Review: Teen Titans #8
It’s a classic warning to be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it. I am afraid that has befallen me with Teen Titans #8. No, Red Robin still doesn’t change out of his costume, but the Teen Titans are actually the stars of the book for once. And they’re engaged in some pretty cool extracurricular activities. Writer Will Pfeifer has set the Teen Titans up to be minor NYC celebrities, and he actually has some fun with this concept. The problem is in the execution. I don’t really know what it is, but there’s just something off about Pfeifer’s attempts to have some fun in this issue. Maybe my bias had completely taken over my sense of good and bad, but it just doesn’t feel like he thought this issue through very well.
Teen Titans #8
Still, I applaud the effort, and I especially like what he does with Red Robin in this issue. So general kudos.
Comic Rating: 5/10 – Alright.
In Teen Titans #8, Pfeifer splits the Titans up to engage in some wacky high jinks. Beast Boy hosts Saturday Night Live (or Comedy Tonight, as it’s called). Raven hangs out with her new rock band friends. Wonder Girl has a weird encounter with a fan. And Red Robin focuses on crime solving, like he’s supposed to do. Manchester Black is still around, still Pfeifer’s pet characters, but the Teen Titans actually get the spotlight for once. I just don’t think Pfeifer put all that much thought into each of these scenarios. It’s clear what he wants to accomplish, he wants the Titans to go viral on social media, but he kind of forces it.
At least he’s trying something different. I rather love the idea of the Teen Titans becoming mini-celebrities and being embraced by youth culture. These characters are perfect for an exploration of social media and its impact on not only our world, but the world of superheroes. I hope Pfeifer is reading the new Batgirl, because that uses social media in ways I wish I fully understood (but I’m about half a generation removed from a full understanding). I can see what Pfeifer is trying to do, and I kind of like what he’s trying to do, but I just don’t think he sticks the landings very well. There’s some square peg/round hole stuff going on here.
Maybe I’m just nitpicking. This is what I wished for, after all. Join me after the jump to see what I mean.
My 6 Favorite Dragonball Z Characters
I have been on a real Dragonball Z kick recently. It owes a lot to the fact that I’m currently a master fighter in the new video game Dragonball Xenoverse! The game is a fast-paced, energy-blasting, butt-whooping battle game featuring not only a wealth of DBZ characters, but also my own original create-a-character! I love create-a-character modes in video games, especially unique games like Xenoverse.
The excitement of going Super Saiyan with my own original character is pretty awesome.
One of these things
Of course, playing a DBZ video game got me back into watching the DBZ cartoon, because I haven’t actually seen the whole thing. My brother got me into DBZ back in high school, and I started watching week days after school during the Cell Saga. Since then, I’ve gone back and watched all of the earlier episodes, but until this month, I had never seen a single episode of the show’s climactic Buu Saga! Consider that rectified!
To celebrate my utterly random re-interest in Dragonball Z, I decided to make this week’s List of Six about all of my favorite characters! And feel free to bask in the nostalgia and share some of your own in the comments!
Someone Discovered the Secret of Happiness
The secret is little kids doing the voices for the latest Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer.
Who knew it would be this easy? Apparently the folks at The Watercooler knew the secret, because they made the above video, and the world is a brighter, better place for it. I know my day is better.
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Sometimes Cosplay Goes Wrong
At least the Harvey Birdman cosplay is the bee’s knees. This is the first Birdman/Harvey Birdman mash-up I’ve seen, and Only Leigh nails it. But that’s to be expected of the Internet’s best geeky cartoon lady.
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We Need Your Help with Gamer Girl & Vixen!
I can’t express you how exciting it has been to make Gamer Girl & Vixen and share it with all of you. This has been one of the coolest thing I’ve ever done, and we’re barely getting started! Right now though, I need your help with a little market research so we can better understand exactly what we’re getting into here.
I’m going to need some volunteers to answer a couple questions. Who’s in?
You’re our only hopes!
Our Kickstarter is drawing ever closer this spring, but all of the research in the world isn’t going to prepare us to fully understand how to succeed. There is no perfect guide on how to run a successful Kickstarter. So I’m hoping to get your help to knock around some ideas. You henchies will hopefully be a big part of our audience, so I thought I’d turn to see you find out what you would be interested in getting from Gamer Girl & Vixen. Your input can help drive this book.
Anybody who would like to help me, please send an e-mail to GamerGirlandVixen@gmail.com, and we can get to work! I just have a few questions, and hopefully we can get a discussion going. We would really appreciate your help.
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Henchman-4-Hire 