Rescuing Alejandro leads to discovering that Mister Duke, as Ares, also has powers! He also has connections. Can Rana and her friends get far enough away from him to regroup and make some plans of their own? Find out in Starsigns #4 from Image Comics!
STARSIGNS #4
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Megan Levens
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Shawn Lee
Editor: Heather Antos
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 16. 2023
Previously in Starsigns: Rana and Clarence are on the trail of another person with powers. This leads to the immigration facility where young Alejandro has just used his abilities to escape with his mother. Clarence realizes he can track him into the woods. The little boy, in turn, can sense there are some people they need to meet and others they need to avoid. As luck would have it, Mister Duke finds him first. Alejandro warns his mother and the two of them run off. Tatiana catches up with Rana and Clarence, but together they are able to knock Leo out. Alejandro finds them and warns them about Mister Duke, who blazes into the scene and introduces himself as Ares!
OUT OF THE INFERNO
Starsigns #4 opens in the middle of the fire caused by Ares. A burning branch breaks off and threatens to fall on Rana and her new friends, but before they can react, a woman steps out and uses powers to create some force bubbles that hold off the burning debris. She directs Rana to carry the unconscious Alejandro while she picks up his mother. They slowly make their way out to her van, and she determines that Alejandro and his mother have been overcome by smoke, but should be okay.
She introduces herself as Cathy and insists they get into her van. They need to get out of here quickly. Clarence is the first to trust her, and the others follow his lead. They drive away from the area near the detention center, passing Rana’s truck, which is now on fire. Cathy tells them a little more about herself. Mister Duke had captured her and held her for a week.
And speaking of the devil, who should appear in the middle of the road but Mister Duke, Ares himself, in a new burst of flames. He calls Cathy, “Virgo,” and orders Leo to attack them. She is above them in a tree, but the branch she is perched on breaks. Ares leaves Cathy’s van to pull Leo out of the fire, and Cathy accelerates out of there, continuing her story. She is a fire chief from a town in Ontario. A month ago, she discovered she could make force bubbles which allowed her to better protect people from fires. But Leo caught up with her and knocked her out, and she ended up as Ares’ captive. They had plans to look for more people like them, so when she escaped, she followed the two of them in the hopes of being able to find others first.
Alejandro can sense that there are people coming after them, policemen, angry ones. Rana innocently wonders if they should ask them to help. Clarence is more skeptical, and Alejandro is certain they are not coming to talk. They continue driving until they reach a police checkpoint. They only have minutes to strategize, but between Clarence’s ability to change his appearance and Alejandro’s powers of suggestion, they pass themselves off as a couple of moms and kids going home after a soccer match.
Ares and Leo may not have gotten what they wanted, but Mister Duke has another trick up his sleeve!
MAKING CONNECTIONS
Cathy’s appearance just a couple pages into Starsigns #4 is a terrific entrance for what looks like a great character. She is middle-aged and stockier than the others, and she looks like she is strong. Indeed, she carries Alejandro’s mother out of the fire with no hesitation, and when we discover she is a fire chief, it feels completely appropriate. I also love that when she discovered her powers, she immediately figures out a way to make them useful at her job. Besides Leo, who is on Duke’s side, Cathy is the first other character who has any significant experience with him and we can tell right away that she is convinced he is trouble.
Ares is not only destructive, but he is also dramatic. He is confident that he can shift blame for the fires he causes, and it is the work of a moment for him to step out in front of the van in the midst of a blaze. The glow around his eyes suggests that he may be using his ability to track other Starsigns, the name Clarence came up with for them. Ares always looks so well-equipped and calm, like someone who is used to action, which is a striking contrast to the chaos he brings with his fire.
BOTTOM LINE: COMPELLING BUT DIVIDED
Starsigns #4 does a good job of balancing continuing character introductions, because we presumably need to get up to twelve Starsigns and move the plot along. I like that the characters continue to be diverse because I think it inherently makes their interactions richer. The story is ambitious, but it continues to be quite enjoyable to read.
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Starsigns #4
Mister Duke’s grandiose plans for the Starsigns may be slipping through his fingers.
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By day, she’s a mild-mannered bureaucrat and Ms. Know-It-All. By night, she’s a dance teacher and RPG player (although admittedly not on the same nights). On the weekends, she may be found judging Magic, playing Guild Wars 2 (badly), or following other creative pursuits. Holy Lack of Copious Free Time, Batman! While she’s always wished she had teleportation as her superpower, she suspects that super-speed would be much more practical because then she’d have time to finish up those steampunk costumes she’s also working on.