Sunday, April 19, 2009

Teen Titans Annual #1(June 2009)+ a bonus rant against X-23?!?

This issue was the prelude to the upcoming Teen Titans/Titans/Vigilante crossover, "Deathtrap". Vigilante?!? Why is HE involved??? Anyway, here's a quick look at this comic book.

-Cyborg(who is secretly possessed by Jericho)begins to attack the Teen Titans, using the defenses in Titans Tower to launch his assault.

-Cyborg/Jericho convinces Static not to interrupt his attack by telling Static that he was just putting the Teen Titans through a training session. Cyborg/Jericho's reason for not attacking Static is because Static isn't in the Teen Titans database, so he doesn't know what abilities Static has.

-Cyborg/Jericho winds up defeating all of the Teen Titans, and Static begins to think something is terribly wrong. Cyborg/Jericho then attacks Static and wraps him up in wires, telling him if he uses his electrical powers he'll wind up frying his teammates, who Cyborg/Jericho submerged in water.

-Static manages to escape by sending an electrical pulse through the Teen Titans security systems back to Cyborg/Jericho, which frees his trapped teammates.

-The Teen Titans regroup outside their wrecked tower and decide to pay a visit to Cyborg in New York, figuring that if Cyborg has gone evil the Titans could use their assistance.

-This issue closes with Beast Boy finding the unconscious form of Cyborg at the Titans New York base. Beast Boy revives Cyborg and we see that Jericho still has possession of Cyborg's body.

Before I say anything else, let me say that I enjoyed this comic book. Now, with that said, this comic book was not worth $4.99! Not by a long shot. Back to the story in this comic though. This issue did a good job of showcasing all of the Teen Titans characters. All of the members of the team got a chance to shine, and since many of the members of the team are new, the more we learn about these kids, the more we'll wind up caring about them.

While all of the characters were given some time to shine, Static was definitely given the star treatment, which was a bit worrisome. What do I mean you ask? Good question, allow me to explain! A few years back, Marvel brought a character out of the "X-Men Evolution" cartoon series and began to place this character in several Marvel comic books, culminating with the New X-Men comic series getting totally destroyed by X-23, the cartoon character in question. Yes, X-23, the bastard love child of Christopher Yost, Craig Kyle and Joe Quesada. My GOD do I hate X-23!

I was fine with X-23 in the beginning, but then Marvel began to shove her down everyone's throats! EVERY issue of "New X-Men" after X-23 joined was the same... The team would get into some kind of trouble, until X-23 arrived on the scene to straighten everything out. Every other character in that series was expendable, and Yost and Kyle wound up killing over 40 mutant kids during their ill-fated run on New X-Men, but of course X-23 survived those comic books just fine... She was THE STAR!!! Marvel kept hammering that point home until I couldn't take it any more and I wound up dropping New X-Men(after I dropped it it was soon cancelled which still makes me smile). Once I saw that X-23 was a member of X-Force, I stopped collecting that series. Marvel pushed X-23 so hard, so fast, that in the end I wound up resenting/hating that character. I hope DC doesn't make the same mistake here with Static.

This issue set off all kinds of alarms in my head after I put it down because it was SO much like those issues of New X-Men after X-23 joined... The Teen Titans get into trouble, until Static arrives to straighten everything out. The other newbies on the team(Aquagirl and Kid Eternity)were taken out in a matter of 1-2 pages. Static wound up defeating Cyborg/Jericho and freeing all of his teammates in about 2 pages. Hopefully Static won't turn into the type of character X-23 became, but this wasn't the best beginning for his character... For a score, I'll give this comic a 8 out of 10. I look forward to discovering just what Jericho's scheme is as Deathtrap continues.

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