Teen Titans #10

Rogue Targets Part 2

Will Pfeifer Script
Felipe Watanabe Pencils
Trevor Scott Inks
Dan Brown Colors
John J. Hill Letters
Bengal Cover
Ben Caldwell Teen Titans Go! Variant Cover
Paul Kaminski Associate Editor
Mike Cotton Editor
Eddie Berganza Group Editor
Superboy created by Jerry Siegel.
By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel family.

Our main cover is an improvement from last issue's — at least we've got a background this time — but it's still not very exciting. Red Robin, Bunker and Raven are having a midair battle against Power Girl and Guardian, but we can't see anyone's face really well. And it's kind of impossible to tell what's really going on. I also have to laugh at the text, "Last Stand Versus the Elite." (Wonder Girl's team is apparently called the Elite, which makes sense, given Manchester Black's involvement.) But how can this be the "last stand" when the fight hasn't even begun yet?

The Teen Titans Go! variant is cute, but rather nonsensical. Raven is banging on the TV because ... she hates it? Beast Boy and Red Robin seem to love seeing their counterparts on the small screen. Power Girl (who is currently a member of the Elite) is preoccupied with her muscles. And Bunker is ... doing something with his bricks. I don't get it. And on a whole, I'm not a fan of Teen Titans Go! There is such a thing as being too silly. And mostly, I'm mad that DC and Cartoon Network decided this is the only superhero cartoon that can be aired on TV.

Our story picks up at the Teen Titans' new penthouse in Chicago's legendary John Hancock building. Wonder Girl demands that Superboy be surrendered to the Elite (and subsequently S.T.A.R. Labs), but before she can get through her intimidation monologue, Kid Flash takes center stage and blames Red Robin for leaving him and Solstice trapped on a prison planet in the future. Tim's first question is "What are you talking about?" (Personally, I would have started with "How did you get here?" but that's just me.)

Bar does say he got yanked back to the past, but he doesn't elaborate. He says Solstice is still on Takron-Galtos (in the 31st century), and he begins backing Red Robin up into the window. Tim also refers to Kid Flash as "Bart," correctly reminding him how he demanded the Titans leave him on that prison planet. Bar says he's been waiting several centuries for this moment (another perplexing comment) and he continues to jab Red Robin's chest until the window begins to crack. Tim ends Bar's incoherent monologue by throwing a flash grenade and having Beast Boy turn into a hippo to sit on Bar's chest.

Cassie then gets back on track and asks Kon to come with her, but he angrily retaliates by throwing her into the TV. He then punches Guardian out the window, and none of his Elite teammates make any effort to catch his fall from the top of a skyscraper. Trinity, an Indigo Lantern, creates two duplicates of herself ... which do absolutely nothing. Klarion implies he's warping reality around Superboy, which might explain how Guardian suddenly reappears from out of nowhere. (I just call it lazy writing and sloppy artwork.)

During the chaos, Red Robin has Raven teleport just him and herself to Manchester Black's location. As soon as they vanish, Superboy strikes Guardian's shield with enough force to practically destroy the entire penthouse and knock everybody down. He starts to fly away, and when Power Girl jumps on top of him, he casually tosses her down to the roof of a nearby building. Wonder Girl finally catches up to her former boyfriend and slams him into another skyscraper, causing another large explosion.

The rest of the Titans and Elite are dealing with the damage caused back at the Hancock Center — a large antenna had broken free and was about to crash onto the ground far below, but Klarion turned it into snow. But as soon as he does that, he realizes Raven and Red Robin are in New York.

Manchester Black, who was at S.T.A.R. Labs last issue, closely monitoring this crucial mission, has very quickly and randomly decided to go to his own private penthouse in One World Trade Center. He is talking to somebody on the Elite on the phone, but that's not quite the same as running things from the command center.

Anyway, since Superboy has returned to his level of invincibility from the beginning of the New 52 Teen Titans, he has gained the upper hand on Wonder Girl. He slams her through a bridge and holds her underwater until she blacks out. It's kind of odd for an accused mass murderer to try to prove his innocence by causing so much damage to the city and likely kill some people on that bridge, but what do I know?

Kid Flash races out to the bridge, followed by Chimera, who gains the abilities of whoever she mimics. Superboy tosses Wonder Girl back onto the bridge and covertly flies away, while Bar and Chimera tend to Cassie. When the rest of the gang shows up, Klarion says that for whatever reason, he can't track Superboy, but he can track Red Robin and Raven. So the Elite teleport away (except for Kid Flash, who opts to run again), leaving Beast Boy, Bunker and Chimera wondering how they can quickly get to New York.

Manchester Black, meanwhile, is handling himself quite well against Red Robin. So Raven tries to assault him psychically, but instead is fed horrific images of villains, monsters and demons. Manchester Black says those images came from the Supermax Prison, and confusingly says that's where they need to go if they want to save their friend.




I think Will Pfeifer is taking way too much inspiration from Scott Lobdell. He shares his penchant for lavish penthouses, invincible characters, and raising too many questions to be answered in a reasonable manner. The only difference is Pfeifer is weighing his story down with way too many characters (so many of them just sit around in the background with nothing to do) and he has an odd obsession with breaking the sound barrier. I don't need anyone to tell me if Superboy is traveling at Mach 5 or Mach 6 anymore. Once was enough.

In a similar manner, Felipe Watanabe tried to channel Kenneth Rocafort on this issue. But he didn't do nearly as well. The action scenes had a tendency to become quite confusing, which was problematic, as this issue was basically pure action. I will, however, credit Watanabe, Scott and Brown for not making Bar Torr look too much like Wally West.

But speaking of Bar, what the heck is going on with him? Was his memory addled again by this most random trip through time? And is he immortal? Forever stuck in the body of a 16-year-old? That would explain how his little sister became older than him. And account for his strange comment about waiting for centuries to get back at Red Robin. Ironically, Bar actually does have a valid grievance with Tim. He (and the rest of the Teen Titans) turned their backs on Bar during his rebellion against the Functionary. But Bar isn't mad about that, nor is he mad at Wonder Girl for her role in that betrayal. Instead, he's yelling at Red Robin for ... listening to him and doing exactly what he asked.

It doesn't make any sense. Nor does Bar's return to the past. The only lead we have right now is that Manchester Black somehow is responsible, but if he has the ability to pluck any person from any time era and any planet, then why'd he choose Bar Torr? It's not like he's making any kind of an emotional impact on his former teammates — Red Robin didn't care to ask how Bar came back, and Raven, Superboy and Bunker didn't even say one word to him. I'm not expecting any satisfying answers. So in the meantime, let's check out our DCYou ads:

Not even the fastest man alive can outrace death! Are YOU ready? The Flash by Robert Venditti, Van Jensen and Brett Booth. This was the creative team that turned me away from the Flash and my New 52 Flash blog. It's a shame, because I really liked that blog. But their stories and artwork were unbearable.

They have the guts, and they're looking for the glory. Are YOU ready? All-Star Section Eight.

The DC Universe! page breaks down the cast of The Omega Men in the form of a wanted poster.

The creator spotlight is Steve Orlando, the writer behind Midnighter.

Next time, we'll take a very quick look at Doomed #3.