Forever Evil #2 Review

Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: David Finch

This crossover event kicked off brilliantly with it's opening issue last month, teasing the future of the DC Universe. Now that Villains Month is finally over I personally look forward to seeing the affects that Forever Evil has on the DC Universe, and what better way of starting that than with another issue of the main event, Forever Evil itself.

Plot

With the Justice League dead the Crime Syndicate make preparations to keep this world for themselves. As this is happening both Lex Luthor and the Teen Titans make their own plans to stop the Crime Syndicate.

Review

This was a brilliant issue, and a fantastic continuation to this even. Geoff Johns did a great job of showing how bad the world has went now that the Crime Syndicate have taken over, also setting up other branches of this crossover brilliantly. Another thing that I loved about Johns' writing was that although most of this was set-up work, he managed to keep it very exciting and entertaining, also adding plenty of suspense. Johns also did a fantastic job with the dialogue, as it was simply amazing, being humorous at times, overall making some slower sequences much more exciting. Johns also set a brilliant tone in this issue, with some mystery in the background, and overall I can't wait to see what he does next.

The artwork in this issue was also spectacular, and David Finch did a fantastic job. The detail throughout this issue was simply brilliant, as although there was the odd rough patch here and there, the majority of the issue was to a very high standard. The facial expressions on the other hand were a little awkward at times, something that tends to happen in Finch's art a lot. It doesn't however take much always as there are plenty of great things that overshadow the minor flaws. Finch also once again had some brilliant layouts in this issue, that added a lot of depth to the issue. There was also one character in particular that Finch did a good job of, but I won't spoil the surprise appearance of this character by naming them.

This issue would kick off with Luthor continuing his plans to fight back against the Crime Syndicate, going down to sublevel 13 of Lexcorp Headquarters to attend to a project that he's been working on. Now this was a brilliant development, and it was nice to see Otis again as well, as even though he was in a different role it was nice to see him and Luthor interact with each other again. It was however Luthor's project that interested me the most, as although I won't reveal who it was (it's easy to work out) I was very happy when it was revealed, and it has me very excited for the future of this story.

The Crime Syndicate were also making there own plans, with a hooded man tied up in the Justice League Watchtower with them. I really enjoyed this sequence, as it showed a bit of dysfunction between the members of the Crime Syndicate, something that was bound to happen sooner or later. I did however also like some of the mysterious background developments, and how it continued one development in particular that was brought to our attention in Justice League #23.4 Secret Society. I am also now looking forward to see what the Crime Syndicate has in store next, and if they'll manage to continue working a team.

The Teen Titans would also make an appearance in this issue with Red Robin (Tim Drake) saying that now the Justice League are gone that it's up to them to take the Crime Syndicate down. The Teen Titans would then get into a fight with Johnny Quick and Atomica. I personally liked seeing the Teen Titans in this issue, though I would have loved their appearance to have been a bit more meaningful, as it basically seemed to be a way of setting up their part of this crossover. I did however enjoye seeing Red Robin act as the leader he is, as well as their encounter with Johnny Quick and Atomica, but it could have been better.

Final Verdict

This was a fantastic issue, and a great continuation of the story. It also does a brilliant job of setting up the crossover storylines in this event, also having some brilliant developments for the main series itself. There was also brilliant dialogue, with some exciting sequences as well as a bit of mystery as well. Due to all this I'd highly recommend this issue as well as the first and can't wait for the next.

Rating: 8/10

Teen Titans #17 Review

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.

Rating: 3.5/5

Teen Titans #16 Review

Writers: Scott Lobdell & Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Brett Booth

I have enjoyed this series since it started over a year ago, and although it's had a few bumps along the way, it's still been a very fun series. I was looking forward to this part in the Death of the Family crossover, as it also has this series crossing over with Red Hood and the Outlaws, something I wanted to see, especially considering Scott Lobdell writes both.

