It's All a Game

The New Teen Titans Games

I cannot believe this is now in my possession. The New Teen Titans Games. Twenty years in the making. Finally in my hands. Awesome.

I'm almost afraid to read it in case it doesn't live up to the impossible expectations I've built up over the past 2 decades. Despite all the setbacks on the road to publication, I always believed DC would get this into print. Thanks to Marv Wolfman and George Perez for this!

Titans 23

Spoilers.

Uh, who are these people? In some panels, they're definitely the Teen Titans of old, but in others, I'm not so sure. Because, as well written this is (when compared to Cry for Justice, which admittedly, wouldn't take much skill to achieve), there's a whole lot of retconning going on. And for this longtime (as in 45 years or so) Titans fan, it was disconcerting to say the least. The group didn't know about Roy's addiction until after the fact. I'm at work and can't root through my comics boxes, but there was a panel in the revival of the TT book in which one of them says that GA mentioned Roy's "trouble" at a JLA meeting (as I recall). And Roy took up heroin because Ollie pretty much abandoned him to travel the country with Hal. So, yeah, retcon in Donna rejecting him (and he would've been around 16 then, though various estimates put that time in the 14-17 age range) as a contributing factor, but Roy had a lot of other problems back then. There was one flashback, I think in a Titans book, showing him being obnoxious at TT headquarters and Dick (probably) giving him hell, but never was there a sign he was shooting up.

I also never got the sense that Roy went into rehab. That's such a modern-time concept. I suppose since he's not really in his 40s or 50s now, we have to move the timeline up a few decades, but he kicked cold turkey with Dinah's help and then went out on his own. I had the sense of a character as independent and stubborn as Ollie. I had the sense that Roy was not someone to go into rehab. He'd kicked heroin and he figured he was in the clear, that he could keep fighting the urges on his own.

And while Roy and Wally had their differences, I never got the sense that Roy and Dick had strong disagreements. Different temperaments and goals, but those weren't causing antagonism between them. Wally and Roy were competing for Donna, while Dick was never really more than a brother to her.

The Titans, the original members, were about family. They admitted as much in the revival of the Titans book. That's how Devin Grayson wrote them and that's the version that felt right. To keep putting in "revelations" about past problems in their relationships is just piling more crap on the crap pile of Cry for Justice.

Yet, Donna saying that Roy wanted family was dead on, because if there's one constant in Roy's life, it's that he's continued to lose family. Also, Wally rushing home to hug his kids was a nice touch, something much missing from the Rise and Fall Special last week.

The art didn't stand out. Not awful, not all that interesting. Serviceable. The present-time was better looking than the flashbacks/dreams which just made everyone look weird with squared or angular jaws. The cover was nice, however.

Bottom line: I have no idea why this needed to be written, other than to slam the door, again, on a past, that gets revisited and reworked every decade, if not sooner. It didn't further the storyline and it didn't evoke much emotion in me. And that's a shame.

Mostly Hits, One Miss

First, from last week, Atom 19.
A one-issue, underground adventure, featuring a bit of cannibalism, and Ryan a hit with another female, a zombie-type female. The story by Keith Champange was decent enough, but I miss Gail Simone's fun take on Atom, especially all the pithy quotes in narration.

Now to the main events. There be spoilers here.

Suicide Squad 5
This might just live up to its name. Double crosses are the name of the game here, and maybe a triple cross at some point? Rick Flag as Eiling's puppet is an interesting plot development. Even when Waller has the right job, stopping a weapons factory that will sell it's deadly toxin to anyone with the money, her methods hardly make her heroic. And her tactics have made her plenty enemies, and one of them, Eiling, looks to destroy any chance of the mission succeeding. I really enjoy all the deviousness here. And with no characters I'm emotionally attached to, except maybe Flag, I don't have any stake in a high survival rate.

Nightwing 140
The best thing about Peter Tomasi's first issue of NW is how he's brought Dick back into the Bat Family without effort. This time, Dick might still be seeking his true self, but there's no whining, no "need to do it all on my own," no sense that he's lost his way. Instead, he seeks the thrill of skydiving that evokes his days as a Flying Grayson. The scenes at the Cave were very nice, and when Bruce tells Dick, Tim, and Alfred that "Plain and simple. We're family. There is no one else in the world I trust and respect more. No one," you believe him. Just to have him say it to them was a treat.

