(COMIC) TEEN TITANS #7

Written by Scott Lobdell
Artwork by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund

I don't know what's going on with Scott Lobdell. With Teen Titans and Superboy both currently his responsibility, Lobdell has managed to totally undo twelve of decent storytelling in a single month. In my review of this month's Superboy, I waxed poetic about how Lobdell was telling us his story instead of showing us, which is a cardinal sin when dealing in graphic arts. This month unfortunately shows that Lobdell is migrating his Superboy style over to Teen Titans, with horribly long info dumps to prove it. Along with an extremely chopped up narrative, Teen Titans #7 might be the worst of the series so far.

The issue starts with a jump into the near future. Superboy is once again being held against his will by N.O.W.H.E.R.E., and Director Centerhall decides to bore everyone to death with a five-bubble monologue that takes up the ENTIRE FIRST PAGE. That's right, the first page of the entire issue is dedicated to a lengthy diatribe from a villain in a situation that hasn't been explained yet. It's maddening. After Kid Flash pops up for a second, Lobdell immediately throws the reader back in time.

Then we meet Danny the Street. In Scott Lobdell's new Teen Titan universe, there is a metahuman teenager who is an actual street and has the ability to create doors that lead to random destinations. What. A. Joke. Backed into a narrative corner, Lobdell pens a character, with literally no personality, whose only exists to serve a trite narrative function - get the kids out of a jam. It's such a stupid concept that I kept getting distracted and trying to think of an explanation for why Lobdell would think such a convoluted idea was a good one.

The rest of the issue fairs no better. At one point, the narrative shifts to Wonder Girl as she stands over a defeated Ravager with an editor's note explaining that the fight can be seen in Superboy #8. WHAT A CROCK OF SHIT! This issue is all about Superboy's rescue operation and Lobdell conveniently decides to leave out an arguably vital part of the story (considering the upcoming The Ravagers series) with no obvious reason other than to sell more issues of Superboy.

It's unfortunate that a team as great as the Teen Titans is being dragged through this narrative mud. When a writer treats his audience with little regard to their intelligence, it's apparent and it's insulting. Scott Lobdell has managed to make me seriously rethink Teen Titans and Superboy as A-list titles from the 'New 52.'

GRADE:

C-