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Review: Teen Titans #18
Rebirth is on its way, folks. In a few short months, DC Comics is going to kick off their next big thingamajig, and current comics are feeling the pinch. We don’t know what’s going to happen to the Teen Titans, who’s going to write it, who’s going to draw it, or what it’s going to be about. But for now, writer Greg Pak is cruising along with a fun little story about Wonder Girl’s origins. I enjoyed the last issue for its upbeat character work and interesting story. Teen Titans #18 continues the trend, though the issue is kind of light and breezy.
But I can live with light and breezy when it comes to a new Teen Titans.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
I have no real complaints about this issue, none that matter anyway. It’s fun, simple and pretty straight forward. It calls back to the brilliant Wonder Woman run by Brian Azzarello, which is neat. It contains the first ever team up of Wonder Woman and Tim Drake in the New 52, which I personally found kind of annoying, and I’ll explain why later. At times, I felt like Pak didn’t necessarily know what to do with all of the Titans. This is a Wonder Girl story, first and foremost, but I guess Pak can’t just ignore the rest of them. That kind of means he doesn’t find as many great character moments, like he did with the last issue, but it’s not a big deal.
Honestly, I feel so mellow about this issue, that I’m starting to wonder if I was too harsh with my previous reviews. Or if I’m being too lenient with Greg Pak. This is just a fine little comic, neither great nor terrible. Teen Titans feels like it’s biding its time until Rebirth, but at least Pak and artist Ian Churchill (with an assist by Tom Derenick) are making the most of it.
Join me after the jump for the full synopsis and more review.
Review: Teen Titans #17
Here we go! Buckle up, boys and girls, because the next era of Teen Titans is upon us! New writer Greg Pak takes the reigns, at least for a little while, hoping to right this stagecoach for a few issues, until Rebirth comes along to maybe change everything up again. It’s a little hard to get excited about the new writer when there’s every indication that nothing will stick. But I’ve stuck with Teen Titans this long, and I’m always eager for something new from this series.
Teen Titans #17
So it’s damn exciting that Greg Pak immediately and unequivocally solves one of my biggest complaints about this series. This is close to being the Teen Titans I’ve always wanted.
Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.
The biggest problem with Teen Titans in the New 52, and even in DCYou, is that the characters are treated as little more than action figures. They are costumed superheroes first, people second. All they do is fight bad guys, bouncing from one random opponent to the next. Famously, Red Robin never once removed his costume when Will Pfeifer was writing the series. There was apparently no interest in addressing the Teen Titans as teenagers or youngsters or human beings. They were action figures, trapped in a strange mess of stories, many of which were likely tugged back and forth by demanding editorial.
I may never understand why Teen Titans was so shackled when things like Batgirl, Ms. Marvel, Young Avengers and Teen Titans Go! were allowed to exist.
Teen Titans #17 doesn’t fix everything. Pak and DC don’t go for the nuclear option. This is still the same team, carrying on the same storyline, and existing in the same New 52 world. But Pak treats them as people for the first time in a long time. There is more characterization in this one issue than in Pfeifer’s entire run. There are character moments that legitimately shocked me for how little we’ve seen that level of depth. And for once, the threat doesn’t come from some outside force, but from within. For once, the Teen Titans are driving their own story.
And you better believe that Tim Drake shows up in this comic! Join me after the jump to see for yourself!
Surprise! There’s a New Batman vs. Superman Trailer!
Like the sudden arrival of a bird or a plane, here comes a full-fledged new trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. It opens with a pretty spectacular showcase of what our new Batman is going to be like!
This one doesn’t seem to give away any of the story, but hot damn, there’s a lot of action and excitement! Will it live up to the action and excitement of Watchmen? Or give in to the overly CGI’d action of Man of Steel? I have no idea, but we’re now only a month or so away from this movie coming out!
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We’re Getting a New Justice League Cartoon!
The first poster for the new cartoon — Justice League Action — has arrived and been confirmed by Cartoon Network! The new show will be all about action, and will air in 11-minute segments — kind of like Teen Titans Go! .
We do know that Kevin Conroy will be back as Batman, and Mark Hamill will be back as the Joker, so those are pretty cool. And Deidrich Bader, who I will always know best as Oswald from The Drew Carey Show, will be Booster Gold. So we know there will be a rotating cast of heroes, as you can see in the background of the poster there.
No premiere date has been announced or anything else, really. I suppose that’ll be coming. Who’s excited? Who’s dreading a JL version of Teen Titans Go!?
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Here’s That Dark and Gloomy Wonder Woman Footage
DC Comics really hit the ground running last night with a big, entertainment extravaganza! Not only did they show off the first looks at the Justice League, including Flash and Cyborg, not only did they confirm that the Green Lantern Corps is coming, and not only did they debut a new, spectacular Suicide Squad trailer, but they also premiered the first footage of their Wonder Woman movie, which is currently filming, with Gal Gadot in the lead role.
Not sure why Kevin Smith was pulled into this, but his reactions seem as canned as humanly possible.
Anyway, the footage looks cool, but then it also looks dark and gloomy. Extremely dark and gloomy. I realize that ‘dark and gloomy’ is how DC is treating their Big Three characters, but that footage is really, really dark and gloomy.
We can only hope that Suicide Squad does better at the box office than Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice. Maybe that will be a lesson learned.
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