Awww, yeah! Teen Titans!
I'm a Teen Titans fan. Yeah, the X-Men are pretty cool and they have, like, a million-gillion books on the stand. The Legion of Super-Heroes have been pretty cool, too. The closest thing to the level of cool of the Teen Titans is Infinity, Inc. I mean, the original Infinity, Inc. Not Luthor's version that spun out of 52. But the original, that was made up of the legacy characters. That's what has made the Teen Titans, Infinity, Inc. and the Legion so cool. The X-Men were cool, but there was no link between them and, say, The Avengers or Fantastic Four. Whenever there was a team-up or crossover, it was hard to imagine there was much friction between the teams based on growing pains or anything like that. But, with the sidekicks, you knew there would be some friction. There would always be some great friction going on between the original Titans and their mentors. The classic friction would be Batman and Robin. Sure Cyclops could feel angsty next to Captain America or Mr. Fantastic, but then he could prove himself with an optic blast and be done with it. "Oh, you're a super soldier with a shield? I fight giant robots - sometimes outside a holographic training room! You made a slight miscalculation and were bombarded with cosmic rays and now you stretch? Bummer, dude, I was born this way! Oh, and I fight giant robots - with my eyes!"
It's a little different when you can do the exact same thing as the person training you, and you want to prove that, yes, indeed, the training is paying off and you can do it better. Oh, and you're, like, twelve. Yeah, no pressure there.
Which is why I missed John Byrne's entire run on X-Men, except for the Christmas alien dinosaur issue with Kitty Pryde. And, maybe the X-Men guest appearance in Iron First, where Danny Rand nearly gets skewered by Wolverine.
So, this issue of Superman & Batman: Generations II is a delight!
1964: Children's Hour opens on Halloween 1964, with Mrs. Bruce Wayne scolding their son BJ (Bruce, Jr.) for wearing a Robin costume. She puts her foot - and the hammer - down on BJ becoming Dick Grayson's Robin. How times have changed since the Golden-Age! BJ is older than Dick when Bruce recruited the original Boy Wonder. She explicitly forbids BJ from partnering with Dick. Meanwhile at the Kents, Lois and Clark happily greet the debut of Kara as Supergirl. Her older brother Joel is less than thrilled, and he meets very briefly with his mentor, Luthor.
Kara shows up at Wayne Manor, as Supergirl, and she and BJ head off to Central City, where Wally West is taking on the Weather Wizard. Who has teamed up with Mirror Master and Grodd. The three young heroes are overpowered by Grodd and they are trussed up. Grodd intends to steal their powers.
Elsewhere, Barry Allen calls Diana Trevor to see her daughter, Stevie, knows where Wally might be. Wonder Girl flies into action to investigate, and her connection to Kara draws her into action.
The four bring down Grodd, Mirror Master and Weather Wizard, and decide that they should continue as the Justice League. BJ hopes that he doesn't get grounded for life!
1975: Troubled Souls is a direct sequel to Generations I's death of this Elseworlds Universe Dick Grayson at the hands of The Joker, who was posing as his own son, Joker, Jr.
Older now, Bruce, Jr. and Kara are summonded to Arkham to witness The Joker's condition. The attending physician is convinced that The Joker is being haunted or troubled by a ghost.
Meanwhile, Hal Jordan is testing the new FX-101 for Carol Ferris and Ferris Aircraft. And Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon celebrate Jim Gordon's 100th birthday.
With Dr. Thirteen, Bruce, Jr. and Kara summon Boston Brand. Deadman goes inside The Joker and discovers that Dick truly is haunting The Clown Prince.
The only solution is for Alfred Pennyworth's ghost to bring Dick home to rest in peace.
1975 ends with Bruce, his son, and Kara saying a final farewell to Alfred and Dick and wondering if Thomas and Martha knew what their deaths would mean.
The Good
-There's a lot of good stuff here as far as I'm concerned. There's a version of the Teen Titans. I don't care if they want to call themselves the Justice League - this is Elseworlds. It's fun. There's nothing more fun than kids playing with a monkey.
What I did notice is that this series seems more about how The World's Finest teams up without really teaming up. This series is also about other characters in this Elseworlds DCU. As cool as this version of Teen Titans is, I noticed that this reality doesn't show Aquaman, Captain (Shazam!) Marvel, the Martian Manhunter, Plastic Man or Elongated Man. I'm sure this reality has a version, I'm just looking to see Aqualad, Captain Marvel, Jr. or Speedy. I'm okay not seeing Aqualad or Speedy with the rest of the "Titans". But this series could only be improved by 10% with an appearance by The Marvel Family. (Yeah, I know it wouldn't be about The World's Finest then; but, there was room for Wonder Woman and a few other heroes...)
It is cool to see Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, but this universe doesn't have a Huntress or Power Girl? I guess that's the definition of "limited series".
Inccluding Dr. Thirteen and Deadman and the whole ghost aspect is brilliant. It makes me excited to see The Demon or Zatanna in future issues. This concept could really support a monthly book.
The Bad
-Here is what I consider a missed opportunity. We all know that Clark Kent is basically a Republican. Truth, Justice and the American Way. God, Country, Family; Mom and Apple pie. It's obvious he and Lois are soul mates destined to be together. They are the original comic book version of Nick and Nora Charles. Bruce Wayne is a Capitalist. So, why not make him slightly from Clark? Not a complete bachelor; but what if his first wife was Bruce, Jr.'s mother; marry again and have a daughter named either Betty or Helena; and then, finally end up with Talia after defeating Ra's. He could still be considered a "playboy", while being a "family man". And that would solve the riddle of the mysterious wife and the women in his life at the same time. His first wife could have been Julie Madison. His second wife could have been Kathy Kane. Maybe Selina Kyle could have been a wife. The possibilities are endless. The only challenge would have been to explain each break-up without resorting to the latest wife dying or something predictable. It just seems silly to say Bruce Wayne is married, but never identify who his wife is. And to just assume that he would follow along the same lines as Clark. To me that seems lazy.
I'm not a big fan of Wally's costume here, either. It's the same design, but it's all orange rather than red and yellow.
I'm kinda surprised that Kal-el's meeting Abin Sur, and introducing him to Alan Scott meant that he didn't die and select Hal as his successor. But then, since Earth already had a Green Lantern, Sur's career was probably altered. But, wouldn't Alan select an alternate sooner? It's not bad; just feels like another missed opportunity. Especially since Sur would no doubt bring Alan to Oa and the Guardians and Alan might take on the standard Corps uniform -
The Ugly
-- and save us all from Kyle's abominable costume later on...
The only ugly thing is that we are reminded, if only fleetingly, that The Joker posed as his own son, Joker, Jr. to kill Dick Grayson. While Dick haunting The Joker is kinda brutal and harsh, The Joker deserved it for being so predictable in posing as his own son and calling himself Joker, Jr. And, no one figured it out.
The Skinny
-The "Teen Titans" segment is a lot like the Mxyzptlk-Bat-Mite segment of Generations I, issue 2. Light and fun and very Silver Age. Kind of a nice easy way to get into the heavier, darker, more complex and sinister back-up story.
Looking back, and reimagining the past is always a lot of fun. Byrne manages to capture the Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages very well. Just a few missed opportunities kinda makes the future look a little bleak. Still, all in all, this series is a lot of fun so far.
If you can find the individual issues or the trade paperback - I have the individual issues, and have never looked for the collected trade, so I'm not sure if it was collected or not - this is a treat to enjoy!