Teen Titans #19

(w) Scott Lobdell and Tony Bedard     (a) Eddy Barrows

I don't even know where to start.


** SPOILERS AHEAD **


What a mess of an issue. Seriously. Was Scott Lobdell just trying to throw everything that came into his head directly into Teen Titans #19? It's got the full team (minus Skitter, whom I'll remember but Lobdell certainly wont), plus appearances by Psimon, Raven, Beast Boy, and the evil demon, Trigon. Yes, it makes sense for Raven to be floating around seeing as she's Trigon's daughter, but beyond that, nothing in Teen Titans #19 has any semblance of cohesion.

Let me back up.

The ONLY good part about this issue is the revelation that Wonder Girl's father is none other than Lennox from the pages of Wonder Woman. It makes sense, and it finally makes a decent connection between Cassie Sandsmark and the Olympians. But it's only one panel, and it's not really a revelation because Cassie can't see Trigon's imagination. So basically, the audience now knows who Cassie's father is (if you've been reading Wonder Woman and shame on you if not), thereby achieving some fairly freshman-grade dramatic irony.Oh-la-la. Also, Scott Lobdell's inexplicable obsession with inner monologue is tempered quite a bit by Tony Bedard's co-scripting. Thank you, Tony.

Now let's talk about the bad.

First, we get a guest appearance from Beast Boy after the events of The Ravagers #12. For those of you who haven't read that particular issue, don't worry; it hasn't been released yet. So basically, disregard Beast Boy because his inclusion is based on events that haven't technically taken place yet, and he's not all that important to the story anyway.

Next, let's talk about Psimon. He's was a B-list villain (at best) before the 'New 52', but now, he's more like a flunky because Scott Lobdell has turned him into a sniveling, angst-ridden teenager who gets pouty when everything doesn't go his way. I suppose in an unintentionally metafictional sense, Psimon is a great interpretation of a teenage super villain, but that doesn't change the fact that he's just an asshole and all I wanted to do was get past any time he was in-panel. Oh, and there's a part where Beast Boy and Psimon battle until their powers "cancelled each other out" which makes no sense because one has mental psychic abilities while the other has physical shapeshifting. In what world do those two things coincide? My brain hurts.

None of this is to mention Scott Lobdell's dialogue, which I (think I) know is his because it's so much more awkward sounding than the stuff Bedard wrote. Like when Kid Flash is a huge prick after saving Superboy and says, "The words you're looking for are 'thank' and 'you'!" It's a minor complaint, but when has Kid Flash ever used more words than necessary? He's a speedster that gets things done quickly. Or the gem from Raven; "Why do humans visit such harm upon their children?" Well, first off, that's terrible diction. Visit? Sure it works, but it just sounds really dumb. And that's not even taking into account that fact that humans, technically, really didn't do any of this to these kids. It was Harvest, REMEMBER?!?!?! So why is the human race being judged?

Teen Titans #19 is another issue of terribleness from Scott Lobdell. Tony Bedard's co-scripting helped out, but there's little to be achieved by putting duct tape on a giant engine made of random parts that barely works and is constantly on the brink of completely falling apart.

Oh, and Red Robin is still being a huge dick for no reason whatsoever.

GRADE

3/10

(DC NATION) JUNE 2, 2012

Young Justice
Season 2, Episode 6
"Bloodlines"

"Your name is Tim? And yours is...Dick?" -- Beast Boy

The writers saturated "Happy New Year!" with a host of new characters. Since then, they've been slowly building up these characters - including Blue Beetle, Wonder Girl, Batgirl, Tim Drake Robin, Lagoon Boy, and others - while not really introducing any new ones. That changes this week with the arrival of Bart Allen, a.k.a. Impulse.

That's right: IMPULSE! AND HE'S VOICED BY JASON MARSDEN!

Impulse was Barry Allen's descendent and one of the founding members of Young Justice in the comics who came from the 30th century to meet his ancestor and make a name for himself in the past. Young Justice edits this backstory a bit - Bart is now Barry's grandson from a post-apocalyptic world 40 years in the future. It's some pretty heavy stuff. And if that wasn't enough, the writers finally tie up the 'Real Roy Harper' storyline. The inclusion of Impulse to the Team's lineup shows that the writers intend to stock this show full of characters - old and new - that represent the idea behind 'Young Justice'. It's not a show strictly about the team from the comics, and it's not a rehash of the Teen Titans, no matter how much it may have seemed throughout the first season. Also, Bart reveals Nightwing and Robins' secret identities to Beast Boy, who responds with the quote at the top of the review.

