Teen Titans #72

Well, this issue marks the end of Sean McKeever's reign of terror on this series. OK, maybe that's being a bit harsh, but Sean's run just never really grabbed my attention(in a good way that is). Maybe it's because he was replacing comic book writing GOD Geoff Johns, or maybe it was all the sucky characters Sean was stuck with, but Sean's run was underwhelming to say the least. The new writer of the once proud Teen Titans series is Bryan Q Miller. Off the top of my head I can't think of any work Bryan has done prior to this comic, so I'm going into this with an open mind. Hopefully Bryan won't let me down. Oh yeah, before I forget, this is one of those "Second Feature" comics and the second feature stars none other than Ravager and is written by the aforementioned Sean McKeever.

-This issue ominously opens with the funeral of a Titan from the near future. Apparently sometime soon, one of the kids is going to kick the bucket. But who?!?! I guess we'll find out as the story progresses.

-From there we head to the present, where we get a couple of pages of character development/team bonding. Static, Blue Beetle and Red Devil are hanging out playing video games, while Bombshell and Miss Martian are talking about clothes. Wonder Girl is sitting alone underneath the statues of Superboy and Kid Flash thinking about better days.

-The kids decide to take a trip into the city to hang out and Martian asks Cassie if she wants to come along. Cassie turns Martian down because she wants to continue brooding. With Robin off the team somebody has to play the brooding role! Seriously though, Cassie tells Martian that she's going to Alcatraz to do the Titans weekly check-in.

-While the kids are out on the town, Aqua Girl continuously flirts with Beetle, which pisses off his girlfriend, Traci 13. OOOOK...

-Meanwhile, Cassie arrives at Alcatraz and discovers that it wasn't time for the Titans weekly check-in there. While Cassie tries to figure out how/why she was given the wrong information, Shimmer(of the Fearsome Five)breaks her brother(Mammoth)out of his cell, along with several other super-baddies. Cassie tries her best to control the damage, but eventually the collection of super-villains defeat her and leave her bloody and unconscious. Shimmer then sends images of the beating to the Titans who are obviously shocked. Shocked I tell you! Why would Shimmer goad the Titans into a fight you ask? Because it appears Shimmer is working for the Calculator, who wants all of the Titans to pay for what happened to his children when they were working with the Titans(one was killed and the other one was crippled).

-The second feature deals with Ravager aimlessly wandering around on her motorcycle. It appears that she is starting to build up a resistance to the epinephrine she had been using to give her her prognostication abilities. To compensate, Rose overdoses herself on the drug and winds out passing out in a pool of her own blood at the end of this comic.

Hey, you know what, this was a pretty good comic. I can definitely say that Bryan's first issue seems to be a success. I'm still not overwhelmed by the current line-up of this team, but Bryan did a nice job with the roster he was given. I could have done without the love triangle involving Blue Beetle(sorry, I just don't like him)but everything else was pretty good. I'm glad to see the Calculator show up as the primary antagonist here, hopefully he'll stick around to torment the Titans for a while. It loos like DC is going to ignore everything that happened to Calculator during that abysmal Oracle: Battle for the Cowl mini-series. Now if only I could forget about that horrible mini-series!

I really don't have any complaints or anything to rant about... That makes me feel sort of empty inside. Usually after reading an issue of the Teen Titans I'd be hurling obscenities and banging my head into the wall. However, after reading this issue I don't feeling like doing either of those actions. Nice job Bryan! For a score I'll give this issue an 8 out of 10. This was a good start, here's hoping Mr. Miller continues the good work.