Teen Titans #20

Hiding

Geoff Johns Writer
Tom Grummett Penciller
Nelson Inker
Jeromy Cox Colorist
Comicraft Letters
Tom Palmer Jr. Associate Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover is by Duncan Rouleau, and I really don't care for it. Our heroes are so angular, they look evil. And I can't even tell what animal Beast Boy is supposed to be. Couldn't Tom Grummett have drawn this? Anyway, this shows the Titans battling a Lex Luthor power suit, which does happen in this issue, so I approve of that aspect of this cover. Also note the absence of Starfire.

Our story begins on a starry night after the Titans have spent the past six hours searching for Plasmus and Warp (suspects in the murder of Sue Dibny). Starfire has pulled Cyborg aside to announce her intentions to temporarily leave the Teen Titans and join the Outsiders until Nightwing gets out of whatever funk he's in. Cyborg warns Starfire that his future self told the team to stay together, but Starfire says that Batwoman told her that she needs to help Nightwing. Cyborg wishes her luck, and they both offer to help each other's teams when called upon.

Robin had been eavesdropping on the conversation, and he waits until Starfire has flown away before he approaches Cyborg to tell him he's going camping with his dad next week. But before the camping trip came, Tim's dad, Jack Drake, was murdered by Captain Boomerang. Robin visits his dad's grave, with a tombstone that simply identifies him as a husband and father. Jack's murderer is dead, and the woman who hired him is in Arkham Asylum, but that grants little solace to Tim, who is now scared that this is causing him to think like Batman.

We then cut to St. John's General Hospital in Opal City. During the murder of Sue Dibny, her husband, the Elongated Man, was tracking the illegal sale of a very dangerous and mysterious item. A villain named Bolt was the buyer, but he made a grave miscalculation and was shot by the sellers, two young men named Benny and Trey. While Bolt recovers in the hospital, he's visited by another villain named the Electrocutioner. He says he's been hired to track down the contents of that box, and he's learned the two kids who shot him took off with the item. The Electrocutioner knows where Benny and Trey are, but before he goes after them, he wants Bolt to tell him what was in the box.

At Titans Tower in San Francisco, Bart is in his costume while playing on his computer (apparently with a Robin action figure on his desk). Conner yells at him for playing his music too loud, threatening to disassemble his computer and his face. Bart says he's already turned down the volume three times and blames Conner's super-hearing. But Conner insists he needs to finish his homework.

So Bart completes Conner's trigonometry homework in half a second, which appeases Conner. Robin walks by them, noting that Superboy is his best friend and Kid Flash is a close second, but he resolves not to tell them or anyone about his dad. Cassie is in Raven's room, helping her try on a new dress. Beast Boy walks in on them, amused by this new side of Raven, as well as her student ID for Galileo High School, Rachel Roth. Raven becomes embarrassed and kicks Beast Boy out of her room. Robin walks by this scene, doing his best to bury his feelings so Raven doesn't sense them.

Conner visits Tim in his room, and Tim tries his best to give him a cheery greeting. But Conner sadly closes the door and asks Tim why he's here. He says that Superman told him about Tim's dad, but Conner hasn't told anyone else yet. Tim says he just wants to forget this, but Conner reminds him of the promise they made to each other when they learned he has Lex Luthor's DNA. He wants to help Tim with this, but Tim does not want Conner to bring it up again, saying he came to the Tower today to have fun and enjoy himself. They're interrupted by Cyborg's face appearing on the wall, announcing to the whole team that the Justice League has asked them to look after Opal City in Elongated Man's absence. Bart is especially eager to help out in this situation.

Back in Opal City, we see the mysterious box contained one of Lex Luthor's old power suits, and Trey and Benny have decided to take it out for a spin. Trey is the first to wear the suit, flying around a bit, blowing a few things up, and marveling at how the suit's computers are almost talking to him. As Benny begs for a turn, the Electrocutioner shows up and hits Trey with a blast of electricity. But he's closely followed by the Teen Titans. And in a first for this series, Cyborg shouts out, "Titans together!" (I'm sorry, that's a really stupid rally cry. Just because it's alliteration doesn't make it cool.)

