Titan
Dan Jurgens Story and Pencil Art
Ray McCarthy Finished Ink Art pages 1-17
Karl Kesel Finished Ink Art pages 18-20
Travis Lanham Letterer
Hi-Fi Colors
Anthony Marques Assistant Editor
Mike Cotton Editor
Eddie Berganza Group Editor
Jurgens, McCarthy & Hi-Fi Cover
Firestorm created by Gerry Conway and Al Milgrom
Our cover shows Firestorm battling Kid Flash, Red Robin and Solstice. (This issue does not explain the absence of Wonder Girl, Bunker or Superboy.) As is the rule of The New 52, these characters are fighting each other on their first meeting — even though they're all heroes. This cover is also a clear indication of how dated Jurgens' art is. Red Robin's hair is atrocious.
I'm working under the assumption that this story takes place before Death of the Family. Solstice, Kid Flash and Red Robin are in his penthouse at Lex Towers in New York City, watching Firestorm repair Mount Rushmore on the news. Kid Flash dubs Firestorm as Red Robin's obsession of the hour, but Tim insists that someone that powerful bears watching. He then answers my questions from last issue, by saying he believes N.O.W.H.E.R.E. could target Firestorm since he's under 18. Solstice draws attention to the fact that Firestorm in no way, shape or form looks younger than 18, but Red Robin insists he is, based on "the way he moves" and the few sound clips of his voice.
So these three Teen Titans head out to meet Firestorm at the scene of a S.T.A.R. Labs facility he accidentally destroyed. Of course, instead of just talking to him like normal people, they attack him. Kid Flash kicks things off by throwing Firestorm into the pond we saw on the cover, and Red Robin even has the gall to address Firestorm as a soldier from N.O.W.H.E.R.E. Naturally, Firestorm does not respond to this kindly, and he blasts Solstice. This earns him 200 punches from Kid Flash, so he turns Kid Flash's boots (feet?) into flippers.
Red Robin throws a bomb at Firestorm and Solstice hits him with a blast of her energy, until Firestorm knocks all three of them down with an even larger display of energy. With the Titans no longer attacking him, Firestorm tries to rebuild S.T.A.R. Labs. Red Robin says he knew he'd do this and that he's not a threat, which begs the question why Red Robin treated him as a hostile and led an all-out attack against him.
Anyway, Firestorm fails to reconstruct the building from the pile of rubble. The Titans approach him peacefully this time and almost sort of offer a half apology. Firestorm turns Kid Flash's boots (feet?) back to normal, and Red Robin warns him about N.O.W.H.E.R.E. He even offers Firestorm a spot on the Teen Titans, but Firestorm refuses, opting to merely give them his phone number. Which basically ensures that we'll never see him again.
I am thoroughly convinced that Dan Jurgens created this issue with the express purpose of showing the world that Firestorm is a teenager. Jurgens can't draw teenagers to save his life, and I think he realized this, so he had to bring in DC's most famous teenagers (well, only three of them for some reason) to explicitly state that, yes, Firestorm is under 18. Beyond that, there was no point to any of this. Red Robin knew Firestorm was a good guy — I mean, obviously — but he still gleefully took part in a pointless attack, where somebody could have seriously been injured. Ugh.
With this issue, we are introduced to DC's new house ad/editorial feature — a two-page mock newscast called Channel 52, starring Bethany Snow, Ambush Bug and Calendar Man. This edition talks about the Teen Titans fighting Firestorm, the arrival of Raven (we'll get to that) and the death of Robin (Damian Wayne).
Next time, Teen Titans #17.
