Teen Titans #3:
What Happened: Kid Flash manages to escape from the NOWHERE holding facility with Solstice. Upon getting outside, the two discover that they were somewhere in Antarctica. Oh, and they end up falling down a mountain. Meanwhile, Red Robin(posing as a hobo on a train and traveling with Skitter, who was in a cocoon on the roof of the train) meets up with another young meta-human going by the name of Bunker. Bunker is excited to see Red Robin and explains that he had been following Red Robin's blog(yeah, okay, but what about MY blog?!?) and was interested in joining up with Red Robin to combat NOWHERE. While Red Robin is trying to explain to Bunker that there was no team(the title of this series would beg to differ), their train stops and they are confronted by a mess of mind-controlled people from whatever small town they were passing through. Red Robin tells Bunker to hold off the crowd while he headed to the highest point in town, figuring that would be the best spot to mind control a town of people from. Sure enough, Red Robin bumps into some big junkpile calling itself Detritus, who was intent on conquering humanity, one small town at a time, I guess. Detritus forces Red Robin to forget about him before releasing his mental hold over the townspeople since his experiment had been a success. Red Robin heads back to the train to meet Bunker, who shows Red Robin that a decidedly non-monstrous looking(and mighty confused) Skitter had emerged from the cocoon. Finally, this issue ends with Kid Flash waking up and seeing a snowy town laying in front of him, which is weird seeing as that Kid Flash was in Antarctica and all.
The Good: I can't say there were any characters here that I actively didn't like... From the little I've seen of Solstice, I think she'll be a great addition to the team(hell, I already like her more than her pre-reboot version) and Bunker and Red Robin had a great banter going right off the bat. Now it's just a matter of Scott Lobdell making each different personality fit when the team finally assembles. This comic was extremely fast paced and engaging. I enjoyed the parts with Red Robin & Bunker as well as Kid Flash & Solstice equally. I was happy to see that Lobdell isn't going to keep Skitter as a wild, rampaging beast. Again, just like the last issue, I enjoyed the artwork here. Wonder Girl was only on a single page here, and Superboy was on none!
The Bad: The whole thing with Detritus was strange. I guess it'll set up a battle down the road, but it seemed so out of the blue. I also didn't see how Red Robin was mind controlled into forgetting Detritus that easily. You'd think having worked with Batman would have taught him some anti-mental tampering techniques.
The Verdict: Wow, so why the hell doesn't THIS Scott Lobdell also write Red Hood and the Outlaws and Superboy?! This issue actually gave me some serious hope for this series. I mean it was that good! Hell, I can't believe this is the same series I was so down on only a few minutes earlier(after finishing off issue #2). This issue also clarified to me why I wasn't that high on the first two issues... Four words... Wonder Girl and Superboy. I legitimately don't like either character. I may have liked them in the pre-reboot DCU, but post-reboot? Neither one is likable in the least. So, and I'm as surprised about this as anybody, here's hoping SB and WG aren't major cogs on this team, because they actively hurt my enjoyment of this series... And no, I never thought I'd be typing those words out. I'm actually looking forward to getting the forth issue of this series, something I wouldn't have imagined prior to reading this one, so kudos to Lobdell and company for pulling me aboard.
Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.
It's taken three issues, but I can finally say it... I like the post-reboot Bart Allen! Huzzah!!!
Yay! I'm glad you're enjoying it more.
ReplyDeleteIt's about goddamn time!!! I'm glad you're enjoying Teen Titans, especially after the wait. I really like the change to Solstice even though we've only seen a bit and Bunker seems fun, although unlike you I'm a big fan of this Cassie as opposed to Pre-Reboot Cassie.
ReplyDeleteI mot reading this series anymore, but nice to see that at least you are enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteAnd I ratter prefer, baddas Cass than
"oh I love Superboy, but I'm too afraid that he get hurt in a battle"(cuz he is so weak you know)
"I want to be a leader, but i not soo good as Tim"
"I love superboy but he prefer Tim over me.... (as a leader)"
HA! See that, B-Guymer, it didn't take me very long to change my tune! :D
ReplyDeleteHA!! Jeez, JT... You act like I had deliberately put this comic aside just to be a jerk or something... "I know how to annoy JT... I won't read Teen Titans for several weeks! That'll learn him!" :P
I guess I'm in the minority, but I liked pre-reboot WG, especially compared to THIS version. I totally get what you're saying, Alien, but I blame that more on JT Krul's handling of WG than anything else. From like the end of Young Justice, through the early Teen Titans(we'll skip over her terrible romance with Tim), to when she became the leader of the team, she was a good character. Her whole character was screwed up the moment Tim returned to the team. That was one of the reasons I wanted to see Damian remain on the Titans instead of Tim. Because once Tim was there you KNEW he was either going to become the leader, pushing Cassie to the back, or he'd be undercutting her leadership, and I say that as a huge fan of Tim. There was no reason he should have returned to the Titans. Damian would have been a much better fit.
And FYI, this: "I love superboy but he prefer Tim over me...." made me laugh... It's funny 'cause it's true! :D
Mmmm you are right with Krull, So far I was enjoying the series until the switch of the creative team.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I hated was, that he omitted the previous run, leaving Bombshell and Aquagirl like Missing in action in deep ocean, (Not sure about that, but they never appeared in the series until the end)
What is your opinion about this version of Cassie?http://i.newsarama.com/images/cassie_wonder_girl_1_02.jpg
And I'm sure that old Tim thinks the same!!
sorry that wasn't the link I wanted, for WG this is the one http://i33.tinypic.com/34o6nfn.jpg
ReplyDeleteExactly, Alien. The way Krul took over was just plain weird. He just ignored so much of the prior run and ignored characters who COULD have worked on the team(Bombshell). Plus using Tim instead of Damian was a huge mistake. I truly believe that.
ReplyDeleteThat WG was still a bit too inexperienced. It was the WG later on in the series(after she ditched the wig and glasses where she started to come into her own.