It’s here! A new day dawns for the Teen Titans, brought to you by the dynamic duo of J.T. Krul (GREEN ARROW, BLACKEST NIGHT: TITANS) and Nicola Scott (WONDER WOMAN, SECRET SIX)! Packed with action, steeped in emotion and featuring your favorite heroes, TEEN TITANS is ready to explode off the racks!
Starting right here, the team finds itself pushed in new directions and brought to new heights while also rediscovering its roots. With the rise of a mysterious new threat called the Feral Boys, Superboy, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, Raven, Beast Boy and the newly returned Ravager will have the chance to rebuild their camaraderie in the face of all that might endanger it. But if they discover the truth behind the Feral Boys, will they be able to stand together to face it? Find out here as the new era of the Teen Titans begins in this perfect jumping-on-point issue!
In our second battle review installment for Book of the Week, Matt and Josh go up against each other to compare and contrast their thoughts on JT Krul’s new ongoing. But what did they think of the controversial writer’s first issue? Find out after the jump!
Joshua Mocle: Matt and Mocle from Multiversity Comics here to discuss one of the most anticipated DC releases this week: Teen Titans #88. Say Matts, what did you think coming into this debut issue from JT Krul and Nicola Scott?
Matthew Meylikhov: I thought that, in all honesty, it would be really bad. I’ve been following Teen Titans for quite some time, even through runs that I have not enjoyed because I’ve been “one of those fans,” and it has equated to me sitting through issue after issue of terrible comics by Henderson. Given my love of cats and JT Krul’s obvious distaste for them, I was pretty much under the assumption that there is no way that this would be the comic that would make me enjoy Teen Titans again. How about you, Josh?
JM: Frankly, this entire line hasn’t excited me since Johns left it the second time. On top of that his work on Green Arrow and Rise of Arsenal did not give me much faith in Krul’s writing either, but the Nicola Scott artwork was definitely a draw.
MM: I can’t say it was really a draw for me. Scott is definitely a good artist, but not one that I would normally buy a comic specifically for. It didn’t hurt that her work in all the previews looked really good, though.
JM: True enough, although to be frank the only reason I sprung for the issue was because of this review! I gotta say though, I was pleasantly surprised.
MM: Does this mean we’re moving into the actual review part of the article?
JM: Sure why not. Before we break the issue down, what are your general thoughts coming out of it?
MM: …. I didn’t hate it! At all!
JM: Shocking!
MM: I KNOW, RIGHT?!
JM: The story itself was pretty classically tinged…a high concept mystery adventure that wouldn’t be out of place back in the Marv Wolfman/George Perek run. Were you familiar with that very klan-esque villain? I get the feeling like we were meant to recognize him.
MM: Well, I know Krul mentioned that he would be introducing new villains, and a quick Google search brought nothing, so I got the feeling we were just supposed to be in shock and awe towards the nasty business presented at the end.
JM: Fair enough, just the way that scene was set up it was in a way that a classic villain with a new tint would be revealed. Kinda like when Oberon Sexton was revealed to be the Joker over in Batman and Robin…but maybe thats just me. One of the draws of this issue and indeed this entire run was the inclusion of Damian Wayne to the Teen Titans roster. As a large Damian fan, how do you react to his appearance here?
Continued belowMM: Without a doubt it was Damian. I mean, to be honest I think it’s probably easy to write Damian – everyone I’ve seen attempt to do it has always done it well. Damian is a young character with a lot of room to grow, but primarily he’s a cocky and angry asshole. With his appearance in this issue, ESPECIALLY in the (spoiler alert!) final page, he is exactly that to a pitch perfect degree. Not gonna lie – next issue will undoubtedly make or break how much I want to continue reading this (though, to be honest, I think we can all assume I will since I’ve gone this far), and that’s the “Damian-centric” issue, based on the cover. If Krul manages to keep up his Damian for an entire issue as well as he did those two scenes, then I think we all have a legit reason to get excited. Even if he is a ten year old hanging out with a group of … what, 17 year olds and up?
JM: I think Bart and Conner came back a little younger…maybe around 15 or 16…but yes, there is definitely an age difference. Which makes his desire to lead that much more compelling It should be interesting to see how he interacts closely with people that, for all intents and purposes, owe him nothing…as opposed to Dick Grayson who feels compelled to look after him in Bruce’s stead.
