Green Flames Galore! Beatriz Da Costa aka Fire Appreciation!

[HandofPrometheus]

I'm curious to hear what others think of the developments for Beatriz in the pages of CHECKMATE. Without spoilers, I was happy to have some added layers of character added to her background that made excellent use of her history as a "James Bond" style international spy.
But it got a bit dark, eh? I disliked seeing the brightness of the character diminished, if that makes sense.

I took her attitude and actions in that book a response to Ice death. Ice was "dead" during this run right?

[SJNeal]

I took her attitude and actions in that book a response to Ice death. Ice was "dead" during this run right?

For the most part, yeah. However Ice was resurrected near the end of Gail Simone's Birds of Prey run, which was running at the same time as Rucka's Checkmate.

I don't recall if Rucka even showed Bea's reaction to the news - Tora's return was pretty much ignored by the wider DCU, something that really frustrated me at the time.

[MajorHoy]

from Who's Who Update '88 #1 (August 1988)

[Sutekh]

The human torch powers were pretty cool. Solid objects didn't hurt her and it was unique in the DCU. There isn't much transformation powers.

Transformation/'Body of...' powers are some of my favorite.

Body of Metal is relatively common, with characters like Commander Steel, Ferro Lad, Colossus, Mettle or Ironclad, and Body of Stone with Stone Boy, Blok, the Thing, Rockslide, etc. Body of Air (or Gaseous Form) seems common with lesser seen characters like Mist Master, Gas Girl, Vapor and Veil. Body of Energy is super-cool, with Lazon, Quanto, Lightning, Fire, Air Wave, Monica Rambeau, X-Ray, etc. covering that beat.

Body of Water/Liquid seems to be the rarest, rarer even than Body of Ice or Body of Sand or the ability to transmute the body into all sorts of matter or energy (Amazing Man, Absorbing Man, etc.).

Fire being able to turn into fire is certainly a neat option, and not at all as common as the ability to just fly and throw zaps, as 'body of energy' types seem more likely to turn into light or electricity.

Still, I liked the idea that her flames were mystical, and not some meta-gene thing, and could create illusions (or change her costume). It made her seem more 'genie' like, able to form fake things from 'smokeless fire.'

[WonderScott]

I wouldn't mind seeing Fire and Ice joining the Justice League with Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman, alongside Vixen, Element Woman, Zatanna, and Star Sapphire too.

I like a big JL team and they could use more women members.