While it was a good story, I don't think it warrants the whole reboot that the company underwent. If you read "Flashpoint" just by the single trade and then begin reading the new Justice League book, you'll be confused. There are many plot-holes and dumb decisions made throughout it, and it may one day be a book I review here. Maybe after "Convergence" as a way of reflecting on the New 52.
As you can imagine, many fans weren't too happy about the reboot. News was coming in that continuities would be changed, and many, many iconic books were being cancelled and replaced by some lesser known, or even brand new, titles. Heck, there were several books that were actually in the middle of its run, and it was suddenly cut off by the awakening of the New 52.
If you're new to the comics world, or don't know much about it besides the state of things, then chances are you're aware of the fact that a lot of people hate the New 52. And for good reason. Cancelling books seemingly out of nowhere just to restart everything when there were still years worth of story-telling left, that perhaps wouldn't need to be within a new universe, is a good way to make people mad. Not only that, but writers were moved around various books. So, if a writer were working on a book for Black Canary, they may have suddenly been shifted over to a book related to Green Lantern, and would just have to start fresh.
The main problem I have with the New 52 is how new readers were expected to just go with it. Yeah. One example is the book we have here, written by now controversial comics persona Scott Lobdell. In an interview with Newsarama, he admitted that he was told to just write a book with no backstory, a book that anyone could read.
While that is fair, it is also a big problem with a book such as Teen Titans. The main demographic for comics these days will have heard of or, preferably, watched and loved the Teen Titans animated series that ran on Cartoon Network. That was a great series that captured the essence of the Titans but also didn't require someone to have prior knowledge of them, as the stories flowed well and the team was great together.
See the issue? Starting a book from scratch and pretending like the Titans aren't big is a humongous issue. I don't mind restarting backstories, but it has to make sense. It has to be universal! It doesn't make any sense that Batman gets to keep his continuity, but the Flash doesn't (that's a whole other problem). How come Green Arrow's relationship with Arsenal is so rushed when in the original continuity the two have a father-son relationship?
According to the lore, the Teen Titans emerged in the five years following the Zero Year, when super-heroes first began to emerge. Why this is? I have no idea. There was no build-up to it, though, as the book released alongside many other team books, or just books in general. It worked before because the initial gimmick, at least for me, of the Titans is the gathering of a bunch of side-kicks proving they can be their own super-heroes. But for new readers...you don't know these are side-kicks! Coming into this, Red Robin, Wondergirl, Bunker, and Beast Boy are all their own heroes and got their own training!
The New 52 as a whole didn't get a warm welcome universally. While there were several books that started off well (Batman, Aquaman, and even Nightwing was given some praise), there were several other books that reflected what was wrong with the New 52, Red Hood and the Outlaws coming to mind. That book got better, as did most of the bad books (see my thoughts on the Green Arrow book for that), some just remained constantly mediocre. And, sadly, that is the case today.
The New 52 has suffered too many cancellations, and thus, it was difficult to get attached to a book. Heck, two books with the phrase "Justice League" got cancelled. I think the only reason this book stuck around was because of the popularity of the team, since all members of the team who had their own ongoing titles had them eventually cancelled.
So then, was this book really that bad? Does it warrant so much distaste? Let's find out, in our final issue of #1 month!
Teen Titans, Go! Just...not to a crappy kids show...please.
The cover is...okay, I suppose. All the members are somehow moving at the same speed despite Kid Flash obviously being the fastest. Actually, I have no idea how they are all moving so quickly, as Red Robin appears to be being pulled by Superboy's feet. Bunker in the background isn't even moving. But, really, what is this cover showing you? The Teen Titans, correct? Well, guess what.
Only four of them are in this book, and only three are actually involved in the "plot." Yeah, "plot." I would say it's a normal plot, but I really have no idea what this book is supposed to be about other than Kid Flash being an absolute idiot, and Red Robin not hitting on Wonder Girl.
We open with a news reporter at the scene of a fire, giving her...report...that the fire is going to be controlled and there will be no more problems. Enter Kid Flash who, instead of helping put out the fire, makes it publicly known that he is there to save the day. Great. Just let the building burn down while you inflate your crappy ego. Jerk.
He goes to ask the captain for help and gets rejected, as the captain properly tells him to leave, since the situation is under control and this kid clearly won't help anything. Now, under normal circumstances, I'm sure that the captain wouldn't have any problem. Heck, I don't have a problem with it. He's trying to act responsibly.
The problem, though is that he's only doing it because he wants to look good for his "fan-base" because there are cameras on him. And, what does he (predictably) do?
Creates a backdraft to ignite the fire further and make it spread, getting himself seriously injured. Yeah, a real American hero this Kid Flash is.
I'll take this moment, since we're about to shift scenes, to mention that the artwork is standard for the New 52, in particular the rest of the Titans run. It seems that the book prefers to use the colors orange and red a lot whenever they can, and it's used a lot here. Where it isn't used, every page is dominated by one color, making it basically look like you're looking at one rectangle of color with a few faces blotted in. The artist also apparently only knows how to draw three faces: pouty, excited, or very angry. Because those are the dominant expressions in this issue.
So, yeah, the art is nothing too special, especially if you've been reading the New 52 a lot.
We cut over to a boy in red, who we eventually find out is Red Robin...
Bull. Nope. No way. That's not Red Robin. Let me explain why:
We aren't given a name for this person until a few pages after meeting him. Because of this, we don't know who this person is and are left to assume it's one of the two people on the cover.
