LEGION OF SUPERHEROES: WEEK FORTY NINE

A brief history of the Teen Titans.

Back in the 1950’s, any hero worth his salt needed to have a sidekick. Batman had his Robin, Wonder Woman picked up Wonder Girl and the Flash-family gained another speedster named Kid Flash. Even Aquaman and Green Arrow sported their own teen-aged proteges. Not to be out-done, Superman gathered a menagerie of super-pets, including: Krypto, the Super-dog, Streaky the Super-cat, Beppo the Super-monkey and Comet the Super-horse. The only thing missing was Jimbo the Super-elephant! Following the success of the teen-aged super-team, Legion of Superheroes; all the various super-side-kicks finally ganged up to form the fabulous group called Teen Titans in 1964. Superman’s Legion of Super-pets, sadly, never took off. These Teen Titans, however, was apparently, a great success from the start. Originally formed by Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash and Wonder Girl, the team quickly grew to add various other kid-crusaders to their crew over the following decade. After 53 issues of their first incarnation, these Teen Titans finally disbanded in 1978. There might be some good stories in there or not; I don’t know. I’ve never read them.

It was 1980, when I picked up my first Teen Titans comic. The book was called the “New Teen Titans”, but it could have been an original idea, for all I knew. It was the first time I had ever heard of the group. There were the usual kids like Robin, Kid Flash, Wonder Girl and a bunch of new weirdos on the cover to issue #1. The inclusion of the new characters Cyborg, Starfire and Raven was a departure from the usual side-kick model. They added a totally different and exciting feel to the team. Inside the first issue was nothing but awesomeness. You have this beautiful princess escaping from a race of green meanies on some fantastically large space ship, some mysterious evil machinations in the shadows and the collection of some amazing super-kids by a mysterious cloaked figure. Lots of billowy smoke, alien intruders blasting their ray guns and kick- action. Plus, the marvelous writing by Marv Wolfman and artwork by George Perez blew my 10-year-old self away. I had to have more. Issue #2 featured the first appearance of long-time Titans nemesis and bad- assassin: Deathstroke the Terminator. Subsequent issues built up further adversaries like the Fearsome Five and the final confrontation with Raven’s father, Trigon, in #6. It was an amazing run that I read over and over until the pages fell off their staples.  

From there, Marv Wolfman and George Perez would continue the series until issue #50 and then, the launch of a new series in 1984. During this historic run: Robin became Nightwing, Changeling became Beast-boy, and Donna Troy began a never-ending quest for self-identity. After five issues of the new series, and sequel to the original Trigon confrontation, George Perez left the title. He would return to pencil the team on a few other occasions, but never with the same sustained length as previous. This second series dropped “teen” from its moniker at issue #50 and lasted for another 70 issues as just the “New Titans”. In 1996, the original “Teen Titans” title was revived by Dan Jurgens, and featured Ray Palmer leading a bunch of nobodies like…oh I don’t know. Who cares. It lasted a whopping 24 issues. In 1998, the newest super-kids (Tim Drake) Robin, Impulse and (Superman-clone) Superboy teamed up to form Young Justice, while their grown-up counterparts of the Wolfman/Perez era re-launched as just: “Titans”. These titles were both canceled in 2003 to make way for yet another Teen Titans iteration. This time, the Young Justice kids graduated to Titans status, while their elders became the Outsiders.

This 2003 Teen Titans series written by Geoff Johns would prove to be the second most successful run of titanic teen adventures. It lasted 100 issues, right up until the Flashpoint event that signaled the end of the DC Universe. From there, New 52 featured two Teen Titans series; both lasting no more than 30 issues. Rebirth has also allowed for a Teen Titans title that has yet to breach the 30-issue mark. There have also been a couple other just-Titans titles which have fared no better than the teen versions. Not a great track record, I would say. To be fair, though: how many titles overall, have actually lasted more than 100 issues over the past decade? I can probably count on one hand.

Looking back at all the post-George Perez issues of the Titans…there might be some good stories in there or not; I don’t know. I’ve never read them. The only Titans (teen or otherwise) that I have ever read for any significant length are the Wolfman/Perez issues. So, I really don’t know a whole lot about these characters. Who’s on the team and who’s not, who’s dead and who has been reborn…no idea. All I know is: Grayson still, was Robin for a lot longer than he has been Nightwing.