Plot

This issue sees Red Robin (Tim Drake) facing of against Red Hood (Jason Todd) in a fight to the death, with their fathers on the line.

Review

This was a brilliant issue, and probably the best in the series so far. Scott Lobdell, and Fabian Nicieza have done a terrific job on this issue, and after Red Hood and the Outlaws #16 being terrible, I was dreading that this issue would follow suit. Gladly it didn't and it was truly a marvelous issue. Lobdell produced a brilliant plot for this issue, with Nicieza doing a phenomenal script. All the characters were handled brilliantly in this issue, something that's not always happened in the past, and it also didn't entirely focus on the Red's, which I liked.

Brett Booth once again did a truly phenomenal job on the artwork, and I will be sad to see him leave this series. I will however gladly greet him on Nightwing, as well as former Nightwing artist Eddy Barrows joining this series, and I think the swap in artists will make the series' more fresh, and dynamic, as sometimes having the same artist for a long time can make a series stale (although it's not happened with Booth or Barrows so far). Booth did however finish with a bang, as he did nothing short of perfection on this issue. I've always loved his art, and if you see his art in this issue you can see why. His style is very unique, whilst fitting in with the series' he works on, and I think he could do a brilliant job on any series. He draws all the characters perfectly, but I mostly enjoy how he draws Joker, and the Red's. I also have to give a lot of credit to Andrew Dalhouse, as his colours in this issue are phenomenal, and really give the tone, and feeling this series needs.

Brotherly love. To older readers it may be strange seeing Tim and Jason having a brotherly bond, but I for one have enjoyed it. There will be a lot of people who will dislike this as Tim and Jason actually kind of hated each other prior to the New 52, and it was Nightwing (Dick Grayson) that Tim had a brotherly bond with. It made a lot of sense then because Jason was out of the picture for so long, but now I actually think it's better having Tim and Jason have the bond, as Jason really needs someone from the Bat-Family that he can connect with, and Tim is the best candidate, as he still doesn't forgive Batman (Bruce Wayne), he's never really liked Dick, and Robin's (Damian Wayne) characteristics would clash with Jason. Plus also Bruce has Damian as a partner, and although Dick mainly works solo he still has a close connection with Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), so having Tim and Jason having a brotherly bond pairs them of nicely. Plus Tim wanted to be Red Robin, and not Robin to respect Jason's memory, which has to count for something. Anyway I was always looking forward to this as they'd already acknowledged that they were friends, and with Lobdell writing both series' there wasn't any reason not to have them crossover. I also hope that they have some involvement with each other in the future, whether in a crossover or not, as despite this being good it wasn't necessarily the best circumstances.

The fight itself was amazing, and I loved how shocked Tim was when Jason pulled his gun on him. What I really liked about this fight was that both characteristics were shown perfectly, as you could see the reluctance in both of them, whilst seeing their individual characteristics. You see Jason jumping in feet first, not wanting to take anything for granted, whilst Tim was only fighting to survive, giving himself time to figure everything out, both of which I liked. Booth also did an amazing job of the art in this sequence as it was very dynamic, and showed the emotions between both characters perfectly. I also loved Joker's involvement in this sequence, and liked that he was goading them on, taking nothing but amusement from the Red's predicament.

The only thing I disliked in this issue was that there was a point in the middle that was focused on setting up future events. Don't get me wrong I'm interested in these events, and if done properly they could produce some fabulous stories, but there is a time and a place for things like this, and this wasn't the time. A similar thing happened in RHATO #16, and to me they just feel forced, and could easily wait till the next issues.

Final Verdict

This issue was phenomenal, and the best in the series so far. The fight between the Red's doesn't disappoint, and it's a fitting conclusion to what's been a sketchy crossover (the Teen Titans and RHATO crossover, not Death of the Family). I would highly recommend this issue, and hope that the series continues to be as good.

