Teen Titans #16

Superboy and the Legion Part One

Geoff Johns Writer
Mike McKone Penciller
Marlo Alquiza Inker
Jeromy Cox Colorist
Comicraft Letters
Tom Palmer Jr. Associate Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover by Mike McKone shows the dangerous "man with the axe" Brainiac 5 warned us about last issue. He has apparently defeated Starfire, Beast Boy, Cyborg and Robin, leaving Wonder Girl, Kid Flash and Superboy to contend with him. Oddly, they are evoking the image of marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima. I see no reason to imitate this pose in this context, and it almost feels a little insulting.

Our story begins on Friday at 5:49 p.m. at Pier 39 in San Francisco. Instead of joining the Teen Titans, Conner has asked Cassie out on a date at the Sea Lion Café. Cassie got all dressed up for the occasion, but Conner's wearing his regular Superboy outfit, claiming he doesn't have any other clothes in Titans Tower. Conner talks about life with the Kents, Cassie talks about her mom, and they both agree to take things slow. At one moment, Conner accidentally activates his X-ray vision and sees Cassie without her clothes. Suddenly, a big portal opens up right behind Conner and sucks him away. Half a second later, Conner reappears through an identical portal, wearing a full Superman outfit (with a Legion belt buckle) and he tells Cassie the future depends on them.

At Titans Tower, Bart has made dinner for everyone, saying it's his mom's recipe for Interlac pot pies. (I don't think Bart ever spent enough time with his mom for her to cook him anything, unless you count her trip to Max and Helen's home one Christmas.) Nobody likes Bart's cooking, although Starfire does try to be polite about it. Robin then walks through the door and Bart asks him where he's been the past five weeks. Raven tells Bart that Robin thinks he wants to be alone, and Robin becomes irritated with having his emotions read.

Cassie comes flying through the door, carrying Superboy, who apparently collapsed soon after reappearing through the portal. Cassie lays him on the ground and tells everyone what happened. Bart notices that besides the change in costume, Conner's hair has also grown longer. Beast Boy notices that Superboy was holding a bunch of Legion rings in his hand. Suddenly, a glowing axe swings through the air, narrowly missing Beast Boy's head. Robin theorizes that the axe was slicing through reality itself, and as usual, he is right.

The wielder of the axe steps through a new portal (similar to Superboy's) and threatens to slice off Superboy's head. A fight breaks out, with Raven initially trying to use her powers to shut down this intruder. But he somehow slices her soul-self (that's what she says, anyway), so Cyborg tries the more direct approach of punching the guy in the jaw. The villain mocks Cyborg's primitive metal and rips his hand off. Cyborg detonates his hand, but it has no effect on the axeman. Wonder Girl's lasso does seem to bother him, but he manages to slip her grip and escape back through his portal. Superboy has finally awoken by this point, and he warns everyone that they'll need one of his rings before they enter the portal.

Bart finally fulfills a long-time dream of his to actually wear a Legion Flight Ring, which he slides on right next to his costume ring (which is red now for some reason). Superboy tells everyone the rings will allow them to survive the vacuum of space. Cyborg regenerates a new hand and they all follow Superboy through the portal. After floating around in space for a little bit, they're soon greeted by the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Superboy asks Brainiac 5 where the axeman, the Persuader, has gone, saying they were just a few seconds behind him. Brainiac says the Persuader could have exploited that extra second into minutes to enable his escape. The Karate Kid is excited to meet Robin, telling him he's memorized Robin's final battle with the Joker's daughter. Beast Boy laughs at the name "Karate Kid" and makes the "wax on, wax off" joke. Chameleon says Superboy makes that joke all the time, but none of them know what it means. Bart realizes they're in the 31st century, and his first thought is that he can see his mom again.

Superboy explains to the Teen Titans that he's been stuck in the 31st century for five months. When they yanked him away from his date with Cassie, he became disoriented from the trip and couldn't remember exactly when he left. Until Saturn Girl probed his mind and found his memory of the date. So Brainiac 5 was able to send Superboy back in time to recruit more heroes to help with their current crisis. Although some members of the Legion were hoping he'd come back with the Justice League, or at least the Power Company.

To our heroes' surprise, they're not headed toward Earth. Bart says his mom lives in Central City (feels like an assumption on his part) and he asks where his cousin is. Superboy tells him that XS is with Mon-El leading the battle on Earth, but first they need to regroup with other Legionnaires at their satellite headquarters, Legion World. As they approach the satellite, Cosmic Boy tells them the Fatal Five has caused a wave of murder and destruction across the surface of the planet. But before he can elaborate, they learn the satellite has been breached, and it explodes right before they enter it.

The heroes all work together to slow down major pieces of the satellite from crashing into the Earth too hard, as well as preserve what's left of Legion World so the gravitational forces don't cause too much damage. As Cyborg and Superboy catch a large piece of debris, Superboy explains that the Persuader's axe can cut through anything, including the barriers between parallel realities, and he's been using that ability to recruit hundreds of alternate versions of the Fatal Five. So it isn't just five super villains they need to worry about, but five hundred.



This is an interesting premise. The Legion of Super-Heroes is a natural team for the Teen Titans to have a crossover with. And, frankly, it's been a while since we've seen those wacky heroes from the future. So I'm excited for this. I just wish it was set up a little better. Why did the Legion abduct Superboy against his will in the first place? And why did it take five months before anybody thought about probing his mind to see where he came from?

As for Bart, I am impressed that his first thoughts went to seeing his mother. He may have forgotten all his friends from Manchester, including Max, but he hasn't forgotten his mom. Bart last saw his mom in the 63rd century on an alien planet, where she stayed behind to make sure Bart and Carol could get back home. It is reasonable to assume that Meloni eventually found a way to get back to Earth and her own time. And it is reasonable to assume that Bart would know this and would be excited by the prospect of potentially seeing his mom again. Of course, this does raise a few more questions. The only reason Meloni had to stay separated from her son was because of her evil father, President Thawne. But that was before the Legion of Super-Heroes. It doesn't seem like Thawne is in power anymore, so why hasn't Meloni come back to Bart? Of course, these are issues that can only be resolved in a dedicated solo series, which Bart doesn't have anymore.

Next time, we'll conclude this story in Teen Titans/Legion #1.