The New Titans #124

Prometheus Gathering

Marv Wolfman & Michael Jan Friedman Story
William Rosado Pencils
Keith Champagne & Jason Martin Inks
Joshua Myers Colors
Albert DeGuzman Letters
Keri Kowalski Asst. Edits
Pat Garrahy Edits
Created by Marv Wolfman & George Pérez

So William Rosado returns after a two-issue hiatus, and once again, Michael Jan Friedman had to help Marv Wolfman with the writing — something that always makes me uncomfortable. Something that also makes me uncomfortable is a complete lack of Impulse on the cover. Everybody else gets to be sucked into the black hole leading to the Siege of the Zi Charam, except for my favorite little speedster.

Our story begins with Sargent Steel and a random scientist visiting the Titans in their satellite to tell them about a mysterious and disturbing gravity well that has been discovered near Jupiter. Arsenal and Terra are curious as to why the Titans are being asked to investigate this instead of the Justice League, and Damage yells at Impulse to pay attention, since he's too busy blasting aliens on his Game Boy.

Steel lays down the law with the Titans, saying the government has been paying the Titans' bills for several months, and now they want something in return. Arsenal reminds him of the stipulation in their contract that allows the Titans to choose their own missions, but everybody else seems real excited at the prospect of visiting Jupiter. Jarras suspects Psimon could be the cause of the well, Damage thinks it could be Dr. Polaris, and Impulse celebrates reaching level 63,387.

So everybody starts to load up Darkstar's puddle jumper, and we get to finally see some fringe characters who have been floating around in the background for the past couple of issues. These include Rose Wilson, daughter of Deathstroke, and Annie Bonelli, Darkstar's friend, along with her two boys, Thomas and Benjamin. The boys are thrilled to meet Jarras, calling him a Vulcan, an elf, and asking if he rides a wolf. Impulse, meanwhile, is excitedly running around, chanting over and over again, "I'm going to Jupiter. I'm going to Jupiter."

Everybody gets into the ship, and there's a pretty funny, awkward moment between Jarras and Arsenal. Jarras, a small, blue elf with a squeaky voice comes hovering up to Arsenal in the Omegadrome in its condensed egg form, politely apologizing for being late. It's a wonderfully absurd moment. Impulse, meanwhile, realizes he left his Space Legion Vid on the satellite and can't leave it behind since he's way past level 100,000. So he decides to hurry and grab it, but nobody realizes he left and they take off without him.

The rest of the Titans then go off to have their own adventure without Impulse. And none of them realize he's not there until they get sucked into the black hole and reappear somewhere very far away. I wonder if the omission of Impulse is the work of Marv Wolfman, who didn't seem to appreciate having new characters forced upon him. But whatever the cause, I think Impulse will be fine. Impulse's own series is taking off and he doesn't depend on the New Titans for a monthly adventure. And since Impulse's friendship with Damage has been fractured, the only character I'll miss from this team will be Jarras Minion.

The letters to the editor finally return without explanation, and unfortunately, they all are about the Forever Evil event, which did not include Impulse.

Paul Sampson, of Sydney River, Nova Scotia, said he enjoyed Forever Evil so much, he didn't even notice the absence of Damage and Impulse. Well, I did; but then again, this is an Impulse blog, not a New Titans blog. Well, let's get on to the ads now.

Gotham City's greatest hero. Mega-City One's toughest lawman. The ultimate showdown's about to begin. Batman-Judge Dredd: The Ultimate Riddle. Alan Grant, John Wagner, Carl Critchlow, Dermot Power.

Super Karts. To make it more realistic, we'd have to kick dust in your face! On CD-Rom for IBM PC & Compatibles.

New MTV cards from Fleer. Fresh, tasty and anything but wholesome.

Gotta rock. Radiohead The Bends. Our Lady Peace Naveed. Musicland and Sam Goody. I don't know anything about Our Lady Peace, but I do like Radiohead. The big hit on The Bends is Fake Plastic Trees, which is a pretty great song.

Live from the House of Blues on TBS.

Year One. They were legends from the beginning. Flash Annual #8 by Waid, Peyer, Brewer & Stegbauer. Deathstroke Annual #4 by Wolfman, O. Cariello & McCain.

Two decades ago scientists sent a message to space ... this ... is the reply. Species. Be intrigued. Be seduced. Be warned. Starring Ben Kingsley, before he played the Mandarin in Iron Man 3, and Alfred Molina, before he became Doctor Octopus in Spider-Man 2.

Next time, we get back to basics with Impulse #5.