Just some trivia for you there, folks.

And now…

To help usher in the final few weeks of Legion of Superheroes reading: I have bravely sampled a few issues of the 2003 Geoff Johns Teen Titans title…gasp…for the very first time. This is not a re-read. This is a first-time exposure to any non-Wolfman/Perez Titans gang. So, here we go…

LEGION OF SUPERHEROES: WEEK FORTY-NINE

(the teen-supreme cross-over of the centuries)

TEEN TITANS #1-7 (2003-2004)

Written by Geoff Johns.

Drawn by Mike McKone and Tom Grummett.

Teen Titans roll-call:

Robin: Tim Drake. Master of various martial arts, a superior detective and overall computer guru. Became Batman’s side-kick in Batman #442 (1989).

Superboy: Conner Kent. Clone of Superman. Telekinesis: super strength, invulnerability and flight. Appeared after Superman’s apparent death in Adventures of Superman #500 (1993).

Impulse: Bart Allen. Speedster from the future. Entered the twentieth century in Flash #92 (1994).

Wonder Girl: Cassie Sandsmark. Daughter of Zeus. The usual power-set gifted by Greek gods. Officially revealed on the cover of Wonder Woman #113 (1996).

After the recent death of the original Wonder Girl (Donna Troy), the Young Justice team decide to quit punking around and start hitting the school books. Superboy shacks up at the Kent’s for some down-home learning, Cassie-version Wonder Girl gets kicked around a few different schools for a being a petulant snot, and Robin just continues his usual stealthy Bat-boy stuff. Impulse figures out that he has perfect memory and proceeds to read every book in the local library. Instant super-smarts. While these mates are individually bummed about Donna’s recent demise (don’t worry-she gets better), Cyborg builds a new Titans Tower in San Francisco as a weekend club-house for them to mope around in. Superman helps Conner understand the value of patience. Robin discovers Superboy’s human DNA comes from Lex Luthor. Wonder Woman attempts to pull Cassie from the team, and a battle between Justice League and the trepid-teens ensues. It’s all very angsty.

While Starfire and Beast Boy help the kids re-kindle their confidence in super-heroics, their old foe Deathstroke decides to show up and throw some gas on the fire. The first thing the old one-eyed does is detonate some explosives on Alcatraz. This gets the Titans attention quickly enough. Then, while the kids are all running around saving various tourists from the flames, Deathstroke begins to take each of them down, one at a time. Impulse is the first to be hit. Deathstroke shoots the speedster in the knee cap, and then blows a hole through Cyborg’s head (don’t worry-they get better). When the rest of the team goes after the nasty assassin, they discover he is not exactly right in the head. To all the Titan’s surprise: Deathstroke is found to be possessed by the spirit of his dead son, Jericho. Apparently, the former and previously presumed deceased Titan has assumed control of his father and attacked the Titans to teach them a lesson. Somehow, he believes that targeting the kids with Deathstroke’s weapons will scare them all away from future crime-fighting…because…? He doesn’t want the kids to get hurt, so he goes off and hurts them instead? Makes no sense. Regardless of the dubious motivations, it is a very cool fight sequence. The part where Jericho-possessed Deathstroke almost shoots Robin in the face…only to have Impulse dismantle his gun before he can fire is very intense. But, yah: it’s all a bunch of senseless violence. Jericho is just plain crazy.

Overall, the first seven issues of this series are enjoyable-enough. Without knowing too much of the recent back-story, I found the initial plot to be rather dull and slow-moving at first. The kids are all whining about school or losing their friend or whatever. The adults try to be encouraging but their bland deliveries just seem like pandering. Starfire, Beast Boy and Cyborg are not the exciting, conflicted and dramatic characters of the old “new” Titans, I remember. They got dull and boring. For me, the beginning suffers from having no action or anything remotely interesting to the uninitiated reader. However, when Deathstroke shows up in issue #2, things do start to get interesting very quickly. When Impulse gets his leg nearly blown off at the end of that issue, the danger suddenly gets very real for these kids.

