Teen Titans #27

State's Evidence

Written by: Scott Lobdell
Breakdowns: Scott McDaniel
Pencils: Tyler Kirkham
Inks: Art Thibert
Color: Arif Prianto
Letters: Taylor Esposito
Cover: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund & Andrew Dalhouse
Assistant Editor: Anthony Marques
Editor: Mike Cotton
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family

Our cover depicts a scene that in no way, shape or form appears in this issue. Kid Flash certainly does not "fall," requiring his teammates to protect him. I will, however, give credit to Booth for putting Raven and Superboy off in the distance, removed from all the action. Which makes sense, since this Superboy really isn't Superboy and Raven is still secretly working on Trigon's over-convoluted plan. Can we count Bar Torr as the third secretly evil Titan? Last issue, I would have said no, but this issue ...

Our story picks up in the latter part of the 30th century, at Echo Headquarters, located in a remote corner of the universe. After learning the truth of Bar Torr's past, the Teen Titans couldn't even bear to look at him anymore, and have split up to go off and be angsty. Solstice is with Red Robin, who seems to forgive her for killing people during the Culling, but not Bar for killing people during his war against the Functionary. But Tim does hope Bar gets a fair trial, even though I don't understand why he's having another trial. He already had one and he confessed to everything, spilling all the secrets of his rebellion in exchange for witness protection. The Functionary sent him back in time with a lazily conceived fake identity. And it didn't work — Bar's rebels were able to track him down and seek revenge on their former leader for betraying them. And now that Bar's back in the future, he's getting another trial because ... reasons?

Last issue ended with Bar remorsefully begging his friends to understand that he's changed since the war. But in this issue, he seems to have pulled a complete 180 on his attitude. Wonder Girl visits him in his new handcuffs, and for some reason acts like the name "Bar" is completely different from "Bart." Anyway, Bar is uncharacteristically manipulative with Cassie and warns her of an impending war.

Fake Superboy secretly laments not being able to kill all the Teen Titans yet — I guess he's still too weak now or something — so he continues to pretend he's a good guy. He asks why they don't just bust Kid Flash our of his prison, but Red Robin reiterates his belief that Bar was not justified in killing people during war. Besides, he points out that they're ill-equipped to overthrow this futuristic government.

Brain 3 then leads them to the trial, which I guess is ostensibly to see if Bar has reformed during his inadequately provided witness protection and can be set free ... I think ... nothing's particularly clear here. The dialogue in this issue also repeatedly stresses the enormous amount of corrupt politicians who have shown up at this trial, although the art does a poor job of conveying that.

In Bar's opening statement, he says he didn't wage war for himself, his family, or all the people starving and suffering under the Functionary's rule, but for justice. Yeah, I know all the things he said fall under the category of "justice," but Bar (Lobdell) isn't a very good speechmaker. After speaking on the nature of freedom for a bit, Bar concludes his remarks by saying he's "guilty as hell."

Suddenly, the roof of the tribunal blows up and a bunch of people are sucked up into space. I think the roof quickly re-seals itself, trapping some people in it, but once again, clarity is not this issue's strong suit. Bar's handcuffs are teleported away ... somehow ... and he explains that this attack was all part of his master plan, stemming from when he turned himself in after his sister was wounded. Bar says he gave a few months of his life to "Bart Allen," knowing that when he returned to the future, it would create the trial of the century, turning many of his enemies into sitting ducks. Of course, Bart's initial trial already was the trial of the century, but hey, Lobdell just has to make everything needlessly complicated and inefficient.

Bar's rebellion has extended to many of the guards, who have released and armed the prisoners. As Bar's army marches upstairs to finish off the rest of the corrupt dignitaries and politicians, Solstice stupidly says, "This isn't war — it is a slaughter." Red Robin also idiotically stands in Bar's way, saying he won't let him kill all those people, so Bar orders his men to kill them all.




If Bar had planned this attack back when he first turned himself in, you'd think that truth-telling memory probe would have picked that up. Instead of, you know, showing that Bar was distraught over the collateral damage his rebellion was causing. Anyway, this is all a result of Lobdell not knowing what kind of story he wanted to tell and changing his mind every other issue. He could have made this Kid Flash the New 52 version of Inertia — Bart Allen's evil clone that took his place and, over the course of pretending to be a hero, actually became one by accident, leading to incredible emotional conflict. Lobdell could have told the story that Todd Dezago never finished. Of course, Lobdell would have screwed it up, so I'm glad he didn't attempt that.

What he did attempt was a deep conversation on the necessary evils of war, but such a topic was far too sophisticated for him. I don't understand how Red Robin or any of the Teen Titans could see the Functionary as anything other than pure evil. They brutally murdered Bar's parents because they believed in religion. This thrust Bar onto the streets and into a daily kill-or-be-killed scenario. How could Red Robin justify Solstice killing people in the Culling but not Bar killing people in an actual, all-out war? And how come nobody called him out on this? Bar was reduced to a pure evil villain this issue because Lobdell lacks any nuance.

Next issue: The final sentence of Kid Flash.

The Green Team: Teen Trillionaires #8

Come Together

Script: Art Baltazar & Franco
Pencils: Ig Guara
Inks: JP Mayer with Júlio Ferreira and Mariah Benes
Colors: Wil Quintana
Letters: Travis Lanham
Cover: Guara, Mayer and Quintana
Assist. Editor: Darren Shan
Editor: Rachel Gluckstern
Group Editor: Mike Marts

The Green Team is an old concept of obscenely rich teenagers using their enormous wealth to pass off as some semblance of heroism. This may have worked a bit back in the day of Richie Rich's popularity, but in the 2010s? Not so much. Especially since the wealth of these "heroes" has been exaggerated to astronomical proportions. They're not millionaires or even billionaires, but trillionaires — a concept so foreign even my spellchecker doesn't recognize the word. I mean, we're supposed to believe that just four families possess 99.99% of the world's wealth and they AREN'T the bad guys? How on Earth are we supposed to cheer for people who have destroyed the economy by hoarding all the money?

Anyway, our cover is a generic action shot of our "heroes" in their new superhero identities. It's fine, but unoriginal. I know, it's rather ironic that after I just got through bashing the main concept of this comic, I'm going to turn around and bash this issue for betraying that concept. Look, we don't need another story of teenagers using their unlimited resources to become heroes just like every over DC title. We already got that with Tim Drake on the Teen Titans. So I guess what I'm saying is if you're going to make a comic about unfathomably rich teenagers, then you need to do something different. But I don't know what should be done — I guess it's an unwritable comic.

We're going to skip right to the final two pages of the comic — two pages that seem to have been hastily added once the creative team learned this series wasn't continuing to an issue #9. The Green Team rides up to Teen Titans H.Q. (which has never existed in the New 52) in a Batmobile straight from the 1989 Batman movie.

