brad@umcp-cs.UUCP (11/14/83)
This is a review of 5 comics featuring the Teen Titans and/or Robin/Dick
Grayson. I will review them in order of continuity, not necessarily
distribution order. They are: Vigilante # 3; TT # 38,39; Batman # 368; and
World's Finest # 300.
*WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING
*WARNING* Possible spoiler!! This review will compromise the plot of these
*WARNING* issues, and the reader is warned to proceed at his/her own risk.
*WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING* *WARNING
(There! I've gotten that out of my system.)
Vigilante # 3 "Hunt" by Marv Wolfman (writer/editor), Keith Pollard
(layouts) and Pablo Marcos (embellisher)
The cover of this issue, guest-starring Cyborg, is fantastic. I
really like Pollard's art when he inks himself. The inside art is not as
good as the cover, but is still a terrific job. The story is told as a
combination of current events and flashbacks, and is told by Cyborg, but
also contains narratives by the Vigilante and gives a lot of insight into his
character. Wolfman does a superb job of integrating the Vigilante
continuity w/ that of the Teen Titans (TT). Examples include flashbacks of
the TT's meeting w/ Captain Hall somewhere between TT # 37 and # 38, Cyborg
mentioning Robin's searching for Wonder Girl's identity (TT # 38), Robin
knowing who the Vigilante is, but the rest of the TT's not knowing, and
mentioning where The Vigilante and the TT's had met before.
Adrian Chase continues to grow as a person and as a character. He
and Cyborg are presented as different, yet similar. And Cyborg contributes
greatly to the growth of The Vigilante. I hope that Victor's contribution
will be remembered in future issues. Marv Wolfman continues to do well
dealing with controversial and difficult subjects. He takes two of the most
emotionally powerful characters that he is currently writing, tosses them
together, and uses an action packed chase scene (the major plot device of
the issue) as a large character development piece. I think that The
Vigiliante will become one of DC's most popular series. (And the baxter
paper doesn't hurt Keith's art any either.)
New Teen Titans # 38 "Who is Donna Troy", by Wolfman, Perez and Tanghal
From a '30 detective movie opening, (lots of dark shadows, credits,
and no dialogue except for the detective's voice over), through an exciting
detective story, to a twist (well, sort of) ending, this is a wonderful
tribute to Robin the detective. Trained by the Batman, Marv Wolfman shows
us that Robin has learned well, and is the world's 2nd greatest detective.
Characterization, a Wolfman strong point, is also present in the issue. We
learn more about the current Donna Troy is this issue than in the past 37
issues. Terry Long also continues to be developed. He is definitely no Lois
Lane/Steve Trevor. I think he will make a good husband for Donna, and a
great supporting character. Parallels between Wonder Girl and Robin are
also brought to light, and we can see that she has many of the same good
qualities that he has. This makes it easier for us to accept Donna as the
Titan's leader. (oops, I gave away issue #39, that's next) The crowning
touch of the issue is the closing dialogue between Dick and Kory. Dick
Grayson is maturing, and slowly is getting over his problems. The fact that
they don't get solved in one issue makes the writing all the more interesting.
I almost forgot to mention the cover. It looks like it was reproduced from
George's pencils. Can anyone verify this?
New Teen Titans # 39: "Crossroads", by Wolfman and Perez
Two big changes this issue, now Wein, Wolfman, and Perez share the
editing chores, (I approve of this change) and two, George Perez inks his own
pencils this issue. (I approve of this also) The cover is not as good as
last issues, and I think that Dick and Wally look a little skinny. Then
again, they may just look realistic. This issues starts with a terrific 2
page spread of an attack on one of Brother Blood's headquarter's in Alaska.
This is as a follow-up to the tip that they received from Bethany Snow in
TT # 33 (I think, I don't have my back issues here in the dorm). The TT's
find a chache of weapons and also posters for the re-election of several
members of congress. Bethany Snow has told the Titans that these officials
are members of Blood's organization. The posters apparently confirm it, and
the officials are defeated in the elections. I don't buy this. 1) Raven
senses a truer evil than Brother Blood's "goons", 2) Wonder Girl wonders why
Brother Blood would have a station in Alaska, and 3) Bethany Snow still
works for Brother Blood. I think that Titans and those congressmen were set
up. I'd like to see the look on the Titan's faces when they find out.
The art on pages 6 and 7 is unbelievable. Using only black, red
and yellow for most of the panels, Perez gives the impression of the TT's
begin trapped in a cage that is charged with electricity. I like the
technique. The pages of Terra and the Teminator are priceless. We learn
more about Terra in 6 pages than we have in the last 6 issues. And the
picture of Tara on page 11 is amazing. I've never seen such a complete
transformation. Page twelve contains another photograph of Slade Wilson's
(the Terminator's) wife and children. I think that his wife's death
contains the secret to his origin, and I know that we will be seeing his
other son (remember Grant was killed in issue 3) soon. I know this because
George Perez talked about it at Creation convention a year ago, but I can't
say where or how he will appear.
