I Am Not Starfire gives a beloved character new life via her daughter
Familiar tropes are approached with fresh eyes in this fun YA read about the offspring of the Teen Titans hero
Aux Features Starfire
The story of a disenfranchised and dissatisfied teenage girl, I Am Not Starfire treads several familiar paths. Mandy, the non-superhero daughter of famous costumed crimefighter Starfire, spends the book struggling with her sense of self and the pressures of high school, wrapped in tropes that can be found in a slew of teen movies. There are problems with bullying and prejudice, the inescapable crush between members of mismatched social groups, and flashbacks to past embarrassments of youth. Under all that is a story about legacy, one that has been explored before in comics: the struggle to live up to the reputation of a far more well-known and experienced hero who seems to be the opposite of a struggling child or ward. But I Am Not Starfire takes these well-travelled journeys in ways that keep the book feeling modern and fresh, making it a delightful read for both fans well-versed in Starfire’s own story and new readers alike.
Both Mariko Tamaki and Yoshi Yoshitani have contributed to the excellent DC YA and middle grade books in the past. Thankfully, the creative team meets and exceeds the high bar set by their past work—Tamaki worked with Steve Pugh on Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass, and wrote Supergirl: Being Super (where Joelle Jones’ incredible art got a chance to shine), while Yoshitani did the art for Zatanna And The House Of Secrets, written by Matthew Cody. Both are obviously very skilled in how to handle some of DC’s most well-known female characters. I Am Not Starfire gracefully balances its cameos and references to DC lore with plenty of new story and explanations for readers who aren’t as deeply enmeshed in decades of canon.
Part of what makes this familiar story great is how Mandy’s struggles with her mother’s famous exploits—and the expectations created by them—is contrasted to her best friend Lincoln’s own journey with his immigrant parents. It’s a good comparison to make, and helps put I Am Not Starfire in the same field as Superman Smashes The Klan, refusing to leverage fictional bigotry and experiences for life lessons without providing context from reality. Through both accident and Starfire’s intention, Mandy is removed from her mother’s history and culture, leaving her isolated and a little unmoored. When Starfire’s past comes back to confront them, it offers both an opportunity to confront the faults in their relationship and become closer, allowing Mandy to reclaim the parts of her existence that are tied to her mother while also carving out an identity for herself.
Yoshitani’s art and bright color palette both read appropriately cartoony, giving space for the characters to have oversized physical reactions and big facial expressions. For fans of Teen Titans and Teen Titans Go! it will feel like a natural extension of those shows, yet also a more nuanced and artistic version of the characters and world they love, a credit to Yoshitani’s skills. It’s easy to hear Hynden Walch (the voice actor who plays Starfire on both series) when reading the book, thanks to Yoshitani’s art and Tamaki perfectly nailing the different grammar that Starfire uses.
I Am Not Starfire is a special book in a lot of ways, but one of the most wonderful things about it is how the creative team handles subjects that could be stumbling blocks. Mandy is queer and worries about the size and shape of her body, especially compared to her mother. But these aren’t treated as problems or obstacles; her sexuality and body are not turned into traumas or opportunities for continued pain. They are simply facts about her, the same as her freckles and green eyes. She’s aware that these things set her apart, but is not apologetic or angry at herself about either one. The book would be good without this careful shaping of the protagonist’s identity, but such deft characterization makes it great.
21 Comments
So do they explain who Mandy’s father is? It can only logically be one person…
It’s apparently never stated outright, but implied to NOT be Nightwing.
Ahh yes Bludhaven’s Ass
Midnighter: I’d recognize that arse anywhere, Grayson.
Naaah… it’s this fella:
I’ve read through pages and pages of hate, from men, on this book, and it’s shocking. Truly, truly hateful and repugnant and chilling.While the book looks good to me, it’s a million miles from what men expect from a book with a superhero in. I’ve been trying to think about why all the hate and I think it’s because this goes against the escapist fantasy that superhero represents for boys/men. The ‘punch anything to win’ and ‘use brute force to beat your problems’ and ‘be sexy and tough and only have problems about big, existential things’ stuff. When the problems are about identity and popularity and doubt and real feelings, men don’t want to see this in their superhero books. It’s hilarious that in a big multiverse like DC, where anything can happen and any story can be told, this is still unacceptable to some.What’s the answer? How do you stop the vile bile that the creators of I Am Not Starfire have been receiving? I don’t know aside from telling them that there are still books out there that tell the kind of stories they want to hear. It’s also up to all of us to point out that directing hate at innocent creators is not OK. There’s room for all kinds of stories.
