Teen Titans should be a comic about teamwork and camaraderie. It should be built on a foundation of strong characters who actively want to spend time with one another because they are legitimately friends. They’re not the Justice League or the Avengers. The Teen Titans are not Earth’s greatest heroes, joined together to fight the threats that one hero alone cannot handle. They’re teenagers, and they just want to hang out and be friends. That they also use their powers to save the world should just be icing on the cake.

Teen Titans #21

This is why I hate the current Teen Titans comic so much.

Comic Rating: 3/5 – Alright.

I say this all the time: I like comics where the characters are people first, superheroes second. In Scott Lobdell’s Teen Titans, they are only superheroes, randomly grouped together because that was the decided cast list of this series. There is nothing deeper or meaningful about the team. They’re friends because we’re told they’re friends. They’re a team because we’re told they’re a team. Their friendships and relationships are barely skin deep. Lobdell and his fellow writers are far more interested in writing generic superhero stories than they are in character interaction. We’re 21 issues into this series, and I don’t think any of the characters have dealt with anything all that emotional or personally important. There’s been no drama. There’s been very little done with any romantic relationships or personal friendships. Nothing memorable has happened at all.

The current Teen Titans is a concept-driven comic. DC knew they wanted a ‘Teen Titans’ book in their reboot, so Lobdell slapped one together. He picked a bunch of characters, created a few new ones, and then has just been kind of coasting from one issue to the next. The threat that pulled them all together in the first place – N.O.W.H.E.R.E. – was a dud, and is now long gone. Since then, he hasn’t touched upon any reason why the team should stay together, or why they even want to do so. They stay together because that’s the comic. If they didn’t stay together, there wouldn’t be a series. And it’s frustrating, because so much more could be done. I want to read stories about these essentially orphaned teenagers actually expressing what they get out of the Teen Titans and why they stick around. I want to see some real friendships blossom, or better yet, some real relationships and the drama that comes with those. I want to see these kids understand their place in the DC Universe. How do they see themselves compared to the Justice League? Why are they superheroes? Sure they have powers, but what is it that drives them to dress up in costume and throw themselves at dangerous situations?

These are all plot points that I think could make for a great Teen Titans comic, but we don’t get any of that. Instead, in this issue, the Teen Titans fight Trigon’s three sons in a generic, mildly entertaining superhero slugfest. It’s just mindless, mostly boring superhero fights. Not only that, but still the Titans treat Raven like she’s been their friend since the beginning. I must have missed a scene where Raven even went so far as to introduce herself to them. But this is how weak the camaraderie is: Raven and Beast Boy pretty much just glom onto the Titans and are treated like total members just because that’s what the plot has dictated. It’s maddening.

And that’s exactly where the issue starts, with an image of Red Robin and Raven facing off against her demonic brothers, and Red Robin acting like they are old friends and trusted allies. I’m sorry, but could someone please tell me where it was that Raven ever even introduced herself to the Teen Titans? Was there an Annual issue I missed? Did some pages from an earlier comic get stuck together? How is it that the Teen Titans are treating Raven like their best pal? How! Sigh. I bring this up every issue, but only because it annoys the heck out of me.

Also, the dialogue include lines like that

Moving on, the Teen Titans face off against the three demonic brothers. Red Robin calls for Pattern Six, which means the Titans will split up to take on the brothers. Bunker and Wonder Girl take on “Axe-Guy”. Kid Flash and Solstice drag “Tusky” away. And Red Robin, Superboy, Raven and Beast Boy take on the leader. I’m a little annoyed at Beast Boy fitting in so snugly to the team without any explanation, but at least he turns into a dinosaur to help protect the Titans. Dinosaurs are always cool.

He should just change his name to Dinosaur Boy

Raven offers to sheathe Superboy in her “soul-self” in order to take on his foe, so he and the demon exchange some fisticuffs before Red Robin uses his wings to literally cut off the demon’s fists. But don’t worry, they grow back.  The other groups handle their foes pretty easily. Bunker proves he’s got the chops to take on a fully fledged demon. And Kid Flash uses his super fast brain to defeat the other demon after the villain tries to possess him. Then Kid Flash also kisses Solstice for the job well done. That is a tiny bit of romantic drama…but nothing comes out if this issue.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy, who only met Raven maybe half an hour ago, makes promises he can’t exactly keep – except that this is Teen Titans, so clearly both Raven and Beast Boy are now loving members of the Titans family.

“I mean, it’s totally not my call to make, but these Titans seem cool.”

Raven gets the courage to help out, so she literally pulls her brother’s heart out. It’ll grow back, but for now it gives the Titans time to gather up the defeated demons and congratulate each other. Then all of a sudden Trigon shows up. And I seriously mean ‘all of a sudden’.

We go from this panel:

There they are, just standing around…

To this with just a turn of the page:

That had to have been like 10 seconds!

There’s no explanation or transition. One moment we see all of the Titans just fine, and the next, Trigon returns and takes possession of half of them. Why not all of them? Why leave Red Robin and Beast Boy untouched? Why does anything happen in this issue?

And so this battle with Trigon will stretch on to another issue. I’d like to say I’m enjoying myself, but only in the sense that it’s fun to rant about Teen Titans for the rest of you. I need to make my reviews funnier or more entertaining. Maybe I’ll start openly mocking issues of Teen Titans from now on. The issue itself was mildly entertaining, if only in the fact that it was mostly just fighting, and it was well drawn fighting. That was all fine. Well-made fight scenes are always just alright. I just wish there was more to them. A token effort is made to have some character interaction, including Bunker proving himself to Wonder Girl, and Kid Flash kissing Solstice, but it’s not enough, and it’s far too late. All of the character interactions ring hollow. At least to me.

This isn’t a family. This is a cast of characters in a comic book. They say their lines. They punch the bad guys. They try to be funny. They don’t care what new characters pop onto the scene. There is nothing unique, special or interesting about Teen Titans. It’s as generic and boring as a comic book gets.

But it could be so much more…