The New Titans #119

Forever Evil I of III Chapter One: Dark Titans

Marv Wolfman Writer
William Rosado Penciller
Keith Champagne Inker
Albert DeGuzman Letterer
Chi Colorist
Keri Kowalski Asst. Editor
Pat Garrahy Editor
Titans originally created by Marv Wolfman & George Pérez

The cover by Rosado shows Deathwing threatening Mirage. I don't know much about Deathwing beyond him being the father of Mirage's unborn child. And the fact that he works for/is possessed by Raven right now. If you look closely, you can see Raven and her other minions in the shadows, which is pretty neat. But I wish they could have avoided the speech bubbles, especially since they required a TM behind every name.

Long before DC's recent epic Forever Evil crossover, there was a small, three-part Forever Evil storyline in The New Titans. It focuses on Raven trying to spread the seed of Trigon to other metahumans. But Impulse isn't involved in this story, so I won't go into much detail. In fact, the only bit of Impulse we see here, is a scene we've already seen in Damage #8.

Troubled by what Psimon insinuated about his past, Damage has decided to leave the Titans for a while to figure out where he came from. Arsenal is dead-set against this idea, and a shouting match ensues. Damage then storms out the room, and Impulse tries to call Grant back. But he won't listen, and leaves anyway. So Arsenal asks Impulse to keep an eye on him, and let him know the Titans will help him once he's calmed down. Impulse says, "Hey, no problemo," and he takes off.

And that's the last we see of Bart this issue. The rest of the story gives some time to Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner and Roy Harper. But the most important development is that Raven captures Mirage at the end of the issue.

Impulse is going to sit out the next two issues of The New Titans, because he apparently will be too busy following Damage around in his book. This is rather unfortunate, since Impulse was a major character in The New Titans ever since he joined, having single-handedly saved the team several times. But this marks the beginning of the end of the New Titans. Marv Wolfman was rather unhappy to have characters like Impulse and Damage forced on him, and as soon as he could, he began telling stories that focused mainly on his characters, like Raven and Changeling. I understand and respect that artistic need, but I am sad Impulse won't be heavily involved in New Titans anymore.

The letters page opens with a note from Pat Garrahy that, for once, isn't negative at all. He merely informs us that Supergirl will be involved in the Forever Evil storyline.

Gary Halpin, of Co. Clare, Ireland, said he enjoyed issue #116 in part because Impulse wasn't as annoying as he usually is.

Charles Skaggs, of Columbus, Ohio, said he loved seeing Impulse's reaction to getting hurt. Charles said Impulse sees everything as a game and this particular "reality check" was long in coming. Charles ends his letter by saying Impulse is definitely one of the best things about this book.

Now for the ads.

A fallen angel rises ... Azrael. Dennis O'Neil, Barry Kitson, James Pascoe.

The end is near. Don't miss it. Final episode! Tales from the Crypt.

Next, Flash #99: Part 5 of the 6-part "Terminal Velocity." Targeted by laser fire, Flash must outrace the light speed beams to save Linda's life, knowing that doing so will cost him his humanity and cause him to vanish forever. And if the Fastest Man Alive is lost, there may be no one to stop Kobra from destroying Keystone City.