Firestar into a training session that involves a machine-gun toting Professor X. Having met him in Uncanny X-Men #193 and seen that he's actually a nice guy, that seems a little odd to her.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? Y

My Reprint: N/A