DCU Comic Book Reviews

TEEN TITANS #59

Dark Dealings

July 2008

Written by Sean McKeever

Pencils by Eddy Barrows

Inks by Ruy Jose

Cover by Eddy Barrows and Julio Ferreira

Synopsis

At an unknown location, the Clock King shows Boss Dark Side Kid Devil and Miss Martian as possible combatants for the Dark Side Club.  Meanwhile, Robin, Wonder Girl, and Blue Beetle investigate the accident at Titans Tower.  Robin concludes Ravager is still alive and somehow leaving a trail for the Titans to follow.  In Gateway City, the Terror Titans return to their base, with Ravager not far behind.  Meanwhile, Robin examines a clock left behind at the tower and initiates a holographic image of the Clock King, who tells Robin his teammates will die if the Boy Wonder doesn’t meet his demands.  In Manhattan, Miss Martian tries to shake off the drugs she has been given with little success as Kid Devil is taken to the ring to fight.  In Gateway City, the Teen Titans are attacked by the Terror Titans.  Wonder Girl and Blue Beetle are captured.  The Clock King decides to talk to Robin, who tries to attack, but fails since the Clock King can see into the future, and that includes Robin’s death.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

Here is the question of the month:  was the plan with the Terror Titans always connected to the Dark Side Club or was this added to the plot as Final Crisis was developed?  Does the fact DC Vice President Dan DiDio is now the editor of this book suggest that this book will be even more connected to Final Crisis or is that just a coincidence?  I ask these questions because I really had a tough time telling from reading this issue how much was pre-planned and how much was re-jiggerred on the fly.  McKeever did a good job on integrating the Dark Side Club into the story without making the main conflict about the club.  The battle is still between the Clock King and the Teen Titans, or more specifically Robin.  The Dark Side Club adds a little flavor to the story, but doesn’t dominate or overshadow what has come before.  The problem, however, is that with the Dark Side Club bits and pieces added into the story, McKeever sacrifices the in-depth looks at the characters that has been so enjoyable for the past couple of issues.  Given the way Robin is highlighted here, showing a little bit of the detective side of his character with the clues and the fight at the end, I’ve got to wonder if there was more featuring Robin that what we got here.

I am unsure about the ending.  Boss Dark Side says he wants all six of the Titans, but Clock King says that Dark Side doesn’t want Robin because he is human.  So, if Robin is not part of the group, how do we get six?  We have 1) Kid Devil, 2) Miss Martian, 3) Wonder Girl, 4) Blue Beetle, and 5) Ravager.  Number six is Robin. 

 

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