Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Teen Titans #8 Review and **SPOILERS**


Messing with the Timestream... Again... Still...

Teen Titans #8
"The Lazarus Contract, Part 2"
Story By: Priest, Benjamin Percy & Dan Abnett
Script By: Benjamin Percy
Breakdowns By: Phil Hester
Pencils By: Khoi Pham
Inks By: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors By: Jim Charalampidis
Letters By: Corey Breen
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: May 17, 2017

Heyyy, it's crossover time.

Been looking forward to seeing both teams of Titans in the same book... let's find out if it was worth the wait!





What Happened?



Wally West (the new one) meets a friendly one-eyed motorist, in need of some aid in the form of auto-repair.  To thank the lad, the fella buys him a (possibly probably definitely roofied) hamburger.



At Titans Tower-West, Damian informs the team about the run of missing speedsters... and finding the tracking button he'd placed on nu-Wally on his own person, fears the worst might have occurred.



We finally get around to picking up where Titans #11 left off.  The Wally's are face to face... with Deathstroke revealed as both of their captor.  Nu-Wally takes this reveal rather poorly... he feels as though there's nobody he can trust.  Barry never told him about a second Wally... and Deathstroke didn't tell him he'd roofied his hamburger.

Titans-East use their computer system to try to deduce where their Wally might have vanished to.  It's not long before Deathstroke's masked mug appears on the screen... discussing a Lazarus Contract.  Omen notices that Nightwing reacts strangely to this... but he remains tight-lipped.

The Teen Titans arrive, things get heated... but cool down before it comes to blows.  Damian accuses Dick of making a deal with Deathstroke... which, he admits... he totally did.

Back with the Wally's... Deathstroke debilitates (real) Wally, and takes the new one on a tour of his failures, in attempt to persuade the lad into taking him back in time.  We see Rose Wilson in a hospital bed, Joseph appears to be in a sanitarium, and Grants is... well, dead.  He promises if nu-Wally helps him, he'd be saving more lives than just Grant's.  Should Wally agree... he will give up being Deathstroke, forever.

Wally agrees to lend a hand... and, unwittingly, a whole lot of Speed Force power.  This chapter concludes with the Amalgamated Titans of Both Coasts finding their way through Slade's hideout... and coming face to face with a lightning-kissed Deathstroke the Terminator!

What I Dug?

For starters, I was super-relieved that the Lazarus Contract has nothing to do with Ra's al Ghul.

Even though they're not "my" Titans, it was still cool seeing both teams face-to-face.  Jackson and Garth's interaction was especially nice.  Hopefully Garth will be able to help Jackson find out more about his origin and powers.

What I Didn't?

I'm having trouble with the entire concept.  (The Real) Wally's whole thing since his return has been based on how flimsy and screw-with-able the timestream can be.  It should be a no-brainer for either team of Titans to turn down Deathstroke's request.  Maybe it's just me, but it feels like we might be messing with the timestream a bit too often nowadays... 

Now, we know that (new) Wally's got some trust issues, but his reaction to being duped by Deathstroke was a bit over the top.  I mean, he only knew Slade for as long as it took to fix his car and have a burger... and he's comparing it to being betrayed by a family member.  Not feeling it.

Not a fault with this issue really, but I really hate that the Wolfman/Perez run is non-canonical.  It really isn't a surprise, but it was with this issue that I kinda feel socked in the gut by it.  Roy mentions he knows Starfire... like the rest of the team wouldn't.  Raven and Beast Boy are part of the younger Titans, rather than alongside Dick and Donna.  Full disclosure, that probably affected my enjoyment of this issue a bit too much.

Bits and Pieces:

If you're able to let go of "the way things used to be" there is plenty to enjoy here.  While perhaps a bit weaker than the opening chapter of the Lazarus Contract, this issue does move the story along.  The novelty of seeing the disparate Titans interact along with the cliffhanger make this issue worth your time.


7.0/10

11 comments:

  1. I really liked this issue for about 3/4's of it, but feel it got kind of dumb after that. The whole borrowed time-force and changing Ikon suit is just kind dumb...

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  2. I'm kinda of confused here. Black Hole has been trying to harness and use the Speed Force for what appears to be months with no success, yet the Ikon suit can just suck it out of Wally? Black Hole may need to fire Dr. Meena and bring in Dr.Ikon. That being said, I did like this issue, and look forward to the rest of the Lazarus Contract.

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    1. lol...Blackhole are all stupid tools I guess!

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  3. I'm the only who loved this issue to bits. First the introduction between Garth and Kaldur'ahm was the best. Love to see Tempest show the ropes to new Aqualad in the future. Then I was overjoyed at the Red Hood and the Outlaws reference with Starfire and Arsenal which means it's still canon! I'm not the least bit disappointed by the de-aging of Beast Boy and Raven because along with Starfire they fit perfectly with Damian (Raven that is) and Kaldur maybe Blue Beetle too. This way we might get the chance for Jericho to join and Kole to make a comeback and resume their flirt. The entertaining part is that Starfire is the true leader of Teen Titans and Damian hasn't realized it.

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  4. Loved this issue.. the 2 teams together.. the convo between characters and the confrontation in the first pages between the 2 teams.. hahaha that was nice.. REALLY HOPING FOR DICK AND KORI AGAIN!! One of the most iconic love team, ever, even before i was born they've been shacking it up.. it's legacy and must be preserved hahaha

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    1. Legacy my @ss Kori always dragged Dick down and him her. They are better off separate ways. Kori is polyamorous in culture and a very fiery girl and Dick can't handle all that she is. Have you counted the times they have broken up and made up before and after their marriage fiasco, thank heavens Raven got possessed for the 100th time and cancelled it. Accept it DICK and KORI are INCOMPATIBLE!

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  5. Has Bumblebee on the cover. Opens to read she is nowhere in the story. F* off clickbait! Titans incomplete epic fail!

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  6. No Rebirth crossover yet has been good enough to get me to buy the books I'm no already buying and it seems I'm not starting now... I just don't care about Lazarus/Speed Force bullshit spawn

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  7. Nothing is connecting for me. The Lazarus Contract has too many plotholes and what's going on Rebirth is affecting the plot. Now all we can assume is headcanon and I can't handle the disappointment.

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