Red Robin believes this is an attack, but the Teen Titans quickly recognize the kids inside the Batmobile. Kid Flash says he follows #GreenTeam on the "Twits." However, even he is surprised to see the Green Team now has superpowers. Anyway, the Green Team's leader, Commodore Murphy, opens up a briefcase full of money and offers to buy the Teen Titans ... whatever that entails.

I don't know what's more incredible: the fact that DC thought a team of "teen trillionaires" would work, or how aggressively they ignored Teen Titans continuity in this issue. As I said before, there never was a Titans HQ for someone to drive up to in a Batmobile. They've split time between one of Tim Drake's penthouses and his massive private yacht. You know, because Tim Drake is also essentially a trillionaire, even if he doesn't publicly broadcast it like these idiots. Oh yeah, and did I forget to mention that the Titans are currently trapped in the future, reliving the dark past of Bar Torr?

The only thing I can think DC was doing here was hoping beyond hope that the Green Team could live on somehow in the pages of Teen Titans. And maybe that could have been an interesting concept ... if it was set up properly. And frankly, all that was needed was for a couple of people working on this title to crack open any random issue of Scott Lobdell's run to see what's going on. And that was obviously far too much work for all parties involved.

Channel 52 is all about the Justice League Dark storyline, Blight.

Next time, we'll get back to Bar's origin story in Teen Titans #27.

Teen Titans #26

You Can't Go Home Again

Written by Scott Lobdell
Breakdowns: Scott McDaniel
Pencils: Tyler Kirkham
Inks: Art Thibert and Dan Green
Letters: Travis Lanham
Color: Arif Prianto and Stellar Labs
Cover: Booth, Rapmund and Dalhouse
Assistant Editor: Anthony Marques
Editor: Mike Cotton
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family

Our cover shows a flashback of Bar Torr dressed in the black-and-blue suit we saw in some of the previous flashbacks, but not all. He's surrounded by rubble and chaos, holding an injured 30-year-old woman. (She's throwing me off because she looks exactly like Brett Booth's Iris West, but he drew this cover before he took over The Flash. I guess he can only draw so many female body types.) In an odd, but slightly interesting effect, transparent images of Kid Flash and the Teen Titans are seen in the background. I guess that's to represent them reliving this memory, even though in the story they're literally just watching a TV screen.

Our story begins with Bar Torr finally remembering everything about himself. He was the son of two missionaries on Altros Prime who incurred the wrath of the Functionary. They sent a goon squad called the Purifiers to brutally murder Bar's parents, while the 8-year-old boy hid in a crawl space with his baby sister, Shira (who, by the way, was the fattest, ugliest baby you've ever seen). As the Purifiers torched Bar's apartment, he leapt out the window with Shira in his arms. It was a long fall, but Bar miraculously landed unharmed in a pile of mud.

Little Bar and the improbably fat Shira spent the next few years living on the street, starving, stealing and doing what they had to survive. One time, Bar broke into a man's store, and when the man threatened Shira, Bar killed the man with a large shard of glass. Bar realized it was too difficult to protect his sister, so he left her at a convent called the Sisterhood of the Word.

With his newfound freedom, Bar decided to enlist with the Purifiers, realizing he was too young to kill them. The Purifiers immediately put him to work as one of their delivery boys. Orphans were expendable and children were small and light, allowing them to put more contraband into the tiny ships that rocketed across the galaxy on three-day voyages. Bar made about two dozen of these trips until one day he crashed on a planet. Somehow, someway, this crash gave him super speed. He doesn't know if it was the radiation in his ship or if the near-death experience merely activated a latent metagene.

For some reason, it took a whole month for the Purifiers to come looking for their cargo. Empowered with super speed, Bar began striking back against the Purifiers and Functionary. He got himself a black-and-blue outfit, recruited an army and stole some ships which he decorated with the Flash logo. They went from planet to planet, liberating the people from the Functionary. But one day, Bar' sister was wounded during an attack led by Bar, and he mournfully cradled her body like on the cover. It's unclear whether she was an innocent bystander or a soldier fighting against Bar's forces. And strangely, she looks about 10 years older than him, even though she's supposed to be seven years younger.

Bar couldn't live with himself after nearly killing his sister, so he surrendered to the Functionary and told them everything about his rebellion. In exchange for his information, Bar was placed in witness protection, which involved sending him back to the 20th century under the name Bart Allen (for whatever insane reason). It's unclear whether Bar's memory loss was the result of the time traveling or a deliberate action of the Functionary.

Anyway, after Bar's story concludes, he tells his friends that he's changed since then and they know what's in his heart now after all their adventures together. But none of them, not even Solstice, can look Kid Flash in the eye.




Argh! So many inconsistencies! That's what happens when you have a writer slowly leak out tiny bits of a story over a two-year period, when he hasn't even written the story yet! But let's set everything aside and look at just this issue. Bar's actions were completely justified. The Functionary and Purifiers were abhorrent, evil entities that brutally murdered kind people just trying to practice their religion. If Bar didn't slice that man's throat with the glass, his sister would have been raped. And his rebellion was an act of heroism. Who cares how many people he killed? They're at war! Soldiers know what they're signing up for!

The only potentially creepy aspect of Bar's backstory was last issue's scene of him surrounded by blood and skulls in his green-and-yellow uniform. But that was never explained. This issue only portrayed him as a heroic, courageous young man, who grew up in a tough world of conflict, and did what he had to survive, while helping as many people as possible. So why are the Teen Titans so uncomfortable around Bar? And just as a reminder, the current roster of the Teen Titans features an evil impersonator disguised as Superboy and Raven, who is still secretly working for Trigon. How many double agents can one team handle?

Oh, and can we talk about Lobdell's super lame explanation for Bar's powers? The Flash made a point of emphasizing that Kid Flash isn't connected to the Speed Force. So where DID his powers come from? Just luck? And why did the Functionary in its infinite wisdom give Bar Torr the name Bart Allen? This is impressively lazy writing. You have to look hard to find another comic created with as little thought as this one.

Channel 52 talks about Justice League 3000, a series that takes place in a future that is completely different from the future the Teen Titans are currently visiting. Because, you know, it'd be too much to ask these creators to talk to each other.

Next time, we'll take a very quick look at the short-lived Green Team series.

Year in Review: 2013

This is our 20th Year in Review. Can you believe that? Twenty years of Bart Allen in one form or another — from Impulse to Kid Flash to the Flash and then back to Kid Flash ... it's been quite a journey. He's died (sort of) a couple of times, and has been reimagined for the live action Smallville show, the animated Young Justice series and the New 52 reboot. In 2013, we saw the end of Young Justice (for about five years), the death (sort of) of the Smallville Bart, and the revelation that the New 52 Bart Allen was actually a different character named Bar Torr. So ... it was kind of a rough year for our favorite speedster. Especially when you realize the essence of the real Bart spent the year trapped in his Flash ring in the Speed Force (and he's going to stay there for quite a while).

