Teen Titans #87

Eclipsed

Felicia D. Henderson Writer
Jose Lúís Penciller
Mariah Benes & Eber Ferreira Inkers
Sal Cipriano Letterer
Marcelo Maiolo Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern Editor
Joe Prado with Rod Reis Cover

Our cover is a rather weak attempt at an inspiring "all hands in" image. The perspective is rather nonsensical if you really think about it — are some of our heroes floating in midair? Anyway, this cover does serve as the final gathering of this Teen Titans lineup. Several of these characters will leave the team by the end of this issue. And with next issue, we'll get a new creative team and new characters added to the Titans. For better and worse.

Our story picks up with our team caught in a massive spider's web. And for the first time on the Wyld's world, they encounter an actual monster — a gigantic spider spinning the web. Miss Martian's astral-self takes control of the spider's mind and has it dissolve the web before going to sleep. Wonder Girl tries to ask Miss Martian how she got here and what's going on, but Megan will only say they need to hurry before the eclipse.

The Wyld, meanwhile, is mocking Raven, saying, "Dear Mother. Having a great time at camp. Wish I didn't have to kill you." He explains that on the last total lunar eclipse, the Wyld was a bunch of separate animals that got fused together by Raven's dark-self. And now the Wyld is waiting for the next eclipse to consume her to gain all her powers and then rule over her world. Raven finds it impossible that she created something so evil. She explains that even though she's the daughter of a demon, her heart is her own, and she urges the Wyld to not give in to his dark instincts. But the Wyld is hearing none of that.

Our heroes finally — finally! — catch up to Raven, with Superboy and Wonder Girl smashing a hole through the cave wall. The Wyld grows maybe a foot taller to face this threat, and Kid Flash mocks this sudden growth spurt. But the Wyld pounds the ground hard enough to knock down Bart, Beast Boy and Static Shock. He hits Wonder Girl with a powerful punch before blasting Superboy with a ray of kryptonite vision (because why not?). Static works on freeing Raven, telling her to take down the Wyld, but Raven complains that her powers work differently on this world. Static says his powers are also different here, but he actually believes he's now more powerful on this world.

The Wyld hits Wonder Girl with a blast of electricity, and Beast Boy turns into a bear to try to squeeze the life out of the Wyld. Raven tends to Superboy, but finds she can't remove the kryptonite poisoning from him. Luckily, Static suddenly discovers that his new powers enable him to drain the kryptonite from Superboy (because why not?). Kid Flash tries to help Beast Boy take on the Wyld, but he promptly gets smacked down again.

Static redirects the absorbed kryptonite at the Wyld, but it has no affect on him. The Wyld counters with another blast of electricity, but Static begins to absorb all the energy directed at him. Cassie checks in on Conner, lamely saying, "How're we gonna get to 'till death do us part' if you keep trying to do the parting-part so fast?" As Static begins to blast the Wyld, something even more strange happens. Raven begs Static to stop, saying she's trying to force benevolence into the Wyld's heart and she now needs more time. Static says they only have seconds before the eclipse, which is why he launches into a lengthy diatribe, recounting the entire team's journey up to this point and how they've risked so much to get here.

Wonder Girl physically restrains Raven from running to the Wyld's side, as she and Superboy lecture her on the nature of true family. Static continues to blast the Wyld, even as the eclipse reaches its full state. The Wyld feels a surge of power, but Static continues his all-out assault until he vaporizes the Wyld. Raven says she can feel the Wyld's gone now, and asks Wonder Girl and Superboy to let her go. Conner says it had to be done, and Raven sadly agrees with him.

Even though Raven said the Wyld was gone, she also says the Wyld's energy is still present, and now the planet is destroying itself in mourning. Bart asks how they're going to get out now, referring to all the keyhole and dimensional doorway stuff. Beast Boy suggests Raven may be able to teleport out, since she's been here before, but Raven says she can only teleport herself. Once again, though, Static's extremely vague and limitless powers come to the rescue. He says if Raven teleports home, he can use her "port trail" to open a door for everybody. And naturally, this insane plan works perfectly.

Our heroes arrive in Titans Tower, where Dr. Rochelle Barnes and Cyborg are waiting for them. Cyborg tells Beast Boy he's never been so happy to see him, and Rochelle says she needs to quarantine everybody to make sure they didn't bring back any bacteria or radiation from the Wyld's dimension. Static suddenly complains of feeling sick and promptly barfs up a black blob that instantly vanishes in a bright "ping."

In the infirmary, Cassie dramatically tells Cyborg that she somehow knew he'd be here when they returned, even though Cyborg literally did nothing this whole time to help find Raven. And Cyborg confirms as much, saying he's only here to report the disappearance of Aquagirl and Bombshell. Even though just last issue, Rochelle had direct radio contact with them and had sent Cadmus out to their location, the two heroes have become lost at sea. Cyborg says Green Lantern and Superman are currently searching for them, and Cassie says the Teen Titans will join the search in 24 hours. Rochelle then turns to Virgil and says her tests indicate that he has lost his powers.