While Impulse might be the focus of "Bloodlines", this really is a Flash-centric episode. When mysterious new villain Neutron attacks Central City, Flash is forced to team up with Impulse and Kid Flash - coming out of early retirement for his in-costume season two debut - and later on Jay Garrick doning the iconic tin helmet and blue pants. Until the final few minutes of the episode, Neutron is your basic faceless villain in place only to get these heroes together. He wears a power suit that shoots energy, but also emits cascading rings of energy - one after the other and overlapped - so the Flashes cant run up to him. It's a pretty far-fetched premise, even for a comic book series like this. There must have been an easier way to get the speedsters working together without crazy pseudo-science. How do the energy waves dissipate?

Flash and Impulse end of creating a funnel to stop the energy waves and Neutron overloads and explodes. But his body reconstructs itself into a confused and scared man who has no idea who he is and can't control his radiation. Bart ends up curing the man of his 'metagene' affliction using science from the future before anyone can see, chalking it up to coincidence when asked about what happened by the others.

On the Red Arrow side of things, 'Ray' Harper and Cheshire are in Tibet to follow their final lead to find the read Roy Harper. The unfortunate thing about this B-story is that it's pretty small considering the amount of time dedicated to Impulse's origin story. Red Arrow and Cheshire's plot all probably takes place within a ten minute window (in YJ-universe time), while the Central City plot takes the better part of an hour or two. So while they RA/Cheshire scenes are shorter and less abundant than the Flashes, it doesn't feel like we're missing much. The duo (with their dumb baby) end of actually finding Roy Harper, missing arm and everything. It's a little anti-climactic, but there's no doubt that next week's episode will be the fallout of Roy's return.

The big 'whoa' moment of the episode was the flashback to Bart Allen's future where the world has been burned and ash fills the skies. Like I mentioned earlier, it's pretty dark. Fortunately, the writers do a little full-circle action and reveal that Neutron knows Bart in the future and it was Neutron himself - who'd rather be called Nathaniel - who supplied Bart with the means to take away his powers as Neutron.

I wrote this review extra-long this week because Green Lantern: The Animated Series has ended it's first season and there is no announcement even for a second. I'm sure there will be, as Cartoon Network plans of releasing the season one DVD, inferring that there will be more seasons. Until then, I'll keep things going with Young Justice.

GRADE:

A

(COMIC) THE RAVAGERS #1

STORY: Howard Mackie
ART: Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund


If you (at all) have been following my coverage of Superboy and Teen Titans since January, you'll know how much I've come to dislike both series for their condescending narrative tones oddly juxtaposed against overly-complicated plots. These issues have been persistent since the 'New 52' relaunch back in September when each series relied on one another to keep a single, but painfully fractured story moving forward. Of course, two series wasn't enough for Scott Lobdell who pens both TT and Superboy - over the past month, "The Culling" has spanned both of Lobdell's series as well as Legion Lost to (not really) flesh out a story that ended with a fizzle. Apparently, even that wasn't enough and now, The Ravagers takes some of the most disposable characters from Lobdell's ridiculous imagination and spins them out into their own title.

Fan-favorite Caitlin Fairchild from Wildstorm's Gen13 takes center stage as she attempts to keep the victims of Harvest's culling safe in the real world after the Titans and Legionnaires managed to annoy him enough to make him run off to one of this other super-awesome underground facilities. Notice I did not say they defeated him. Other characters include the mysterious, lizard-like Ridge; the brother and sister duo, Thunder and Lightning; along with Terra and Beast Boy, two characters who have panel time only as fan service and nothing else. Seriously, both Terra and Beast Boy are little more than cardboard cutouts placed into panels so other characters can talk at them. They rarely interact with anyone else, and they go off on their own within the first five pages. DC pulled a big grift with this one, pulling buyers in with the promise of two beloved characters from an awesome TV show. These two will be the main reason I read The Ravagers at all, but if their panel time continues to be this sparse, it won't be worth the effort at all.

Thunder and Lightning are pretty stupid too. I mean, I'm no expert - nor even a scholar of Lobdell, and now Mackie's, work - but shouldn't these two have developed more control over their powers if they'd been fighting in the Scarlett Letter The Crucible all those years? A lot of tertiary characters are out of sight and out of mind, as well. Fairchild led dozens of kids away from Harvest, and now we only get to see six or seven of them.

What's worst about The Ravagers is that it's boring. When N.O.W.H.E.R.E. agents arrive and offer a surrender, many of the kids go off on their former captors, spewing ridiculousness like "I'll make you pay!" and "I'll have my revenge!" While Mackie doesn't insult the reader with his charmless syntax and diction like Lobdell, his overall narrative is so long in the tooth that it seems pointless to read it again. Why would I need another series about emotionally scarred super-kids to follow? I've already got countless X-Men titles, the constant awkwardness of Teen Titans, and the amazing quality of Young Justice over on Cartoon Network to keep me sane.


