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

TEEN TITANS #12

STORY: Scott Lobdell
ART: Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

Whenever I review Teen Titans, I find my thoughts tend to devolve into "Scott Lobdell can't write." That's a harsh accusation and one that's barely accurate. Scott Lobdell does indeed have a lot of good ideas - he thinks big and writes even bigger. Too often, unfortunately, those thoughts are simply too big, causing Lobdell's entire structure to fall apart. This was the case for "The Culling", which was rooted in interesting causes, but was conveyed in such disarray, that it ended up being one of the weakest story arcs of 2012. On the flip side, Teen Titans #12 points out another monthly problem with Lobdell's writing: the inability to accurately express teenage dialogue.

Just like in the real world, each character in DC's universe has their own voice. One of the chief goals of a comic book writer is to convey said voice effectively while simultaneously injecting their own narrative flair. Writers like Geoff Johns and Scott Snyder understand this concept - one doesn't change so much as bend a character in an effort to develop something new. Pushing these heroes to their limits is acceptable, but Bruce Wayne's favorite band or hairstyle doesn't change from creative team to creative team.

One of the reasons Teen Titans feels so half-baked is because there hasn't been any effective character development. Basically, he's so wrapped up in his plot to pay any close attention to smaller details that build a character from the ground up. I've spent paragraphs outlining Lobdell's missteps, so I'll spare those of you who follow my coverage of TT. But this lack of development is really only the beginning of the problem.

Having cardboard cutouts as your main characters in issue 12 is a huge fault with Teen Titans #12. Without more concrete personalities, each member of the Titans ends up sounding like an uptight, 30-something rather than adventurous teenagers who have already seen more horrible things than most of us will ever see in our entire lives. "I'm sorry...but the longer I am fully covered in the Silent Armor, the less control I have over my actions," is about the blandest way this concept can be conveyed. Seriously, what kid talks like that? A much more believable sentence might read, "This armor...the more I wear it, the more I lose control" - it get's the same point across without sounding cold and clinical, like reading from a script or cue cards. Later, Red Robin chimes in with this gem, in reference to Cassie's soul becoming engulfed by the mystic armor: "I know that is you inside that armor!" A sentence so awkwardly structured that I had to read it again just to make sense of it in my head.

This strained, clumsy working of the English language isn't even normal for refined adults, let alone superpowered teenagers. In a motel off the Jersey Turnpike, Bunker, Kid Flash, and Solstice are holed up while Miguel recovers. As the ever-tenacious Bunker attempts to go help Superboy and Red Robin, only to fall to the floor in pain, Solstice analyze's the team's situation in yet another terribly awkward sentence: "Miguel, if we're going to be a team, which you have been such a strident proponent of, then we have to take our leader's orders seriously." (Aside from the atrocious substitution of commas in place of hyphens) When writing, it's a general rule of thumb to use the least amount of words possible while still effectively conveying your idea. The revised version of the above sentence could easily read, "If you want this team to work - something you've been fighting for quite adamantly - then you've got to follow Red Robin's orders." While not wildly different, the latter sentence flows so much more easily and naturally.

But enough of Jay's English Class.

Teen Titans #12 continues to look at the origin of Wonder Girl. And honestly, this arc has been far more interesting than anything so far - I really enjoyed the mythology and mystery surrounding the Silen Armor. Last month, we found out the Silent Armor was forged in the center of the sun and somehow causes Cassie pain and cuts years off her life. Now, things are getting harry as Cassie loses control to the armor more and more, harming her teammates in the process. Red Robin and Superboy hatch a plan to give Kon-El a sliver of separation between Cassie and the armor so he can use his telekinesis to separate them, thereby destroying the armor.

That's when homeboy Diesel shows up. Honestly, he's not that important yet. After taking the essence of the armor from Cassie while ripping her a new one for leaving him for dead, Diesel doesn't even try and fight Cassie - he just flies away. Cassie's remarks about the situation on the last page help make things interesting as far as cliffhangers go, but nonetheless, Diesel is still a pretty big enigma.

I spent a lot of time on this post, mostly because I feel that in the past, I may have lambasted Scott Lobdell without anything to back it up. Sure, I explained my general misgivings with his style, but I really wanted to find examples, evidence to my claims that the man just keeps tripping over one of the easiest character archetypes in the literary world: the awkward teenager. So while I'm admittedly impressed with this arc's mythological aspects, the Teen Titans themselves are still about as interesting as a plank of wood.

Also, where's Skitter?

GRADE

C+

TEEN TITANS #11

STORY: Scott Lobdell
ART: Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

It seems that my issues with Teen Titans and Superboy in the first nine months of DC's 'New 52' had a lot more to do with the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. arc than I realized. While I still feel that Scott Lobdell's scripts are a bit long in the tooth for a pair of series about teenagers, I've been enjoying both titles loads more since the end of "The Culling". A big part of this change of heart comes from more character development, something Lobdell neglected in favor of a convoluted, painfully intertwined plot.

