Teen Titans #11 Review

Written by: Will Pfeifer
Art by: Ricken
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: August 26, 2015

Do the Creep

This is my third review of Teen Titans since taking over the book from Eric in June and I'll admit that I am already losing my patience.  While I like this issue more than last month's, that's not saying much.  Will Pfeifer has taken a cool idea (the Titans vs the Elite with Superboy's future in the balance) and really hasn't done anything with it.  Pfeifer has one of the coolest cast of characters at his fingertips, but doesn't seem to want to do anything cool with them.  Last issue, Raven found out what the Titans have to do to clear Superboy's name and that bit of information promised to at least lead to some action.  Did the Titans finally do what they set out to do, or did the Elite get in their way again?  Let's find out...



The issue starts out with Manchester Black taunting Red Robin and Raven.  It's actually a pretty cool recap moment, it's just a shame that Raven missed it because she's passed out.  Without the teleporting option, it's up to Tim to concoct an escape plan and of course he does.  This Robin has to spread his wings.  Instead of getting upset, Manchester Black actually seems pretty confident...as if his plan is all coming together.

Two days later, the Titans are gathered in some new, low rent digs and while it's not fancy, they are safe.  There isn't much setup here.  Tim tells his friends they are breaking into a prison to clear Kon's name with a pretty heavy handed, action movie type speech.  Chimera, Beast Boy and Bunker are all in, but I'm not sure that they would have been if they knew who and what they were going up against.

Beast Boy and the reader get a sneak peek, however, as he infiltrates the M.A.W. in rodent form.  Seeing the little green mouse running around with a usb stick strapped to his back was great, but what happens next was ridiculous.  Instead of waiting for the coast to be clear, Beast Boy just starts tap tap  tapping on a computer, right next to a M.A.W. guard.  What?  Of course, the guard "discovers" him and alerts everyone under the sun.  To combat that, Beast Boy turns into a giant green Polar Bear.  At least he gets his part of the plan done.

Back with the others, Raven wakes up and tells the team who they are there to see.  It's Despero and this is what I talking about earlier when everyone agreed to the plan.  Who in their right mind would break into a super max prison to go after Despero?!?  Chimera actually seems pretty pumped, actually.

Then, all hell breaks loose as the computer worm that Gar inserted opens ALL of the prison cells.  While the Titans immediately get attacked, we see Manchester Black acting all smug.  What a jerk!  It's actually cool seeing all these super villains running amok and my favorite part of the issue is when Chimera and Tim run into Livewire.  Chimera gives her a taste of her own...electricity and when it's clear, head deeper into the M.A,W. to find Despero.  As Manchester Black scrambles the Elite, Superboy enters the scene and it looks like we will get some Despero vs Kon action next month.

While I thought that the dialogue in this issue was close to horrible, I actually had fun reading it.  It certainly was action packed and while the story still moved slower than I'd like, it lead up to a pretty satisfying cliffhanger.  I guess it had to as next month ends the story.

I was not familiar with Ricken's art until this issue, but I have to say that I liked it.  I am a Kenneth Rocafort fan and wish he was back, but this issue looked good.  Ricken's style fit the book and I really liked his character work here.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue is far from perfect, but I enjoyed it more than I thought I would or should.  Watching the Teen Titans fight their way through the M.A.W. to get to Despero was pretty cool and the cliffhanger promises even more action next month.  This story arc has been a disappointment and this issue doesn't work miracles, but it was fun enough to be a guilty pleasure.  That's as much of an endorsement that you are going to get from me right now.

6.0/10