Teen Titans #17

Grey Matters: Prologue to A Tale of Light and Dark

Plot by: Scott Lobdell
Scripted by Fabian Nicieza & Scott Lobdell
Pencils: Eddy Barrows
Inks: Eber Ferreira
Color: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Travis Lanham
Cover: Booth, Rapmund & Dalhouse
Asst. Editors: Darren Shan & Anthony Marques
Editor: Mike Cotton
Group Editor: Eddie Berganza

Our cover shows an unusually despondent Red Robin sulking in front of the New 52 version of Raven in all her blind glory and some strange glowing boy. I have no idea who that boy is supposed to be, and I have a sneaking suspicion we'll never find out. My speculation is that Lobdell and Booth had something planned with this opposite of Raven, but either got distracted or lost interest in the idea. As crazy as it sounds, this book now has four (4!) editors on it, yet it remains as directionless as it was since issue #1.

We're still getting black-and-white variants, for whatever reason. This seems to emphasize Red Robin's unhealthily tight abs and unusually low utility belt. It also perpetuates the false notion that this issue is some sort of epilogue to Death of the Family. It's not.

We don't know how the Teen Titans met up with Red Robin after he was kidnapped by the Joker. But he seems perfectly fine now, and everyone even somehow managed to change into civilian clothes for their limo ride back to New York from Gotham. Everyone except Kid Flash, who chooses to run alongside the limousine, instead. He also scouts ahead to their recently rebuilt penthouse at Lexcorp Tower (wasn't it Lex Towers?). Kid Flash reports a startling fact: All their stuff is gone, even the dust. But Tim explains that he somehow found the time to move all their possessions into a massive yacht he wants to serve as their new base.

Tim tells his team he didn't hire a crew to protect their identities and not put innocent people at risk. The boat is enormous, but Kid Flash and Bunker have to share a room, while Wonder Girl and Solstice are bunkmates. Tim seems to get his own for now, with no mention of Superboy or (heaven forbid) Skitter rejoining the team. Tim shows off the war room, equipped with the next phase of the surveillance tech he used to track them all down back when he cared about N.O.W.H.E.R.E. However, he forbids anyone else from touching the computer for now, hinting that he has something special in store.

Everyone heads to bed, but Kid Flash has a hard time falling asleep. He tells Bunker that before he joined the Teen Titans, he spent six months in a group home, with no memory of his life before that. But Miguel gives a sappy little speech about focusing on the here and now, and Kid Flash is able to fall asleep. But Tim can't fall asleep, and he uncharacteristically kisses Solstice in front of a huge full moon. Solstice is surprised by this, but then she happily returns the kiss. Later, Tim heads to his room, and Wonder Girl pays him a visit — a visit that ends with them kissing.




This is a stupid series. It doesn't know what it wants to be or where it wants to go. Granted, the Death of the Family and H'el on Earth events did throw a wrench in things, but you can't blame everything on that. We have dozens of unresolved plot threads dangling throughout these 17 issues involving Amanda Waller, some guy who can "boost" our heroes' powers, some detective from the future who knows Kid Flash's past, and so many more pointless things I've skipped over. Because they never go anywhere. And before answering anything or wrapping anything up, Lobdell just goes back to throwing more stuff at us, like the stupidly designed Raven.

I'm glad everyone's forgotten about Skitter — she was a worthless character. But it's criminal that Superboy continues to be ignored after everyone witnessed him literally being torn apart atom by atom. But instead of hunting for him, or Harvest, or even telling us how Red Robin got away from the Joker, we're going to launch a new, strange story with an apparently evil Red Robin. It sure is a good thing we now have four editors to keep Lobdell focused.

Next time, we'll begin the month of March with Young Justice: Invasion.