Teen Titans #81

Titans Together

Felicia D. Henderson – Writer
Joe Bennett – Penciller
Jack Jadson – Inker
Travis Lanham – Letterer
Marcelo Maiolo – Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern – Editor
Yildiray Cinar and Julio Ferreira with Rod Reis – Cover

Our cover shows Superboy battling a villain named Holocaust. It's a bright, flashy, cover with lots of fire and energy. And Superboy doesn't look half-bad, either. Sadly, this issue is the grand return of Superboy AND Kid Flash to the team, but only Kon gets to be on the cover. The other downside is Cinar did not draw the inside pages, which is a shame, because I find Bennett's work a bit lackluster.

We're jumping right into the middle of a story, in which Holocaust and his men have captured Static Shock, Aquagirl, Bombshell and Wonder Girl. So that leaves Beast Boy, Raven, Blue Beetle and Miss Martian to search the streets of Dakota for their friends. Beast Boy is particularly distressed because his relationship with Raven has fallen apart, he's caught in a leadership struggle with Wonder Girl, and apparently he did call in Cyborg for help, but somehow did it in a way that caused Cyborg to doubt him.

In S.T.A.R. Labs, Cyborg is reviewing his long relationship with Garfield Logan. He remembers Gar's prankster personality in the early years, but then he reminds himself of how Gar has grown and matured through the years. Realizing he was wrong to doubt his old friend, Victor Stone turns to two shadowy figures in the lab, saying he needs to talk to them about retirement. The shadowy figures are clearly Superboy and Kid Flash, and I wonder why Henderson and Bennett even attempted to obscure them at this stage. I mean, we kind of already saw Superboy on the cover, so it's not like you're going to surprise us with his reveal later on.

Our heroes eventually find Holocaust's hideout, but he handles them easily. Not only can he withstand the physical attacks from Beast Boy and Blue Beetle, but he also has immunity to the psychic attacks from Raven and Miss Martian. Just when all seems lost, Cyborg, Superboy and Kid Flash burst into the lair. Cyborg explains that he tracked Beast Boy's biosignature to this location, and says it's time for all cowardly monsters to retire. Bart and Kon add that now is the perfect time for a couple of Teen Titans to come out of retirement. Holocaust turns to the new arrivals and says, "Bring it." Bart maliciously answers, "We were hoping you'd say that ..."

There's also a Ravager backup story, but it doesn't seem to have anything to do with Bart, so we'll skip it. All in all, I'm rather indifferent with this issue. I have no idea why Bart and Kon were hanging out with Cyborg in the dark instead of directly contacting the Titans and trying to rejoin their former team. And I'm even more perplexed by Cyborg having to go on a long, soul-searching journey to determine if his oldest and best friend was telling him the truth. But the important thing here is Kid Flash and Superboy are back. Sadly, they look a little evil in this final splash page, which kind of puts a sour note on what should be a glorious return.

Next time, we'll take a very quick look at the Rise of Arsenal.