But 2013 wasn't all doom and gloom. In the world of film, Frozen claimed top spot in the box office at $1.3 billion, followed closely by Iron Man 3, which also was nominated for an Academy Award for best special effects (it lost to Gravity). The Best Picture Oscar went to 12 Years a Slave. Marvel's other offerings, Thor: The Dark World and The Wolverine, were moderate hits. But frankly, none of those three are movies I return to. They're all kind of bleak and mediocre. Same goes for DC's lone offering of the year, Man of Steel. It did barely edge Thor in the box office at $668 million, which I guess meant it made enough for DC to justify creating a shared universe around it. Personally, I think the failure of Green Lantern and the success of Marvel forced DC to move forward with Man of Steel despite its lukewarm reception. Maybe 2013 really was all doom and gloom.

Best Story: Intervention

All-time leaders:
Impulse – 5
Young Justice – 3
Teen Titans/Young Justice: Invasion – 2

For this category, the leaders list is looking at the source of the best story of the year. Naturally, the Impulse series is on top. And it's no surprise that Young Justice: Invasion won its second straight award here. It was a very well done show with a dense, but tightly written story. There wasn't any major competition for this award from the New 52 comics or Smallville: Season Eleven. I know, Bart did heroically sacrifice himself in Smallville, but that story was a bit too vague and scattered for my liking. This award was always going to Young Justice, it was just a matter of deciding which episode was most significant for Bart.

The episode "Intervention" might not have been the best episode of the season, if we're getting technical about it, but it was the most fulfilling for Impulse's arc. It brought everything together, answering all the questions we had about Bart's behavior and his relationship with Blue Beetle. Yeah, I wish the show didn't hide so much essential information off screen, but at the end of the day, this was a very satisfying conclusion to Bart's mission.

Best Writer: Peter David

All=time leaders:
Geoff Johns – 6
Mark Waid/Peter David – 4
Todd Dezago – 3

This is David's second straight award, bringing him into a tie with Impulse creator Mark Waid. And frankly, there wasn't any major competition. Bryan Q. Miller did kill Bart off in Smallville, but it was done in a sloppy, unsatisfying manner. He kept teasing to a larger Flash world, but never got around to actually exploring it. Scott Lobdell was unbearable with the Teen Titans. And Geoff Johns prevented himself from winning a seventh award for his contrived and worthless insertion of the Titans into Forever Evil.

So the award goes to David, writer of "Intervention." And by extension, this goes to all the showrunners and creators of Young Justice, who had a clear vision and nailed the execution. David was the chief architect of the bookends of the compelling Impulse/Blue Beetle dynamic. He set up everything perfectly, and it all paid off just about as well as you could hope. But most importantly, he helped bring the character Impulse to a much wider audience than any comic book ever could.

Best Artist: Jorge Jiménez

All-time leaders:
Todd Nauck – 4
Humberto Ramos – 3
Jorge Jiménez – 2

It's a little strange that only three artists have multiple awards, but I guess that just shows the transient nature of the business. Writers can and will stay entrenched on a title for years, but artists (especially these days) rarely stay on a project for more than six issues. The Teen Titans title is a perfect example of this — I don't think that series had more than two issues with the same art team in 2013.

Francis Manapul very nearly won his second award for his one beautiful issue of The Flash. And as solid as the animation on Young Justice was, I can't quite bring myself to hand this award out to an animation company. None of the rotating artists on Teen Titans did anything worth consideration. So the award goes to Jiménez for his solid work on Bart's death in Smallville: Season Eleven. Jiménez definitely grew more comfortable in his role on that series, finding ways to put in more of his dynamic, almost cartoony style that I loved so much in 2012. He found new and exciting ways to portray Bart's running, and managed to put in just enough emotion to make it an impactful death.

Best Supporting Character: Blue Beetle

All-time leaders:
Max Mercury – 4
Carol Bucklen/Superboy/Brainiac 5/Blue Beetle – 2

These last two categories are extremely fluid, following the ebbs and flows of Bart's career. Poor Superboy was so often the runner-up for this award, but only managed to win it twice. Same with Bart's first (and true) girlfriend, Carol. Bar Torr's current girlfriend is Solstice, but after two years of their relationship, I still have no idea what she sees in him, or what he sees in her — especially after she cheated on him with Red Robin and never apologized. Superman in Smallville was a strong candidate, as he fought side by side with Bart right up until his death.

But the obvious choice here is Blue Beetle for the second straight year. Bart and Jaime were so much fun together. They made a great combination on the battlefield and in the laid-back, goof-around moments. Plus, Blue Beetle's plight was Bart's entire motivation during the season. It was also fitting, and sweet, how Bart never blamed Jaime, even after his betrayal. He always knew what was going on, and managed to successfully keep everything a secret until he could save the world and his best friend. And for bonus measure, we can throw in all the little moments that so many fans used as evidence of a budding romantic relationship between these two.

Best Villain: Black Beetle

All-time leaders:
Inertia – 4
President Thaddeus Thawne/Bedlam/Deathstroke (Jericho)/Superboy-Prime – 2

I was actually very close to giving this award to Bar Torr. His troubled past was the main cause of all of Kid Flash's problems, so I thought I could be a little snarky and justify it. But at the end, I just couldn't resist the delightfully evil Black Beetle. Truthfully, I wish I could have put Trigon here — one of the best of the best — but Lobdell seemed too timid to do anything of consequence with him. Same goes for Psimon, the inaugural winner of this award. He showed up in both the New 52 and Young Justice, but only in minor roles, and never in direct conflict with Bart. I also feel a little bad for not putting in the villain who killed Smallville Bart. But he was so vague — I mean, the comic could never even decide on a name for him. Was he the Black Racer? Black Flash? Just a monstrous representation of the Speed Force itself? Yeah, that's not a very compelling villain.

Black Beetle was everything I want in a villain. Incredibly strong, but not invincible. Smart, confident, and able to provide an actual threat that can only be stopped with a high cost. As tough a fighter Black Beetle was, the most damage he caused was by trying to destroy Earth with all those devices. And Wally West had to die to stop it. That's some pretty effective villain work right there.

Next time, we begin the year 2014, and things are going to slow down for us in a hurry. Without Young Justice and Smallville, we'll have to rely almost exclusively on Bar Torr, and he's not going to be around for the whole year. I think we'll have one or two interesting moments. Hopefully.

Teen Titans #25

A Good Defense

Scott Lobdell: Writer
Scott McDaniel: Breakdowns
Tyler Kirkham: Penciller
Art Thibert: Inker
Arif Prianto: Colorist
Travis Lanham: Letterer
Anthony Marques: Assistant Editor
Mike Cotton: Editor
Eddie Berganza: Group Editor
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Oh no. Last issue I inadvertently found myself missing the consistency of Brett Booth. Yeah, I can't stand his style, but at least he could complete a couple of issues in a row. Well, be careful what you wish for, because Booth, Norm Rapmund and Andrew Dalhouse are back as the cover artists for this series. The inside artists remain in a perplexing flux — why do we so often have someone do breakdowns and someone else do the pencils? Anyway, this cover is ... fine, I guess. A bit distressing — especially with Kid Flash's eyeballs — but I do find it intriguing that he's been captured and forced to relive moments of his and the Teen Titans' past.

