REVIEW: TEEN TITANS #15

(w) Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza
(p) Brett Booth
(i) Norm Rapmund

In the new year, I've resolved to moderate myself a bit more when it comes to my dislike of certain comic books and/or their creative teams. In that spirit, I'll give it up to Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza for staying consistent in their use of overbearing inner monologue. In issues past, the've confined this technique to the character on-panel, but in the case of Teen Titans #15, Lobdell and Nicieza go the extra mile by injecting Red Robin's awkward and creepily accurate inner monologue into the sequences featuring the rest of the Teen Titans, thereby making Tim Drake an omniscient narrator in the story he's in...and...wait...

Red Robin's personal thoughts seem to predict his teammates exact sequence of actions, and after reading the part of this issue featuring Tim and the Joker, it makes a bit more sense -- Tim's thoughts are being broadcast to the world. There's no other way to explain how Joker knows exactly what Tim is thinking. How Tim doesn't know his mind has been hijacked on that scale is anyones guess. Well, except for Lobdell and Nicieza.

Besides the inner monologue, the rest of Teen Titans #15 is enjoyable. The guest appearance from Batgirl is a welcome addition to a team that doesn't have a lot of direction without a shadowy leader. Wonder Girl stays in character with her needless opposition to Batgirl's driven style. Kid Flash also gets the spotlight, but in a horrific way as his actions lead to a city-wide Joker serum epidemic. While the connection between the Red Robin/Joker confrontation and the terrors befalling the Teen Titans is a rather thin one, it's still fun to see just how broken and twisted the Joker has become. In a way, it shows not only the Joker's madness, but also how predictable adolescents can be, to the point that Joker was able to assume their every move and stay one step ahead the entire time.

Teen Titans #15 is a fun read, if not a strong tie-in to "Death of the Family". Yes, the Joker does indeed psychologically torture Red Robin, but he's been doing that to all the Bat-allies, and this meeting didn't seem to have much meaning to it besides informing Tim that his teammates would be responsible for genocide. Why is Joker going after Tim's teammates? Isn't the whole point of his rampage to get at Batman, not Red Robin? It seems like Lobdell and Nicieza are using the transitive property to justify an attack on the Teen Titans. Hopefully, Tim will get that pesky thought-projecting bug taken care of by next issue so Joker doesn't have as much to work with.

GRADE

6.8/10

REVIEW: TEEN TITANS #14

(w) Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza

(p) Ale Garza

"The Origin of Wonder Girl" has been my favorite arc of Teen Titans so far, mostly because it's the first story to actually resemble a 'putting the team together' aesthetic. While this should have happened in the first...you know...arc...it didn't because it was constantly being overshadowed by N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and the perceived deep integration with Superboy. Now, readers are finally getting some back story on the members of the Teen Titans, starting with Wonder Girl and the Silent Armor.

Last month, I explained how much I enjoyed Fabian Nicieza's writing for Teen Titans #13 and that if things kept going the way they were, TT could really grow into one of DC's best series. And while last issue took two steps forward, TT#14 takes one step back by moving Nicieza from sole scripting duties to being a co-writer with Scott Lobdell. It's a little frustrating to see Lobdell's spin on an arc that I've loved up to this point. Thankfully, it seems Nicieza put the nix on frequent thought balloons and stiff inner dialogue, though, so it's not nearly as painful to read as some of Lobdell's earlier issues.

A large chunk of Teen Titans #14 is focused on the team members themselves, which is a far cry from Lobdell's plot-only writing style. Solstice gets a visit from a mysterious phantom-esque character named Lance who claims to be able to alter metagenes and help Kiran regain her human appearance. I found myself wondering if this was Kurt Lance from Team 7, then a small editors note mentioned I should check out Birds of Prey for some insight into Lance's identity. Meanwhile, Red Robin and Superboy have to accept that Wonder Girl is going to live with the Silent Armor, something that casts a pall across the three of them, while the rest of the team jokes about their sour attitudes.

The final pages of the issue lead directly into next month's "Death of the Family" tie-in issue. Teen Titans is slowly, but surely, getting better. N.O.W.H.E.R.E., Harvest, and "The Culling" were all meant to be factors that would add to the Teen Titans mythology and lend meaning to the creation of the team. Instead, Lobdell botched the entire storyline early on, never fixed it, and now has to dig his way up toward a better book. It's working, but each month I find myself worrying that the title will dip back to it's former platitudes.

GRADE

7.5/10

FEATURED REVIEW: TEEN TITANS #13

(w) Scott Lobdell with Fabian Nicieza
(p) Ale Garza

Now that Scott Lobdell has duties elsewhere (come back soon for my Superman #13 review), he's leaving Teen Titans in the hands of Fabian Nicieza, whose most recent work with Kid Flash in DC Universe Presents #12 was completely sub-par. Now, I assumed, going into this issue, that I would not be impressed. I figured that Lobdell's plot coupled with Nicieza's scripts would just be too much for my brain to handle, causing me to shut down mid-issue. To my surprise, Teen Titans #13 surpassed all my low expectations and made the title viable as a 'top tier' book once again. Nicieza brings a sensibility to the general plotting that makes it far less campy and stylized that most of what Lobdell writes directly.

