Teen Titans #33

The Brave and the Bold

Marv Wolfman & Geoff Johns :: Script
Todd Nauck :: Pencils
Sean Parsons, Norm Rapmund & Marlo Alquiza :: Inks
Richard & Tanya Horie :: Colors
Nick J. Napolitano :: Letters
Jeanine Schaefer :: Asst. Editor
Eddie Berganza :: Editor

Our cover by Tony S. Daniel shows Nightwing and Superboy launching the only mission that matters in Infinite Crisis — taking down Alexander Luthor at the Fortress of Solitude. The rest of the Teen Titans are making very grim faces in the reflection of the ice, but for reasons I'll never fully understand, the only heroes willing and able to do this are Nightwing and Superboy. This is a pretty decent cover. I think Superboy's red eyes are a bit unnecessary. But I am glad that Todd Nauck got his credit on the cover this time.

Our story begins with Superboy arriving at Titans Tower. Once he's assured Nightwing he has recovered enough to help him, Nightwing puts on his old glider suit, reminiscent of his original Nightwing outfit with the yellow feathers. They then head to the Batplane to fly to the Arctic, while the sky is full of hundreds of worlds colliding with each other in violent explosions.

In Smallville, Cassie has stepped outside into a big thunderstorm to find a body of water from which she can summon Ares. The God of War quickly appears and tells Cassie she's lost her powers because the gods are retreating from this plane, and Zeus is taking all his power with him, including the power he granted to his mortal children. Ares says he foresaw all this and he offers to give Cassie some of his power, making her even stronger and faster. Cassie asks what the catch is, and Ares removes his helmet, saying she needs to accept him as her brother and be his tether to the mortal world.

As Nightwing and Superboy fly over Vancouver, they spot a sinking ferry full of people trying to escape the intense storm. So our heroes stop to save the people, but Superboy quickly becomes winded by the effort. Nightwing sees this, and he offers to go to the Fortress of Solitude alone, but Superboy says that even though he's not 100 percent yet, he'll never give up again. A blast of lightning knocks Nightwing into the water, and Superboy is able to save him and helps him take off his wet and heavy glider suit. As Nightwing puts his regular outfit back on, another strike of lightning destroys the Batplane.

Superboy says he'll fly them the rest of the way. Nightwing lectures Conner on trying too hard to prove himself. As he talks, he holds the blue crystal from Lex Luthor, which seems to react to Nightwing's emotional memories and fills the sky with images of his past career as a Teen Titan. Dick tells Conner that he needs to stop being so hard on himself. Nightwing says he trusts Superboy, and now Superboy needs to trust himself. Superboy then takes the crystal, treating us to some memories of the beginning and ending of Young Justice, as well as other critical moments in Superboy's life.

As Conner explains his journey from being too arrogant to being weighed down by self-doubt, he remembers the Titans of Tomorrow and realizes that this must be the crisis that turned him and most of his friends into bad guys. Conner points out that right now, the Titans are scattered all across the universe. Cyborg and Starfire are off in space, Wonder Girl is stuck powerless in Smallville, Kid Flash is missing, and Robin and the others are in Blüdhaven. Nightwing tells Superboy he's had his own experience with time travel and prophets, and the one thing he's learned from all that is the future isn't written in stone. So the two heroes take off, and an hour later, they arrive at Alexander Luthor's golden tower.




This issue was OK. It felt a little bit like it was stalling, since it wasn't allowed to show anything from Infinite Crisis #6. I would have liked to cut down some of the repetitive talking scenes between Nightwing and Superboy, and spent more time showing what the other Titans were doing. But I did enjoy the highlight of this issue — the flashbacks of Superboy and Nightwing's lives. Todd Nauck got one more chance to draw the whole Young Justice crew — even Slo-Bo. I imagine those flashback pages required a lot of reference work, undoubtedly slowing Nauck down and requiring him to use three inkers. Sadly, none of them were as talented as Lary Stucker, but they still got the job done.

Next time, we enter the publication month of May 2006, which unfortunately saw the premature release a bunch of stories that take place after Infinite Crisis. We begin this clunky time jump — one year later, to be precise — with Teen Titans #34.