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Fire's Costume Chronology Pt 2

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In 1987, writer J.M. DeMatteis teamed up with Keith Giffen and Kevin Maguire to create the now-classic International-era of the Justice League. Often dubbed the Bwa-ha-ha League, this run featured stories where D-list characters hung out with A-listers and cracked jokes left and right. One of these D-listers was a Brazilian heroine named Beatriz da Costa codename "Fire". Together with her best friend Tora, the pair became one of the most popular duos in comic book fandom. Bea was feisty, fashionable and totally vain. Consequently, she's had a lot of looks over the years and I felt compelled to do a series devoted to those looks. Get ready 'cause we're talking a trip through Miss da Costa's closet!

1989-1992 - Having officially become a member of the American division of the Justice League International, Beatriz da Costa changed her codename to "Fire" and began to soak up all the fringe benefits that a steady paycheque provides. However, she shortly began to experience problems with her powers and soon discovered that she could turn herself into a being of living green flame. Following this discovery, she began training under Big Barda but this education was cut short when a series of disasters befell the League. Blue Beetle, thanks to the manipulation of the Queen Bee, went on a murderous rampage and she later took part in a strike team against the vengeful alien Despero. In fact, Despero was unable to physically assault Fire in her flaming form -- proving that her new powers actually made her invulnerable to certain attacks. On the personal front, Bea became increasingly concerned over Ice's continued relationship to Guy Gardner and even cheered Blue Beetle on in a fight between him and the foul-mouthed Green Lantern. Interrupting this drama was the MASSIVE (and I do mean massive) Justice League Europe crossover "Breakdowns" which spanned sixteen issues of both books. In this humongous storyline, Max Lord gets shot and this event throws the Leagues into disarray. The teams first come up against the mind-controlled Global Guardians and barely survive the experience.... only to go up against Despero who makes his return to Earth. During this time, the League is disbanded by the UN and are forced to work on their own when they have to bring down Dreamslayer of the Extremists. The conclusion of this crossover sees both Leagues disbanding -- which was a result of the books' creative teams departing. When the Justice League America book continued, the team had been brought together under Superman's leadership and featured two new members -- the sassy Maxima and the mysterious Bloodwynd. Fire, of course, continued on with this team and became increasingly frustrated over Ice's new admiration for the Man of Steel. All that said.... and you'll have to realize that during all these events Fire gets little more than a few panels in each issue of JLA. She's pretty much a side character and is only shown usually in context of destroying something or talking about clothes. We do know she and Oberon are close friends but that's about all that is done with her. :( Most of the issues concentrated on Guy Gardner, Blue Beetle (and his weight problems) or a series of guest stars (such as Lobo, Gnort, Kilowog or General Glory). When Dan Jurgens takes over the JLA title in mid-'92, changes are made and we'll see more emphasis on story rather than tomfoolery.

Massive history lesson gotten out of the way, Fire's new outfit debuts after her new powers emerge. Ice states that the new costume is actually store-bought and so we see this as a recurring issue with Bea as she has an immense love of shopping. Ice also pokes fun at the new costume suggesting it's a few sizes too small. :P Oh Tora, she's definitely more clever than people give her credit for. Okay, so the top of this outfit buttons together at the breast and is kind of like a tube top. She pairs it with pale green jeans and some hot cowboy boots. To "superhero" it up, she adds a headband (which was tied to the side of her head) and some gloves (both different lengths). Of course, she also accessorized with a belt. HOWEVER, this belt was extremely inconsistent in how it was drawn. Some drew it as a chain but was more often shown as discs. I drew it here as it was often drawn by Adam Hughes. You'll also notice she wore a rather large slouchy jacket with it. Overall, this outfit is VERY cute and I would even consider it slightly trendy now especially since she no longer wore her hair in a perm and because it was a very casual look. Practicality doesn't matter with her because she turns to Fire so she doesn't have to worry about being shot, stabbed or having nip-slips. :) Also, this costume debuted in an issue penciled by Adam Hughes (who was briefly the penciler for Justice League America) so I'm fairly certain he designed the look. But I could be wrong.... :S
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adamantis's avatar
I did like this outfit, and both Fire and Ice were welcome characters :)