Rating: 4.5/5

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

Teen Titans #14

Writers: Scott Lobdell & Fabian Nicieza
Artist: Alé Garza

I have overall been enjoying this series and it's been very fun. The current story involving Wonder Girl's origin has however been very poor and I hope the Death of the Family crossover, between this series and Red Hood and the Outlaws is better.

Plot

This issue sees Wonder Girl, along with Superboy and Red Robin in search of Diesel and the Silent Armour he's wearing. Meanwhile Kid Flash and Bunker are bored waiting for the others to return, and Solstice gets visited by Kurt Lance who offers to make her human again.

Review

This was a disappointing issue and the whole Wonder Girl origin story hasn't been as good as I hoped. This issue felt very rushed and is by far not one of Scott Lobdell's best written stories. I've loved how he's written the characters throughout the series, and especially the chemistry between Superboy, Wonder Girl and Red Robin. I was also happy that this story they have been the main characters with the other Titans making brief appearances, but this issue they didn't get as much time to interact. I did like how despite the separation you could still see that both Superboy, and mainly Red Robin cared for Wonder Girl but it would have been nice if we'd seen a bit more. Although I liked the confrontation between Diesel and Wonder Girl, even it felt rushed, which was disappointing. Lobdell does however continue to show the characteristics of each character perfectly, and I liked how he handled the small sequence between Kid Flash and Bunker.

I'm not to sure if I like the art in this issue or not. Alé Garza has done a decent job on the artwork over the last couple of issues but I'd much rather Brett Booth and am looking forward to seeing him return as artist next issue. Garza's art is good and very detailed, and I love the way he shows the character emotions. There's however something that doesn't feel right about his art in this series and the way draws hair isn't very appealing. Although I know this is Superboy using his powers, him going about with a swirly red light coming from the back of his head looked weird, and it didn't look right whilst he was flying really fast. I also can't remember seeing this in anyone else's, art whether on this series or the Superboy solo series.

The fight near the start of the issue between Wonder Girl, Superboy and Red Robin against Diesel's army was interesting, but by far not the best fight scene I've seen. I liked how the fight was laid out, and how it moved between the different characters. I also loved how despite not having any powers Wonder Girl was still able to handle herself and managed to put up a strong fight. This initially question just how strong Diesel's army is, but that is answered when Wonder Girl is swarmed by them.

It was interesting to see that Superboy had the cooler head during this fight, and how he had to pull Red Robin away from the fight. This is interesting as Red Robin is usually the one who knows when a fight is lost, and his determination to save Wonder Girl questions how far his feelings towards her actually go. The series has shown Red Robin and Wonder Girl flirting in the past, and earlier on in the series it looked like the two might possibly get together, so his determination to save her in this issue reopened that question. It's also interesting to see how Superboy has changed over the series, as when he first joined the Titans he would have been the one risking his life to defeat a foe, and would have needed to have been pulled away himself.

I was looking forward to seeing the confrontation between Wonder Girl and Diesel in this issue, and to be honest it was a bit disappointing. The interaction between the two was great and I liked how you could easily see the past emotions released, and that even after everything that's happened, there is still a part of Wonder Girl that still loves Diesel. The end of the confrontation however was disappointing. I won't spoil the result of this confrontation, but I would have expected more of a fight to have happened between the two, and the end result felt very rushed.

The set-up for the Death of the Family crossover at the end of this issue wasn't very good, and one of the poorer set-ups. I'm still however looking forward to seeing both the Teen Titan's and the Outlaws involvement in this crossover, and how Red Robin an Red Hood handle the Joker. It will also be nice to see Brett Booth return as artist and I'm hoping that the Death of the Family crossover will be a much better story than this was.

Final Verdict

This was a good issue but a poor end to what was an interesting story. If you have either got the series, or this story so far I would recommend getting this issue. I would also recommend it to Wonder Girl fans, but otherwise woild recommend waiting till the Death of the Family crossover next issue.

Rating: 3/5