Teen Titans, Vol. 1: A Kid's Game!

I don't know why I don't actively seek out the works of Geoff Johns. Everything of his that he writes has been something that I've enjoyed. I truly don't think he's ever written a bad sentence in his entire career. Maybe it's the subject matter. But that not entirely true. I'm a big fan of the Flash. He's one of my top 5 favorite superheroes. Yet, I think I've only read a fraction of The Flash books written by Geoff Johns.

I've owned this opening volume of Johns' Teen Titans for at least a decade I'd say. It was something my best friend owned that I inherited. While I added this book willingly to my collection, for the longest time I just couldn't bring myself to read it. Then my online database up and shutdown so as I rebuild a personal directory of my collection, I'm making decisions over whether to keep a lot of the unread pieces of my collection or not.

'A Kid's Game!' takes place almost immediately after the events of 'Graduation Day'. With the death of two Titans, both Young Justice and the Titans disbanded. In the aftermath there are two schools of thought: no more team-ups led by Nightwing or Cyborg's vision to train the next generation of superheroes. With the blessing more or less of Batman, Superman and Wally West, Cyborg along with Starfire and Beast Boy have agreed to act as mentors to the revitalized Teen Titans. With their tutelage on the weekends, Robin, Superboy and Impulse will finally see action not as sidekicks but full-fledged heroes.

Lurking in the background is a third party who intensely believes that children should not wear capes. Whomever this mystery player is, they'll be willing to maim and kill to keep the Teen Titans from reforming. Even if who they hurt is a teenaged hero.

Mike McKone's, artwork, among others, matches so well with this storyline. The first 3 issues of this version of the Teen Titans sold out and went into multiple prints and I can see why! That buddy cop humor between those 3 amigos, Tim Drake, Con-El, now Conner Kent, and Bart Allen has carried over from Young Justice. The art is almost as fanciful as the original art from that series. Only it's a tad more refined. The action was so fast paced and I was so engrossed in this new era of Teen Titans that as soon as I finished this volume I ran to where I keep my collection and pulled out volume 2! If it's only half as captivating as this volume, I am in for one heck of a treat!

Excellent covers by the late Michael Turner.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Robin Annual #7 (2007)

I've had this book in my collection for probably a decade and it wasn't until 2 days ago I learned that it was a Halloween themed comic! The database I use for organizing my collection has been lacking in updating its new releases; thus I've been rushing to create my own personal log just in case the website shuts down. That new inventory is how I came to learn that this annual was holiday themed.

There are 2 stories inside. The first book is set at Halloween. A serial killer is targeting the members of a Gotham City family. Due to the surgical skill of the murderer along with the way the entrails have been removed, the media have dubbed this fiend as 'The Great Pumpkin.' (Thanks a lot Detective Harvey Big Mouth!) Working solo, the Tim Drake Robin has tasked himself with finding the killer before the whole family meets a grisly end. 

The back-up story, featuring the Damian Wayne Robin, is set in Japan during the Obon Festival: also called the Festival of Ghosts. Obon is held on July 15th. But that doesn't mean that this eerie ghost tale isn't appropriate for the build up to All Hallow's Eve. Setting up the 'Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul' storyline, after being drugged by a crazed elderly man, Damian wakes up in a cemetery, facing a horde of ghosts. 

I really liked the opening story. It's a good crime thriller in the vein (pardon the pun) of Thomas Harris' Silence of the Lambs. The villain is great though I am mighty disappointed to learn that after 15 years of their first appearance, the killer has never returned to print even though writer Keith Champagne (Stranger Things) really sets up a return.

I was also a fan of the artwork by Derec Donovan (Nick Fury's Howling Commandos). It had an animated quality. Not quite like the 1990s animated Batman series. But close enough to find it really visually appealing. 

I also liked the artwork of the secondary story by Jason Pearson (Body Bags). But that was about all of this story I liked. Pearson crafts the ghosts in this story to look like traditional Japanese spirits and demons. That sort of touch I greatly admired. But how often is it that I want the bad guys to win???

See, this story involves Damian Wayne during his infancy in the DC Universe having debuted as a teen just a year earlier. Well man, is this version of the son of Batman a total a-hole! Sure, in the current day, Damian is arrogant, rude and spoiled rotten. But in this story, I want to hurt him personally. He's that insufferable. 

The overall issue was rather good with one of the main characters being a huge dick (and I'm not talking Grayson!). The coolest thing about everything else is that I've got a new Halloween book in my collection that I didn't have to pay for! 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Detention Comics #1

I'm heading into my third week of the new school year. In celebration or maybe a moment of blessed relief, I dug through my long boxes to give this back to school special a read.

Detention Comics is comprised of 3 stories starring the Tim Drake Robin, the Connor Kent Superboy and Guy Gardner during his stint as Warrior. For a 1996 one-shot, it's not quite your typical DC stuff. All three stories are more morality plays than gritty action adventures that have been dosed with too much testosterone. In fact, in the Superboy story, not a single punch, kick or threat is heaved in the entire thing! But let's start with Robin, since his was the opening story.

A schoolmate of Tim Drake's is being bullied- by his overbearing mother! Constantly cut from team after team, the teen finally snaps and decides to get payback against the family of the high school's head coach.

With Superboy, he's on the beaches of Hawaii trying to impress some coeds when truant officer Mack Harlin arrives to spoil the fun. It appears to be a battle of brains versus brawn. But then all bets are off when Harlin wins over the babes with his recitation of Shakespeare's sonnets.

Lastly, former teacher, Guy Gardner has been called into his former high school stomping grounds to evaluate whether the troubled institute should remain open or be turned into a mini mall. In a remake of The Substitute, which was also from '96, Guy plays the role of Tom Berenger when a trio of metahuman teens seeks revenge on a brilliant student while setting the school ablaze!

Okay, that last story sounds a little like a typical 1990s DC Comics story. But it was so full of cliches and really preachy. It read like some of the Teen Titans stuff from the 1960s and 70s in terms that whomever wrote it (Ruben Diaz, Martian Manhunter: American Secrets) didn't know how to relate to teenagers. Plus, as a teacher myself, I don't appreciate stories that paint schools as dead end hell holes. True, there's a couple of schools in the area that I don't think you could pay me enough money to teach at. But I don't think of them as helpless cases either.

The Robin story was the best of the bunch. It's interesting, and maybe even a little odd, to read a tale from Drake's early days in which he's so unprepared. I've always thought of Tim Drake as the ultimate Robin. Yet, here, he's a floundering duckling without Batman or Alfred to back him up. 

As for the Superboy story... Geez, was he really that corny back then? I'm used to a less assured Connor Kent who seems to feel out of place being a clone and also a half-Luthor clone at that. 

Oh, and having Guy Gardner turned into some sort of mutating alien arsenal. That's pretty odd. I'm glad that plot idea was retconned. Please, somebody tell that was retconned?!

For a themed one-shot, I was entertained. However, the book wasn't written for youths. And if it was, the writers, with the exception of Denny O'Neill (Detective Comics) don't seem able to write for younger audiences. I loved the logo of this one-shot. The homage to the classic Detective Comics logo done as a chalkboard was eye-catching. It obviously did it's job as it was a big part of what enticed me to buy this book.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.