Teen Titans Go! Chapter #32 Review

Road Trip 3: The Whole Ball of String

Written by: Sholly Fisch
Art by: Marcelo Di Chiara, Jeremy Lawson and Wes Abbott
Cover Price: $0.99
Release Date: June 9, 2016

I am really digging the Teen Titans Go! comic.  After reading and reviewing a bunch of "serious" comics, it's just so nice to settle down and read something that only wants to put a smile on the reader's face.  The best part is, it almost always succeeds!  So, before you continue, go to your happy place and get ready for the party to begin...


I was really hoping this chapter was going to be a little more Ferris Bueller and while I think it missed a huge opportunity to make an old person reference (so sad that I have to term it that now), it was still really good.  The setup is pure Teen Titans Go! as Robin is off on a "critical mission" for Batman and is telling the team that they will have to do all his chores until he returns when they teleport into the Batcave and see what is so "critical".  Robin has to wax the Batmobile.  Hey, someone's gotta do it and Alfred has that missing hand...What?  He isn't missing his hand in this book?  Well, then get him on it!  That's what he's being paid for!

My guess is that this is some sort of "Wax On Wax Off" training exercise (or at least that's what Batman would say), but the Titans want no parts of it.  Before you can yell, "Road Trip", they are off on a...road trip.  I really have to stop stepping all over my jokes here. Of course, it takes a little coaxing to get Robin to agree and like every issue in this series, it's a hilarious DC Comics in-joke that does the trick.

That is what I love the most about this series.  Sure, the characters are great and the situations are Looney-Tunes funny, but the little Easter Eggs throughout the issue make it fun for adult fans to read along (or separate, I won't) with their kids.  It's kind of like when I took my kids to see Deadpool with me...actually, it is nothing like that at all and I want you to forget I said that!

The road trip does start out pretty slow.  I'm not talking about the stories pace here, but the fact that Robin won't take it out of first gear.  Sammy Hagar he ain't!  He finally puts the pedal to the metal and get a proper road trip going.  This is the Titans so you can imagine the sites they see...Biggest Ball of String, Waffle Hall of Fame, Luchador Wrestling...you get the picture.  It all leads to one of the funniest misunderstandings between hats and cars bashing into each other of all-time.  It also taught me the word Millinery.

The issue ends with the Batmobile in pieces, the Titans desperately trying to piece it back together and one of my favorite Easter Eggs this series has ever had.  If you were reading the Batman book over the past year, this will put a smile on your face whether you were a fan of it or not.

Mission Accomplished!  Sholly Fisch put a smile on my face and even made me chuckle to myself a couple of times.  I believe the kids call that Laughing and being Loud or something like that.  This is one of the better all ages books out right now since it never panders to the young readers and slips the jokes in for the older ones.  Most books like this would end with a lesson learned, but Fisch ends with one last joke at the expense of poor, old Beast Boy.  I love it for that reason alone.

Marcelo Di Chiara is my favorite artist on Teen Titans Go!  That is not an insult to anyone else, it's just that Marcelo makes this book look so great.  It looks like it was pulled right from the television show or just maybe, the television show copies off of him.  We may never know the truth!

Bits and Pieces:

Sholly Fisch and Marcelo Di Chiara give readers another rip roaring good time.  The Titans on a road trip in the Batmobile?  Sign me up!  It all leads to the humor and great in-jokes you'd expect from this series and in the end, I was smiling and laughing and I am sure that most people who pick this chapter up will do the same.  Every issue is a good jumping on point for this book and you don't have to be young and/or watch the show to enjoy it.  In fact, I might say that the best jokes are left for the older readers who know their DC Comics history.  If you are any of the above, check out this book and I think you'll be happy you did.

9.0/10