Terra' powers are described a shown in a well choreographed battle
sequence, and it seems that she is more powerful than I had imagined. The
biggest plot revelations come at the end of the issue. Kid Flash reveals
his identity to Tara, and then announces that he's leaving the Teen Titans.
He's confused about Raven, about his powers and if he can lead a "normal"
life, and so on. The second revelation is even bigger. Both Marv Wolfman
and Doug Moench have been leading up to this for more than a year. Dick
Grayson gives up being Robin. He's not leaving the TT's permanantly, but he
will stop being leader for a while (Wonder Girl will take over) and will
take a while to decide who he wants to be. I think that Dick's growth over
the last 12 or so issues has been one of the best characterization pieces
ever. I can't wait for the next issue and the battle w/ Brother Blood.
This continues to be my favorite comic of all. To me it is how a super-hero
group comic should be. It is consistency the best. (Well, there were one
or two mediocre issues, but none that I hated.) [for some speculation on
future events comming soon, mail me. I don't want to spoil anything for
anyone.]
Batman # 368: "A Revenge of Rainbows", Doug Moench (writer), Don Newton and
Alfredo Alcala (artists)
In a beautiful piece of cross-continuity, Doug Moench picks up Dick
Grayson's tale just after TT # 39. Here Dick goes back to Wayne Manor and
gives his Robin costume and identity to Jason Todd. The scene adds a touch
of realism to the DC universe.
Don Newton's art is fantastic, and Ed Hannigan's Batman (the cover)
is much better than when he started drawing covers. I only wonder what's
going to happen when someone photographs Robin and discovers that he has
"shrunk". Still, I do like the cross continuity that Doug Moench and Marv
Wolfman have going.
World's Finest # 300 "A Tale of Two Worlds"
This issue guest stars the JLA and The Outsiders. I didn't care for
it much, but I did care for the TT's cameo. This 4 page cameo occurs right
after TT # 39, and Batman # 368. It is written by Marv Wolfman and drawn by
George Perez, and mainly serves to explain why the TT's aren't in this
issue. It also ties in with GL # 137. In a wonderful bit of
cross-continuity, Marv carries on a series of conversations that could
easily occur between issues of TT's, and manages to tie in the story of GL
in the year 5708 and the Gordanians invasion of the Earth of that year.
The plot serves only to tie in with GL 137, and since Marv wrote that, it's
not too hard. Yet in 4 pages, he gives another little glimpse of the
Titan's everyday lives, when they aren't on a case. I think the issue is
worth the $1.25 ($1.50 in Canada, and 40p in UK) just for the cameo.
Bits of future Titan business. Starting in January, the TT's will
be published 24 times a year. 1 series will be the same a now, but the
other will be on Baxter paper and will be set 1 year later (continuity-wise)
than the issues on Mando paper. Both series will be done by the regular
team. The idea will be that after one year, the new material will only come
out in the Baxter format, and the regular series will be a reprint of last
year's Baxter material. I have also heard that for the first year, the
continuity of the Baxter series will fit in with that of the newsstand
series. I'm looking forward to seeing the Teen Titans twice a month. It's
too bad that it'll only last for a year, but then again, George Perez is
only human. Also, TT's will be edited by Marv and George starting with
issue 40. Donna's wedding is sceduled for issue number 50. And also, the
TT's are supposed to get a new member in the new future (near == 0-2 years).
Comments, flames, responses, additional info are all welcome.
Please post it to the net only if it is of general interest.
b**2
Brad Balfour
brad.umcp-cs@CSNet-Relay (arpa )
{seismo,allegra,brl-bmd}!umcp-cs!brad (uucp )
brad@umcp-cs (csnet)eric@aplvax.UUCP (11/14/83)
I certainly agree that Marv has done a masterful job of maintaining continuity across titles, and across a fairly major change in the DC universe. I do have a question about the Dick Grayson/Robin switch, however. I think it is not beyond the realm of possibility that the switch was decided upon not for the Teen Titans, but rather for the Batman series. It seems to me that the timelessness of comics was about to cause a major problem in the strip. Perhaps because of TT, but also as a result of his own backup features, Robin (excuse me, Dick) has been aging at a fairly steady rate. But the Batman hasn't (at least, not much). I have forgotten the exact age Batman is supposed to be, but I do remember a statement that DC considers Superman to be 29 (no wayyyy) and I have always considered them to be about the same age. With Dick sitting at about 20, this was bound to cause some problems. The solution - split the character. What is really amazing is that I think they have done a great job of pulling it off, you can almost believe it. If only there weren't so many unanswered questions caused by Robin having shrunk, voice raise, etc. Well, should give them plenty of sub-plot material. -- eric ...!seismo!umcp-cs!aplvax!eric