Our story begins with Kid Flash and Solstice still together and still in the future — just a little bit further in the future from when we saw them last. And to make matters interesting, our heroes are surrounded by a bunch of heavily armed thugs. Bar Torr (his last name gained an extra R since we first saw it) seems to vaguely recognize these men, but doesn't quite put it together that they were the ones who tried to pull him through that portal in his room. (See? If Geoff Johns hadn't insisted on clumsily inserting the Teen Titans into Forever Evil, Lobdell could have taken us directly to this scene from issue #22!)

The leader of this gang accuses Bar of betraying their cause, which causes Kid Flash to completely snap. He grabs a spear, knocks down a bunch of the guys, slices the leader's gun in half and holds the point to his neck, saying he can't believe he ever left him in charge. Oddly, when Bar speaks this way, the normal red "lightning" around his speech bubbles turns green. I still don't know what that's supposed to sound like, but it is an interesting effect to illustrate his dramatic change.

We then get a page of Solstice obnoxiously recapping everything that's happened since Forever Evil. Bar, meanwhile, suddenly begins choking and falls to the ground. The leader explains that they've been monitoring Bar since he went into the witness protection program, and they've prepared for this moment by filling the air with a synthetic accelerant that essentially turns Bar's own respiratory system against him the faster he breathes. As Bar struggles for air, the gang regroups and aims their guns back on him, while Solstice steps forward to defend her boyfriend.

A mile across the planet, Raven pulls Red Robin, Wonder Girl and an unconscious Superboy out of a portal. She was using her soul self to track Kid Flash and Solstice, but I guess the closest she could get was a mile away because she's overexerted herself and they're now on a different planet, which effects her powers somehow. Maybe. She's quite unclear on the whole thing, too.

When the rest of the Titans catch up to their teammates, they find Kid Flash and Solstice have quite handily defeated the gang. Apparently that "accelerant" isn't a problem anymore, because Bar is breathing just fine right now and is quite energetic in defeating his enemies. Well, energetic might be the wrong word, as he very nearly beat a man to death before his friends snap him out of his rage. Bar is horrified to see his hands covered in blood, and he suddenly begins screaming. Kid Flash collapses to the ground and weakly says, "Two minds ... one atop the other."

A large spotlight appears over Bar, and a voice orders the Titans to step away from the "witness," by order of Echo Chronal Authority. Red Robin is quite overwhelmed by all this, so he decides to surrender to the emerging troops, led by a green woman with blond hair. She introduces herself as Brain 3, and says her team sent Bar back to the 21st century for his own safety. She also claims they're the good guys, but she has to kill one of her men to prevent him from killing the unconscious Bar Torr.

Brain 3 takes the Teen Titans to her headquarters located between two dying stars. After Solstice chews out Red Robin for not knowing what he's doing, she visits Kid Flash, who's chained up just like on the cover. Kiran vows to get Bar out of here, even if the others won't help. But Bar actually asks her not to, since he finally want to learn who he is, and he believes these people will be able to answer all his questions.

Brain 3 enters the room at that point and explains that Bar made a deal with the Functionary — his total, honest testimony in exchange for his freedom. Bar still worries that too many people in this time want him dead, so Red Robin vows to make sure he safely gets home once they've sorted everything out. So Brain 3 launches the holoprog and brings up one of Bar's most vivid memories. He's wearing a green-and-yellow outfit (like the guy he was fighting on last issue's cover), is covered in blood and surrounded by a field of skulls.

Well, here we are. Twenty-five issues in, and we're finally getting Kid Flash's origin. Of course, we have to wait till next issue for the meat of the story, but, at long last, things are beginning to be revealed. Naturally, this wouldn't be a Lobdell issue without some inconsistencies and forgotten plot points — like that gas or whatever was supposed to be choking Bar? — but there were some intriguing elements here. At this point, I'm going to allow myself to fantasize that this "Bar Torr" is actually the evil clone of Bart Allen, aka Inertia. That would explain the blond hair we saw previously and the creepy bloodlust. Sadly, I know that Lobdell is going to move in a different, less compelling direction.

Channel 52 is actually just a two-page ad for ... Channel 52. It's weird for a house ad to advertise itself and reuse a bunch of old panels like a cheesy clip show. But that's the New 52 for you!

That concludes our review of all major Bart Allen stories from the year 2013. Next time, we'll have our Year in Review before fully diving into Bar Torr's past.

Teen Titans #24

Caught Up in Circles!

Written by Scott Lobdell
Pencils: Angel Unzueta
Inks: Art Thibert
Letters: Travis Lanham
Color: Pete Pantazis
Cover: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira & Pete Pantazis
Assistant Editor: Anthony Marques
Editor: Mike Cotton
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family

Our cover is a nonsensical mess that barely represents this nonsensical mess of a story. Looming in the background is ... evil red Raven? But Raven doesn't turn evil and red in this issue. Quite the opposite, actually. Anyway, in front of her are three random shards of our heroes in different times and places. The only one we care about is Kid Flash battling what appears to be the New 52 version of Inertia. But it's not, which is probably a good thing, for the same reason I'm glad this isn't the real Bart Allen. It would have hurt me too much to have Lobdell mess up another character. So yeah, this cover is boring, poorly executed, and shows two major things that don't happen in this issue.

Our story begins with Lobdell realizing belatedly that he should have set up the whole storyline with Bunker's boyfriend falling in a coma. Before he joined the Teen Titans, Miguel went to a church to pray about his boyfriend, his new powers and to ask for a sign. Right on cue, Red Robin appears in a flash of lightning. He realizes that the Titans are being flung through the timestream as a result of Johnny Quick's attack, and they're appearing randomly at significant moments he dubs "touchstones." Tim tells Miguel how to find him, but insists that Miguel can't ever tell him about this. As soon as Red Robin delivers this message, he's pulled back into the lightning and disappears.

Red Robin then appears in ancient Egypt, where Superboy and Wonder Girl have to defeat an army of red-skinned aliens, like we saw on the cover. And these random events keep happening to our heroes. Of course, the only one we really care about is Kid Flash and Solstice, conveniently ending up together on a spaceship in the future. Kid Flash instantly realizes where they are, and he promptly runs away from his girlfriend, worried about her finding out more about his past than he knows.

Led by his memory, Kid Flash runs right to the bridge and encounters a young man that Kid Flash claims is his past self (even though the boy has blond hair and looks nothing like Kid Flash). The young man is apparently in the process of destroying the ship they're all standing in, and Kid Flash begs his younger self (whom he addresses as "Bart") not to go through with his plan. "Bart" explains that this ship is full of reinforcements, and if it reaches the outer colonies, all of his people will die. And now that he has powers, he refuses to stand by and watch the government stomp on the necks of innocent people. Kid Flash tells "Bart" he's just going to make things worse, and if he carries out his plan, he'll never get to see a girl named Shira again.