Red Robin is drawn exactly like Superboy. He's tall, muscular, and something about the outfit, as generic as it is with it just being red and black, told me, upon first glace, that this was Superboy. But, here's another look at Tim in "Batman #1" while he's with Bruce, Dick, and Damian.
He's a shrimp! Damian, a teenager, is almost as tall as he is. Yet, apparently in this book, he's as tall as Batman would be in this picture. No!
Red Robin, aka Tim Drake, is obviously athletic and obviously has great physical abilities. But he won't ever be as buff as Superboy will be. Superboy is a clone of Superman (or, whatever stupid backstory he has nowadays), which means he has the same physique as Superman. No matter what artist is drawing them, Batman can never look as buffed as Superman in a good comic (obviously barring the Frank Miller work that makes Batman like a God against Superman). Batman might be bigger, but not as muscular.
Ugh. Great. My favorite Robin is already being ruined.
Anyway, Red Robin is watching all Nick Fury-style as Kid Flash gets hated on during a news break and we get a little more insight to what is to come for the Titans: a bunch of teenage metahumans have been springing up all over the world, some of them turning to vigilantism and being caught by police while others are completely gone as they have run away from home. In particular, we learn that Kid Flash has nothing to do with the real Flash.
Thank you, Stephen A.
There are many explanations I can give for how utterly STUPID this is, but I won't. I will not belittle you with that. You're smart people. You know why it's dumb.
Red Robin, out of nowhere, gets attacked by some agents of the organization N.O.W.H.E.R.E., as in "this book is going nowhere" while he laments on his time with Batman. Keeping in mind that Batman has kept all of his continuity and only five years have gone by since his initial appearance in the Zero Year.
Bull. Hax. Whatever.
The agents try to coax Red Robin, who is now a tech-geek (a change I personally don't mind as it adds another cool trait to be applied to the character), into joining N.O.W.H.E.R.E, as they are going to be on the look out for various other teenage super-heroes to recruit them.
Red Robin escapes, and changes into the outfit seen on the cover--one he will use throughout the book--and goes off to find another teenage metahuman. To speak briefly on the new Red Robin outfit: I like it, it's cool, it matches Red Robin's style. Moving on.
We find a girl, Cassie Sandsmark aka Wonder Girl, age seventeen we are told thank you Red Robin, as she drives a car SHE STOLE down a highway, undoubtedly speeding. Ah, great. First Kid Flash blows up a house and now Wonder Girl is stealing a car.
Truth. Justice. And the New 52 way!
She gets pulled over by a cop who turns out to be working for N.O.W.H.E.R.E. She tries to act all innocent but Red Robin shows up, dispatches the cop, and tells her he knows all about her powers as Wonder Girl. Red Robin, in a nutshell, explains that N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is coming after her since a little incident she had at an archaeological site (that sets up a joke very well) and that Red Robin is going to be able to help her.
How? Well, who cares!
He tries to convince her to use her powers when a helicopter appears literally out of nowhere to attack them. Red Robin is able to shield himself with his wings, and when he calls for Wonder Girl, she transforms (thankfully with no fan-service otherwise...just no) proclaiming for him to never call her Wonder Girl.
Ha! Told you a joke was coming.
She single-handedly takes down the helicopter like a champ, but then immediately starts pouting about how her life isn't going to be the same and she won't have friends and now she's stuck hanging with the Robin nobody's ever heard of (okay, she doesn't say that, but, come on). Red Robin makes the suggestion that they can be something more if they work together as teenage metahumans.
For their first appearances, the two are...better than Kid Flash. Sort of. Cassie would be really annoying in how inconsistent she is as a character (going from startled and innocent to totally awesome) if she weren't, like I just said, totally awesome in a fight. Red Robin doesn't display much to hate and gives promise for eventual development as a leader for the team, despite there being no team yet.
Despite the book being called "Teen Titans." Ugh.
Anyway, the issue ends as we see the agent from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. talk to a doctor about a new test subject, who turns out to be known other than Superboy! :O
But, seriously, where are the Titans? Not here!
So, is this issue really bad? No, it's not terrible. But it's also not good.
The characters are okay, the art is "meh," and there isn't much of a plot here that isn't your by-the-books summoning of heroes story. Like Lobdell said, he did indeed write a book where there is little back-story, but I would have preferred that to "DON'T CALL ME WONDER GIRL!" being said twice because Cassie doesn't like that for reasons that also are not explained in the book.
And if you're looking to get into the book, well, I wouldn't recommend it. It undergoes a ridiculously stupid crossover, gets cancelled at Issue 30, then restarts with only three remaining team member again only to be a more social-media geared type of book. Think the new Batgirl only not as good.
That just about wraps up #1 month, too. I'd say my favorite of the bunch was "Sensation Comics #1" and the best of it was indeed the Deadpool book. As expected. Next week, we take a look at "Superman: Man of Steel #18," and the first appearance of Doomsday.
If you want to stay up to date on when I post, be sure to follow me on Twitter @seanovan13 and on Instagram @seanovan10. Thanks for reading!
Also I'm doing a daily review series where I take a look at every episode of the anime Sword Art Online on my other blog wordofsao.blogspot.com! I just started Season 2 (on Episode 3 specifically) so if you wanna hop aboard the review train, go right ahead. See you then.
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