DC Brings Back a Bizarre Piece of Justice League International Lore

The Dawn of DC initiative is now in its second year, provided some wild and reverential new scenarios for DC's heroes and villains. In the process, a lot of lesser-known or long-forgotten story elements have gotten a new life — including a piece of comic precedent tied to the Justice League International. Spoilers for Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #5 from Joanne Starer, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain, and Ariana Maher below! Only look if you want to know!

The issue finally gets to the bottom of Beatriz da Costa / Fire and Tora Olafsdotter / Ice's current predicament, as the increasingly complicated hijinks in Smallville threaten to ruin their relationships and superhero careers. Both Bea and Tora eventually realize that another supernatural presence is also causing problems: the mask of Kooey Kooey Kooey, the sentient island that they both dealt with while with the Justice League International. The sentient mask soon chooses Rocky, Tora's new friend in Smallville, and is forcing her to terraform the town to its liking.

What Is Kooey Kooey Kooey?

First introduced in 1989's Justice League International Annual #3, Kooey Kooey Kooey is a locale that Blue Beetle and Booster Gold decide to turn into a business venture, spending all of the League's savings on a themed casino. Once the island is revealed to be sentient — and not a fan of the Leaguers — chaos naturally ensues. Later on, the island appeared to be destroyed by a massive tidal wave, leading to the mask in Bea and Tora's possession being the only remaining remnant.

What Is Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville About?

In Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville, Superman sent the former Justice Leaguers packing for Smallville to lie low following their extremely public and utterly disastrous mission in Baltimore, and in doing so doomed them to a fate worse than death: irrelevance. Ice finds herself drawn to the quiet life and dreams of planting roots. But Fire…well, Fire will do just about anything to get the hell outta dodge and back on the Super Hero circuit—including challenging the DC Universe's biggest villains to a knock-down, drag-out, live-streamed brawl in the streets of Smallville! 

"My HOPE, if I've done my job right, is that they'll be surprised by how much it feels like the old Justice League International books while still being new and accessible," Starer told ComicBook.com in an exclusive interview when the series began. "I've tried extremely hard to put all my love and passion for the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire series into this, to give it the heart and comedy that those stories had. But you can absolutely pick this up if you don't know anything about Fire and Ice. It's pretty simple: one has fire powers, and one has ice powers! They're best friends, and now they're in Smallville, starting their lives over!"

What do you think of DC bringing back Kooey Kooey Kooey in Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!