Even though Kid Flash has super speed, Solstice was able to catch up fairly quickly. However, she is too shocked to add anything substantial to the conversation. Kid Flash tells "Bart" the soldiers he plans to kill are people, too, and he needs to be better than this. But before he can make a more compelling argument, or do anything of any real consequence, Kid Flash and Solstice are sucked back into the timestream. "Bart" decides that he is better than the soldiers onboard, and proceeds with his plan to liberate a galaxy.

Our issue ends with Raven finally putting an end to the time-hopping (or at least attempting to) by reaching out to the Teen Titans through space and time and grabbing them with her soul-self. Or something like that. I don't know ... Lobdell just needed to find a way to end this issue and set up the annual issue, which involves more time-hopping, but not Kid Flash, so we'll skip it.




So much squandered potential. All the ingredients are here for a killer story, but the writing and artwork have ruined everything. Look, it's pretty basic. If you're going to give us a younger version of Kid Flash, he needs to actually look like him. And maybe some consistency would be helpful. Like, if Kid Flash can suddenly remember this Shira character, why does he still call himself Bart instead of Bar? And, and, and ... ugh ... why should I care about this story? This creative team obviously doesn't care. We haven't had a steady artist on the book since Brett Booth left. And Lobdell's just going through the motions at this point. Well, maybe that's not entirely fair. I mean, Lobdell has never been particularly focused to begin with. The important thing is this story sucks. And it could have been so good. So sad.

Channel 52 seems to back to before Forever Evil, talking about Calendar Man disappearing and the Joker's daughter. This is rather odd, since this issue came out a couple of weeks after Forever Evil #2. But then again, Channel 52 has never had great continuity, either.

Next time: Teen Titans #25.

Forever Evil #2

Rats

Geoff Johns Writer
David Finch Penciller
Richard Friend Inker
Sonia Oback Colorist
Carlos M. Mangual Letterer
David Finch, Richard Friend and Sonia Oback Cover
Ethan Van Sciver and Hi-Fi Variant Covers
Kate Stewart Assistant Editor
Brian Cunningham Senior Editor

Once again I refuse to track down the variant covers, especially since Ethan Van Sciver is involved. Anyway, our main cover isn't too bad — if you can stomach David Finch's art. It shows three members of the Crime Syndicate — Ultraman, Superwoman and Johnny Quick (not to be confused with the good Johnny Quick of way back when) — standing over the defeated Teen Titans. This is basically what happens, although our heroes don't actually confront Ultraman and Superwoman in this issue.

We pick up with our Teen Titans in San Francisco, which is really cute, because it means Geoff Johns is still operating under the old continuity and hasn't heard yet that the Titans have spent the past two years in New York. On the plus side, Raven has replaced Bunker in this scene. So either our creators got caught up on continuity, or Bunker decided to go visit his boyfriend after the shocking arrival of the Crime Syndicate.

Anyway, Wonder Girl doubts that the Syndicate really killed the Justice League, so Kid Flash asks where they are. Red Robin tells everyone to suit up (even though they already are) and announces they're going to the crashed Watchtower to rescue Nightwing. Superboy asks why the villains who supposedly killed the Justice League haven't already killed Nightwing, so Red Robin reasons that they wouldn't have gone to the trouble of exposing Nightwing's identity just to kill him. He also believes that if there are any other heroes still left, they'll also be heading to the Watchtower to confront the Crime Syndicate. Tim says he's prepared to fight to their dying breath, then follows that dramatic line up with a rather lame concern about their secret identities also being exposed. (Seriously, Tim? That's what you're most worried about?)

I don't know how our heroes journeyed from San Francisco to the Watchtower, which naturally crashed in Happy Harbor, Rhode Island. Of course, I shouldn't be worrying about such things, since the Titans were never supposed to be in San Francisco in the first place. Anyway, they show up to find just Johnny Quick and Atomica holding off a bunch of police officers and soldiers in tanks. Unfortunately, the Teen Titans did not bring their A-game to this battle. Johnny Quick immediately knocks them all down with a whirlwind and Atomica jumps into Wonder Girl's mouth ... but doesn't do anything inside her.

The real interesting part is when Johnny grabs Kid Flash and feels that he's from the future. Somehow, Johnny is able to vibrate Kid Flash and send him back to the future via another whirlwind that conveniently sucks up all the Teen Titans and only the Teen Titans (after Atomica jumps out of Wonder Girl's mouth). Oh, and Raven turned back to Bunker on one the three pages of this fight.




This issue was entirely unnecessary. Johns wanted to create an environment where all the heroes are gone, forcing the villains to unite and save the world. So he had to come up with this goofy way to get rid of the Teen Titans by sending them to the future. Here's the thing, though: Scott Lobdell also wanted to send the Teen Titans to the future, and was in the process of doing just that, when he had to suddenly pull everybody back out of the portal to send the Titans over to this stupid crossover. It would have been so much easier and cleaner to just have somebody say the Teen Titans have also mysteriously disappeared.

Channel 52 talks about various aspects of Forever Evil. We also get a checklist of the event, which surprisingly includes our next issue.

Teen Titans #24: Lost in time, the Titans set out on a mission to not only return to the present, but save Kid Flash from his future!

Forever Evil #1

Nightfall

Geoff Johns Writer
David Finch Penciller
Richard Friend Inker
Sonia Oback Colorist
Rob Leigh Letterer
David Finch, Richard Friend and Sonia Oback Cover
Ivan Reis, Eber Ferreira, Joe Prado, Rod Reis and Tomeu Morey 3-D Variant
Ivan Reis, Eber Ferreira, Joe Prado and Tomeu Morey Villain Variants
Kate Stewart Assistant Editor
Brian Cunningham Senior Editor

There are a bunch of variant covers for this issue, but we're still in the era of DC stingily not including variants in their digital copies — even for the DC Universe app. Since the Teen Titans only appear in two panels in this issue, I'm not going to track down those variants. The main cover is simple, but effective — just a collection of every villain David Finch can cram onto one cover. The only problem is I can't stand Finch's art. It's quite displeasing. Which I guess is the right choice for a story about the villains taking over ... or forced to team up to stop the worse villains ... whatever.

The story details the arrival of the Crime Syndicate from Earth-3. They somehow convince every single villain in the two-year history of the New 52 to come meet them at the wreckage of the crashed Justice League satellite. The Crime Syndicate claims to have killed the Justice League, but they offer very little proof. One random villain named Monocle believes the Crime Syndicate is really the Justice League in disguise, but he's promptly killed for his doubt. Oh, and all this is happening on live TV.

The Teen Titans are naturally watching, along with the rest of the world, and we see Bunker is still with them. Raven and Beast Boy are nowhere in sight, though, which means that either this story takes place before Trigon's invasion, or Geoff Johns and David Finch didn't care about Titans continuity. Take your pick.