Teen Titans #11 kicks off with a bang, as Kid Flash, Bunker, and Solstice come under attack by Loose Canon, a surly blue fellow who can feed on energy then weaponize it (similar to, say, Cable or Ms. Captain Marvel). It's actually a fun little fight scene that ends when Cassie stops moping in her room and over-charges Canon, causing him to burn out. The actual fight really isn't all that important, while the reason for the fight boils down to Bunker's mistake. After hearing of Red Robin's intention to disband the Titans - in last month's issue - most of the team disagreed with Tim's course of action. Bunker takes things into his own hands and puts out an ad on Craigslist to recruit new members. Obviously, things don't turn out well, but the entire episode does a great deal to bolster Bunker's personality. Unlike Red Robin, Superboy, and Wonder Girl - who have all been revamped - Bunker is a brand new character, a fact Lobdell has been taking advantage of in Teen Titans, as well as in Superboy, where the gay Mexican guest-starred earlier this month (what a weird sentence to type).

Lobdell has been deftly building up Miguel Jose Barragan as the team's heart and soul. Red Robin is too buys brooding, Kid Flash never takes things seriously, Superboy isn't an actual member of the team yet, Cassie is a total basket case, Solstice is still trying to figure out how to lead a normal life, and Skitter is barely even seen these days. Bunker gets to be the straight man - the most normal character of the bunch - who has to deal with his teammates craziness. And to be honest, the whole Craigslist idea isn't that bad in today's modern age of technological communication.

Side note that really has nothing to do with the rest of the issue/this review: Superboy looks like he flew out of 1994. It's 2012, Scott - wearing shades at night, black tank tops, and motorcycle gloves went out of style with Culture Club and Clear Pepsi.

The main focus of Teen Titans this month comes down to Wonder Girl and the mysterious Silent Armor she wears. After quickly defeating Loose Canon, Cassie seems to lose all control over the ancient armor "forged in the heart of the Sun..." Without much wanring, Wonder Girl attacks and defeats Solstice, Kid Flash, and Bunker before Red Robin and Superboy show up to find Cassie begging for death before she takes another life. Brett Booth makes the right decision to withhold showing the readers the full power of the Silent Armor until the final panel. Instead of revealing the blood-thirsty version of Wonder Girl mid-issue, Booth keeps her off-panel while using the Titans' reactions to convey the horror of their friend taken by a godly power.

GRADE

B

(COMIC) TEEN TITANS #10

STORY: Scott Lobdell
ART: Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

And just like that, Scott Lobdell is getting it right! This month's Superboy acted as part one of "The Mysterious Mystery of Mystery Island", and Teen Titans #10 brings us the other half of the post-"Culling" aftermath with Red Robin, Kid Flash, Solstice, and Bunker.

Since Lobdell used the first nine months of the 'New 52' to tell his sprawling, epically nonsensical arc about N.O.W.H.E.R.E., it makes sense to break this "cool down" into two parts, allowing for each character to get a bit more panel time as a result. While the writing isn't as personal as the scenes between Superboy and Wonder Girl, Lobdell still manages to give each character a lot more depth. For one, Kid Flash and Solstice have a thing. I'm sure Lobdell would argue that he planted the seeds for this relationship throughout the N.O.W.H.E.R.E. N.O.N.S.E.N.S.E., but he really didn't. Either way, the scene doesn't come off as forced or pandering - these kids actually seem like they enjoy each other's company.

About seven pages in, we meet up with Superboy and Wonder Girl at the point where Superboy #10 ended, bringing them to the 'other side' of the island, which meant it literally flipped over. With the team reassembled, Kon-El and Cassie discuss telling the others about the crazy flipped island thingy they discovered, but ultimately decide to not say anything based on the fact that no one knows what it means, so why cause more anxiety. After that, the island's nature isn't touched on again. This would be one of my only criticisms of this issue - Lobdell totally drops the island story in favor of one-on-one character dialogues. Honestly, the character development is much better anyway (and very much needed), so it's not even that big of a deal. It's mostly annoying on principle.


Tim Drake has a major crisis of conscience this month as he fails to see his succes beyond the failures that that came with it. Artemis was murdered (still confused as to why such a minor character made such a big impact), Danny the Street was destroyed, and Skitter is still missing. Tim feels like he didn't do enough, and decides to disband the Titans while chatting with Bunker. It's a childish decision - one based on fear - and Bunker stops Tim to knock some sense into him. Like many other heroes before him, Tim gets the 'responsibility' from Bunker about being a leader, taking initiative, making the tough decisions, and pressing on even when the going gets tough.


This, of course, leads us into the most awkward one-on-one of the issue between Superboy and Red Robin where Kon-El asks Tim exactly why he came to rescue him in the first place. Like a pretentious middle-aged accountant talking to a child, Tim tells Superboy to wait six months and learn before asking that question again. I'm sure Lobdell didn't intend for Tim to come worse than Bono, but it feels that way. Poor Kon-El - clones are sooooooo dumb, right?


