Teen Titans #15 Review

Writer: Scott Lobdell
Artist: Brett Booth

This has been a very fun series, but overall inconsistent, with some good issues and some poor. I was hoping that it's part in the Death of the Family crossover, and that due to it crossing over with Red Hood and the Outlaws, that it would put the series back on course, and although it has, it still wasn't quite as good as I hoped.

Plot

This issue sees the Teen Titans enlist Batgirl's help following Red Robin's kidnapping at the hands of the Joker (which happened at the end of the last issue). As Kid Flash speeds around Gotham City, trying to find any clues to Joker's whereabouts, he doesn't realise he's making things worse.

Review

This was a very good issue, and better than the last couple of issues. Scott Lobdell has done a brilliant job of introducing this series into the Death of the Family crossover, and setting up the meeting between the Teen Titans and the Outlaws. Although I was hoping for this to follow-on from Red Hood and the Outlaws #15 it was probably a good idea to have both this issue, and Red Hood and the Outlaws finish in a similar way. I think that this was a good idea, because there will be people who read this series, and not read RHATO, so if this was a direct follow-up then they may have been confused, and if this issue does in fact continue in RHATO #16, at least they've been warned. I also loved that Lobdell kept the other members of the Teen Titans in this issue, as over the last few issues we've only seen Red Robin. Superboy, and Wonder Girl. At the same time I am also happy that Superboy isn't in this issue, as that would clash with the events of H'el on Earth.

I was extremely happy that Brett Booth was back to do the artwork on this issue, and am happy that he will be doing the art on the other Teen Titans issue featured in Death of the Family. It is however a shame that he won't be staying on after this story, and I hope that he comes back to do artwork on this series sometime in the future. The minute I opened this issue I remembered why I initially loved this series, as although this series has had decent artists in Booth's absence, none have even came close to being as good as him. There was only one thing I had a small complain with about Booth's art, and that was Joker's face. Don't get me wrong, he did a fabulous job of drawing Joker, it was just that it was hard at times to tell that he was wearing a mask, as he looked like normal Joker. If it wasn't for prior knowledge, as well as the straps, and hooks at the side I wouldn't have realised it was a mask. Besides this Booth's art was amazing, and I loved the way he drew all the characters, and especially how he drew Batgirl, as she was perfectly drawn, and looked exactly like she does in own series, as sometimes characters in guest roles don't reflect their own series, but she did brilliantly. I also have to say that DC have done a brilliant job of keeping continuity since launching the New 52, and that most guest characters look like they do in their own series, and follow the same timeline (give or take an event).

Batgirl's Help

Batgirl's guest appearance in this issue was brilliant. Although it was advertised in the solicit I was more excited in seeing Batgirls appearance after it was mentioned in RHATO #15. Although Joker's been getting about a lot over this crossover, I've also noticed that Batgirl herself has been getting about a bit, making an appearance in Batman #15 (along with the rest of the Bat-Family), a small appearance in Nightwing #15, and now in this. There were two thing I really liked about Batgirl's appearance, and that was that she was acting like the person in charge, whilst treating the Teen Titans like children, and trying to fit in jokes wherever she could. The other thing I like was that during Red Robin's monologue, he knew she'd act like this.

Kid Flash, and Solstice Try to Find Joker

As I said earlier, I was really happy that the rest of the Teen Titans made an appearance in this issue, and that it wasn't all Red Robin, and Joker. I also liked that Kid Flash, and Solstice were the tow characters mainly shown, as I've enjoyed seeing the possibility of a relationship grow in them. It was also nice to see Kid Flash use this as a chance to show off, as he sweeps Solstice off her feet. Kid Flash, and Solstice split up whilst looking for the Joker, and it is revealed that Kid Flash's speed is doing more harm than good. I won't spoil exactly what happened, and sorry if anyone's worked it out purely on that sentence. Although they wasn't involved much, I was also happy that Bunker, and Wonder Girl got a few lines in the issue, and despite all the chaos going on around, Bunker was still able to be happy, and cheerful.

Joker's Joke

I wasn't too sure if I actually liked Joker in this issue or not, as I liked some things about his appearance, but disliked others. The overall conversation between Joker and Red Robin was good, although not brilliant, and I liked that Red Robin wasn't intimidated by him. The main thing however that I wasn't keen on was that Joker said what Red Robin was thinking. The reason I didn't like that too much was that it looked like Joker could read minds, and although it was obviously a coincident, it didn't work for me, and I'd rather it was left out. I did however like that Red Robin was able to work out Joker's plans, even if he didn't like what he was seeing. There was also one other thing that I was hoping to see that didn't happen, and that was Red Robin, and Red Hood interacting with one another, but hopefully that will happen in both RHATO #16, and Teen Titans #16.

Final Verdict

A very good issue, and I'm happy that Teen Titans is back on track. I would recommend this comic to anyone whether you're getting Teen Titans already, collecting the entire Death of the Family crossover, or just starting to collect comics. I would however warn fans of Red Hood and the Outlaws that this doesn't continue the story from the last RHATO issue, and that of you were getting this issue for that, you may be disappointed.

Rating: 4/5