Teen Titans #12
Gotham Resistance, Pt. 1: The Riddler's Labyrinth
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artist: Mirka Andolfo
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: Corey Breen
Cover Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Cover Price: $3.99
On Sale Date: September 13, 2017
If you're someone who just buys Teen Titans and have no plans of participating in the Dark Nights: Metal event, I genuinely feel for you here because, (A) You buy Teen Titans and (B) Outside of Damian, they hardly make an appearance. That having been said, I couldn't help but to enjoy this far more than I have any previous issue of this title. Wonder if there's any correlation there?
For the few pages at the open where we do get the Teen Titans... they bicker, because that's all they ever do. Gar Logan continues to present his case for being the worst character currently going at DC Comics. He complains about Damian's leadership, he questions the wisdom of heading into Gotham (I mean, dude... why did you even bother joining a superhero team if the thought of superheroing is not something you're on board with?), and finally... he forces (literally forces) someone he rescued to pose for a... "selfie". Just typing that word makes me want to die.
When the Batman that Laughs visits the Riddler at Arkham Asylum, things begin to go a bit ca-ca. Our battlefield turns into an labyrinth of M.C. Escher proportions, one that Damian feared he may have to travel all by his lonesome... that is, until he runs into a certain Emerald Archer... annnnnnd, they bicker. Starting to notice a pattern here. Maybe it's Damian who's just a disagreeable sort, or perhaps it's indicative of how our writer decides to show "character". I will say, in spite of their quarreling, I did dig the way they played off one another. I didn't make me like or empathize with either one of them, but whattayagonnado?
The pair are soon joined by Suicide Squad members Harley Quinn and Killer Croc... annnnnd, they bicker (go figure!). Together they face off with a souped up version of our villain... and make some connections with the disparate elements of the overarching event.
It is neat to see the event from "street level"... and I appreciate the way in which it is being packaged. Please keep in mind that I say that as someone who already collects most of DC's output, so I would be getting these tie-in issues regardless. I do feel for folks who either don't collect the books where these tie-ins occur... and those who do, but aren't interested in following the main Metal event book. If this were Marvel, we'd have two or three miniseries' running concurrently with the mainline book... whether that's any better or worse is not for me to say... though, if you press me, I'd say I prefer it this way.
The art, while quite good, strikes me as not really fitting the tone of the story. I get the feeling that The Batman Who Laughs is supposed to look incredibly disturbing, whereas here, he just kinda looks silly. The leashed Robins... or Crows, or whatever we're going to be calling them also look far less sinister than they did in Dark Nights: Metal #2. The artist is really quite good, in fact... especially when we're looking things like the Challenger's Mountainized Gotham City and the Escheresque Labyrinth, but these supposed darker characters look a bit goofy.
Bits and Pieces:
In our first official Dark Nights: Metal crossover the resistance begins to take shape. If you're not following the event, this one might be worth skipping. Otherwise, it is a marked improvement on previous issues... unfortunately, that might be due to the fact that the Teen Titans hardly appear!
7.5/10
Yup beast boy is such a little bitch. I’m pretty sure if fans wouldn’t complain and throw a little they wouldn’t have included him on the team in the first place. He pisses me off more than anyone
ReplyDeleteI months fence about these tie ins for books I'm not already getting , I got this anyway , and I still don't know whether to go all in or not still ... ahhh decisions like this stink
ReplyDeleteWhen I saw this was a Metal tie in I almost skipped it. I find Teen Titans OK at best and Dark Nights Metal awful so far. I'm glad I pushed through and read it, because I found this issue to be surprisingly fun. Nothing groundbreaking happens here. Damian acts like Damian. Ollie acts like Ollie. Harley is Harley and Croc is Croc. I found the Riddler's labyrinth a lot of fun. I remember an episode of the animated TV show The Batman that feature a Marilyn Manson like Riddler with Batman answering riddles to escape a labyrinth. This obviously reminded me of that episode and besides the late great Frank Gorshin it was my favorite version of The Riddler. Damian proves that he's got the walk to back the talk and pretty much saves the day. I found the art to be really amazing with great takes on all the characters. It's a 7/10 for me.
ReplyDeleteI was debating on purchasing this. Seems like its worth skipping, however, the price has gone up on this issue since it's supposedly The Batman Who Laughs first appearance in terms of story but Metal #2 was released at the same time. I've been enjoying the Dark Knights tie-ins a lot more than the Metal series itself. Titles such as Red Death, Dawn Breaker, Merciless, Drowned, Murder Machine were great and Batman Who Lost might be the best tie-in thus far. But I've read that the Batman Who Laughs tie-in is the most twisted!. Can't wait!
ReplyDelete