I began reading this issue groaning each time N.O.W.H.E.R.E. or the Culling was mentioned. I wasn't a fan of that storyline, and at first, it felt like Lobdell basically doesn't have any other ideas, so he's forced to keep reminding us about this big thing that happened in order to fill speech bubble space. After a while, though, I realized that this is Lobdell's transition period - soon, new enemies will show up (like Amanda Waller - all around bad-ass) and the convoluted tale of N.O.W.H.E.R.E. can be relegated to the "early mistakes" pile.

GRADE

B

(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

(REVIEW) Teen Titans #6

Written by Scott Lobdell
Artwork by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

After five issues of their new origin story, the Teen Titans still aren't a coherent team and it's becoming a bit frustrating. Why did the first issue feature Superboy - front and center - when he isn't a part of the team and doesn't it look like he will be in the near future? And while Teen Titans may have coasted along on momentum for the first few months, the past few issues have been disappointing.

This trend continues with issue six. Now that Superboy has beat all of them down without breaking a sweat, it's time to move on to some awesome new storyline, right? No. Instead, we get more of a one-shot story about how Kid Flash was sped up too much by Superboy's telekinetic powers, so he's in danger of going so fast that he literally phases out of existence. SNORE! This exact story has been used in speedster stories more times than DC is willing to admit. It's a staple of speed-having superheroes, but in 2012, it's a total and unwarranted cliche that should have been avoided. Since they're not important enough for the Justice League to answer their call, the Titans call Virgil Hawkins, a.k.a. Static, though no one seems to know he's a superhero. After some scientific mumbo-jumbo, Virgil and Red Robin go to work trying to fix Bart Allen. And the payoff isn't even great! In the end, Virgil develops a suit to keep Bart's erratic speed in check. That's right comic fans: Kid Flash must wear his suit or he will die! It's such an annoying plot twist that I almost rather Lobdell had simply left Bart alone and let him keep wearing Red Robin's old costume.

Elsewhere in Titan world, we get some seriously awful dialogue between Wonder Girl and Brick Boy (alright fine, Bunker) wherein Miguel reveals that he is gay in the most blunt and unnatural way possible. It's honestly hard to read - like those moments in TV shows that are just simply too embarassing and you can't help but cover your eyes. Also, the villain for the issue was terribly unoriginal. I mean, Grymm? Seriously, it's not that hard to think up names.

So, in conclusion, we get an issue that basically revolves around getting Kid Flash a new costume and putting the kids up against a foe that isn't Superboy. Unfortunately, the issues persistent over the past few months have stuck with Teen Titans, making it more of a chore to read than fun.

GRADE:

C-

Review: Teen Titans #5

Review




Teen Titans #5
Written by Scott Lobdell
Artwork by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

Teen Titans has been pretty good since the 'New 52' relaunch. While some of the member choices are a bit questionable (I mean, Skitter instead of Beast Boy? C'mon...), Scott Lobdell has done a great job weaving the stories of each of these characters into a larger mythology within the new DC universe. Lobdell also pens Superboy, giving him ample page space to make connections, create an intricate backstory and give the DC universe a rather formidable enemy.

Issue five claims to present all the members of the Teen Titans together for the first time. Unfortunately, this is a lie, as Skitter is absent from the brawl and Superboy is their enemy. So...they're kind of all there? Whatever. The issue still stands on it's feet as a great book. I was skeptical, from the beginning, of Bunker, a new teen hero who's Hispanic, homosexual and who's power consists of creating purple psionic bricks. It's a pretty weak description for a character that has actually been written well and without a whole lot of sappiness, which is difficult for comic book writers to avoid when writing multi-ethnic or homosexual characters. In this battle, Bunker is the only one - at least for a moment - who can stand up to Superboy's own psionic powers, slowing him down enough for Red Robin to swoop in and give ol' Kon-El the psychological beatdown he needed all along.

We're still in a transitional place for the Titans. Superboy is their enemy. Kid Flash doesn't have a proper costume yet, Skitter doesn't understand her powers, Wonder Girl is anything but 'wonderful', and Solstice has yet to be developed beyond the 'information dump' girl. But this is the fifth issue, and we're starting to see the seeds of the full team take root. Superboy starts questioning his beliefs, all the rest of them get a dose of humble pie as they're beat to the ground one by one, and N.O.W.H.E.R.E. begins to panic as they realize that Superboy may no longer see them as allies (and still no acronym clarification). Soon, we'll get to see the road Superboy takes to joining the Teen Titans.

While not the finest issue of the title thus far, it's definitely one of the better ones. While both Teen Titans and Superboy have taken the scenic route in their storytelling, those scenes are starting to make more sense and things are being brought together more and more. Lobdell has the chance to build an inter-title mythology and so far, he's succeeding.

Grade: B-