Teen Titans #3

Originally posted on my blog, The Comics Cove, not too long ago...

Teen Titans #3: Better to Burn Out... Than to Fade Away

I love how comic book covers can so often be a study in misdirection, if not the perpetual outright lie. Red Robin and Bunker look great as they clash here, but the closest they come in the story is preparing for fisticuffs... right before Bunker gives Red Robin a great big hug. They're friends from that point onward.

Kid Flash continues to vacillate between usefulness and idiocy, as he escapes N.O.W.H.E.R.E. custody quickly, with Solstice in tow, but slips and falls off a cliff in the Antarctic, causing her to have to save them. Wonder Girl impersonates a nurse to intimidate one of the mercenaries from last issue into telling her more about their employers. And Bunker just happens to run into Red Robin while hopping a train across America, coming across a cocooned Skitter. They form an alliance, and Red Robin encounters a psionic junk heap called Detritus before having his memory erased of the encounter and being sent back on his way with Skitter and Bunker as if nothing had happened. I'm sure nothing sinister will come of that. Finally, as Kid Flash looks up from where he and Solstice fell, he sees a village in the snow, and tries to make for it before it's too late--in vain, the end of the story would suggest.

This was a better section of the story, for me. While devoid of any real high-octane action, we still have a few significant moments of character developments as the Titans fight each other, bumble rescue attempts, and otherwise find bold ways to get themselves in trouble. We only see one page worth of Cassie in this issue, but Lobdell makes full use of her appearance, using her hardcase nature and gift for infiltration to make a very believable threat against a man for information. It makes me eager to see what she'll do with it in the next issue.

I had a similar reaction to Red Robin's incredulity at Bunker's appearance, but at least they were kind enough to lampshade the one-in-a-million possibility with Bunker's response about praying for it to happen. Based on how his viewpoint was written, I don't think Bunker's some kind of evil N.O.W.H.E.R.E. plant, so I'll take that for what it's worth. The Detritus skirmish kind of annoyed me, especially with how brief the encounter was. I can accept that it got the drop on Tim--who doesn't occasionally get surprised and then schooled?--but it seems kind of tacked on or inserted unnecessarily in the story. Finally, what the heck was a village doing in Antarctica? Isn't that where Kid Flash and Solstice are? I hope that gets explained, and quickly, next issue.

I did enjoy Bunker giving Red Robin a big hug when he found out who he was. Tim was the picture of confusion for a couple of panels there.

Art-wise, I enjoyed Booth's depictions of the Antarctic cliffside, Kid Flash's multi-point escape and rescue of Solstice, and the brief appearance of Detritus. No real issues with any of it--Booth seems to have gotten away from the occasional nose-lessness of characters that I saw in the last issue.

Overall, this was a good continuation of the story. The writing was tighter, and the artwork was pretty good. I'm eager to see the Titans come together, which should happen in the next issue or so. Onwards and upwards! Highly recommended.