Johns
McKone
Alquiza
Well, it's the thrilling conclusion to the Raven Rising saga! ...Well, it's a conclusion, nonetheless. So remember last month when I couldn't figure out if Cyborg, Superboy, and Wondergirl got sucked into the void like Bart, cause they were standing right next to him? Well, they weren't. It's not explained why they weren't, but they weren't. Anyway, big fight between the Titans and Slade. They're expelled from the void Raven sent them to, and then there's a big fight between the Titans and Slade and Brother Blood. Anyway, the ending?
Rose almost dispatches Jericho, who's been possessing people and trying to kill the Titans (he was actually responsible for shooting Bart in the kneecap), but hesitates. Jericho tries to possess Cyborg. Beast Boy helps get Raven's jewel back from Brother Blood. Instead of being possessed by Jericho, though, Cyborg is able to control himself enough to download Jericho onto a floppy disc. Raven, having regained her powers with her jewel, sends Brother Blood to the void and destroys his minions. Later, Slade yells at Rose for hesitating when she could have killed Jericho, telling her she's nothing like him, nothing but a disappointment, Rose pulls a knife, saying, "I'm just like you, Daddy," and puts out her own eye. Because Slade is missing an eye, see? Back at the Tower, Raven rejoins the Titans.
My thoughts: I said I'd give this newest incarnation of the Titans a year. Maybe I just don't like it cause it's new, I told myself, knowing that to be false. I've liked plenty of new comics with old characters. But whatever. I said I'd give it a year, and if I didn't enjoy it, if it didn't wow me, I'd stop reading. As the months drew up to the year-mark, I was worried. What if something good happened? What if this slow plot was actually building up to a stunning conclusion? Would this be like a comic "1984"? Will I at first rally against the book, but end up loving it and look like a filthy turncoat to my family and friends?
Luckily, Geoff Johns was willing to let me keep my dignity by producing yet another boring, meaningless piece of crap. For those of you who haven't read my rant here, my big problem with the book is this. Johns really, really, really seems to be stuck in the past, and it's keeping me from enjoying his writing. Because I feel like it's not his writing. The 1980 team consisted of Kid Flash, Robin, Wonder Girl, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Raven. Most likely, due to their popularity in Young Justice, Impulse and Superboy were to be brought over to the new team along with Robin and Wonder Girl. Well, luckily, something can be done with Impulse. A bit of trauma that's really nothing more than he's face before, and he can reinvent himself as the new "Kid Flash." We'll ignore the fact that he's always hated when people called him Kid Flash. It makes the team more like the old one. Unfortunately, Superboy's a little tougher to handle, so we'll put him on the back burner. Give him a stupid pet, and toss him one or two lines. Until these new kids are figured out, we'll let the old Titans run the show.
It's just so. Ug. I just wish they'd let him do an "untold stories" series about the old Titans' adventures, so he'd be able to leave these current characters with their dignity (and history). Ditto with the Flash. If he was doing something new and interesting to them, that I didn't like, that would be one thing.
But it's like, if twenty years from now, DC asked me to do a new Young Justice book, with a couple characters that have been around, but are still fairly new, and, being me, I say I need Superboy, Impulse, and Robin on the team. Because it's not YJ without those three! Well, first of all, I'd have to retro Bart back to Impulse. I'd make up something lame, like, he was in the library, reading, and a stack of books fell on his head, knocking him out and erasing all the knowlegde he'd gotten from the San Francisco library. Despite the new characters I've been given being relatively hot at the moment, I focus the story around my own favorites, Impulse, Superboy, and Robin, and bring back Young Justice villains such as Harm and the Mighty N. Dowed. The new fan favorites are given a backseat as I rehash old Young Justice plots and situations, reliving my youth through this new book. ...Would I do that? ...well....I'd want to. I'd want to soooooo bad. But I wouldn't. Why not? Because then it wouldn't be my stories, it wouldn't be my writing! I'd feel wrong about it, like I'm not living up to my full potential, and I'm stuck in the past.
Well, this is what I feel Geoff Johns is doing....of course, with one notable exception, as, if I'd put new characters behind Impulse, Superboy, and Robin, well. At least those were popular characters at one point. Now, I'm not doubting that Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, and Cyborg have their share of fans, but it does irk me that Impulse, Superboy, and Robin each had their own series, each of these series lasting nearly a decade (Robin's held out the longest with Tim maintaining his Robin title until issue #125, while Impulse's book was abruptly yanked right before the 90th issue) and are now playing second fiddle to characters that were not(to my knowledge) important enough for their own series. Macro (Maxi-?) series, anyway. Beast boy did have a four issue mini-series, a long while ago.
...So. Sorry for the rant, but as I don't plan on buying any more Teen Titans (we'll see how well that holds up next month....), I figured I'd explain why. This series is lame (he downloaded someone onto a floppy disk? She stabbed out her own eye? (and it was on the wrong side, anyway) He's calling himself Kid Flash?), unoriginal, and not even worth two bucks a month.
Thank you, Geoff Johns, for ruining my favorite characters.
Posted by Kaitlin Guzzi at June 27, 2004 03:00 AM