REVIEW: ‘Inferno Girl Red,’ Issue #1

Inferno Girl Red #1 is written by Mathew Groom, illustrated by Erica D’Urso, colored by Igor Monti (with assistance from Sabrina Del Grosso & Lorenzo Tammetta), and lettered by Becca Carey. It’s published by Image Comics. Cassia Costa moves back to Apex City with her mother after scoring entry into a prestigious private school. However, things go south when Apex is mysteriously teleported into another dimension by a malevolent cult. In order to save all of Apex’s citizens, Cassia must embrace the power of the long-lost protector Inferno Girl Red and be a blazing light of hope in the darkness.

This is a comic that I’ve been looking forward to for quite a while. Not only did Cassia win me over with her debut appearance in the Supermassive one-shot, but the very concept of the book has plenty of elements that appeal to me. A teenage superhero? Check. Magical beings in a high school setting? Check. Part of the Massiveverse? Check, check, and check. But the core concept that the creators keep coming back to – and what eventually hooked me – is that of faith.

Cassia is shown to be a very practical person, requiring proof of things in order to believe that they happened. In contrast, the Inferno Girl Red powers are fueled by pure belief, and that isn’t the only time the theme is touched upon. During one of Cassia’s classes, the teacher discusses the placebo effect and how test subjects actually got better because they believed the medicine would work. Cassia’s mother loses out on a job because the editor doesn’t believe she actually saw Inferno Girl Red. It’s this mix of thought-provoking themes and superheroics that made the Massiveverse a standout in the world of comics. But the cherry on top is the comic’s length; it’s triple the size of the standard issue, allowing Groom to take his time and flesh out Cassia and her world.

What also makes Inferno Girl Red #1 stand out is D’Urso’s art. To call it gorgeous doesn’t do it justice – I had to re-read the issue three times, as D’Urso packs a lot of details into the frame. She makes all of her characters visually distinct – especially Cassia, who is easily identifiable with her long curly hair and the distinct patch of snow-white skin around her otherwise brown skin due to vitiligo. The same level of detail is applied to Cassia’s Inferno Girl Red costume, which feels like a beautiful fusion of Ms. Marvel and a Super Sentai hero.

Monti and his colorists infuse Inferno Girl Red #1 with plenty of life, from the glittering skyscrapers that make up Apex City to the dark, writhing flames that the demons battling Cassia are made of. Carey also gives it the kind of lettering you’d only see in a superhero book. A key example? When Cassia first transforms into Inferno Girl Red, she is described as the “blazing light of hope in the dark,” and Carey arranges that statement in a way that catches the reader’s eye and continues the Massiveverse’s trend of homaging Tokusatsu shows.

Inferno Girl Red #1 gives its titular heroine a blazingly bold debut while keeping the elements that have made the Massiveverse a smash hit. I’d definitely recommend picking it up, as it’s a comic made for young adult fiction readers and superhero fans alike.

Inferno Girl Red #1 is available wherever comics are sold.