Tuesday, September 05, 2006

The kids are doing fine

Teen Titans #38 (DC)
Written by Geoff Johns; Art by Tony Daniel and Kevin Conrad; Cover by Daniels


Or another issue filled with exclamation points. This is so far my favorite of all the OYL titles, surprisingly quick-witted in almost all issues. Geoff Johns did an amazing job
with the short Doom Patrol arc, making the Chief a prime, fucked up master-bator of manipulation, but not without reason. And the shocker at the end of issue #37 makes me want to stay around for a very long time. The new line-up also keeps things continually on the edge. So. Where to begin. Issue #38 starts a couple of new storylines minus the disjointedness. Reveals the team's roster in the missing one year, lots of newcomers --- including Mas y Menos from the cartoon! --- and lots of returning Titans (can't stop looking at that spread). The search for Raven continues, but not after revealing that she left the group for a reason. A scary reason (that is yet to be revealed), and not just because she broke up with BB. And Slade has begun recruiting for his Titans East. Fat issue. Great cover. A plot that just won't quit twisting. *****



The Flash: Fastest Man Alive #3 (DC)
Written by Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo; Art by Karl Kerschl; Cover by Ken Lashley

Finally, some action. Not the heaving kind but you can feel the muscles twitching. There's a new hero in town, brash and impatient where Bart is hesitant and, uh, hesitant. This title poses too many questions, and it's getting piled up like those books on the floor that you always trip on on your way to bed. The speed force is shifty, and this should make for burned asphalt action. Research is not action. Bilson and DeMeo write inoffensive dialogues but everything's just too safe. Bart, way back in the Teen Titans, was a stubborn show-off. And now he's like "I'm not the Flash." Wally, where art thou? **

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