The Ravagers is just unnecessary, and that's a big weak point when it comes to a series that's supposed to be all-action all the time. The series is called The Ravagers, yet these MAIN CHARACTERS are not Ravagers! Rose Wilson and Warblade are Ravagers, and they appear and attack Fairchild & Co., but the entire title of this book is a total and complete misdirect. Who knows, maybe Mackie has amazing plans for this title down the line and I'll just need to sit it out and wait. Unfortunately for me, I have to endure characters like Ridge until DC gets it's shit together.

GRADE:

C

(DC NATION) APRIL 28th, 2012

Young Justice
Season 2, Episode 1
"Happy New Year"

Young Justice is an animated superhero show done right. One of the reasons I generally dislike more contemporary animated superhero shows is because the writers and producers tend to coddle the audience, assuming children aren't able to (or simply don't want to) understand more complex story elements. Fortunately, Young Justice is the exception to the rule, proving that taking a big leap with audience expectations can greatly pay off, especially when it appeases the hardcore comic book fans, too.

Looks like Cassie Sandsmark is YJ's Wonder Girl of choice!

"Happy New Year" starts off five years after the events of "Auld Acquaintances" and things are different. Dick Grayson has become Nightwing, allowing Tim Drake to take the Robin mantle (and join the Team); Blue Beetle, Beast Boy, Wonder Girl, Batgirl, Lagoon Boy, and Bumblebee have all joined the Team; M'gann and Superboy are no longer an item (but M'gann and Lagoon Boy are!); Aqualad, Artemis, and Kid Flash have apparently left the Team (they are nowhere to be seen); while Zatanna and Rocket are full-fledged members of the Justice League. WOW! I think that about covers it.

Most networks wouldn't dare allow a show (technically) aimed at children to deviate so harshly from the core framework of it's first, highly successful season. But just like the comics, the Team is has an ever-changing roster, and the writers have conveyed this fact excellently. It very much feels like this second season of Young Justice comes from the heart - the producers obviously hold these characters in high regard and want to use as many of them as possible. How much cooler is it to write a episodes with Robin and Nightwing? Or to include the under-appreciated, rather interesting second incarnation of the Blue Beetle? It's a win-win situation, as Cartoon Network now gets to sell soooo many more toys.

The second season of Young Justice is subtitled 'Invasion', a concept that comes to ahead when Wonder Girl and Batgirl take on Lobo, who himself is looking to complete a job by retrieving a Krolotean criminal. Lobo rips apart a seemingly innocent diplomat to reveal the small Krolotean operator inside. Video footage makes its way into the media and the question becomes, "How can we trust who is and isn't an alien?" While this story element may harken to Marvel's Secret Invasion event a few years ago, it remains to be seen if the Kroloteans have infested the superhero community.

At the end of last season, six superheroes went missing for 16 of the 24 hours that the Justice League was under Vandal Savage's mind control. In the present (or five years in the future if season one was 2011) Adam Strange - a scientist accidentally Zeta Beamed to the planet Rann - explains that the same six missing heroes are wanted criminals on Rann and across the galaxy. This revelation sets into motion the major arcs for 'Invasion': how do the Missing Six connect to Rann, why have the Kroloteans invaded Earth, why are they afraid of the Blue Beetle, and finally; who will we meet next?

Overall, "Happy New Year" is about 80% showcasing for the new faces audiences will be seeing going forward in Young Justice, and about 20% fantastic plot that moves the story forward while making connections to a bigger malice.

GRADE:

A+

Green Lantern: The Animated Series

Season 1, Episode 9

"In Love and War"

Zamarons! Yes! Green Lantern: TAS seems to really be picking itself up by the bootstraps - with three great episodes in a row, this show may just be an acceptable Green Lantern enterprise yet! By incorporating two new Lantern groups (and a technical third with the cameo from Saint Walker a few episodes back), Bruce Timm is really bringing Geoff Johns' multi-colored Corps dream to life. Of course, just like in the comics, the Sapphires mostly use love instead of have it, per se. I mean, their entity is the Predator, who infects hosts who use love as an excuse to commit vile actions. It came as no surprise when Kilowog's girlfriend from last episode showed up as a new Sapphire, then froze ol' 'Wog in pink ice.

More and more, the writers for Green Lantern: TAS are bringing elements from the comics into the show, however slowly. Carol Ferris hasn't made an appearance since the first episode, so it was nice to see her return, not only for continuity's sake, but also as a mirror image of her comic book self: a Star Sapphire. Carol's ability to resist the Sapphire's power shows another young Sapphire that the Zamarons have a fundamental misunderstanding of the meaning of love. Unfortunately, the show squanders a chance to build a "Rainbow Brigade" of its own (a la Green Lantern: New Guardians) by sending Carol back to Earth by the end of the episode.

"In Love and War" is definitely one of better episodes of the series so far. While not as strong as "Reckoning" (an episode I still regret not covering), it gives this animated GL universe even more depth without going overboard with colors quickly.

GRADE:

B+