The Titans # 12

The Immortal Coil Part 3 of 3

Devin Grayson Writer
Mark Buckingham Penciller
Wade Von Grawbadger & Marlo Alquiza Inkers
Gregory Wright Color
Heroic Age Seps
Comicraft Lettering
Maureen McTigue Associate Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Titans clash all over this cover by Bucky & Wade with Richard and Tanya Horie's great colors! And this is a very involved cover — exactly what one would expect for a double-sized conclusion of a three-part story. We have lots of familiar friends and foes here. Vandal Savage has Jesse Quick by the throat, while the new Flash battles Gorilla Grodd. Plus, we have lots of Bart's old New Titans buddies — Damage, Starfire, Nightwing, Troia, Arsenal and Cyborg in his gold Omegadrome body. Sadly, this issue is not a reunion for Impulse and his former teammates.

This is a very large, complex story, and it's pretty tough to get a grasp of what's going on since we're coming in on the third act. But it really doesn't matter too much, since Impulse and Young Justice have a very small roll here. So, telling the story from our hero's perspective, Impulse, Robin and Superboy hop aboard the Super-Cycle to check out a sudden burst of natural disasters in the country of Zandia. None of the girls are there, but this actually makes sense continuity-wise — Secret is still missing, Arrowette has quit, and Wonder Girl is likely trying to help Arrowette.

Anyway, Robin finds it awfully suspicious that this country was hit with five natural disasters in one day, but he can't figure out why. Superboy is excited to see so many other heroes there, including the beautiful Wonder Woman. Impulse randomly finds a bunch of sticks of TNT and brings them back to show his friends. Robin sighs, telling Impulse to get rid of them, and Superboy makes sure the dynamite is properly disposed of.

To illustrate how Zandia is jam-packed with superheroes, Steel smashes open a fire hydrant to put out a fire, and inadvertently drenches Impulse. Steel does apologize, but Impulse thinks he should throw Steel in the ocean to get even.

What all the heroes fail to realize (except for the stars of this book) is that all the disasters in Zandia were part of a larger scheme to attract as many heroes together into one spot, and then eradicate them with a nuclear warhead. Luckily, Cyborg's Omegadrome body proves flexible enough and powerful enough to contain the blast, protecting all the people and heroes on the ground, who never knew how close they were to being destroyed.

And that's really all that matters for us here. Yes, the new Flash and Jesse Quick were involved, but they didn't do anything that directly influenced Impulse. So we'll end this here. And since none of the letters to the editor mention Impulse, let's head straight into the ads.

You can attack, but you can't escape when good toys go bad. Toy Commander for Sega Dreamcast.

Generic knockoffs are okay for medication. This stuff is way too important. Official PlayStation branded accessories.

Polaris SnoCross on Game Boy Color.

Joe Kubert's World of Cartooning correspondence course for comic books.

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six on Nintendo 64, PlayStation and Game Boy Color.

Thick & rich obscene noises. Heinz ketchup.

Go west! Wild Wild West starring Will Smith, who will also be starring in the upcoming Suicide Squad.

Asteroids rocks! Asteroids Hyper 64 for Nintendo 64.

Next time, we'll finally get to the bottom of this new Flash character in The Flash #157.