Once the quarantine is lifted, Raven visits Gar in his room to thank him for rescuing her. He says Virgil and Megan deserve all the credit. Raven brushes this aside, saying she'll go searching for Aquagirl and Bombshell in the morning. Beast Boy offers to help, but Raven refuses to put anyone on the team in jeopardy again. She then closes the door to give the two of them some privacy, but still promises to leave in the morning.

Cyborg visits Virgil, who is currently packing his bags, to advise him to take up Dr. Barnes' offer to be looked over by Cadmus. Virgil says he wants to go home, complaining that he's now powerless to help Megan (who has fallen into another coma) or find the missing Titans. But Cyborg insists that Virgil can't return to Dakota without his powers, so he's going to make sure he goes to Cadmus whether he likes it or not.

Conner and Cassie have sex and talk about Cassie's letting herself get worked up over her leadership responsibilities. And for some reason, Bart spends the night in the infirmary, sleeping shirtless on a bed next to Megan. He thanks her for saving their lives and says they need to figure out how to return the favor.

In the morning, Cyborg hints to Rochelle that he knows her secrets, but chooses not to reveal them at this time, even though he doesn't agree with her deception. The rest of the team comes down for breakfast, and Bart, being impressed by the spread, says they should do more early morning meetings. Gar teases him for being a "big idea man" and Bart tells Gar to bite him. Rochelle tells everyone that she plans to take Megan to Cadmus to try to restore healthy brain function in her. Virgil offers to accompany Megan to Cadmus, which surprises Cassie, because she knew how much he wanted to go home. Conner suggests he could go to Cadmus instead, referring to his long history with that organization. But Virgil insists on making the trip, saying he'll let the scientists poke and prod him all they want, just so long he makes sure Megan receives the best possible care. So everyone gets dressed and bids farewell to Static Shock, Miss Martian, Dr. Rochelle Barnes and Cyborg.

And that's it! The Henderson-Luís run has finally, painfully reached its conclusion. No more wild, confusing stories that often contradict themselves! No more melodramatic passive-agressive Cassie-Conner moments! No more pandering to Static Shock and inexplicably making him the most powerful and versatile hero of all time! No more dressing everybody in tank tops — even Cyborg, inexplicably! Well ... we can hope, at least. There's no guarantee the new creative team will be any better. But in the meantime, I am more than happy to say goodbye to this team.

Let's review what we just read. The Wyld, an amalgam of random animals inadvertently fused together by Raven, wielding vast, but undefined powers, visits Earth, poses as one of Holocaust's henchmen and allows himself to be captured just so he can take Raven back to his dimension, where he has to wait for a lunar eclipse before he can consume her. OK. A little more convoluted than necessary, but I think I got it. Cyborg was present at Raven's abduction, but instead of helping his former teammates search for his old friend, he chooses to send two random scientists to the tower in his place. One of the scientists is killed, but nobody notices or asks any questions about where he went. The other scientist is apparently not human, possessing powers that are as vague as they are powerful. But for unknown reasons, she has chosen to conceal this side of herself.

When Superboy and Kid Flash joined the team, the size of the roster became unmanageable. So Henderson began doing everything she could to pare down the players involved. Raven was promptly kidnapped. Blue Beetle left the team without any fanfare. Miss Martian was placed in a perpetual state of being "out of commission" except for when the plot demanded a deus ex machina. Bombshell and Aquagirl are exiled to the bottom of the sea and not allowed to come back. Last issue, it just seemed like they'd be sent to the hospital to deal with convenient injuries, but that apparently wasn't dramatic enough, so now they've gone missing once again. And now Static Shock and Miss Martian are gone, too, off to explore plot lines that won't be covered in this series. Granted, all these departures were probably necessary. But none of it felt natural. Much of this story seemed like one hasty course correction after another.

And the only consistent thing about the Wyld and its dimension was the complete and utter lack of consistency. Some heroes' powers changed on the other world, but only in the weirdest and lamest of ways. Ice vision for Superboy? Woop-de-doo! Oh, and Static can now basically do anything he can imagine? OK, fine. Anybody else? Nope. Not even a little. I also kind of liked the idea of the Wyld's world being completely devoid of any lifeforms. Almost as if all life was melded together into that one evil entity. And for the first few issues, this theory worked. Our heroes only battled lifeless threats — tumbleweeds, rocks, trees, etc. But then this issue all of a sudden threw a giant spider at us. OK, sure, let's get rid of that one bit of consistency. And that makes it only fitting for the conclusion of this story to be full of equally random moments. Like Raven trying to get her teammates to stop fighting the Wyld for no reason whatsoever. And Static suddenly receiving the power of a god. And how about that eclipse? We spent so much time worrying about what would happen when we reach full eclipse. And guess what happens when the eclipse hits? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Our characters got all worked up for no reason whatsoever.

Suffice it to say, I was not a fan of Henderson's run on Teen Titans. But I am glad that Bart had a home in comics at this time. Especially since Geoff Johns refused to use him in the new Flash series.

Next time, we'll return to a massive event we all thought was over in Untold Tales of Blackest Night #1.