By: J.T. Krul (writer), Nicola Scott (penciller), Doug Hazlewood (inker), Jason Wright (colorist)
The Story: First rule of creepy-island exploring: don’t split up! Geez, doesn’t anyone learn from movies?
The Review: Writing these reviews can get a little tricky. A lot of the times, there’s so much to say even about one issue that parsing down the most pertinent points can be a challenge. And it’s not just the good ones; even a terrible issue—dare I say, especially the terrible issues—can generate a lot of commentary. I almost never run into a situation where I’ve got nothing to talk about.
But today’s dosage of Teen Titans proves it’s the mediocre material that offers the least interest. Some decent action goes on, but rather than providing energy to the story, it just goes through the motions, as if Krul’s following the formula for the classic “group in a hostile environment” plot: steal away one, have the group follow, then pick them off one or two at a time, with some dashed hopes peppered in between.
Even not-Ravager’s turnaround feels a bit forced and predictable, since all of us knew from last issue she was a fake. The whole sequence where she leads Superboy away from the group to backstab him feels very familiar, although you’ve got to enjoy how incredibly thickheaded he is to not see all the red flags: “This place. It frightens me… Can you not feel the fear in my heart? Please, you mustn’t let anything happen to me.” Come on—she’s not even trying!
Most of the plot just feels stale, but there are a couple inescapably pointless moments. It’s one thing for Kid Flash to fail in his rescue of Cassie and the others—that’s part of the formula. It’s another to make him go through such a desperate final action, like setting a whole mountaintop on fire as a distress signal, only to have no one take note of it at any point. They won’t need it to find the enemy anyway, since Rankor essential becomes the mountaintop at the end of the issue.
Character development-wise, Krul gives us the same stuff we’re used to: Kid Flash’s rashness, Raven’s angst, etc. Solstice has a mildly interesting voice, being not as senselessly optimistic as we’re initially led to believe. She potentially brings a fresh perspective to the team, but since most of the team has broken up by now, she has few chances to interact with them.
Scott’s work is quite nearly wasted on issues as bland as this one. It often feels as if her great depth and detail are the only things making the title as worthwhile to read as it is. She not only brings out emotions from the characters even the script seems to neglect, she gives the action a lot of physical credibility. Most of the time, these punch-fests look stiff and posed; but when she has not-Ravager claw Superboy’s chest from behind, you have to wince. Scott got a lot of practice drawing hardcore violence in Secret Six, and it shows. Hazlewood gives fine treatment to Scott’s pencils, and Wright’s colors are as bold as they should be for a teen title.
Conclusion: Nothing much to see here except for some terrific art.
Grade: C
– Minhquan Nguyen
Some Musings: – I was wondering who those extra people in the cages were, but then I remembered they’re Solstice’s parents. Talk about the red shirt factor.
Grade
Conclusion