Teen Titans #45

Titans East Part 3

Adam Beechen & Geoff Johns Story
Adam Beechen Script
Al Barrionuevo Pencils
BIT Inks
Marta Martinez Colors
Rob Leigh Letters
Cover by Tony S. Daniel & Jonathan Glapion with Moose Baumann
Adam Schlagman Assistant Editor
Eddie Berganza Editor

Our cover shows Deathstroke locked in an epic battle with his children who have gravely disappointed him by joining the Teen Titans. I find it adorable that even though this family is going through a rough patch, they still choose to dress in matching armor. Come to think of it, I've never understood why Rose continues dressing exactly like her evil father when she keeps insisting she wants nothing to do with him.

Our story picks up at the wooden tower that Deathstroke has built on the spot of the old Titans Tower in New York. Batgirl, freed from Slade's mind control, immediately attacks him. Jericho's attempts to take control of his father's body were thwarted by Deathstroke's special mask, but Inertia's goggles offer no such protection, so Jericho jumps into the body of the speedster. Jericho gets Slade off Batgirl, but Deathstroke manages to get his hand around Inertia's throat. Rose prepares to strike Slade to save Joey, but Sungirl blasts her from behind. However, Sungirl also wants Deathstroke to let Jericho go, saying that Inertia is her boyfriend all of a sudden. But Slade orders her to go find Batgirl and Robin, who have slipped away during all the commotion.

We then find out that all the other Titans' elaborately themed prison cells are in this same wooden tower. Raven manages to break free by convincing Duela Dent to help her. They then rescue Cyborg before taking off to get some reinforcements. Without Sungirl torturing her, Miss Martian is able to gain control of her powers and rescue Kid Devil. And it's Robin and Batgirl who find Wonder Girl being held by Match in a room that no longer looks like the Fortress of Solitude. Soon, everyone is outside and engaged in a big battle scene.

Meanwhile, Deathstroke chokes Inertia until he passes out, forcing Jericho to return to his body. For a brief moment, it seems like Rose has the draw on her father, but Inertia recovers quick enough to knock her out. All our other heroes, too, are knocked out by their villainous counterparts, and Deathstroke orders the Titans East to gather their bodies together in a pile in the sand. Some of them naturally want to start killing the Teen Titans, but Slade forbids it, saying his children need to see their friends all die together. Suddenly, Raven and Cyborg arrive with their reinforcements: Nightwing, Donna Troy, Beast Boy and Bart Allen.

So Bart will help out his old friends after all! Only when they're all about to be killed ... but hey, better late than never! Sadly, though, I have to say I'm pretty disappointed with this issue. Deathstroke has been tormenting the Titans since the beginning of Geoff Johns' run and there is so much history between the Titans and the Wilson family. And almost every member of Titans East directly corresponds with a member of the Teen Titans. So why does this story feel so flat? Is it because Johns and Tony S. Daniel essentially abandoned the story halfway through?

The art was particularly bad in this issue, especially with Kid Devil. The penciller thought for some reason he should be naked after he turned human, but the colorist realized that there was no reason for his shorts to disappear just because he's not a demon anymore, so we ended up with this very awkward effect of a clearly naked teenage boy craftily presented in each panel in a way to cover his privates, and yet the skin on his legs seem to have been painted blue. To me, mistakes like this indicate a lack of caring from all creators involved. This Teen Titans series is going through a transitional period, and it's unfortunately occurring right at the climax of what could have been a huge story.

Next time, we'll return to an even more troubled series in The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive #10.