Titans East Special #1

Basically, it's a mediocre story without much depth but keep in mind, this book's only purpose is act as a launching point to tease readers for the upcoming Titans #1. I don't think it's meant to do much on its own.

This Judd Winick story about the Teen Titans opens up with the classic team consisting of Robin, Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, Donna Troy, Beast Boy and Kid Flash. Their motto, Titans Together! Together Forever! comes crashing to a halt at the end of a flashback where the team has just trounced the Joker and Bizarro. Cyborg is the only one left with that original team spirit and he makes the rounds to call upon his former mates in a desperate plea to help train the new members. Each one of them rejects Cyborg’s invitation leaving him to train a brand new squad dubbed Titans East.

Cyborg has managed to form an eclectic group of heroes beginning with the sexy sisters Hawk (Holly Granger) and Dove (Dawn Granger), identities formerly used by male heroes. The most likely to be chosen as a leader for the newbies is Power Boy. Also among the new ranks are: Anima, Little Barda, Lagoon Boy and Son of Vulcan.

Their first training session consists of a simple War Games exercise where the rest of the team is assigned to take out Power Boy. It takes a while for the simple lesson to be learned that they need to act as a single cohesive team rather than individual units. However, tragedy strikes in shocking DC fashion when one of the new Titans suffers a devastatingly gruesome fate! As the rest appear on the scene, they are also attacked by an unseen foe and their medical status at the final page of the book leaves the imagination wondering if DC just wiped out another group of superheroes in a single act.