Teen Titans #93

Step into the Light

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

Our cover features our new character Krul has slowly been building up, Kiran, who already has the hero name of Solstice. The bright light in the center creates some nice shadows across everyone's faces, but I don't quite understand why everyone is so grim, while Solstice looks rather happy. I'm also let down by the bland background and the conspicuous absence of Red Robin, who did officially rejoin the team last issue.

Our story opens with the reveal that Tim Drake didn't just rejoin the team, but he has also taken command of it. Tim acknowledges that Beast Boy could and probably should be the leader, but it seems like he prefers to just be a "mentor" for now. Anyway, Robin calls everybody together in the morning to strike a dramatic pose in front of the statue of the Teen Titans founders before loading up in the T-jet to take off on their first mission with him officially back as the leader.

Instead of hunting down the real Calculator like he promised last issue, or even investigating who turned an entire high school into feral creatures, Tim has decided to fly the entire team out to Pakistan to look for Kiran's missing parents. Apparently, their assistant Helena was actually Cassie's mom, Helena Sandsmark, and she called Cassie after the second day of Vijay and Rani's disappearance. Ravager complains that bringing along the whole team is overkill for this, but Tim, seeking to build on the family idea, says they should always stick together. Cassie, however, is annoyed by Rose's comment, and says aloud that she wishes she had stayed behind. In addition to this tension, Tim is also upset by the awkwardness between Gar and Raven, and Cassie and Kon.

Our team eventually reaches Pakistan, landing at Mohenjo-Daro, the ancient Indus Valley civilization. Helena is a bit surprised to see Cassie brought along all the Titans, and she doesn't recognize Robin in his new mask. Tim corrects Cassie, saying his name is Red Robin now, and Gar reminisces on how he actually put out a press release to announce his name change from Beast Boy to Changeling (and back again). He then suggests that Tim add a couple of Rs to his costume to help people out, and I wish he didn't give DC that idea, because that is exactly what they ended up doing.

Anyway, Solstice makes a dramatic entrance, flying down from above to meet the Titans. Bart is instantly awestruck by her, and even Raven is captivated by the light exuding from her — both literal and emotional. Cassie gives Kiran a hug, telling the others that they had previously met during a recent Wonder Girl one-shot comic. She formally introduces Kiran to the team, and Bart suddenly becomes very awkward and shy, letting out a small "... hi." accompanied with a little hand wave.

Tim immediately gets down to business, asking if there was any sign of struggle at the scene of Kiran's parents' disappearance. Kiran says there wasn't, and all they left behind was their lantern. Helena adds that although Vijay and Rani were spontaneous, they've never gone off for extended periods of time like this before. Kiran pulls out a recent photo of herself with her parents and goes to hand it to Tim, but Rose has picked up on Bart's instant infatuation and decides to toy with him. She whispers to Bart about not letting the "Dark Squire" steal the limelight and to use this chance to make an impression. Bart completely falls for the bait and rips the photograph out of Kiran's hand and immediately takes off, leaving Rose to laugh about how easy that bit of manipulation was.

As Bart weaves through the maze-like ruins, his mind runs through a whole gamut of emotions. He hopes he can get Kiran to like him — even though he's not exactly sure what her name is — but he realizes that treating a search for her missing parents like a blind date isn't the best look. However, he can't help himself from hoping he might be able to keep the picture in his hand, or, better yet, get a new picture of him and Kiran.

While Bart explores, Gar checks in on Conner, who's been "awfully quiet" on this mission. Conner complains that Cassie's mom has been giving him the stink eye ever since they landed. Gar points out that even though Conner believes his breakup with Cassie was mutual, breakups are never that tidy, and families always take sides — even when there aren't any. Bart then returns from his 100-mile radius sweep, reporting he didn't find anything. Tim believes there could be some traps or hidden passages in the ruins — even though Kiran scoffs at the notion — and he suggests they split up into groups for a more thorough examination. Bart is insulted that he's paired up with Ravager, who takes delight in showing him "how the professionals work."

