Teen Titans #1

Teen Spirit

Written by Scott Lobdell
Pencils by Brett Booth
Inks by Norm Rapmund
Colors by Andrew Dalhouse
Letters by Carlos M. Mangual
Cover by Booth, Rapmund and Dalhouse
Assistant Editor Katie Kubert
Editor Bobbie Chase

And now we enter the brave, new world of the New 52. After Flashpoint, DC reset all their monthly titles — even the legacies Action Comics and Detective Comics — and launched 52 #1 issues. The slate was supposed to be wiped clean, and in most cases, it was (Batman and Green Lantern were the notable exceptions). I guess you could say this was mostly a successful experiment, although there are plenty of things that went wrong with it. One of the most frustrating things for me was how all the creators at DC couldn't quite get on the same page continuity-wise. And, of course, the realization that this Kid Flash is not the same Bart Allen we were introduced to in 1994.

Our cover gives us our first look at the new Teen Titans (not to be confused with the New Teen Titans of old). We have a new, boring logo and a bland, blank background to paste our heroes on. Instead of going back to the original lineup of Dick Grayson, Roy Harper and Wally West, this new group focuses on the same core four that led the most recent Teen Titans: Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl and Kid Flash. We do have a few new characters here to make things interesting, but for the most part, this feels like a continuation of Teen Titans #100 but with new costumes.

If I didn't know better, I'd say that was Wally West sporting that stupid little mohawk (don't worry, I'm pretty sure his costume will change). On a whole, I hate everybody's costume here — just way too busy and trying hard to be "edgy" (see Superboy's "tattoo). Mostly, though, I hate Brett Booth's artwork. Like, absolutely loathe. This series is going to be tough for me. So ... since this isn't really the Bart we know and love, I'm going to mostly breeze through these comics.

Our story begins at the scene of a condemned mansion burning down. The firefighters have been working the fire for less than an hour, but are already confident the blaze is contained and no one has been hurt. As a TV reporter wraps up her story, a young man in a home-made costume runs up at super speed, steals the microphone, and proclaims himself Kid Flash to the viewers at home.

Kid Flash hands back the microphone and runs up to a firefighter, asking how he can help. The firefighter captain responds rather rudely, telling Kid Flash to sit down and shut up. When Kid Flash persists, the captain says this is a job for professionals — not kids. Eying the TV cameras, Kid Flash worries what his fan base will say about him on the message boards if he doesn't do anything. He quickly spots an opening when a firefighter becomes trapped on the roof and requests a bucket be lifted up to him. Kid Flash immediately zooms off to save the man, ignoring the captain's pleading to follow protocols.

As Kid Flash makes his way through the burning building, he tells himself that his encounter with the media couldn't have gone better and he wonders why he was ever nervous. When he reaches the roof, he's greeted with a horrified look on the firefighter's face, asking if he's ever heard of a backdraft. Kid Flash gives the encyclopedic definition of a backdraft, before realizing that he inadvertently created one by opening that door. The ensuing explosion is a bit delayed, but very powerful. So powerful, in fact, that it blasted Kid Flash out into the yard, destroyed half his costume, and knocked him out cold. Fortunately, the firefighter was rescued by his colleagues. Unfortunately, none of them bother looking for Kid Flash, derisively assuming the teen ran away. Even the TV reporter gives Kid Flash a scathing review, alleging that he fled the scene rather than take responsibility for his "deadly showboating."

The broadcast was viewed by Tim Drake in New York, as part of his monitoring the sudden rise in metahuman teenagers around the world. Tim sarcastically thanks Kid Flash for his help, while TV pundits discuss how there needs to be legal authority holding these kids accountable. And we don't learn anything else about this new Kid Flash in this issue, beside a statement from a Justice League spokesman, confirming that Kid Flash has no ties to the Flash. (Much to my lament.) And that's all we care about in this issue.




I'm happy that this series started with Kid Flash. Bart was the heart and soul of Young Justice, so it's a good impulse (forgive the pun) to attempt to do the same here with this clean slate. Kid Flash serves as a representative of the sudden phenomenon of super-powered teens in a world that only has had superheroes of any kind for five years. Sadly, this Kid Flash also represents the dangers of a super-powered teen that didn't spend time as a sidekick under an experienced adult. So what we get is an unsophisticated boy with a homemade costume and an obsession with media. But he means well. And, frankly, it's a little shocking how none of the adults around him could see that. I understand that the firefighters would be angry with him for causing that backdraft, but it astounds me that they wouldn't even try to look for Kid Flash after that blast.

With his red hair and green eyes, one could assume this is Wally West. Sadly, Wally was nowhere to be found at the start of the New 52. And Kid Flash's textbook definition of a backdraft indicates that this is essentially Geoff Johns' version of Bart Allen — just updated a bit. He's a bit older and taller than the Bart we knew (although Brett Booth draws all his characters freakishly tall) and he even has a tiny bit of facial hair on his chin, which I think is a nice touch. Whenever he speaks, his speech bubble has a red outline with some "speed marks" to the side. I don't know exactly what this means. Is his voice vibrating, or something? He clearly isn't speaking too fast for others to understand him. Anyway, all things considered, I would say this is an intriguing introduction of a new take on Bart ... if I didn't already know how this story ends.

The New 52 was probably most guilty of trying to have its cake and eat it, too. DC wanted to give us a new version of the Teen Titans, yet simultaneously keep things familiar. The end result is a rather hodgepodge creation that unsuccessfully tried to keep one foot on both sides of that great divide. To me, one of the great things about the old Young Justice group was that the characters were second- and third-generation heroes trying to make a name for themselves. Take that away from them, and you're basically tearing out the foundation of a building. And that's one of the reasons why I won't go as deep in these New 52 reviews. Plus, I really can't stand the art (Tim's jacket is so tight, I don't know how he can even bend his arms). Plus, this isn't the real Bart Allen. But we'll get into that later.

I only own the digital version of this comic, but we have now entered the era of DC putting house ads in their digital comics. So here is our single advertisement for this comic:

Up in the sky, it's a bird ... it's a plane ... it's Superman! Hot Wheels. Special edition cars for Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the Flash.

Next time, we'll conclude the year 2011 with Teen Titans #2.