DCU Comic Book Reviews

TEEN TITANS #39

Titans Around The World, Part 2

November 2006

Written by Geoff Johns

Pencils by Tony S. Daniel

Inks by Kevin Conrad

Cover by Tony S. Daniel

Synopsis

The Teen Titans are searching for Raven, who in turn had been searching for a traitor within the ranks of former Teen Titans.  In Tokyo, the team visits Zatara, a magician who was briefly a Teen Titan.  Zatara tells them Raven was curious about her soul being reborn into her new body.  Next, the team visits Miss Martian who tells them Raven who wanted to find out via telepathy a secret one of the Titans had.  Miss Martian declined to help; she does not probe the minds of good people.  Next, the Titans visit Bombshell, who informs the team that she was working with Raven to find the traitor, who they find the night before.  The traitor is Ravager!  In Australia, Miss Martian is listening to Titans around world when she realizes she found the bad guy.     

Review

Here is my opinion:  the traitor is Eddie.  Check back next month and let me know if I am right. 

I can’t decide if I liked this issue or not and that mostly rests of the three former Teen Titans that made guest appearances.  I can’t make up mind if I liked them or not and since they are the bulk of the issue, I guess that it what it comes down to.  The character of Zatara left a bad taste in my mouth.  I actually didn’t mind the way he acted; I found it refreshing that Johns was willing to write such a jerk.  what bothered me was the sudden shift that shows him changing his mind.  I would have been more impressed if Zatara remained the jerk.  The character of Bombshell was all right, but the use of Nazis as a shorthand for eeeevil smacks of lazy writing.  We all know Nazis equal evil (see Indiana Jones) so it is easy to use them when a writer can’t find a better villain to fight.  Couldn’t Johns come up with something a little more interesting?  The character of Miss Martian is perhaps the most interesting and her brief scene made me want to see more, but when the Martian Manhunter mini-series is not yet finished, her appearance seems to take the air out of either her origin or J’onn’s series.  I think it might have been better to save her for after the end of the Martian Manhunter. 

I don’t why it hit me, but the Teen Titans are turning into the Outsiders, minus the sex, of course.  All of the bickering and the fighting and the mistrust, this team is no longer about family.  The short scene with Zatara confirms this notion.  What I have always liked about the Titans is that there were like a family and they treated each other that way.  There was none of the bickering or the fighting or the finger pointing.  As much as I like Ravager, he character just does not fit the Titans.  When the One Year Later arc first started, I was willing to accept the team had failed to jell, especially with the core members.  Now that Cyborg and Wonder Girl have returned, I was hoping the team would get back together and become more of a family.  I have in my head the scenes from Infinite Crisis when all of the current and former members came to the aid of Superboy.  Reading this current team, I can’t imagine anyone would come to their aid. 

How long ago did Raven disappear?  It is interesting to note that Bombshell states “Raven and I found proof last night.”  So, less the 24 hours ago, Bombshell knew where Raven was located.  Raven could not have been missing that long.  Frankly, if I was looking for someone and knew her whereabouts, I would be more interested in knowing where she was than knowing about the traitor.  After all, once you find Raven, you can ask her about the traitor. 

Part of me was annoyed that we got the origin story of Raven; I’m sure most of the people who read the Titans for even a small part of the past 20 years is familiar with her story.  Yet, I’m sure there might be some new readers who don’t know her, so this helps to catch them up to speed.  Besides, it was only a page, so it wasn’t that bad.-- Review by MRB

 

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