DCU Comic Book Reviews

TEEN TITANS #76

Wyld Thing, Part 2

December 2009

Written by Bryan Q. Miller

Pencils by Yildiray Cinar

Inks by Julio Ferreira

Cover by Joe Bennett

Synopsis

Miss Martian is confronted by a six-headed creature, called the Wyld.  She tries to ask telepathically for help, but the creature stops her.  The creature then summons its own help, the Zules, who attack Titans Tower.  The team rushes out to confront the threat.  However, Gar rushes back inside and returns to Raven, who had been injured earlier by the Wyld.  Gar reaches her just as the Wyld gets there.  Gar attacks it to protect Raven.  However, the Wyld is able to defeat Gar.  But it is enough to give Raven the chance to recover.  Raven then attacks the Wyld and sends it back to where it belongs.  Later, Wonder Girl challenges Gar’s leadership role, but he refuses to back down.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

There is something missing in this story.  There is this feeling that there should be more to the story.  Not like more in something new, but more of what was already presented.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but as I was reading, I kept wondering if the story had to be somehow truncated, either due to the back-up feature or perhaps due to the upcoming Blackest Night tie-in.  Was there originally a longer story that got edited into its current length?  It is not so much that there are gaps in the story, but rather because the story itself seems to chug along at a speed that doesn’t allow the reader to digest fully why the characters are acting the way they are.  Again, I am not sure why, but that is the feeling I got.  It is not a bad story, but it could’ve been a lot more engaging than it ultimately turned out to be. 

Actually, I should add that there is one missing scene, or at least a scene that probably should’ve been a little bit longer than it was.  I am referring to the ending where Raven and the Wyld confront each other.  It is over too quickly.  I am guessing that DC wants to set the stage for a later story, but there is very little that happened to make anyone want another story.  The reasons for the Wyld attack is vague and the reasons Raven was able to win the fight is also a little vague (sleeper? soul self?  what did she do, wake up her soul?). 

The other part of the story that keeps getting to me is the fight over leadership.  How many times do we need to hear someone say they are the leader?  It is getting tired.  My other problem is that I don’t quite understand why Beast Boy needs to declare himself the leader.  Yes, I understand that Cyborg feels the team needs some direction.  But that doesn’t mean Beast Boy automatically takes charge.  It doesn’t teach anyone, especially Cassie, on how to deal with leadership.  So, why wouldn’t Beast Boy simply take a consulting role with the team, to provide guidance when they need it?  This whole thing of being declared the “leader” and then Cassie reminding everyone she is the leader just smacks of lazy writing, of generating conflict when there shouldn’t be.  A better story would be for Cassie to cal Gar on his decision and then have Gar use that as a teaching tool on tricks and lures. 

Plus, I don’t understand why Gar couldn’t just tell Cassie what was going on.  They, apparently, have the ability to communicate with each other, based on what they were telling each other.  Why didn’t he simply say, “hey, it’s a trick, the real attack is on Raven, I’m going back.”  It doesn’t take that long to tell her. 

Fresh Hell, Chapter Five

Written by Sean McKeever

Art by Yildiray Cinar and Julio Ferreira

Synopsis

When Ravager realizes that Will, the leader of small town in the frozen north, is dealing with human trafficking, she decides to put a stop to it.  And Will decides to stop her.  Ravager rescues most of the women, except for two at the bar.  She enters the bar to get them, but when she leaves, a dozen men are waiting outside for her.  As she confronts them, Will attacks from behind.  Will easily defeats her, thanks to poison he had given her.  Now, he plans to conscript a super solider to his group.    

Review

Overall, this installment is pretty much the same as the rest.  It is good for what ti is trying to do, but the pattern of Ravager getting out of trouble, stumbling across some plot point of doom, and then falling back into trouble, is becoming predictable and dull.  McKeever needs to change up the structure of the story and give us something a little different. 

So, when did Will poison her?  The best guess is when she was at the bar, so it must’ve been a slow acting poison.  Must be nice to know exactly when it would work on her.  That must be the trouble with writing a character who is supposed to be a bad ass fighter who can defeat dozens of men at the same time and breath underwater for minutes at a time.  When it comes to get their asses kicked, you need to come up with a way to make it plausible.

 

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