Monday, April 13, 2015

Teen Titans Annual #1 Review and *SPOILERS*

Written By: Tom King, Will Pfeifer
Art By: Allison Borges, Wes St. Claire, Wayne Faucher, Matt Yackey
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: April 1, 2015


Trust Issues


*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Even though we're already deep into Convergence, I figured I'd take this time to catch up on some reviews from the previous week........... You know, because I think you're special.......... and because I really hate missing a book, but what the hell, let's go with the special thing.  So with that in mind let's talk about some Teen Titans.  In the last issue we saw our Titan heroes take on their new found fame and go wild with it.  Beast Boy was on a SNL rip off, Bunker was approached about a show........... and the others did similar fame things as Red Robin tried to get more information about weapons that might have been stolen from the Governors Island STAR Labs site, but the investigations are going to have to be put on hold because Manchester Black brings something to Red Robin's attention.  It seems that Superboy is back and if the video taken of him is accurate, it looks like he just killed a whole mess of people.  Let's check out this issue and get some answers about if our Boy of Steel has retrogressed back into simply being a weapon.  Let's check it out.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins with Superboy starting his day really poorly because we see him on the ground covered in blood and it looks like he's caused a whole hell of a lot of destruction and murdered a whole hell of a lot of people with whatever bender he was on the night before.  The news spreads throughout the interwebs and each of the Titans find out what their former teammate and friend has done and as we move throughout the roster of Titans, we see that Wonder Girl is obviously taking it the hardest and she breaks down on a park bench after learning the news.  They're not the only ones who find out about these murders though, we see that after the police have arrested Superboy that Martian Manhunter is out and about looking for answers and I love this because it's the first time that I've seen J'onn go under his alter ego, Detective John Jones and man does he begin raging on Superboy.


It turns out that the slaughtered bodies around Kon were actually displaced Durlans that had hid on Earth after Green Lantern: Uprising and knowing that no one will bring justice to a bunch of alien immigrants, Martian Manhunter beats the hell out of Superboy to get answers on why he killed them.  It's a good thing that the only survivor to that Durlan massacre showed up and put a hurt on J'onn to get him to stop.  With Martian Manhunter down, the Durlan and Superboy escape police custody and I'm relieved to find out from the Durlan that Superboy didn't kill her companions...... But it's still a mystery who did.  Needing help, Superboy calls Red Robin and when he gathers the Titans to help Kon.............. Man, does Wonder Girl get pissed.  It's not just that Red Robin didn't tell her that he was helping Kon, it's that she's not positive that Kon didn't murder those people.  She really believes that he may have reverted back to his former weapon self and with him being gone as long as he has, she's not crazy to have her doubts about her former boyfriend.


In the end, Martian Manhunter makes a reappearance and he and Superboy destroy the hell out of Bunker and Beast Boy's apartment.......... Man, I really hope they have alien insurance.  So the team leave to hide Superboy and to hopefully prove his innocents, but Wonder Girl and Power Girl stay behind because like I said before, Wonder Girl doesn't trust him and Power Girl......... Well, she just doesn't feel comfortable aiding and abetting a possible murderer.  As we close the issue we see that Manchester Black has been planning on something going bad with the Titans and introduces Cassie and Tanya to a team he's been putting together and wants them to join so that they can bring Superboy in.  The team consists of Klarion: The Witch Boy, three Indigo Tribers............ or possibly one and two constructs, Guardian............. and Kid Flash?  Now my interest is peaked because I need to know who this Kid Flash is.


That's it for this Annual of Teen Titans and even though I've been pretty negative when it comes to this new take on my Titan heroes, this Annual was really good.  The reintroduction of Superboy to this series wrapped around a murder mystery was a excellent idea and the drama it causes between the Titan members was a joy to read.  I've felt lately that the characters in this book have come off flat and lacking in any kind of emotion but damn did this Annual tell me to suck it for being a Negative Nancy because it delivered all the feelings that I'd expect these characters to have when dealing with a possible murderous Superboy.  Plus a raging Martian Manhunter and you can never go wrong there.  So yeah, decent art, great story........... I hope that Titans continues this trend when they return in June.

Bits and Pieces:

If you've had a problem with the current Teen Titans run because it hasn't really lived up to your expectations........... Well, this issue just might be the one you've been looking for.  The characters have real emotion here and adding to that, we have a "Who Done It?" story line featuring Superboy and that alone should get everyone to the comic shop to pick this up.  I hope that the series continues in this fashion when the title returns in June.

8.5/10

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