DCU Comic Book Reviews

TEEN TITANS #73

Child's Play, Part Two: Upstairs, Downstairs

September 2009

Written by Bryan Q. Miller

Pencils by Joe Bennett

Inks by Jack Jadson

Cover by Eddy Barrows and Ruy Jose

Synopsis

Today, Wonder Girl and Miss Martian mourn another loss.  Yesterday, most of the Teen Titans were having a night of fun while Wonder Girl was attacked by the Fearsome Five at Alcatraz.  Elsewhere, Kid Eternity is testing his powers, but is being watched by others.  Meanwhile, Shimmer and Jinx want to kill Wonder Girl, but Calculator tells them to leave her alive. He then orders them to acquire the asset and proceed to the next location.  However, the Teen Titans arrive to rescue their friend.  They find Wonder Girl, but the Fearsome Five are gone.  Suddenly, a bomb explodes on a nearby pier.  The Titans arrive on the pier to help and find the Fearsome Five waiting for them.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

For awhile now this book has been floundering.  The basic problem I have had with it is that there is very little character development, especially in light of the new team members.  It seems like, for whatever reason, the book is a hurry to get to the next big plot to the point where it forgets the core of the book is the characters in the middle of those plots. This issue corrects some of that and I think that is why I think it is one of the better efforts in recent months.  We get to see the characters, who they are, and how they interact with each other.  The best part of this issue was easily the Titans arguing amongst themselves and trying to figure out what to do with their leader, Wonder Girl, not around.  I also thought that it made sense for the team to look to Blue Beetle, perhaps the most experienced of the bunch, to take charge, just as it made sense for him to be unsure if he should be the one to do it.  That whole scene was well done.  Granted, I think it takes the team far too long to get to the actual business of rescue, but the discussion and the arguments made sense.  And then, when we get to the rescue, I liked the way the team worked together and found a way to find a way to get to Wonder Girl.  It shows teamwork (especially between Aquagirl and Traci 13 who were at odds last issue) and shows how to best use each team members powers to achieve a goal.  It is a great step in the right direction and I hope future efforts can continue to highlight the characters and still carry out the big plots. 

I was willing to believe that Calculator had a big, bold plan that required Wonder Girl to remain alive for the moment only to be killed at a later date.  What I don’t buy is Calculator’s decision to leave the Titans all alive so he can teach them a lesson.  That just doesn’t work for me.  It is a plain excuse just to be bale to write a story that doesn’t involve killing.  Really, think about it.  You want revenge for something that happened to your kids, you would not teach them a lesson.  Maybe if your ids were still alive or only suffered some embarrassment.  But in a world like the DC universe, you would want to do to them what happened to your kids.  I think Miller would’ve been better of if didn’t add that little tidbit and just stuck to having Calculator make the plans. 

Comic Connection

The character of Virgal Adams (aka Nano) first appeared in Titans, issue #14, which was also written by Miller.  I will assume that after Cyborg defeated Nano, he ended up in Alcatraz.  I will also assume he changed the password for the suit.

Fresh Hell, Chapter Two

Written by Sean McKeever

Art by Yildiray Cinar and Julio Ferreira

Synopsis

After passing out after a bar fight with the locals of a small town, Rose Wilson (aka Ravager) awakens in a doctor’s office.  The doctor tells her to quit using epinephrine or she’ll die.  Later, the bar owner convinces Rose to stay for awhile.  She decides to stay and is shown to a small cabin for a bed to sleep in.  That night, a few of the locals decide to kill her.   

Review

This feature begs the question:  how much does the regular public know about the private lives of superheroes.  I suppose one could argue the same as we do about movie stars.  I ask, because that bartender seemed to know a lot about the Teen Titans and the Wilson.  I am willing to believe that anyone can guess Rose is Ravager based on the costume (although your first guess living in the frozen north would be to guess something other than the real thing).  But to know what the bartender knows seems a little more than one might expect to know.  This is either a plot point, given that he wants to kill her so maybe he’s connected to villains in some manner, or just a comment on the nature of being a high profile crime fighter. 

Anyway, very little happens this issue and it shows as the story drags a little just to get to the cliffhanger at the end.  The narration and the introspection worked at the beginning, but now threatens to overwhelm the story.  We need less of Rose talking to herself and more talking to other people so we can learn about her

To compound the problem, the bartender (you know, the one who got the doctor for her) is the one who makes the call to kill her.  Why not just do it after passed out on the floor of the bar.  One could argue that he didn’t know he needed to kill until after the doctor tended to her, but that is not clear here, so the events as they play seem rather dumb.

 

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