Writer: Scott Lobdell & Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Eddy Barrows
This has been a very unpredictable series when it comes to the quality of story, but I've still enjoyed it. and it's a really fun series. Now that Death of the Family is out the way I hope that it can keep to a more consistent quality level, and hopefully a high one at that.
Plot
Red Robin (Tim Drake) has decided to treat his fellow teammates by buying their own headquarters in the form of a boat.
Review
This issue wasn't anywhere near as good as the previous issue, but to be honest I never expected it to be. To be fair though I would also expect this not to be a brilliant issue as it's a prologue to a new story. Scott Lobdell, and Fabian Nicieza did a really good job on this issue, and the upcoming stoyline looks as if it might be interesting. I really liked Nicieza's work on Tim in the past, both in the Robin, and Red Robin series, so I have been happy to see him on board this series. Anyway the story itself was a bit poor, and slow. The main reason I think that it's like this is because after all the crazy stuff that's happened to the Teen Titans the writers wanted to give them some time to themselves before the next big story. Although this helps keep the reality of the series, whilst also developing the overall team it does mean that the issue overall will be a little slow, and not very exciting. I do however have high hopes that we will see a decent to good storyline coming, and will be disappointed if it's not.
This issue marked the start of new artist Eddy Barrows. Having read Nightwing (which former Titans artist Brett Booth's moving to) I know that Barrows is a very good artist. Although I liked Barrows working on Nightwing, and Booth working on this series, it's still nice to see them swap series', as it gives some variety. The detail in Barrows art was brilliant, as everything looked fully detailed, and wonderful, even the minor details were terrific. I did however notice that Barrows artwork makes some of the characters look a bit different. This isn't a bad thing, I actually quite like it, as the characters look more realistic, and unique. I'm also surprised that I actually like Barrows art more than any of the artists that have worked on this series, even Booth's. I say that I'm surprised cause if I was to compare Barrows' art on Nightwing to Booth's art on this series Booth's would win, but I think that this series suits Barrows artwork more, and cause of that I hope that Booth's artwork suits Nightwing more.
I actually liked that the Titans got a chance to relax, and get to spend some time with each other, apart from in battle I mean. Although it slowed the story down it was nice to see, and now that they have fancy new headquarters, which is a boat it shows that they are becoming a well oiled unit. Another reason I was happy about this sequence was that I'd been begging for more interaction between the characters for a while now, as although Tim, Superboy, and Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark) have interacted slightly, and Kid Flash (Bart Allen), and Solstice have interacted, with Bunker interacting with everyone now and then, they haven't really had the chance to relax as a team.
It was interesting to see that Superboy has still not returned to the team. I know that he's busy helping Superman in H'el on Earth, but I kinda half expected him to return this issue. It does however make sense that he stays away until H'el on Earth's finished, as it keeps the timeline in sync. Also after reading this issue I wonder where Superboy will be sleeping, as Tim showed every character where they where sleeping, and it looked like there was nowhere left. I know he didn't want to stay with the Titans before, but I thought that was to do with them staying in a LexCorp building, but I thought that he'd stay with them now. There could be an easy explanation that either he's still wanting to keep to himself living arrangement wise, or that there are more beds.
WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD!
Another thing that caught my eye in this issue was that Tim was a bit of a womaniser. It has looked as if Tim and Cassie might have a relationship, but for him to be kissing Solstice, and then kissing Cassie is a bit out of character for Tim. I won't say any more about the facts as to avoid overly spoiling the issue, but it was weird, and I look forward to seeing this side of Tim develop, and also for it to get explained. In saying that I also found it weird that Solstice let him kiss her. She's been kind of having a relationship with Kid Flash, and although she mentions this to Tim it doesn't appear to prevent he from letting him continue, which leaves questions about her character.
Finally I'll talk about the new character introduced in this issue. Although she doesn't appear until the end she was also featured on the cover so it's not much of a spoiler. The new character is Raven. I don't know much about Raven, but I do know that she was a long time member of the Teen Titans prior to the New 52, and had a dark side to her. This begs the question in the New 52 is she a friend to the Titans, or a foe. I for one will be looking forward to finding out, and seeing what he role in the upcoming story will be. The villain Dr. Light also appeared in this issue so I will defiantly be looking forward to seeing the conflict between him, and Raven, whatever form it comes in.
Final Verdict
Although not a brilliant issue this was still a good issue. It's nice to see the Titans interact with each other in a relaxed environment for a change, but it did slow the issue down a bit. I would however still recommend this issue, and the series, and am looking forward to the next issue, as this new story looks very interesting.