Cassie advises her mom to head back to the camp, but she believes she'll be safe in the company of Wonder Girl and Raven. Beast Boy is with Solstice, and Tim put himself with Kon, who quickly seizes on the opportunity to question Tim's leadership once they're alone. Kon suggests deferring to Cassie from time to time, saying she actually did a good job of leading the team while Robin was away, and this abrupt change is probably hard on her. Tim reveals that Cassie asked him to be leader, and he's surprised she didn't tell Kon that. (And I am flabbergasted that she didn't make at least a formal announcement to the whole team! A vote would be ideal, but seriously — what kind of anarchic leadership system is this?)

Tim and Kon's awkward conversation is abruptly cut off by the discovery of what appears to be an old woman, but is actually a hideous demon creature. The demon grabs Tim by the throat, and when Kon tries to save him, she backhands Superboy through at least five walls before he finally comes to a stop at Bart's feet. Ravager asks Kid Flash how he missed this demon on his search, and he admits he doesn't know, but suggests they take her down, then figure out the rest later.

Bart begins punching the ugly demon's face, joking that he hopes her rash isn't contagious and how glad he is to be wearing gloves. This attack does succeed in freeing Tim, but it fails to do any damage to the demon, who manages to catch Bart's right arm and break his wrist. Ravager swings at the demon with her sword, but the demon catches the blade and smacks Rose across the face with the hilt.

Luckily, this fight has created enough noise to attract the attention of the rest of our teammates. Beast Boy is first to arrive, swooping in as a bird before turning into a rhinoceros and bashing the demon. But once again, the demon proves stronger than our heroes, actually snapping Gar's rhino horn. Finally, Solstice provides an attack the demon doesn't like — a huge blast of light that sends her running away through the ruins.

Before anyone can catch up, the demon encounters Helena and grabs her wrist. Raven takes hold of the demon's arm, but immediately lets go in pain, saying she couldn't handle that much evil and this creature is as pure a demon as her father, Trigon. Cassie tries to pull her mom away from the demon, but the demon says she'll gladly take the mother and daughter away with her. And before anyone can react, the demon teleports away with Cassie and Helena.

Superboy seems to be the most upset by Cassie's abduction, and he demands to know what's going on. Solstice is the only one with a clue, and she explains that the creature was a demon called Tataka. Bart asks what that even means (apparently he didn't read any Indian mythology books in the San Francisco library), and Tim coldly responds that it means that Wonder Girl is in trouble. And we see that Wonder Girl has been taken to some kind of forest, where an even larger and uglier demon immediately attacks her.




If there's one thing I've been consistent on with this blog, it's that I do not like stories about demons. Not even the great Peter David could find a way to use demons in a way that I felt made sense in a world of superheroes. So that loud groan you heard was me realizing I've fallen into another story with an inexplicably powerful demon with incredibly vague powers and motivations. Not even Raven, our resident demon expert, can accomplish anything against Tataka, because she's apparently "too evil." But, naturally, the new girl is the only one equipped to deal with this threat. I am genuinely thrilled to see more diversity on this team, but I wish Solstice didn't bring along this whole demon mess with her in such a clichéd way. And as for her powers? Hopefully we'll get to that at some point. But with Krul's habit of dropping plot lines, I wouldn't be surprised if that backstory became another unresolved, lingering thread of this series.

It was simultaneously adorable and annoying to watch Bart instantly become stricken by Solstice. Yes, his nervousness and jealousness was cute, and it did bring a smile to my face. But at the same time, it almost felt out of character for Bart. Sadly, the only reason I say "almost" is because Bart's character really hasn't been well-defined since he was brought back to life. Does he remember being an adult and actually ... you know ... having sex with a girl before? Because if that was the case, then I think he'd be able to play off his infatuation a little cooler. Or maybe the hormones in his teenage body just got the best of him, despite his adult memories? Who knows? Krul is randomly giving us very quick glimpses into Bart's mind that unfortunately aren't answering any of my big questions.

Next time, we'll return to the Road to Flashpoint in The Flash #10.