Teen Titans #16

Gotham Runs Red!

Plot: Scott Lobdell
Dialogue: Fabian Nicieza
Pencils: Brett Booth
Inks: Norm Rapmund
Colors: Andrew Dalhouse
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Cover: Booth & Rapmund with Dalhouse
Assistant Editor: Darren Shan
Editor: Eddie Berganza

Our cover shows a much more interesting story than what we get inside. Red Robin has been Jokerized, and the Teen Titans and Outlaws have been kidnapped. It is a creepy and compelling cover, despite Booth's weaknesses (did you know that Arsenal is now 7 feet tall?). I can't quite tell who the woman above Bunker is supposed to be, though, because the logo is in the way. Maybe the black-and-white variant will help.

Survey says ... Starfire! Which only makes sense. But not only was she obscured by the logo, but Dalhouse colored her completely wrong. Like, not even close.

Anyway, let's pick up our story with the Titans and Outlaws working together on the extremely well-lit night in Gotham City, thanks to the largest full moon in history and hundreds of spotlights in the sky. Wonder Girl admits that Arsenal was right, and Batgirl probably was, too, when she said the Teen Titans weren't ready for Gotham. Solstice feels her powers have been boosted, just like Kid Flash's, although we never really saw the effect of this — it was purely conveyed through the dialogue. Solstice knows who's responsible for this, but declines to tell anyone, even her boyfriend, Kid Flash, who was genuinely worried about harming people during that "power surge." Hey, it wouldn't be a Lobdell story without tons of pointless secrets stacked on top of more secrets.

And that's it for this issue. Kid Flash barely appeared in the background, helping out the last of the homeless people who were infected by the Joker's toxin. The Joker, meanwhile, made Red Robin and Red Hood fight to the death, but they tried to trick him, only to be tricked themselves. And there's lots of pointless subplots with Basilisk, Raven and Trigon. It's all quite dumb, to be honest.

Next time, we'll finally wrap up the month of January 2013 with The Fury of Firestorm the Nuclear Man #16.