Teen Titans #1 – Review

By: Will Pfeifer (writer), Kenneth Rocafort (artist), Dan Brown (colorist)

The Story: Like many a teen protagonist, Cassie Sandsmark’s story begins racing to catch a bus…

The Review: Though the title remains inexorably linked to some of the most beloved stories of their eras, the latest volume of Teen Titans was something of a disaster. The N.O.W.H.E.R.E. story never really caught on, Trigon’s introduction to the New 52 squandered its potential, and a time-traveling attempt to reinvigorate the series left many readers frustrated. With Scott Lobdell’s complex mega arc concluded, DC has seen fit to relaunch the Teen Titans with Will Pfeifer at the helm. Will it be enough to revitalize one of DC’s most beloved franchises?

Well thankfully, Teen Titans #1 is not accurately represented by its rather obnoxious cover. Those worried that this would be a twenty-first century repeat of the original hip, happenin’ Titans can put those concerns to rest. There aren’t any ham-fisted references to social media or attempts to be particularly topical, instead the issue focuses almost entirely on action. We literally meet our villain in the issue’s third panel and Pfeifer wisely chooses to use the excitement to introduce us to the Titans in action.

Unfortunately our villain leaves something to be desired. The addition of a competent, non-sexualized female master planner to the DCU is appreciated, but our nameless antagonist remains fairly generic throughout this issue. The universal media broadcast and speeding hostage situation are classics of the genre, but there’s not much to set this caper apart from its fellows. Honestly after facing down Trigon, Deathstroke, and Brother Blood this kind of seems like a downgrade for the Titans.

Pfeifer does a solid job of sketching out the basic relationships between the Titans, but there’s a certain absence of joy. While it’s partially Red Robin’s stern management style, this is a very distant, businesslike team of teenagers. Admittedly Beast Boy feels a bit more youthful but, for the most part, there’s a lack of passion that feels off for a teen superhero team. And while I expect that later issues will show us a little more interpersonal interaction, small things like Raven explaining her powers to Gar make these Titans feel like strangers to one another. Admittedly, it seems like the groundwork is in place; the opening panel of Wonder Girl seems to hint at bigger things for her down the line and the implied relationships between Beast Boy and Bunker and Red Robin and Raven, respectively, are intriguing. However, it’s odd that the first issue only shows up phantoms of what may yet be, rather than what is.

The Spirit #17 – Review

By: Too many to list—check out the review.

The Story: You ever get the feeling some people can only see the world in black and white?

The Review: As much history and acclaim lies behind The Spirit, it really doesn’t have much of a mythos.  You have the core cast, of course, and the faceless Octopus as Spirit’s possibly eternal archnemesis, and a handful of recurring characters, but unlike any other major comic-book figure out there, the Spirit has few defining storylines and even less continuity.  Most writers and artists use the series more as a vehicle to stretch their storytelling chops than to tell a substantial story.

In “Strange Bedfellows,” Howard Chaykin gives us the oldest plot in pulp, the “Whodunnit?”  Unfortunately, since he shares the issue with two other features, he has scale back his plot and character development to the point where you never really get invested in either.  Half the fun of these mysteries is having the detective make deductive connections from the facts you somehow miss, but Chaykin goes for the strategy of having the Spirit pull conclusions out of thin air, almost making them up as he goes along: “Wearing your husband’s shoes with Sandra on your shoulders, to leave those heavy size-twelve footprints…using a recording of Brian raging at you to sell his suicide…”  Brian Bolland offers strong character figures and detailed settings, but doesn’t use the black-and-white constraints to his advantage, making it look like very nice inks the colorist forgot to fill in.

Paul Levitz delivers one that feels like it barely moves beyond the conception stage.  “Lottery” revolves around Brenner, a newsman whose doormat personality makes him sympathetic, but no less shallow in depth.  As for Ivan, the conman who preys on the hapless newsie, his brilliant plan is to replace the state-approved lottery board on Brenner’s stand with his own, a blatant substitution that makes you wonder why frequent visitor the Spirit doesn’t catch on sooner.  It’s also baffling why Brenner doesn’t just ask the Spirit, whom he considers the only man who respects him, to help him out.  So you’re not inclined to feel all that moved by the unfortunate, but hardly tragic by any means, ending.  Dolan has a point: “Fools who play these games deserve to lose, anyway.”  Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez provides enjoyable, lively versions of our characters, but needs more inking; it all looks so pale you’ll find it difficult to stare at it for too long.