Anyway, the Crime Syndicate does provide something tangible. They've captured Nightwing, and reveal his secret identity to the whole world. Red Robin is naturally shocked by this, but we won't see him and the Titans do anything about it till next issue.




The main conceit of this event is a decent one. The Justice League has disappeared, and in their place is their evil doppelgängers from a parallel Earth. The execution wasn't quite that great, though. Finch's artwork is almost unbearable. And a few plot elements are downright ridiculous (I hope Johns learned how eclipses actually work since this story came out).

Next time, we'll see the Teen Titans' response in Forever Evil #2.

Teen Titans #23

Hello, I Must Be Going!

Written by: Scott Lobdell
Pencils by: Robson Rocha
Inks by: Wayne Faucher
Color by: Pete Pantazis
Letters: Travis Lanham
Cover: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira & Barbara Ciardo
Assistant Editor: Anthony Marques
Editor: Mike Cotton
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family

Our cover is essentially the image we ended last issue on. Except Kid Flash wasn't in his uniform. And the rest of the Teen Titans weren't nearby. And the portal didn't open in the middle of the city, but inside Bart's cabin on the yacht. But other than that, it's the same. All things considered, though, this is actually a fairly haunting image. The look of terror on Kid Flash's face, combined with the way too numerous hands makes things rather creepy.

Our story picks right up where last issue left off, with Kid Flash (not in uniform) being pulled into a portal by a dozen different hands. For whatever reason, he is unable to use his super speed to escape, but he does call out for help. Even though he barricaded his room last issue, and Solstice was literally knocking on the door at the time of the abduction, Wonder Girl is suddenly inside the room, in full costume, and wrapping her lasso around Bar's arm.

But Wonder Girl isn't strong enough to save Kid Flash, so Bunker lends her hand. When he fails, Beast Boy turns into a giant squid and begins pulling Bunker. Solstice finally arrives, but all she does is scream in Gar's ear. Superboy and Red Robin are next to arrive, also having taken the time to put on their uniforms before rushing to their teammate's aid. Red Robin wisely tells Superboy to target the portal itself, and he's able to dismantle it with his tactile telekinesis.

Bar thanks everyone for saving him, admitting he thought they'd be upset by the cheap shot he took at Red Robin just a few minutes ago. Tim admits he deserved to be punched for making out with Solstice and Wonder Girl while under the influence of Trigon. Raven finally arrives (apparently it takes her quite a while to put on those stupid feathers that cover her eyes) and she darkly says that certain grudges are healthy.

Raven does say something useful — that she can sense that portal came from the future. Bar says he knows he did something wrong, but claims he can't remember it. Bunker expresses his belief, but Raven doubts him. At Red Robin's suggestion, everyone changes back out of their uniforms to finally unwind from their lengthy and bizarre encounter with Trigon.

Beast Boy swims with Bunker in the yacht's pool, Superboy and Wonder Girl leave the yacht for a bit to kiss and makeup after Cassie cheated on Kon (but he's totally fine with it), and Red Robin takes Raven to his central computer, showing her all the Titans' secrets. He says he envisions Raven becoming the leader of the team one day, and I sincerely hope he is still being mind-controlled to some extent, because he is acting horrendously stupid right now. At one point, Tim mentions N.O.W.H.E.R.E. and when Raven asks what it stands for, Tim only says, "Honestly? I hate that question." That's right, kids, Scott Lobdell created this a secret organization with a ridiculously long acronym that he never named. Even two years later, he still is unable to come up with something serviceable, and only angrily dismisses those who ask that most basic question.

Anyway, Kid Flash goes out for a run across the water, followed closely by Solstice. Bar tells her about his troubling experiences with Vibe and the Flash, and she gives him a cheesy little speech about how he is a good person no matter what happened in his past. And then Bar kisses Kiran, completely forgetting about being mad at her for cheating on him with Red Robin.

Bunker then gathers the team together to randomly announce that he suddenly has a boyfriend, who just so happened to wake up from a long coma. So Miguel is leaving the team to return to his boyfriend, and for no reason at all, Beast Boy is going to travel with him. Well, the real reason was Lobdell never wanted him on the team and couldn't find a natural way for him to leave.




Anybody remember when Eddy Barrows actually drew an issue of this series? Because I don't. However, it was nice to see longtime Impulse inker Wayne Faucher return, even if he didn't have particularly thrilling pencils to ink. But yeah, this story is just as bland as ever. The romance might be the worst aspect of it. I mean, Kid Flash had a legitimate reason to be angry at Solstice, and now, all of a sudden, he's back to kissing her without even a conversation about what happened. Of course, the only reason this issue stayed on the yacht rather than following Bar Tor to the future is because of the upcoming Forever Evil event. So I do feel a little bad for Lobdell. Just when he finally gets around to revealing Kid Flash's origin, he gets hit with another company-wide crossover.

Instead of Channel 52 this issue, we have two pages showing all the covers for the Villain Month gimmick of Forever Evil. We won't be reviewing any of those issues, but we will take a quick peek at the main Forever Evil series.

Teen Titans #22

Dark Titans

Scott Lobdell Writer
Jesus Merino Finished Art
Eddy Barrows Thumbnails
Pete Pantazis Color
Travis Lanham Letters
Howard Porter Cover
Anthony Marques Asst. Editor
Mike Cotton Editor
Eddie Berganza Group Editor
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family

I feel like this series is hanging on by a thread. If Barrows is the regular artist, then why isn't he doing covers anymore? And why are his credits diminishing from penciller to layouts to thumbnails? He still gets his name on the cover, though. At least Lobdell didn't need someone else to write the dialogue for him this time. Anyway, this is actually a pretty decent cover. The Teen Titans don't look too great, but, hey, Trigon! The past couple of covers ignored this, but Trigon is attacking the Teen Titans! That should be a huge deal!

Our story opens in New York City, with Beast Boy as a monkey riding on Red Robin's back, providing an obnoxious recap to this obnoxious story. Trigon showed up, went away, sent his sons, then came back. Beast Boy leaves out the part where he and Raven attacked the Titans, because Lobdell has decided to pretend that didn't happen. He does make a joke, calling out Red Robin's stupid "Project Six" by saying it's time for Project 666.

Even though we didn't see it last issue, Trigon also possessed Solstice along with Kid Flash, Superboy, Wonder Girl and Bunker. Trigon gleefully boasts of how fun it is to possess superheroes, which leads me to question why he didn't do that right off the bat. Red Robin and Beast Boy head straight to Trigon, leaving Raven to take on all the Titans herself. Luckily, she's able to create several "soul self" copies of herself, which can easily subdue the Titans. And I do mean easily.

With Kid Flash, Raven senses an evil that found its way into his soul long before Trigon possessed him. Kid Flash, who has constantly claimed to have known absolutely nothing about his past, oddly says that he did what he did only to protect his family, implying for the first time ever, that he knows exactly what he did in the future.

