Teen Titans #88

Team Building

J.T. Krul – Writer
Nicola Scott – Penciller
Doug Hazlewood – Inker
Sal Cipriano – Letterer
Jason Wright – Colorist
Rachel Gluckstern – Editor
Scott & Hazlewood with Wright – Cover
Adam Hughes – Variant Cover

Our cover shows our new lineup in a generic, yet energetic superhero team pose. Basically everybody who left last issue has not come back, and the only "new" addition is Ravager, returning to the Teen Titans for her second (third?) stint with the team. Scott is a decent artist, but I'm not entirely on board with her style. Superboy looks like he's 30 years old. Wonder Girl has an unsettling maniacal grin. And Kid Flash not only has very red hair, but copious freckles to match. Why is everybody turning him into a young Wally West?

Our variant cover focuses on the female members of the team, and I think it looks pretty good. It's something different, something unique. The kind of artistic take that I believe is perfect for variant covers. Main covers? Not so much.

Our story begins with a mysterious person/organization observing a 17-year-old boy named Barney. He's a foster child with no friends or family or any aptitudes in school. All of these qualities make Barney a "prime candidate." We then cut to an action-packed two-page spread of our heroes fighting a bunch of monsters in downtown San Francisco.

Everyone is here, except Ravager, who gets her own splash page on the next page. Anyway, the "monsters" are all teenage boys with sharp teeth and claws and uncontrollable, vicious, primal personalities. And these "feral boys" apparently all climbed out of the sewer. Once all the bystanders are safe, Wonder Girl asks Kid Flash to scout the sewers for any more of these boys. Bart complains that this city produces over 80 million gallons of wastewater every day, and he asks Superboy to just use his x-ray vision. But Conner claims there's too much lead in the pipes, so he teasingly tells Bart to hold his breath down there.

One of the feral boys bites Beast Boy's shoulder, and Ravager responds by slicing his hand off, which Wonder Girl believes was a step too far. Raven examines one of the boys and determines they were human, but something stripped away their minds and dulled their sense of pain. Bart emerges from the sewer, saying beside destroying his appetite for the next year, his scouting expedition was completely pointless. He asks what he missed, and Rose coldly says, "Nothing. We won."

At Titans Tower that night, Cassie and Gar search their computers for any information on these feral boys. Cassie initially suspected they might be connected to the old Titans villains the Wildebeests, but she's unable to find any solid leads. So she sends some DNA samples to  Doctor Mid-Nite, all while lamenting that Tim Drake isn't here to work on this mystery.

Beast Boy then questions Wonder Girl's decision to let Ravager join the team, much like he questioned Cyborg for making Hawk a Titan not too long ago. Cassie said she was actually surprised that Rose accepted the invitation. She admits that the deaths of Marvin and Red Devil and the panic with Bombshell and Aquagirl have caused her to seek out more experienced team members. Cassie implies that Bombshell and Aquagirl were found, but she doesn't elaborate on why they went missing or where they are now. Nor does she mention Static Shock, Miss Martian or Blue Beetle.

Meanwhile, Conner passes Rose in the hallway, as she's coming back from the gym, wearing next to nothing. She flirts with Conner a bit before walking away. Bart, who watched the whole thing from his room, comments on how sexy Rose's eye patch is. Conner instinctively agrees, before catching himself with an unconvincing "Wait. What? No." Bart mocks Conner's "nice recovery," then shows off his latest project. His room is covered in post-it notes, scrap pieces of paper and piles of books. Bart explains that he still has the ability to remember everything he reads, and when he was revived in the future, he took a moment to read everything he could in the 31st century library. But now that information is starting to fade away — he suspects it has something to do with the time stream — so Bart's decided to try to write down everything he can still remember before he forgets it all. Even though he hasn't used any of this information yet, Bart believes it may one day prove useful. Conner points out a prominent drawing of a spherical vehicle, and Bart admits he has no idea what it is, but vows he'll be able to figure it all out once he gets every little nugget written down somewhere.

We then check in on Raven, who is meditating in her room. She can see all her teammates' emotions, much like the Black Lanterns. Bart is yellow with fear, distressed by losing his memories, Conner is green with willpower, Rose is red with anger, Cassie is also green with will, and Gar is blue with hope. Raven and Beast Boy shared an intimate moment not too long ago, but Raven is afraid of experiencing too much emotion and unleashing the Trigon side of her, so she's once again broken off her relationship with Gar. But instead of being heartbroken, Beast Boy is filled with hope this time that things will eventually work out at the end of the day.

In Gotham City, the Dick Grayson Batman and Damian Wayne Robin are battling a knife-wielding villain named Brutale. Robin defeats the villain and almost slits his throat, but stops at the last second, ominously saying "there's always next time." As Dick drives Damian back in the Batmobile, Damian reiterates that he wasn't actually going to kill Brutale. Even though Dick didn't say anything, Damian can tell he was disturbed by that little stunt, and he mocks Dick for not being as subtle as Bruce. Dick points out that he never wanted to be like Bruce, and the key difference between the two of them is that Dick actually had friends when he was younger.

We then return to our friend Barney, walking home after working a closing shift at Burger Point. His biology teacher, Mr. Carter, just happens to be driving by in the middle of the night, and he talks to Barney about how difficult it must be struggling through life without any real friends or family. Mr. Carter offers Barney a chance to "do a lot more than simply get by." Not having anything to lose, Barney accepts Mr. Carter's ride to his house.