Sadly, the Deathstroke plot fizzles out when we learn it’s only crazy-Jericho at the wheel. There is, however, a very cool scene in issue #5 where he starts jumping out of his father’s skin and into all the various Titans to extend the battle. Then, Raven inexplicably shows up to swallow Jericho’s spirit, then poof back to the nether-worlds. How convenient. Everyone just stands around scratching their heads. Bart is really the most compelling character of all the Titans so far in this series. He is already the glue that keeps the team together and shows off more tricks than the rest of the team combined. Even after Deathstroke’s attack, he recovers at an incredibly accelerated rate and returns to provide even more fun as Kid Flash at the end of the conflict. The artwork by McKone is clean and exciting, and Grummett does a fine fill-in job in issue #7. Geoff John’s writing is a little difficult to get accustomed to in this series; what with the intensity levels jumping around faster than the Trickster’s yo-yo...but he sure does know how to build a page-turner.

Grade B.

The Legion #34-38 (2004)

Written by Keith Champagne and Gail Simone

Drawn by Steve Lightle and Dan Jurgens

You know about Qward, right? It’s that great harbor of evil, positioned somewhere deep within the anti-matter universe. Its existence has huge significance in the whole Green Lantern mythos; the rise of the Sinestro Corps, Anti-monitor and all that. This is the home of the Weaponers and their Thunderers. Even after all the devastation and suffering the planet has borne to the “regular” DC Universe timeline, it apparently still exists in the thirty-first century. Here, in the far future, a war between the Weaponers and the Thunderers has raged for untold years. But, finally, a -like being has risen to force a close to the hostilities and assume his role as their supreme leader of all. He also has a son who dotes on him and clamors for attention all day long. But this fierce ruler has no time for the foolish welp. He’s got ruling stuff to do! Also, he’s got to gloat over the source of his new-found power: the captured Wildfire. Then the Legionnaires show up, kick some nass and rescue their abducted team-mate. Qward goes back to its normal disorderly condition, and the de-powered ruler is now left to face his very disappointed son.

Back on Earth, President Wazzo is shot while attending a public speaking engagement. When the audience begins to panic from the unexpected attack, the Legion swoops down to help contain. Apparition attempts to send her mother to safety, when all power across Metropolis shuts down. Air-ships fall from the sky, explosions all around and criminals’ band together for some opportunistic looting. As the sun begins to set over the now helpless city, and the population vulnerable to unshielded radiation, the Legion members discuss their options and priorities for dealing with such a mess. Meanwhile, a fiendish devil-woman abducts Dreamer and attempts to use her to gain access to Legion World. After gathering a few cohorts like Canary, Lantern and Arrow (JLA-analogues, get it?), she proceeds to orchestrate a symphony of terror over Metropolis in order to torment the super-kids. Timberwolf sniffs around for clues to the power outage but is skewered by the devilish damsel when he gets too close to the truth. Then, the Devil’s shifty sharp-shooter starts to take pot-shots at all the other Legionnaires. It’s a total sprock-show.

Just moments before all this pandemonium is unleashed out down below, Karate Kid is in the middle of escorting the jig-saw-faced Organ Thief to a local prison structure, floating above the city. Why they don’t just keep the bad-guys in some frozen hellscape, far away from the general population (like they did in the old LoSH comics) is beyond me...but there they are: a few hundred of the most menacing meanies, just bobbing along above Metropolis. And when the devil-woman cuts power to everything in the city, all the holding cells open to release the prisoners. Karate Kid takes the whole gang of escaped prisoners on while the whole structure begins to dip uncontrollably toward the city below. During the melee, Karate Kid somehow convinces the Persuader to help him fend off the released criminals, even as they all go crashing toward the Earth.

In the end, Dreamer resists the devil-woman’s manipulations long enough for Timberwolf to heal-up, track the evil to her lair, and carve her up good. Arrow and Lantern are contained when Infectious Lass shows up to give them a mean dose of the ebola. Karate Kid, Persuader and Organ Thief survive the prison-crash and are led to a hospital to help save the President. The Organ Thief uses his superior surgical skills to operate on her during the power outage, thus saving the day. Once the devil-woman is defeated, the power is regained, and the Legionnaires all have a good old yuk-yuk while Lantern continues to up-chuck.