Anyway, Red Robin ends the fight by shoving his indestructible wings through the back of Trigon's skull and out his eyes. Seriously. This doesn't kill Trigon, but it does seem to hurt him enough that he decides to retreat for the second time this night. Everybody wakes up, free of Trigon's possession, and Solstice talks about how horrifying it was to have that evil inside her. Kid Flash turns the angst up to 11 by saying Trigon's evil felt comforting and familiar.

Suddenly, a group of suits emerges from a portal, led by a black woman who looks like Amanda Waller but isn't? These people claim they've just performed a psi scrub on the area, removing Trigon and the Titans from everyone's memories and causing them to believe the damage was caused by a freak earthquake. They also explain that the two dozen soldiers Psimon killed weren't actually there — it was all an illusion from Trigon. The random mysterious organization takes Psimon away, though, and refuses to explain who they are.

Several hours later, our heroes, including Beast Boy and Raven, are unwinding on Tim's yacht. Raven accepts Tim's offer to join the team, but nobody says anything about Beast Boy staying. Raven explains that Trigon had been tempting Red Robin before his invasion, causing him to force the team on the yacht, get into a pointless battle with the Suicide Squad and make out with Wonder Girl and Solstice. Raven praises Tim for breaking free of Trigon's control, then leaves to have some alone time. And by alone time, I mean reporting to Trigon that she has joined the Titans just as he asked her to.

Once Raven is out of sight, Kid Flash punches Tim five times and barricades himself in his room. Solstice runs to his door, telling him not to blame Red Robin, since he was under the influence of Trigon. Kid Flash says he doesn't blame him, but her, and says he's giving her a few hours to come up with an excuse for making out with Red Robin. Suddenly, a blue portal opens in Kid Flash's room. An obscured figure steps out, calling Kid Flash Bar Tor, saying today he will pay the price for his multitude of crimes. Kid Flash is confused by the familiarity of that name, and the man says his real name is Bar Tor, which he shed when he tried to escape the law by retreating to the past. Bar continues to profess ignorance of all this, but before he can do anything, a whole bunch of hands emerge from the portal and start pulling him in.

Well, it took almost two years, but we've finally found out this character isn't Bart Allen at all, but some punk named Bar Tor. I wonder if this was Lobdell's plan all along, or if the lackluster response to this version of Bart prompted him and/or DC to say he's not really Bart. However it happened, I actually am glad for it. This "Bart" has been a bland, disappointing facsimile of the original Bart Allen we all know and love. So I'm glad that Lobdell hasn't been altering Bart even further than Geoff Johns did.

Of course, I knew all this before I started reviewing this series. If I didn't know that, I probably would have felt betrayed to find out the character I thought I was following for 22 issues is actually someone else. As it stands, I'm only mildly interested in Bar Tor — in the sense that he's one of the alternate versions of Bart Allen, like the kid we saw in Impulse Annual #1. I do have to say, however, that Trace Wyndham is a better name than Bar Tor. In fact, Bar Tor is perhaps the stupidest name we've encountered on this blog.

And as for the rest of this issue? Bleh. What a waste of Trigon. His grand plan immediately falls apart under the slightest bit of scrutiny. And as is the case with all of Lobdell's writing, it feels like he lost interest in the main plot and his countless subplots halfway through. The deus ex machina team cleaning up everything at the end was probably a new low in Lobdell's laziness and lack of focus. Oh well. We'll just keep marching forward through this pile of mediocrity.

Channel 52 talked about my absolute least favorite aspect of the New 52 — the Joker's daughter. Ugh.

Next issue: "The End of a Titan!" (But not the one you think!)

Smallville: Season Eleven #53

Argo Part 9 of 9

Writer Bryan Q. Miller
Artist Daniel HDR
Colorist Rex Lokus
Letterer Saida Temofonte
Cover Artist Cat Staggs
Assistant Editor Jessica Chen
Editor Kristy Quinn
Special thanks to Rodjer Goulart
Superman created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Supergirl based on characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family

Our cover shows Supergirl fighting Superman, which is the typical response when two heroes meet in this day and age. It's a perfectly fine cover, nothing too intriguing. And by the time we get to this story, Superman and Supergirl have stopped fighting and teamed up, because, you know, they're heroes.

We come in at the end of a futuristic epic, involving Booster Gold, the Legion of Super-Heroes and Doomsday. Once the day is saved, Superman helps a mother reign in her son, who's getting a bit too reckless with his jetpack.

Turns out that little boy's name is Bartholomew Allen. As the family flies away, Superman allows a tear to fall down his cheek in memory of his fallen friend.




And that's it. Just one sweet little scene, confirming that Bart Allen was born in the future, but not born with super speed. There are still, and have always been a hundred unanswered questions about this version of Bart. But this was a nice way to wrap up his story.

Next time, we return to Teen Titans #22.

Teen Titans #21

The Brothers Trigon

Story: Scott Lobdell
Dialog: Tony Bedard
Layouts: Eddy Barrows
Finishes: Jesus Merino
Letters: Dezi Sienty
Color: Pete Pantazis
Cover: Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, and Alex Sinclair
Assistant Editor: Anthony Marques
Editor: Mike Cotton
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family

Our cover is perfectly mediocre. The wanted poster idea could easily have applied for almost any other issue in this series. But now that Trigon has arrived, this doesn't feel like the right time for it. Unless the takeaway from Trigon's attack was that he wanted to blame the Teen Titans for Psimon's murder of 24 soldiers. And I kind of think that's not really the case. So this cover actually has nothing to do with this story.

Our story picks up with Trigon's three sons arriving in Times Square, New York City. Raven confirms that these are her brothers, while Red Robin orders the team into "Pattern Six," which is apparently code for Superboy to smash the ground. Superboy's attack launches the three demons into the air, allowing Bunker and Wonder Girl grab one of them and pull him away from the group, while Kid Flash and Solstice do the same, leaving everybody else to take on the one remaining son of Trigon.

Kid Flash rushes the demon to Midtown, stupidly asking if he has any special powers, while pummeling him. The demon responds by taking control of Kid Flash's body, which would be a big deal, but ... it wasn't. Solstice hit Kid Flash in the head with a rock, instantly turning him back to normal. Of course, Kid Flash takes full credit for using his super speed to break Suge's possession (I guess he learned the demon's name while being under his control for 30 seconds). And then Kid Flash kisses Solstice, which I guess is officially for the first time.

They regroup with the others, who have easily defeated the other two sons of Trigon. Suddenly, Trigon appears out of nowhere and instantly has chains around the necks of Bunker, Superboy, Kid Flash and Wonder Girl, who all bear the purple eyes of possession.




I'd say this series has really fallen apart lately, but it frankly was never good to begin with. But the past few issues have especially felt like no one cares anymore. And that's completely insane, since this is Trigon — one of the biggest bads in DC history! But everything feels so ... blah. And then a shocking ending that was so random, I swore I must have skipped over a page. Oh yeah, I guess Kid Flash finally kissed Solstice, but so what? Their romance has never felt genuine or compelling.