Even though Mr. Carter lives in an unassuming townhouse, the building boasts a massive basement filled with scientific equipment. Barney spots one of the feral boys curled up in a cage in the corner, and Dr. Carter brushes it aside as a "crude experiment" that merely served to provide some illuminating results. A normal person would probably run away screaming from that sight and call the police, but Barney only half-heartedly says, "Maybe this isn't a good idea. Is it going to hurt?" Dr. Carter tells Barney that when he's through with him, he won't have to be embarrassed, intimidated or afraid anymore. And that's apparently more than enough to convince Barney to undergo this mysterious procedure.

Later, Barney's head is shaved and he's dressed in a hospital gown and strapped down to an operating table. Only now does he start to get a tiny bit nervous, asking Mr. Carter if he's still there. The biology teacher emerges wearing a red robe with a pointed hood, saying his name is actually Doctor Caligan. He then throws a switch that electrocutes Barney, causing him to scream out in pain.

Meanwhile, Gar is flipping channels on the TV before settling on a late-night viewing of Pride and Prejudice. Conner pops in, asking where everyone is. Gar says, "Beats me." So Conner asks what he really wants to know, "Have you seen Cassie?" Gar says they were working in the Com Center, but that was hours ago. So Conner heads out, prompting Gar to compare him to Mr. Darcy.

We see Rose is spending her night combing through the Titans' database, revealing her true intentions for rejoining the team. During Blackest Night, Rose and her family were attacked by zombie versions of several of their deceased family members and friends. But one zombie was notably absent — Rose's mother, Lillian Worth. The Titans' database lists her as deceased, but Rose still believes Lillian is alive somewhere and vows to update to database.

Conner eventually made his way into Cassie's room, but as soon as the two begin kissing, Cassie gets a call from Dr. Mid-Nite. He reports that the feral boys were victims of deliberate genetic manipulation. And although he's encountered similar cases in the past, nothing quite matches this methodology. He says he'll give Cassie a call if he comes up with any more useful data.

Conner tries to get intimate with Cassie again, but he can tell she's still stressed out by being leader of the Teen Titans. He points out that the current roster has been reduced to just their close friends and now they don't need to hide their relationship. But Cassie admits that when they're out in the field, she can't stop worrying about him. Even though he's the strongest member of the team and practically invulnerable, his death still looms over Cassie's mind. She sadly says she doesn't think she can be with Conner and lead the team at the same time.

But before she can elaborate on this point, a silent alarm goes off. Conner and Cassie head out into the hall to locate the intruder, quickly followed by Raven, Beast Boy and Kid Flash dragging Ravager behind them. Apparently Bart "helped" Rose get her costume on quickly so she wouldn't miss out on all the fun. And Rose threatens to run her sword through Bart's stomach if he decides to "help" her like that again. Our heroes then reach the east wing and find the intruders are Batman and Robin. Dick introduces the Titans to Damian, who immediately declares himself as the Robin to lead this "flock."

We then end with a sneak peek page, saying, "The future is bright for Teen Titans!" It shows a black young man rising from the sea, a young woman glowing with a bright light, Superboy kissing another girl as Wonder Girl sadly watches from afar, and Ravager fighting her dad, Deathstroke, once again.




It's actually kind of hilarious that J.T. Krul is ignoring everything Felicia D. Henderson did. And I mean absolutely everything. No explanation for what happened to Aquagirl and Bombshell. No mention of Miss Martian, Static Shock or Blue Beetle. Not even a reference to the Wyld. And you know what? That's a good thing! Henderson's story was awful and the best strategy moving forward is going to be pretend it didn't happen. Well ... for the most part. I am a little frustrated at having endured so many Cassie-Conner moments only to have their inevitable hookup immediately start to deteriorate. And the Raven-Beast Boy relationship is in the same boat. In both cases, the girl in the relationship is pulling away just as soon as they start to actually get close to each other. It is rather frustrating.

It is no surprise that Krul would bring back Ravager as soon as he could. He set up the whole suspicion of Rose's mom still being alive, so it only makes sense that he would want to keep exploring that idea. However, I wish we had a more substantial reason for Ravager joining the team other than Wonder Girl calling her out of the blue. In any case, it will be interesting to see if anything happens between Rose and Bart. He's had a rather mild attraction to her since the '90s, and things look like they're heating up again. I mean, he ran into her room and put her costume on her. That's not just an innocent gag for someone of Bart's age. (And don't get me started on Bart's age. There's still a strong possibility he remembers all his experiences of the year and a half he spent as an adult.)

For better and worse, it looks like Krul is trying to recapture the same vibe and setup Geoff Johns had on this book. I am glad that he brought back the idea of Bart's photographic memory — something that has been completely forgotten the past couple of years. But I don't need Bart to constantly spout of random facts like a know-it-all. And I really wish Nicola Scott didn't draw Bart like he was Wally. Scott is a competent artist, but I don't really like how she draws faces. I find myself cringing a bit too much when looking at her work. But, it is an upgrade to José Luís.

Well, that's it for the year 2010. Next time, we'll have our Year in Review before returning to Teen Titans #89.