This is a somewhat standard, if not wholly unrealistic super-hero adventure; full of do-gooders facing wicked, hateful characters bent on causing city-wide peril…the usual stuff. But this is the end of the series, right? Shouldn’t there be some kind of massive, reality-bending event where everyone suffers, and multiple characters die? That’s what I would expect from a Gail Simone penned final arc. That’s what normally happens in a LoSH book. But, no. It’s all sunshine and roses when the power comes back on. Sure, there was a moment in the middle of the story where I thought: are they really going to totally-destroy the Legion at the end of the series again?! I kind of hoped it would turn all bleak and stuff. After all the weird I have read this year…the planets blowing up, bizarre alien invasions and timelines unwound all over the place…this was kind of underwhelming. Ah, it’s just a power-outage, guys. No biggie. President is saved and the good-guys ride off, back to Legion World with a wink and a smile.

Thankfully, there’s some fun stuff still to enjoy about this last story. Gail Simone sprinkles a good measure of her usual snarky wit around, and you can tell she really enjoys playing around with some of the more depraved villains. Characters like Organ Thief and the devil-woman have a few deliciously dark moments while they mess with the Legionnaires. The main power-outage story set in Metropolis is dire enough and full of story potential, but then the Karate Kid side-plot just adds another layer to the tension. The de-powered floating prison seems to take forever to fall out of the sky, though, and even after it does crash, there doesn’t seem to be much point to it other than get Organ Thief to save the President. Dan Jurgens’ competent pencils help to sanitize an otherwise messy and chaotic plot. There is so much carnage around the city, but you never get the sense of any lasting harm, thanks to the lack of any horrific detail. The juxtapose of Simone and Jurgens just doesn’t work for me. It’s like if Mark Bagley drew some issues of Crossed or something. Could be weirdly good…probably just wrong. Again, I would have rather seen a little darker artwork for the last Legion story. But, it’s fine.

Grade C.

Now, there’s just one more loose-end to tie up…

…WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SUPERBOY?

TEEN TITANS #16 (2004)

Written by Geoff Johns.

Drawn by Mike McKone.

THE LEGION/TEEN TITANS SPECIAL #1 (2004)

Written by Geoff Johns and Mark Waid.

Drawn by Ivan Reis, Joe Prado and Barry Kitson.

So, a few issues ago, Superboy inexplicably appeared through a space-rift, into the thirty-first century. It was never truly explained how Superboy came to the age of Legionnaires, let alone how he could also be running around with the Titans at the same…er…time. This two-parter attempts to shed some light on all that.

The story begins at the San Francisco Marina, in present day. Conner Kent waits for Cassie at the Sea Lion café. It’s supposed to be their first date, and he seems nervous. An agitated super-powerful kid with Lex Luthor genes is not someone I would be hangin’ with, personally…but, whatever. Cassie does finally show up and tells Conner she needs to take things slow. He agrees, and then is totally sucked up into some-kind of crazy space-vortex. It sort-of looks the same as how my libido suddenly shrank to nothing after my ex said we should just be friends. Shhhaa-whoop. But, then just as quickly, he returns (no-not my libido) in-front of Cassie in the café. Just now, he looks different. He’s slightly older. Longer hair. Maybe a tinge smelly. Wearing Superman’s outfit. Pleading for help. While Cassie is still in shock over such bizarre events, Superboy crumples unconscious to the floor and the space-vortex closes-up behind him. Shhaa-whoop.

Cassie takes limp-boy in her arms and quickly returns to Titans Tower for help. There, the rest of the team rushes to Conner’s aid. From his hand spills out seven Legion flight rings. Then, a new surprise: the tower is now under attack. An energy blade seems to slice right through reality itself and chop its way into the Titans Tower. Beast Boy almost gets himself vivisected. Through the unreal tear in space, comes the Persuader welding his awesome axe…hunting for Superboy. There’s a short battle and Cyborg almost has the Persuader pinned but he manages to escape through another fold of slashed reality. Cassie ropes onto the Persuader and the whole gang leaps through the aperture together, into the thirty-first century.

