Teen Titans #91

After School Special

J.T. Krul – Writer
Nicola Scott – Penciller
Doug Hazlewood and Scott Koblish – Inkers
Sal Cipriano – Letterer
Jason Wright – Colorist
Scott & Hazlewood with Wright – Cover
Ivan Reis & Joe Prado with Rod Reis – Variant Cover
Rachel Gluckstern – Editor

Our main cover puts Beast Boy front and center, which I believe is how it should be. Seriously, it makes no sense for Wonder Girl to be leader instead of Garfield Logan, the man who not only has tons of experience being a Titan, but also the leader, as well. How many more times do we need to hear Cassie whine about being the leader before someone steps in and demotes her for her own sake? Anyway, everybody looks fine on this cover — Wonder Girl and Superboy are a bit off, though. I do like Beast Boy's prominent lower tooth, harking back to the Teen Titans animated series. This cover also puts a spotlight on the flames behind the Teen Titans logo. There really is no purpose behind those flames, but I guess it's better than nothing.

Our variant cover shows everybody charging heroically out of Raven's teleporting cloak/soul self/thing. I'm normally a big fan of Reis' work, but this one lets me down a little bit. I think it's mainly because of the weird faces Bart and Conner are making. It's almost like a "Welp. I guess I'll do this." Other than that, it's not too bad.

Our story begins with a flashback of Doctor Caligan when he was an awkward teenager wearing clothes that were way too small for him. He lured one of his classmates to his house with the promise of beer, but poisoned the drink and watched the other boy die. However, this brief glimpse into his mind doesn't really help us understand his motivations beyond a love for causing chaos. And he's certainly caused plenty of chaos today, turning most of the student body at Walker High feral, while his three prized experiments are putting on quite a light show in the gym.

Editor's notes give Barney the villain name Headcase (because Damian called him that twice), the athlete's name is Jock and the pretty girl's name is Doll Face. (Sigh! I guess that's better than nothing!) Anyway, Barney has actually started constructing a large and ominous machine, while Jock and Doll Face have jumped back up from the basement to take on Wonder Girl and Superboy. Beast Boy turns into an eagle and tries to confront Barney directly, but he gets shoved into the wall for his effort. Barney says this school has been nothing but a hellhole for him, so now he's going to turn it into a different kind of hole. And to the surprise of even Jock and Doll Face, Barney's machine begins to produce a black hole, which Raven worries could devour the entire planet.

Meanwhile, Ravager and Robin are having the time of their lives battling the feral teenagers. Robin complains that they're too easy to take down, and Ravager has to remind him to go easy on the teens, since they're actually the victims here. As they fight, they talk about their difficult upbringings and their evil parents, Talia al Ghul and Deathstroke. By the time all the feral teens are subdued, Rose and Damian are good friends.

We then get one of the most exciting pages for Bart since he came back to life. As he lies unconscious inside Raven's astral plane, Bart dreams of Inertia and the Rogues standing over his dead body. The shock of this dream wakes him up in a panic, just as Raven comes to take him. She can tell Bart's a bit spooked, but he chooses not to tell her why.

Before Raven completely takes Bart out of her portal, she shows him the situation they're facing. Barney's black hole is beginning to grow and suck everything toward it. Wonder Girl is holding onto Superboy, while Beast Boy has turned into a gorilla to hold Jock and Doll Face. Bart figures he can destroy the machine by racing around it fast enough to create enough centrifugal force to slow the pull of the black hole. And while he does that, he tells Raven to deal with the "problem child."

Raven approaches Barney, but he's still quite mad at her and shoves her into the wall. Bart has no problem moving fast enough to avoid the black hole's pull, but he finds Barney has a telekinetic wall protecting the machine. Barney has Raven completely at his mercy, and he decides to start probing her mind. As he touches her face, he becomes drawn to the dark secrets inside her, hoping to absorb the power of Trigon and become a god. At this horrifying thought, Raven finally unleashes her true power and knocks out Barney. With the psychic shield down, Bart has no trouble destroying the machine and the black hole, although he does lament having to take apart such an impressive design. (It's unclear if Bart used his knowledge from the future to dismantle the machine.)

The destruction of the machine blasted a large hole in the school and dirt surrounding it, giving our heroes a convenient exit. S.T.A.R. Labs has been called in to gather up all the feral teens and work with Doctor Mid-Nite on curing them. Jock and Doll Face are led away in fancy handcuffs, and Barney is loaded onto a stretcher. Robin brags about how he and Ravager saved all the infected kids without destroying the school, and he asks Superboy if he took down Headcase. Conner says it was Raven, and wonders aloud what made these teenagers like this. And nobody notices Dr. Caligan once again slipping away, this time with a random teenage girl bound and gagged in his car. Caligan admits that wasn't the result he was hoping for, but he's excited by the new possibilities.

Later, Conner finds Cassie gazing at the statue of the original Teen Titans in front of the tower. She seems to be in the process of changing her mind about breaking up with Conner, but he has other plans. He references the tremendous pressure Cassie has been feeling as team leader, and instead of asking her to step down (like she should), he says it'd be best if they stopped seeing each other. He says he knows she wants to focus on being a leader, and he wants to focus on building up a simpler life beyond being Superboy. They hug and say they still love each other, and tears pour down Cassie's cheeks.

Back at Walker High School, a backhoe is working into the night to remove the mountain of dirt covering the building. A mysterious figure rises from the ground, places his hand on the machine and causes a large explosion, destroying the backhoe and killing at least three workers. The male figure, presumably nude, then walks toward the city with smoke streaming off his body.

In Titans Tower, Robin is creepily spying on his teammates from the monitor room. He berates Beast Boy for still hanging out with teenagers at his age, Raven for being a moody introvert, Kid Flash (who is playing against himself in ping pong) for being a spaz, Wonder Girl for wearing her heart on her sleeve and Superboy for following outdated ethics. But with Ravager, Robin admits that she is arrogant and egotistical, but notes she maybe isn't so bad. Damian's spy session is suddenly interrupted by the appearance of Tim Drake on the screen, asking for the Titans' help.




Well, I guess that's the last we'll see of Dr. Caligan. It's a shame that he never was given any true motivations. And it's perplexing that after having so carefully researched and lured in his three main experiments, he'd now resort to simply kidnapping random girls. Because of the impending Flashpoint, I don't expect to return to him, or that mysterious figure rising from the school grounds, either.

All that said, though, this was a pretty good story, appropriately tapping into that classic teen angst. Our villains displayed the typical high school drama turned up to 11, Robin and Ravager were the loners who gradually formed a sweet connection, and Superboy and Wonder Girl provided the messy relationship stuff. I'm actually glad Conner broke up with Cassie. She hasn't treated him fairly since he rejoined the team, alternating between giving him the cold shoulder and stringing him along. That's not a healthy dynamic, and it's good that Conner was mature enough to recognize that and put it to an end.

And of course, the best part of this issue was Bart's dream. I'm so glad we finally got a writer to acknowledge that yes, Bart actually did grow up and was killed. Now, this scene could be read as Bart not fully understanding that dream, that maybe he doesn't actually remember being an adult. I, however, choose to read it as Bart knowing full well that the nightmare was actually a memory — but a memory too painful and complicated to share with anyone else, even an empath like Raven. Either way, it was a really nice scene. Sadly, as much as I'd to see more on this topic, I'm not expecting anything.

Next time, we'll begin an actual crossover with Tim Drake in Red Robin #20.