Teen Titans #14

Aftermath

Written by Scott Lobdell and Will Pfeifer
Pencilled by Noel Rodriguez
Finishes and Inks by Art Thibert
Breakdowns by Scott McDaniel
Colors by Tony Aviña
Letters by Corey Breen
Cover by Ethan Van Sciver and Brad Anderson
Looney Tunes Variant Cover by Joe Quinones and Spike Brandt
Associate Editor • Paul Kaminski
Editor • Mike Cotton
Group Editor • Eddie Berganza

Our main cover is another awful output from Ethan Van Sciver, depicting a scene that in no way, shape or form appears in this issue. Red Robin doesn't look human, and I have no idea who he's pointing to — it appears to be someone off screen behind Beast Boy. Bunker looks pure evil and his left arm is completely unconnected from his body. This is just bad, lazy stuff.

The Looney Tunes variant is cute, simple and fun. And that's all it needed to be.

Our story picks up after Alpha Centurion's surprise attack on the Teen Titans at the Metropolis Armory Ward. Apparently he is invincible and was able to knock out/subdue everybody instantly. It's unclear who he's working for, but it is worth noting that none of the remaining members of the Elite — Guardian, Klarion, Trinity — are nowhere to be seen as the Titans (including Wonder Girl, Power Girl and Kid Flash) are placed in very awkward-looking handcuffs and loaded up into police vans. Red Robin stops and gives a brief interview with the media, momentarily interrupting his unbearable stream of overly wordy narration. (I think we can thank Scott Lobdell for that.)

Eventually, Doomed crashes into Red Robin's truck and frees him. But he was looking for Wonder Girl, so he quickly moves on to rip open the other van, which contains Bunker, Wonder Girl, Power Girl, Kid Flash, Beast Boy, Chimera and Raven, who is once again on the verge of death and hooked up to an IV on a stretcher. I can only suppose that Tim was in his own vehicle because he doesn't have powers. Anyway, Alpha Centurion reappears to battle Doomed, and Red Robin sends Kid Flash to free everyone of their power dampeners.

Suddenly, Alpha Centurion reveals that he has three partners with him. And what ensues is a very boring, poorly drawn fight, in which Red Robin tells everybody every little thing to do. And the Titans easily win, causing me to wonder how Alpha Centurion ever defeated them in the first place.

The Titans retreat to Tim Drake's personal base of operations in Gotham, which he calls the Robin's Nest, but I have no idea what that means, since our enormous art team couldn't find the time to draw any backgrounds in those panels. While everybody stands around worrying about being outlaws, Red Robin sneaks off to join the Robin War crossover.




What's going on here? Who's in charge of this series? It feels like everyone has just given up. They're just limping along until the next deadline, counting on the Robin War to buy them some time before being forced to do the impossible — come up with the next story. Six consecutive issues with a different art team, and the last two have been way below the standards DC normally holds. This was just an awful, lazy issue. Alpha Centurion did not need to show up. Neither did Doomed. I don't care if Scott Lobdell wants to bring in characters from his own failed series. You need to come up with a legitimate reason for their inclusion.

Will Pfeifer was trying to do something interesting with the Elite vs. the Teen Titans. But that got thrown away before anything could happen. Our stories are not being set up properly, nor are they being allowed to conclude in a satisfying manner. We're perpetually stuck in the "middle," which is rife with so many random moments that I constantly felt like I had skipped an issue or two. Luckily, we only have more issue of this garbage. Here are the new ads:

The Dark Knight. The heroes in a half shell. Together. Cowabatga! Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The Dark Knight is going to die ... unless the Joker can keep him alive! Batman: Europa. This was a mildly interesting series. I appreciated that they spent one issue in my favorite city in the world, Prague.

A conversation with Andy Kubert and Klaus Janson, the artists of Dark Knight III: The Master Race. Huh. All three ads used the words "The Dark Knight" for a different version of Batman. What are the odds?

Well, that's it for another terrible year without the real Bart Allen. Next time, we'll review 2015 before finally wrapping up the story of Bar Torr once and for all.