We’re a few years into the DC Rebirth relaunch, which has married together some parts of the DC Comics continuity in surprising ways. Quite a lot of characters have been recontextualized for the modern era over the past few years, or simply plucked back out of the more obscure parts of the canon. The latest issue of Catwoman definitely dealt with the later option, reintroducing one of the most infamous and baffling supervillains that DC has ever had — Snowflame, the cocaine-powered foe who made one memorable appearance in 1988’s New Guardians #2. While his return was already hinted at in Catwoman #23’s solicitation, fans might not have necessarily expected how he would make his modern-day debut. Spoilers for Catwoman #23 below! Only look if you want to know!
The issue sees Selina traveling to Isla Nevada, a tropical island that is set to host a high-profile auction gala in recent days. Selina soon crosses paths with the proprietor of that gala — Snowflame, who has offered to drive her to her lodging. It’s clear that Selina and Snowflame (whose real name, apparently, is Stefan) have interacted with each other in the past, even though Selina jokes that it’s been “a few decades” since they’ve met — or he’s updated his wardrobe.
As they drive to the villa, Selina addresses how he faked his death all those years ago, and they proceed to talk about the Kisin legend that has begun to take over the island. Throughout it all, Snowflame’s penchant for cocaine comes up a handful of times, including him even offering to “get the party started” with Selina beforehand.
Selina then goes to the gala, where Snowflame’s auction – which includes water from the Lazarus pit, a decoy White Lantern ring, Codpiece’s cannon, and a list of intel collected on criminals. He then is abruptly escorted to safety partway through the auction, leaving his return a little unclear.
Snowflame first made his comics debut in New Guardians #2, and was pitted against the team when they fought him in Columbia. As his name would suggest, he gained superhuman speed, strength, immunity, and pyrokinesis from snorting cocaine, something that created an interesting conflict across the issue. By the issue’s end, Snowflame appeared to die in an explosion, but he has since lived on in comics infamy, spawning webcomics, video tributes, and countless other tributes.
To an extent, Snowflame’s ridiculous single appearance has become a bit of a running joke among some comics fans, something that his Miami Vice-like attitude in the modern-day certainly plays up to a tee. While the rest of Catwoman #23 might earn a mixed response from readers (especially the introduction of Tambra Quartz, a social-media-savvy antagonist with a “cult” of followers who could be interpreted as a response to some of the controversies that have surrounded the issue’s writers in recent years), at least the issue officially ushers Snowflame into the modern era. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take another few decades to see him appear in comics again.
What do you think of Snowflame’s modern-day debut in Catwoman #23? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
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