"The Origin of Wonder Girl" continues this month and still stands as my favorite Teen Titans arc thus far. Not only do we get the more comprehensive story behind Cassie and Diesel's relationship, but we get more development from Superboy and Red Robin, though more indirectly by their responses. Before this arc, Cassie Sandsmark was little more than a girl with mystical armor - no real personality or depth beyond her fierce and aggressive attitude. Last month's Teen Titans #0 was great for fleshing out Tim Drake as Red Robin, but Drake's a character who generally wasn't altered much beyond some minute details. Cassie, on the other hand, seems to have no connection to Wonder Woman or the Greek gods at all.

Previous issues of Teen Titans have brought information dumps, but never have they been enjoyable or subtle in their context. For some reason, Lobdell always figured it would be best to just give readers all the information at once, leaving reactions and discussion until the end when we (and the characters in the book) could take a moment to reflect on what was revealed and/or explained. This was a big mistake because this isn't how people operate! We interact with each other while storytelling, especially when the story is interesting and the listener wants to know more. It might seem like a small bit of technique, but the fact that Nicieza has Superboy and Red Robin interjecting from time to time with offhanded comments and observations makes a world of difference when it comes to making a story more believable. Add to that a reduced use of the inner monologue Lobdell is so fond of, and Teen Titans #13 might just take the cake for my favorite single issue of the series so far.

It's unfortunate, but a lot of Scott Lobdell's missteps are not a result of the title he's working on, but rather a fundamental misunderstanding of how people read comics and how they stay interested and compelled in the contemporary marketplace. For Lobdell - a writer who came to prominence in the adjective-soaked weirdness of the 1990s - trying to write the Teen Titans effectively was not working. His tailored style didn't fit with today's teenagers, and it was systematically pulling the series into the dirt. I'm glad Fabian Nicieza is getting a chance to make the series good. Hopefully, he can keep this trend going and make Teen Titans one of the 'must have' titles of the 'New 52'.

GRADE

8/10

DC UNIVERSE PRESENTS #12

STORY: Fabian Nicieza
ART: Jorge Jimenez

Thus far, DC Universe Presents has done a grand job reintroducing DC characters into the 'New 52' universe. The first five issues revamped Deadman with a grander scope and better development than years of pre-'New 52' stories did. And while "Challengers of the Unknown" was a bit out there, "Savage" brought James Robinson's visceral interpretation of Vandal Savage and the relationship he shares with his estranged daughter. This month, Fabian Nicieza and Jorge Jimenez bring a single issue dedicated to Kid Flash, a fan-favorite whose 'New 52' retool has been sparse, to put it lightly. Up to now, Bart Allen has existed to provide Teen Titans with some much needed (yet frustratingly bad) comic relief. When the announcement went out that DC Universe Presents #12 would focus on the youngest speedster in the DCU, I got pretty excited at the prospect of learning more about Kid Flash. Unfortunately, all that Nicieza and Jimenez accomplished was introducing some lame new villains. What started out as a promised look into the origins of Bart Allen turned into a by-the-books solo adventure for Bart that puts him at odds with the Dinosoids...or the Saurians...the cover says one thing while the story says another.

Sure, 'Dinosaurs in Manhattan!' is an astounding prospect, but Nicieza manages to find the lamest way to present the idea. After breaking the fourth wall for a moment - something that would be far more effective if Kid Flash did that...ever - Bart takes us to New York City, where he's in hot pursuit of the flying Dinosoid. It's a real tragedy that the faintly developed Kid Flash's only real characterization has been his lust for girls. Sure, it's a tried and true teenage stereotype that's used to convey a variety of different stories, but isn't Bart dating Solstice? Did they break up? On top of that, Bart goes on a tangent about Mystery Island, claiming that it "bisects time and space and is a sinkhole for the impossible". In what issue was any of that explained? I went back and reread the Superboy-Teen Titans two-parter and found no mention of any of this. If the intention was for this issue to continue the mystery surrounding the island filled with dinosaurs, it does so in the most blunt and frustrating way possible. But back to the Dinosoids (I feel so silly every time I type that.)

The three rogue Dinosoids go by the mega-cliched Dac, Teryx, and Steg. In a bout of utter mediocrity and laziness, Dac is a Pterodactyl-like dino-kid, Teryx is your run-of-the-mill variety just so he can look the coolest (basically a human with a tail and red skin); and Steg, with a bardb-lined tail akin to those of a Stegosaurus. They hoped a ride on Danny the Street to Earth from their dimension that's somehow connected to Mystery Island, and what starts out as seemingly innocent fun in a new dimension turns into a Dinosoid Power convention when Steg and Dac reveal that they'd like to turn all of humanity into Dinosoids and build a Dinosoid empire on Earth. If I never have to write the word 'Dinosoid' again after this review, I'll be happy. Oh, and the story isn't over. You have to read the ending in Teen Titans #12. So, yeah.

In interviews, Nicieza outlined his idea for this Kid Flash story, how it would begin as a back-up story in Teen Titans #11, continue on into DC Universe Presents #12 with a bulk of the story and a lot more revealed about Kid Flash's origins, and end in a back-up in Teen Titans #12. While in theory this sounds interesting, in reality, it's utter silliness. The five-page 'opening act' is so bare-bones on story that it's completely not worth reading, and the fact that you're forced to buy Teen Titans #12 just to get the finale is money-grubbing. I really was looking forward to this odd little three-part experiment. And perhaps in better hands, it could have been pulled off. But trying to convey a story in such odd increments seems almost backwards, so unconventional that it actually doesn't work. If this story is the model for the technique, it will be quite some time before anyone tries it a second time.

GRADE

D