Teen Titans, Vol. 2: Family Lost!

The second volume of Geoff John's Teen Titans continues with that same level greatness, just with a hardy dose of evil. Demons and devils are not my thing. In this book, the Teen Titans' major villain Brother Blood and his Church of Blood rear their ugly heads. Since these guys are more on the level of Temple of Doom cultists, they're tolerable. However, when you add the character of Raven and her complex parentage with the demon Trigon, it does verge very close to territory that I am not comfortable with.

Brother Blood isn't the only baddie giving the Teen Titans fits. Deathstroke the Terminator is seeking revenge on the Titans, especially Raven, as she had something to do with the disposal of the corporal form of Slade Wilson's son Jericho. To assist in getting answers along with revenge is his daughter Rose, who seems brainwashed and now going by the name Ravager. 

There's a ton of stuff going on in this volume. Too much to cover without getting mired in details. I'll just say that there are elements of Rosemary's Baby, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and just about any movie where an evil son commits patricide in order to become the new ruler.

A great read. But I prefer the last volume more as the level of occult activity was near zero in that book.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Marvel and DC Present The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans #1

This is a book that I've seen numerous times online, having been purchased by others. Yet, I never once found it in the wild. Man, would such posts make me jealous! So you can be sure when I finally did get a chance to buy a copy, I promptly declared it was mine and added it to my pull pile.

This X-Men/New Teen Titans crossover continues the Phoenix Saga. But the main baddie chosen for this story is one that just seems unlikely. Darkseid, in yet another attempt to bring his Anti-Life Equation to fruition, has traded some powerful tech with the morally ambiguous Metron. Yet, up until 1982, when this book was published, the New Gods of Apokolips were never considered to be major foes of the Teen Titans. Yes, Deathstroke, the Terminator is involved in this plot. But he's a hired hand of Darkseid's and not the mastermind behind everything. I guess writer Chris Claremont (X-Men Vs. Dracula) really needed a powerful villain in order to bring Jean Grey back from the dead. 

That resurrection isn't a spoiler. You can see that Dark Phoenix has returned on the cover! The real mystery that I won't spoil, is whether or not the entity that has returned is Jean Grey or not. 

The most interesting thing about this story was how both the X-Men and Teen Titans exist in the same universe. I was expecting some sort of inter-dimensional tear in the fabric of reality bringing the two biggest sellers of DC and Marvel together. But I had forgotten that Superman and Spider-Man were a part of the same shared universe in their crossovers in the 1970s. 

It would be a dozen years before DC and Marvel would produce another crossover. The 90s were full of them because Marvel was close to folding and needed the sales boost such epic meetings brought with them. Nowadays, the Marvel and DC universes seem as far apart as the East is from the West. But I know in my heart that the boundary between both worlds is separated by the mere width of a single page. 

Featuring art by Walt Simonson (Fantastic Four) with inks by Terry Austin and a roster of over a dozen A-list characters, this epic was a true all-star event. Considering how beloved this book was and the fact that a reprint was issued in the mid-90s, I can't believe that it took me over 40 years to find my copy! Was it worth the wait? Visually- yes! But the story gets a little busy and Claremont really tries too tug too tight on the heart strings with Scott Summers in terms of the return of the Dark Phoenix. That overtly soap opera feel of the Uncanny X-Men is what put me off that series after a while and the book's ending sure does get soapy... I mean sappy.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

 
   With the animated version of the Judas Contract recently coming out on DVD, I wanted to read the original source material before I gave the film a view. I just happened to be sitting on a vintage copy of the complete story and so I gave it a read (Note: my review of The New Teen Titans: Terra Incognito comes before this volume.)
     The Titans have recently added a new member to their ranks for the first time since reforming. But it's their downfall, as newcomer Terra, is actually in league with their arch-enemy, the deadly Deathstroke the Terminator. But before the teens can come to blows with the combined forces of Deathstroke, Terra, and HIVE, they must taken on the equally lethal Brother Blood who just happens to have brainwashed one of the Titans into becoming his newest follower.
      An exciting collection that introduces the character Jericho to the mix along with revealing Dick Grayson's metamorphosis from Robin into Nightwing, and the secret origin of Slade Wilson. Plus, more hints about the forthcoming Crisis on Infinite Earths are contained within. Masterful stories by Marv Wolfman with just as equally amazing artwork by George Perez.
       A true classic that is a must have for fans of Crisis, the Teen Titans, or just darn fine comic books.

    Worth Consuming!

    Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Flashpoint: Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravager #3

  After facing down a mutiny aboard his ship, Deathstroke uncovers a key piece of information that will finally reunite him with his daughter Rose. But to save her means that the pirate will walk into the most deadliest trap he'll ever have to face. Woe to those who hold his daughter captive because like they say 'hell hath no fury like a father scorned!'

    This was a very action packed closer to this Flashpoint tie-in. But it was also a little bit confusing. There were so many plans and then secret plans and then back-stabbings that I had to re-read this issue twice. Plus, it doesn't help having a character die and then have them come back for a couple of panels and then disappear again as if nothing happened. 
   I couldn't tell if this error was an accidental oversight on the part of legendary writer Jimmy Palmiotti (Marvel Knights) or the artists- or if maybe the editor dropped the ball. It could've been a subterfuge on the part of Deathstroke. But then why would he say that this character died in the captions, which are supposed to be thoughts contained in Slade's head? 
   I'm even confused writing all of this...
   Not my favorite closing chapter and by no means was it my favorite of the tie-ins. That's really disappointing because I thought the opening chapter was really strong. But it just went downhill from there.

   Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.
 

Flashpoint: Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravager #2

  I had always heard that Deadpool was initially a carbon copy of Deathstroke. I didn't realized how true that statement was until now. At the end of issue #1, it looked like Deathstroke's story in the Flashpoint was over as Emperor Aquaman had speared the mercenary through the heart. Nobody told me that Slade Wilson had a mutant healing factor!

   (Okay- Deadpool was designed as a clone of Deathstroke. I will admit!!! But Deathstroke doesn't have the absurd sense of humor or knowledge that in reality, he's a character in a comic book that Wade Wilson have!

    Talking about returning from the dead. Deathstroke's arch-rival the Warlord has returned after being seemingly massacred in issue #1. Now Slade's 'resurrection' surprised me, but I was positive that the Warlord was killed off by the King of the Seven Seas. Does Warlord have a healing factor too?

     A good chapter but it got a little confusing for me. Maybe I should've re-read the first issue but I wasn't that interested to double check on things. 

   Worth Consuming

    Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Flashpoint: Deathstroke and the Curse of the Ravager #1

   With Emperor Aquaman controlling the seven seas with an iron grip, the only humans brave enough to sail them are pirates. Amongst the most feared are the Warlord aboard the Skartaris and ruthless Slade Wilson, AKA Deathstroke and his converted whaler, the Ravager. Right now, Deathstroke has the Skartaris on his radar, as it is rumored that the Warlord has his kidnapped daughter. But his search my be short as the Ravager has just run afoul of a certain King of Atlantis...
    Another exciting chapter in the Flashpoint universe. Normally, Deathstroke is a bad-ass assassin and the constant scourge of the Teen Titans. Never in 100 years if you asked me to come up with an alternate timeline variation of Slade Wilson, I don't think I would ever come up with making him a Somali-style pirate. 
     I don't have a clue where this is going and I actually like that! Having over 36-years experience as a comic book enthuiast, I've read my fair share of storylines and quite a few have become quite predictable. Well folks, the Curse of the Ravager is anything but! 
     A great opening segment! 

    Worth Consuming

    Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.