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

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+