I don’t think it matters, really.For as much engineered or organic blowback the “SJW stuff in my comics/games/films” get, I can’t think of any case where it’s actually mattered to the viability of said comic/game/film. All the protestations and media boycotts made no difference—if anything, they’re more often responsible for the product’s success (c.f. Anita Sarkeesian owing a huge chunk of her audience to her opponents basically proving her point.) The media that receives that kind of backlash and does poorly does so because they’re not that great, not because angry nerds actually did something to thwart the commercial opportunity.If I Am Not Starfire is good, it’ll do fine with the audience it’s intended for. It stinks that comment threads and Twitter will be filled with garbage takes, but that’s a truism for any subject or any media property. Social media is great for amplifying strong opinions that are not a good representation of pretty much any group.
The issue is will the audience it’s intended for find it?
People (and young white men, in particular it seems) seem to think that if something is theirs then it can’t be someone else’s too. And that if you like a characters or book or movie that something else coming out be it spin-off, sequel, or remake, doesn’t magically erase the thing you liked.
And at lot of general sexism and weight shaming because, let’s be serious, there aren’t a lot of straight men who are into Starfire for anything but her appearance.
Yeah the same crowd who are like “You’re ruining my childhood” anytime a reboot happens with a gender flip or a character being portrayed with a different ethnicity. It is like 1) nobody is making you watch it 2) you can still watch the original show that was supposedly such a big part of your childhood 3) if you don’t like it, that might mean you’re not the target audience, and the reboot is for people who are young today.
Also, a lot of people who weight shame when it comes to comics try and hide behind the excuse of “I don’t discriminate, but, well a real superhero would be in shape” but they’re forgetting that 1) if you have powers, your body shape is meaningless 2) extra large dudes like Blob or Fat Cobra can kick ass no matter what their BMI is 3) Mandy isn’t a superhero, she can look however she wants.
Yeah it is kind of funny watching guys who are really into specific parts about how Starfire looks pretend like they’re not attracted to a comic book character. Likely the same crowd who complained cause she was played by a Black lady in the live action DC show.
I don’t know about a million miles from, lots of readers remember Gert from the Runaways, for example.
I’ma dude. I liked it. Bought it for my niece shes not much for comics but enjoyed it greatly as did I.
Haven’t read the book yet, but have read a bunch of reviews on this and a big consensus (from both men AND women) is that Mandy is extremely unlikable, since she lashes out even to people who aren’t actually bullying her, and that the ending negates its own morals, since Mandy’s entire plot is that she wants to be her own person separate from Starfire, but at the end of the book she gets her superpowers and is apparently on track to be a superhero.Other negatives I’ve read include how underutilized and two-dimensional Blackfire is, that Blackfire decides that the final fight should be on the football field at Mandy’s high school, that Mandy looks absolutely nothing like her mom, and a LOT of anger that Nightwing isn’t the baby daddy. Likewise, that she’s a brand new character invented full cloth instead of using Mar’i, Nightwing and Starfire’s daughter from Kingdom Come.
Mandy is extremely
unlikable, since she lashes out even to people who aren’t actually
bullying her
So, she’s a teenager?
Mandy’s entire plot is that she wants to be her own person separate from
Starfire, but at the end of the book she gets her superpowers and is
apparently on track to be a superhero.
For my 15year old and his friends this is their main complaint. Even they said it was a dumb way to negate the entire message of the book.
Bleh. I think part of it is just that there’s a lot of Starfire/Nightwing fans among Starfire fans and they’re just kind of content starved since the comics have been weirdly on the “Barbara is his only true love” thing for a while. Also they included that bonding thing in Titans or Teen Titans where Tamaranians can only really fall in love with one person so it’s hard to sell a new romance. I also feel like the question of “who is her dad?” would be important since she’s half human and not much like her mom in looks or personality.
This book really resonated with me because I, also, am not Starfire. I’m beginning to think I’ll NEVER be Starfire!
well, certainly not with THAT attitude.
As someone who’s not especially current on comic stuff, thanks for the tip to check out Joelle Jones’ art. Her work looks fantastic and I’m going to be looking for more of her stuff now.
This story had a lot of manufactured conflict.
“Why doesn’t Mandy have any connection to her father or knowledge of him?”“If it’s Dick, it’s not like he’s not around, so he’s actively not engaging with her about the issue?”
“Why didn’t Starfire tell anything to Mandy about her alien background or heritage?”