By: Scott Lobdell (writer), Brett Booth (penciller), Norm Rapmund (inker), Andrew Dalhouse (colorist)
The Story: Cheer up, Wonder Girl. For some, it’s traditional to get beat up on New Year’s.
The Review: Thus far, most of the Titans are pretty one-dimensional as individuals. Like J.T. Krul, the last writer to handle the title pre-relaunch, Lobdell has a habit of stamping a mantra to a character and emphasizing it over and over. You have Tim, wordy and pensive; Bart, frenetic and impulsive; Cassie, defiant and contrary; Miguel, upbeat and easygoing; Superboy, sullen and aloof. As any one of their narratives demonstrates, these kids can very easily get on your nerves if you have to deal with them on their own.
Throwing them together, however, improves the situation quite a bit. I have to admit, I like the energy of all these kids when they’re in the same room. They undercut each other’s personality crutches before it gets too annoying, and together they genuinely project that restless, yet eager spirit that makes members of their age group so terribly annoying and exhilarating at the same time. It’s fun to see them encounter conflicts adults would try to avoid, yet they actually egg on, like Miguel enthusing, “Fight! Fight!” when he sees Tim and Bart arguing over a sweatshirt.
The smart guy and idiot dynamic between the two young men is exactly right, of course, but Lobdell introduces it with the most ridiculous point of contention ever, with Tim accusing Bart, “…is that one of my sweatshirts?!” It’s a joke that may have rung true back in the nineties, but now seems petty and cliché. Worse still is Tim’s overblown anger over the offense: “How is that any different from what N.O.W.H.E.R.E. is doing—stealing teenagers!” Does he not realize he just answered his own question?
Also problematic is Solstice and Bunker’s perpetually glass-half-full attitudes. Now, I’m all for more positivity in comics—and the world in general—but not when it gets saccharine and almost preachy. Take Solstice’s sweet-natured response to her disfigured condition: “The universe has a plan for everyone…It never gives you more than you can handle.” The combination of her and Miguel’s optimism may prove too much to take seriously in the future.
Then you have Superboy and Wonder Girl, the great teen superhero romance of our generation. I understand Lobdell may be eager to show their traditional attraction to each other (and I’m sure the hardcore shippers are, too), but it’s not great that they hit on each other as they literally hit on each other. Wonder Girl comments as she punches him, “You are hot—I’ll give you that.” He, in return kicks her across the city, nothing, “She’s a lot more attractive in real life than she was in the holograms”—which just sounds a bit wrong, no matter how you think about it.
Booth’s habit of drawing faces like everyone’s born with GQ cheekbones makes for some attractive teenagers, but I personally still find something “off” about them. There’s a panel of Superboy flying after Wonder Girl after he launches her through a building, where he just looks…weird. Something about his lips, maybe? But this is a personal feeling, and overall, Booth’s stuff looks lively and appropriate for a teen title.
Conclusion: Like any good teenager, this title frustrates you and endears itself to you equally, often at the same time. Despite all odds, I think I’ll stick around a bit longer, though I’m not sure I can recommend the same to you.
Grade: C+
- Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: - And the award for Most Awkward Bit of Self-Psyching goes to Wonder Girl, for screaming at herself: “NO! Not after everything I’ve been through! Not here! Not now!”
- A comment about Skitter: doesn’t it seem wildly inconvenient to have a hero who must go into a kind of stasis for some indeterminate amount of time before using her powers?
- To j, a person who commented on my last review of Teen Titans–it looks like you’re right and Danny the Street may have saved Solstice and Kid Flash after all. Respect.
Filed under: DC Comics, Reviews Tagged: | Andrew Dalhouse, Bart Allen, Brett Booth, Bunker, Cassandra Sandsmark, DC, DC Comics, Kid Flash, N.O.W.H.E.R.E., Norm Rapmund, Red Robin, Scott Lobdell, Skitter, Solstice, Superboy, Teen Titans, Teen Titans #4, Teen Titans #4 review, Tim Drake, Wonder Girl