Once in open space, the Titans are soon discovered by the Legion of Superheroes who help them master the flight rings and head back to Earth. There, they find Legion World under attack: pieces of debris falling to the planet’s surface. With help from the Titans, the combined team struggle to keep Legion World from falling out of orbit. After the immediate crisis is averted, Superboy helps explain the larger danger of the day. Over the past few months, Persuader has discovered a way to slice through to different realities and timelines, then gather multiple iterations of the Fatal Five into this dimension. Now, there is not merely five fearsome foes to contend with…but five hundred. Traveling down to Earth, the Legion combined with Titans meet the fatal hordes now ravaging the planet’s surface. Hundreds of variant versions of Validus, Mano, Tharok, Persuader and Emerald Empress gather to fight their oldest, most hated enemies.

When the battle begins, the Legion/Titans are immediately overwhelmed. Too many villains to contain at once, so Brainiac devises a plan to retreat and approach the problem in a more non-violent fashion. He builds the classic cosmic treadmill for Kid Flash and XS to run on and attempt to open a dimensional portal to take all five hundred foes back to their homes. After a throng of Ekron Eyes locate the Legionnaires, a new battle begins. Robin smashes a group of Manos’ head-gear with his staff. Cosmic Boy lends a hand when Cyborg fights a team of Tharoks. Element Lad/Live Wire and Leviathan counters Validus’s attacks. Superboy smashes a Persuader before he can slice Raven to pieces. It’s an all-out battle-royale. Then, Bart and XS finally find the proper frequency to send all the villains home. There’s only one problem: the Titans will either become trapped in the thirty-first century, with history forever changed, or the Legion will be lost once more. Superboy holds the Persuader’s axe and decides they should all return to present day…and figure the time-travel stuff out later. History must be preserved.

And it all works. Well, sort of. While in transit, Persuader attempts to regain control of his axe, which causes the Legion to be severed from their path to the Titans’ present. As they float through the ages of unknown time-space, and a pure white nothingness slowly envelops the team, M’onel utters a few last comforting words: “…don’t worry about us. I promise you…we’ll survive. It’s what we do!” The Titans, with Superboy, all return to their regular timeline, I guess. I don’t know. I’ve never read any more of them. Enough of the Titans! This is THE LEGION OF SUPERHEROES, dammit!! Snap-back to the future. It’s a different kind of place now. A different sort of time. Everyone lives in peace and harmony. It is a place where normalcy and mediocrity are celebrated. A culture where similarity is celebrated. Diversity is frowned upon. This is a different world. A world where The Legion of Superheroes are not considered heroes. There is at least one boy unconvinced. Against his parent’s wishes, he worships the Legion. Even after being rebuked and forever grounded, this boy has the courage to run away. He escapes his room, leaps off a tall building, puts on his flight ring and joins the team of super-teens that he so adores. And with that, a new beginning awaits…

…

Well, there you have more of an epic-style finale. Why tell a story of the end of one super-teen group, when you can have two? Why stop at five dastardly villains standing in their way, when you can have five-hundred? You think most LoSH stories feature too many characters to keep track of? Try getting your head around this one. There are literally hundreds of beings packed into just a couple of issues here, and a few even get a chance to shine a little. Again, Bart Allen is the most interesting of the bunch. Conner Kent Superboy finally returns to his home time-line and the Legion is set up for yet another re-launch. There are a few little nods to other impending events in the DCU around this time, as well. There’s mention of Bart eventually taking on the mantle of the Flash, and someone is knock-knock-knocking on reality’s door somewhere…yes this all happens just before Infinite Crisis. The inclusion of the cosmic treadmill to solve the five-hundred villain question is just icing on the cake. Give it up to Johns and Waid for diving deep into continuity to pull this sucker off. This is the second time Waid was involved in finishing the Legion off in a wash of white ambiguity, too…a nice little book-end to this version of the Legion, which began at Zero Hour. I only wish the event lasted longer than a just couple of issues.

Grade A.

So, there you have fourteen comics reviewed in one week! A little special extra something for all the loyal readers out there. Hey, I had so much fun: I might just do it again. Strike that…I’m committed to the idea. For the last three weeks of the year, I’m going to double-up on the reading list. Not seven, but fourteen issues every week until the end of 2018. This will allow me to get through all the remaining Legion-related stories I have left before starting all the Misc-adventures planned for 2019. Bonus for you.

Next: checking up with Vril Dox and his merry band of R.E.B.E.L.S.

Then: a sizeable sampling of the Waid-Kitson Legion of Superheroes.

Long Live the Legion!