Teen Titans #99

JT Krul – Writer
José Luís – Penciller
Greg Adams and J.P. Mayer – Inkers
Travis Lanham – Letterer
Jason Wright – Colorist
Nicola Scott & Doug Hazlewood with Wright – Cover
Rickey Purdin – Asst. Editor
Rachel Gluckstern – Editor

Our cover shows just about everyone facing off against a worthy opponent. Solstice and Sun Girl have similar powers, Raven and Headcase both have psychic powers and a shared history, Kid Flash and Inertia is obvious (of course that's a fake Inertia), Superboy and Superboy-Prime is only fitting, Ravager and Persuader are both girls with big weapons, and Beast Boy and Zookeeper have the same shape-shifting powers and a shared history. Robin and Indigo is quite a stretch, though, since she is a super-powered cyborg and he's just a kid with a batarang. Also, Indigo was never evil — that was Brainiac 8. Wonder Girl is also conspicuously absent, preventing this cover from being a perfect image of the Teen Titans' last big hurrah before the New 52.

Our story begins with a quick flashback of Superboy-Prime bringing the body of Match, Superboy's defective clone, to Dr. Caligan. I don't know how Prime found Match, let alone Caligan, but the important matter is the mad scientist agrees to help Prime, despite acknowledging that cloning is not his field of interest.

We then return to the present, with Superboy caught in the clutches of his three clones. Kon boldly tells Prime he'll stop him again, but Prime mocks him as being a "copy of a copy of a copy." Tim and Bart are the first to rush to Kon's aid, each commenting on how this feels like a bad dream. Bart even goes so far to hopefully suggest they're all sleeping by a campfire. Bart blows one of the clones away with a whirlwind, Tim attacks one with his bo staff. And Cassie finally joins the fray by tackling the third clone.

Of course, Bart quickly becomes distracted by the fake Inertia tormenting a group of bystanders. Bart doesn't consider even for a moment that this could be the real Inertia, instead wondering if it's a clone or another random speedster. Regardless, Bart considers this imposter just as deranged as the original, so he steps in to pull the people out of Inertia's whirlwind. The fake Inertia then attacks Bart, and as the two trade blows, the imposter admits he's new to this, and even complains about his green uniform, saying it's the color of a turtle. Bart doesn't engage in this mindless banter, content to think to himself that this Inertia doesn't know that the real one killed him. And Bart admits to himself that the scars of that still run deep inside him.

Solstice and Sun Girl put on a bright, fiery light show, and Zookeeper mockingly reminds Beast Boy of how he previously gave him the chance to be normal. The two shape-shifters start off by fighting as bears, before Zookeeper becomes a T-rex. So Beast Boy responds by returning to his Monkey King form. Headcase starts throwing large chunks of debris at Raven, while Ravager takes on the Persuader and Indigo at the same time. Luckily, she manages to trick Indigo into blasting the Persuader with her laser eyes.

Suddenly, all the villains start flying out to Titans Tower (it really feels like I'm missing a page here). Anyway, Headcase begins to destroy the Golden Gate Bridge, so the Titans scramble to rescue as many people as possible. Headcase turns the bridge into a giant robot that's marching right toward the tower. As our heroes start to battle this new menace, Prime gloats aloud that it's time for the Titans legend to fade away. But he's answered by Damian Wayne, who says, "Not quite. Legends are a thing of the past." And Mia Dearden, Speedy, completes the thought with, "Legacies last forever." And these two former Titans are joined by quite a few former Titans, including Blue Beetle, Supergirl, Miss Martian, Bombshell, Aquagirl and some past teammates from quite a while ago, such as Mirage.




This comic doesn't make any sense. But that kind of doesn't matter at this point. DC's just hastily cranking out these last few issues to reach the big #100. And all Krul wanted to do was go out with a big fight. He barely took any time to explain where some of these villains came from — and don't expect any more explanations next issue. It's all about mindless violence now. And I don't mind that every now and then, but I do prefer it when there's a stronger story serving as the foundation of said violence.

Next time, we'll take a quick look at the conclusion of another series, Titans #38.