DCU Comic Book Reviews

TEEN TITANS #62

Who Is Wonderdog?

October 2008

Written by Sean McKeever

Pencils by Eddy Barrows

Inks by Ruy Jose

Cover by Eddy Barrows and Julio Ferreira

Synopsis

At Titans Tower, Wendy and Marvin find a dog roaming around the grounds.  They decide to keep him and name him WonderDog.  Later, Wendy and Marvin check on Cyborg, who is helping to reconstruct the tower after the attack by the Terror Titans.  Meanwhile, Wonder Girl and Robin argue.  Robin then tells Cassie that Spoiler is back from the dead.  Afterwards, Miss Martian tells the team that she is leaving the team.  That night, Wendy enters Marvin’s room to find her brother mauled to death by WonderDog.  Wendy tries to call the team, but they are busy in the training room and can’t hear here.  She tries to run away, but the dog catches her.  And kills her.  WonderDog then leaves the tower to return to its master. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

There are two stories within this comic.  One works.  The other doesn’t.  The one that works is the slice-of-life characterization of Wendy and Marvin as they roam around the tower.  Seeing the Titans and the tower through their eyes was a nice touch from McKeever and provides the reader with a different view of what is going on.  Much like last issue, there isn’t much of an über-story, if you will, just some nice scenes with good characterization, such as the kitchen scene with Kid Devil and Blue or the angst between Wonder Girl and Robin or Miss Martian’s departure.  All are handled well with McKeever’s trademark ear for teen dialogue on display.  

Then we get to the WonderDog attack and the entire thing goes downhill.  Not so much because of what happens, but the way in which it was handled.  I don’t understand why McKeever just didn’t have the dog attack Wendy and Marvin and be done with it, but instead, he drags it out for several pages too long, intercutting with the training room scene.  I don’t quite get the value of showing help being so close but so far away.  I’ve seen it elsewhere and I don’t quite get it.  You know they are right there and could defeat the dog, but they just can’t hear.  And then to top it off having Robin check the intercom after Wendy was unable to send a message.  Maybe it is just me, but what is this supposed to show?  Is it supposed to be funny?  Shouldn’t be, not with a girl getting chased down and killed by a dog.  In fact, the training room scene just undermines the seriousness and the horror of what is happening.  I guess the training room is supposed to heighten the tension, will they help or not, but in a static medium like comics it doesn’t work as well as the fluidity of film, which can use camera angles, music, etc. etc. to heighten the tension. 

It would’ve been nice for editorial to include a little box to tell the reader in which issue of Robin the Spoiler came back from the dead (issue #174, in case you were wondering).  Granted, few people reading Teen Titans would not be reading the Batman books, but having the box would solidify in people’s minds the cohesiveness of the DC universe. 

 

ïPREVIOUS	Main		Page	NEXTð

Home ●  Blog ● Who Are We? ● Site News
Alive and Well since April 16, 2006

 DC Universe Reviews.  All Rights Reserved
  Characters, trademarks, brands are property of DC Comics

For problems or questions regarding this website, please contact our kindly webmaster.
Last updated: 08/06/11.