MM: Dick does bring up an interesting point, though. Damian has no friends. He only just BARELY gets along with Batgirl, and he has a crush (that he vehemently denies) on Supergirl, but outside that he has no one. And that doesn’t even take into consideration that he really doesn’t interact with the DCU as a larger whole. So far he has ONLY interacted with the Batmen and Robins. It’s about time he gets a legitimate role in the larger DCU.
JM: Well this definitely seems to be the place where that’ll happen. Switching gears a little bit, what do you make of Krul’s scripting in this one?
MM: Did I mention earlier that I didn’t hate it?
JM: You did indeed, though a little elaboration might be nice.
MM: Well, I had my preconceived notions obviously due to my love of cats. I feel it’s important to really note that before going further – I had incredibly low expectations. However, I think that Krul really got that… that teenage vibe, you know? I mean, the book really made sense with young characters. The story is going to be evolving slowly, focusing on the young team dynamic, which I really like. To be honest, there aren’t enough good young characters in the DCU (only two that I can think of in regards to what I buy regularly), and while I may not enjoy Green Arrow very much, Krul seems to understand the voices here. It really does read quite well from start to finish.
JM: I agree, though I definitely noticed that the writing itself didn’t change all that much…but it DID work much better with young characters. Basic one-liners may not work with a seasoned veteran like Green Arrow, but on a young, show-offy team they just scream youthful abandon. So I guess his writing really is a time/place sensitive deal.
MM: Conner bashing someone with a stop light while making a related pun does make more sense here, yes.
JM: Pretty much what I meant. How about that art though? For my money, Scott not only captured the characters themselves individually, but captured their YOUTH as well.
MM: I have read every issue of Secret Six, which is where everyone else on the site raves about her work and why I know her name. I can definitely say that her work in here is MUCH better than Secret Six. In fact, it’s pretty much pitch perfect for the story in all honesty.
JM: I very much agree. Her brights were bright and her creepies were creepy, but on top of that her panel composition really pushed the issue forward. I’m not sure how much of that came from the script and how much of it came from her, but regardless it was a really well formatted issue.
Continued below
MM: Her characters were really well formed. I really enjoyed that every character was well defined, and while they all have that superhero glamour and there is a definite lack of acne, these young characters actually look rather young as opposed to the androgynous age they’ve had in previous runs. They are rather bright eyed and bushy tailed here, and I can appreciate that. The book has a lot of energy for one issue, which is much needed, and the vibrant art created by her pencils, Hazlewood’s inks, and Wright’s colors is the shot in the arm this book needs in the artistic department.
JM: Definitely concur. So what do you expect from this one moving forward?
MM: Well…. I have my apprehensions. First of all, Conner JUST came back to life, and we JUST established in Adventure Comics that he and Cassie missed each other – a lot. Do we really need them to break up now for no good reason? Just because someone once said “characters in relationships are unrelatable”? Come on. Let them date. I don’t like to get all “fanboy” on this, because I’m really not, but after seeing how devastated Cassie was in 52 over his death, and seeing how happy the characters were in Adventure Comics, I want to see their relationship evolve. I don’t want to see Conner run off and hook up with Ravager, as is strongly implied.
JM: Agreed. Frankly, I found that subplot to be the least compelling in the issue…which is bad since it was such a large chunk of it. I’m also apprehensive since Krul has had some strong starts before that just devolved very very quickly. However, he was assumingly granted his DC exclusive deal based on his plans for this series so it must be good enough to give Didio and co some serious confidence in him.
MM: Yes, but to be fair, his signing an exclusive deal really has no baring on us as to if we’ll like it or not.
JM: True enough. True e-nough. I guess we’ll have to see. This was definitely a strong start.
MM: I honestly, and quite surprisingly, have high hopes. I am actually kind of excited for the next issue – if only for the Damian. I loves me some Damian kicking the crap out of other people! And at this point based on the Frank Quitely variant, I am hoping he beats them up. I am hoping this a lot.
JM: Haha, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Frankly I’m excited to see what happens to Beast Boy now that Bart has been established as the central jokester of the team…at least in this issue. I hope he doesn’t end up becoming redundant. So, final verdict for our voracious viewers?
MM: I am going to give it a solid 8.
JM: I’d go a little higher with an 8.2, mostly for art.
