There's good news and bad news about Emma Frost. The good news is, it's not the T & A book that many (including myself) were expecting, given the sleazy Greg Horn covers and the interiors by a former Witchblade artist, not to mention Bill Jema's unabashed "bad girls for fanboys" attitudes. The bad news is, it's a pretty dull book which seems to miss what makes the character likable now and what made her likable previously, instead turning in a fairly generic ugly duckling prep school story that feels like every B-movie following that general plot you've seen. It's perfectly capable, as far as craft goes, but it's not terribly stirring, and those who have liked the striking personality that Emma Frost has developed under Grant Morrison will find little to like here.
It seems to me that the reason for spinning this book off was the popularity that Emma Frost has gained in New X-Men under Morrison's tenure. So I'm a little puzzled as to why the creators would choose to write the character in such a way as to be unrecognizable as the same character. Gone is the sexy appearance and attitude, the deliberately bitchy and arrogant personality that would give Joan Collins pause, and in its place is an average girl from a rich family. The story arc here seems to be that Emma, tired of being the bland girl everyone picks on, becomes Emma Frost, haughty telepathic bitch-queen of the universe. Which might not be a bad arc, except that we know where the character is going to wind up, and her circumstances as they stand are considerably less interesting.
Certainly, there's room for a good story in the "ugly duckling becomes a swan" premise. It's been done many times before, whether you go for the triumphant or (as you can argue with Emma) the tragic, as a nice girl becomes a supervillain and then a somewhat spoiled and amoral super-hero. Unfortunately, Bollers is sticking right with the stock plots here. Cold, verbally abusive father? Check. Over-achieving sister? Check. Bullies? Check. Hot young teacher who our girl has a crush on? Check. Mild sickness indicating the onset of mutant powers? Check. We've seen it all a hundred times before, and though strong dialogue and characterization can make stock plots like this sing, Bollers doesn't seem to have that going for him here either. Given what I've just told you, I imagine that each of you will be able to predict each story page as you go along, carrying only your prior story experience with you.
To be honest, I was expecting some cringe-worthy art from Randy Green. He's done work I like, but I was worried that he might have been encouraged to let the cheesecake tendencies fly in this book. As it turns out, that's not the case, and his work is pretty much solid, reminiscent of the style of some of the other Tsunami books like New Mutants and Mystique. There's even a touch of John Romita Jr. in his work, especially when it comes to the carefully-crafted character designs. His Emma is a somewhat stringy-haired, undeveloped girl who doesn't stand out, her teacher and brother both have kind faces that give away their natures, and the only real example of cheesecake is sister Adrienne's decolletage, which speaks volumes about the character. He gets a little melodramatic at times, as on the closing page or in the culmination of Emma's visit to the dance, but overall the art here is the stronger part of the book.
Given that Emma Frost is really about three different characters - Claremont's version, the mid-90s version and Morrison's version - you'd think that Bollers would have been able to find an interesting take on the character to play with in an ongoing series. Instead, he's essentially created a fourth version, the plain jane Emma of youth, and not only do I find it hard to believe that this timid thing could become the likably arrogant Emma of the modern era, I don't find her interesting as a character on her own merits.
