Fire & Ice reveals Blue Beetle’s killer may know Superman’s identity

Fire & Ice preview pages put the classic Justice League duo in Smallville but also imply Maxwell Lord may still know Superman’s secret identity.

Fire and Ice have long been an underrated DC Comics power duo. The long-time best friends were cornerstones of the Justice League during an era where the team was played mainly for laughs. 

Though they’ve been downplayed in recent years, the two still make their mark when they appear in a story. Most recently, in Power Girl Special #1, a brawl between Fire and Ice’s estranged boyfriend, Guy Gardner, led to serious property damage. 

Superman sent Fire and Ice to Smallville for a vacation that feels much more like a punishment. However, eagle-eyed readers may have picked up a scary detail about the Man of Steel’s new status quo. 

Fire & Ice preview implies Maxwell Lord still knows Superman is Clark Kent

In preview pages for Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 shared on AIPT Comics, Fire and Ice are intended to stay with Superman’s parents on The Kent farm but instead rent a boutique and set up a new headquarters. In a discussion with Martha Kent, she reveals that Smallville isn’t attacked that much – not now that Superman’s identity is secret again. 

Superman shared his identity with the world in the storyline The Truth Revealed, citing it felt insincere to have a dual identity while championing the truth as both Superman and Clark Kent. However, sometime after the reveal, Lex Luthor fired a ray that nullified that knowledge in the world, with only people on the Kent Farm at that exact moment in time retaining their knowledge of Superman’s dual identity. 

Fire and Ice still remember, though. No one is sure why, but they believe it’s because of the telepathic neural link the Justice League used to communicate, set up by Martian Manhunter. However, if Fire and Ice still retain their memories because of that link, a notorious DC villain may as well: Maxwell Lord. 

Maxwell Lord was the financier and leader of the Justice League during an era where Fire and Ice were on the team, and later with Superman. Lord eventually broke bad, though, becoming a leader of the spy organization Checkmate and dealing in the secrets of superheroes. He was the man responsible for killing the second Blue Beetle, Ted Kord. Wonder Woman later killed him before he could take over the world with a telepathically controlled Superman. 

Like many DC characters in the past decade, Lord has since been revived, and his timeline has somewhat reset. Most recently, he built a begrudging partnership with Wonder Woman to defeat his future daughter, a change of heart spurred by the Source Wall showing Lord a vision of Wonder Woman killing him in the previous timeline. 

Lord remains one of DC’s most scheming, opportunistic villains. If he could retain his memories of Superman’s identity in much the same way Fire and Ice did, it means he’s got an advantage only someone like Lex Luthor does. 

If there is a mystery to be solved with Maxwell Lord, Fire and Ice will have to fix their own issues first, as the preview also teases the two friends coming to blows in the near future. 

Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 hits stands September 5. For more DC Comics & comic book news, make sure to follow all our coverage.