Next time, we'll officially close the chapter of the Smallville Bart Allen with a special issue of Smallville: Season Eleven.

The Flash #21

Reverse Part 2

Francis Manapul Co-Writer and Artist
Brian Buccellato Co-Writer and Colorist
Carlos M. Mangual Letterer
Manapul & Buccellato Cover
Harvey Richards Assoc. Editor
Wil Moss Editor
Brian Cunningham Senior Editor

Our cover curiously shows the Flash holding Kid Flash by his throat and preparing to punch him. Not only is this completely against Barry's personality, but nothing remotely like this happens in the issue. And there's no "deadly secret of Kid Flash" for that matter, either. Still, though, this is a beautiful cover. Despite being a bland background, the blue colors make the characters pop effectively. And Kid Flash looks fantastic. Manapul is one of my all-time favorite artists, and I love how he always makes sure to give Kid Flash long, flowing hair.

Our story picks up in the middle of a murder mystery the Flash is investigating. Two people connected to the Speed Force have been killed so far, and all Barry Allen knows about the killer is that he also is connected to the Speed Force and wears an emblem like Barry's. Naturally, this makes Barry's only lead Kid Flash — a teenager Barry has oddly avoided until now, despite the fact that Barry is at least a little irked that Kid Flash took his name without permission. Regardless, Barry knows enough about the Teen Titans to believe Kid Flash isn't the killer, but when he bolted upon being confronted, that led Barry to suspect Kid Flash is hiding something. So he chases after the teen on a bizarre race around the world. We pick up in Haukadalur Valley, Iceland.

Kid Flash says this is awkward, and I also think it's awkward that he's running. We don't know exactly what Barry said to spook him, but I do remember Kid Flash wishing he had reached out to the Flash to help him with his powers in the early issues of Teen Titans. And now he doesn't want to have anything to do with the Flash? Whatever his logic, Kid Flash decides to head to the Louvre in Paris, hoping to slow down the Flash by tearing pieces of art off the walls.

When that didn't work, Kid Flash went to the Grand Erg Oriental in Northern Algeria to whip up a sandstorm around the Flash. This does buy Kid Flash enough time to slip away to Bangalore, India, hastily disguise himself with a blanket, grab some masala dosa to eat, and call Red Robin. Kid Flash calls Tim by his name, which is odd, considering how it's been such a strong point of contention in the Teen Titans series that Red Robin has refused to share his secret identity with his teammates. Anyway, Tim rationally tells Kid Flash to find out what the Flash wants. Kid Flash admits he heard Barry mention something about a murder, but he suspects he just wants his name back. And despite Tim's advice, Kid Flash vows to knock out the Flash next time he sees him.

The Flash caught up with Kid Flash right as he was saying that last bit, and he quickly grabs Kid Flash's wrists before he has a chance to strike. But as soon as Flash touches him, a bolt of energy blasts off from them, knocking down everything nearby and rising up into outer space. And, just like Vibe, Flash saw glimpses of Kid Flash's past. Realizing Kid Flash is from the future, Flash says he doesn't belong here, which only makes Kid Flash angrier.

As the Flash chases Kid Flash through Banaue, Philippines, Sydney, Australia, Taranaki, New Zealand, and Viti Levu, Fiji, he realizes that Kid Flash is actually not connected to the Speed Force, but something alien. This enable Barry to officially rule out Kid Flash as the killer, but he wishes they could just sit and talk things out. He even calls Kid Flash "impulsive," making me weep for the loss of the original Bart Allen.

Kid Flash is determined to outrun Barry, and over the Pacific Ocean, he pushes himself a little too hard. He runs fast enough to reach escape velocity and begins floating up into the sky. Barry says that this happened to him once before, but his overly detailed, scientific explanation does little to calm Kid Flash down. Barry jumps up, catches Kid Flash, and vibrates his mass until the laws of gravity kick back in and the two speedsters crash hard on the water and bounce over to the shore of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Flash tells Kid Flash he should start wearing armor if he plans on running that fast, but Kid Flash blames Barry for making him reach that speed. He finally asks Barry why he was chasing him, and Flash explains all about the Speed Force killer and how he now knows Kid Flash is neither the murderer nor a target because of the unique and mysterious source of his speed. Kid Flash defensively refuses to answer any of Barry's questions and only halfheartedly apologizes for using the name Kid Flash. Barry speculates that Kid Flash might be his descendant from the future, but Kid Flash finds this gross. He starts to explain who gave him his name, but quickly stops himself, deciding to continue stonewalling the Flash.

Barry continues to offer help, and he even tries to tell Kid Flash his real name, but Kid Flash refuses to hear it. He says he doesn't need the Flash's help, since he has friends of his own, who conveniently show up at that moment in a jet I didn't know they had. Barry says that whether they like it or not, they are connected, and he promises to sit down and talk to him as soon as he takes care of the Speed Force killer. Kid Flash boards the jet, saying, "Whatever. See you around ... loser." Spoiler alert: They will not see each other ever again.




I loved this issue when I reviewed it back in 2013. But that was on my New 52 Flash blog, and I was reading it purely as a Flash story. This was one fun step of Barry's investigation and the promise of an actual relationship between Flash and Kid Flash. But now, in 2019, I know such a relationship will never materialize. And as a Kid Flash story, I'm upset by all the little inconsistencies in this story and the Teen Titans series. Granted, that series is full of inconsistencies on its own, so I can't really fault Manapul and Buccellato for not knowing what was going on in that book.

But any complaints with the story are made up with the beautiful art. Every page was simply gorgeous. After spending so much time in the Teen Titans, I almost forgot what a good comic book could look like. Manapul and Buccellato knew how to take advantage of the medium, especially with the story's title hidden in the artwork in each issue. I will give them a slight ding for forgetting about the Teen Titans logo on Kid Flash's shoulder, but otherwise, this is the best the New 52 Kid Flash has ever looked.

And since this is from one of my favorite comic book runs of all time, I actually own the physical copy of the issue, which means we can look at all the ads.

Your enemies will define you. Batman: Arkham Origins.

20% off DC comics at Midtown Comics.

It's not the end of the world. It's the beginning. Before Watchmen.

The epic event that will destroy the world's greatest heroes! Trinity War.

Batman: The Dark Knight Volume 2: Cycle of Violence.

Injustice: Gods Among Us.

The Flash Volume 2: Rogues Revolution.

Talon Volume 1: Scourge of the Owls.

You don't need x-ray vision to see how you can help. We Can Be Heroes.

Channel 52 talks about the Reverse-Flash (before Barry even figured out that's who the Speed Force killer was) and the upcoming fight between the Justice League and the Justice League of America.

DC Comics All Access talks about the upcoming Trinity of Sin: Pandora series.

New enemies. New allies. Falling Skies.

Continue the excitement. Man of Steel merchandise at Walmart.

Next time, we'll return to Teen Titans #21.