Bart and Beast Boy, however, are both caught off guard by Robin's unusually cheery, "Let's go get them, guys!" The Electrocutioner is shocked, saying the Calculator told him he'd only have to worry about the Phantom Lady or Black Condor. Robin is the first to go after the Electrocutioner, while Kid Flash pulls Benny away from Trey, as it seems like the Luthor suit is overheating. Cyborg, Superboy and Wonder Girl approach Trey, and the suit suddenly hits Superboy with a blast of green light. Raven catches Superboy, who says he was hit with a Kryptonite Ray. He insists he'll be all right, but immediately doubles over in pain.

Trey begins to panic, saying he's lost control of the suit, which fires a missile at Beast Boy as a vulture. Beast Boy dodges the missile, and Wonder Girl chases it down before it hits anything. Suddenly, the teleporting villain Warp appears behind Trey and pulls him into a purple portal. Robin, meanwhile, has chased the Electrocutioner down the apartment's fire escape, and pours a vial of water from his belt on the villain. But Electrocutioner brags that he paid Black Manta $4,000 to make his suit waterproof. He then begins to threaten Robin, coincidentally choosing to mock Robin's dad, saying he'll cry when his son dies, yet also suggesting that Robin's dad is like his, "cold as ice."

As one might expect, Robin's cheery disposition disappears instantly. He begins pummeling the Electrocutioner, shouting that he doesn't know his dad. Cyborg sees that Robin has lost control, and he pulls him off the unconscious villain. The rest of the team has caught up by now, and Wonder Girl asks Tim if he's OK. Raven tells him he doesn't need to hide it, and Bart asks what he's hiding. Tim allows a tear to slide down his cheek and he finally tells everyone his dad died. Cassie and Bart are horrified and Beast Boy asks Tim if he wants to talk about it. Robin wipes his face and admits that he does need to talk. As he cries on Cassie's shoulder, he realizes he's stopped thinking like Batman, and is now thinking like a Titan.

Epilogue One

We don't know what happened to Trey, but we do see that the power suit has made its way back to Lex Luthor. The Calculator calls him up, complaining that Luthor hired Warp to retrieve the suit through a different service, while simultaneously hiring Bolt and the Electrocutioner through the Calculator. Luthor says he's just protecting himself, and he threatens the Calculator with his "partner." The Calculator immediately backs off, leaving Luthor to gaze at photos of Superboy in different costumes, calling him "my boy."

Epilogue Two

It's 4:45 p.m. on a Friday at Star City (even though all the stars are out) and Green Arrow has decided it's a good time to call up Wonder Girl's mom, Helena Sandsmark, while chasing around the Royal Flush Gang. He tells her he has a "daughter of sorts," who just met the Teen Titans last week and is currently on her way to her first official weekend with the team. But before Green Arrow can ask Mrs. Sandsmark any questions, he's attacked from behind by Dr. Light.




I'm so glad Tom Grummett drew this issue. He masterfully handled Robin's forced smiles and his eventual, inevitable breakdown. The death of Tim's dad was the saddest part of Identity Crisis, and I'm glad we finally got a taste of that in Teen Titans. It was also nice to continue the thread of one of the side stories from that miniseries. Sadly, Robin's story got a bit short-changed in this issue. Not only did we get two epilogues, but also an informal prologue. But why am I worrying about Robin? He still had his own series at this point.

I was fine with the first epilogue, but the second was wholly unnecessary. Why on Earth was Green Arrow calling Wonder Girl's mom? And what's so bad about just starting next issue with the startling news that Doctor Light has captured Green Arrow? We didn't need to devote two pages to this. Anyway, after 20 issues, we have now had our first departure from the Teen Titans. And I've got to say, Starfire will not be missed. It's not that I hated her or anything, she just didn't do anything. She spent a lot of time in her garden, and would occasionally yell at somebody, but that's about it.

Next: Lights out in Teen Titans #21.