I also liked how Dick decided he needs to know more about New York, so he does some research, at the library of the Museum of the City of New York. How cool is that? And Superman shows up at the end, telling Dick, "We need to talk." There is no more Nightwing needing to stand apart and on his own, with the rest of the Bat gang showing up as rare guest stars. This is Dick, comfortable in his skin and with the rest of his Bat family. I don't read the Batman titles or Robin, but I do like keeping Dick connected to them. So Tomasi gets high marks from me. This is a great start and I wish only that he'd gotten the book a few years earlier, right before Devin began her slide to the total mess she made out of the book would have been the right spot. And Rags Morales' pencils, with Michael Bair's inks are nice, even if Dick looks a bit different than usual. At least there are some nice male butt shots to keep me happy.

Oh, and the story is intriguing. Just so you know I noticed more than the art and the Bat family.

Countdown to Final Crisis 16
Having read the Dan Didio interview in the latest issue of Comic Shop News about how everything's been building up to planned events, culminating in Final Crisis and bringing the DCU into the next years to 2011, and how they realized they'd started too slowly with this while trying to keep pace with the regular monthlies that were coordinating and how they made a mid-course correction, I've got to say, it worked. The last couple of issues have been emotionally gut-wrenching. Jimmy as a soul catcher. Jimmy's eyes bugging out of his head as he stares at a naked Forager. Donna vs. Donna?! The Monitors in a mess. But the best part, the part that made me finally feel something for Jason, was Earth 51's Batman capturing him and threatening to kill him unless he confesses to being a villain disguised as Jason who on that Earth is still dead. Now I can't wait for next week.

Teen Titans Lost Annual 1, Guest-starring Pres. John F. Kennedy
I can't decide what I think about this. I waited a long time for them to release this. And now I wish they hadn't, and not because JFK is in it. In fact, having him off-planet while a shapeshifter, who'd taken his place is killed by Oswald was the best part of the book. So that's what was really covered up. Not a conspiracy about the killer, but the fact that the autopsy revealed JFK was an alien!

Seriously, I know the book used to have some loopy plots, but the whole bit of them being able to locate the planet where JFK was taken (Robin had been in the White House the night it had happened and his shielded costume must've protected him from being frozen for a while during the abduction), then being able to travel there and back via a convenient device in their HQ called a Galacti-Porter. I won't get into the rest of the plot. It's beyond silly. Haney really outdid himself with this. Nick Cardy's cover is nice as are the pages from his sketchbook. But the art by Jay Stephens and Mike Allred, no doubt trying to capture the feel of the '60s, just made it more obvious what an anachronism this is, and how silly. I really wanted to like this, but sometimes, you really can't go back to the past.

And now, the winner of the week (and yeah, I'm surprised, too), Green Arrow and Black Canary 4
A lot of thoughts are still running through my head about this as I haven't quite finished digesting it. Chiang's art was nothing short of amazing in how much emotion he captured in everyone's faces without having the detailed realism of someone like Rags Morales. I can't do a proper review of this, so I'll just make comments about things that struck me.

Ollie's calling for Clark was so perfect, in the why don't other heroes do this more often. And Clark, hearing the fear in Ollie's voice, flies in to get Connor to the hospital.

The title: Please Play Where Daddy Can See You. This set the tone for what the book was about. Fathers and sons. This was a character piece. I suppose next issue, we'll get back to the plot, to the nasty reason for Connor's shooting and the hunt for who's behind it.

Chiang draws a spectacular Wonder Woman. Sexy but not oversexed. Perfect.

The entire JLA, or most of them, at the hospital. And Ollie angry and freaking out. But unlike when Roy was shot and he goes off with the Outsiders to get the baddies who did that to Roy, Ollie stays in the hospital with his family to await the outcome of Connor's surgery.

Hal coming to use his ring power to help heal Connor. Awesome, just like Superman flying Connor to the hospital in the first place.

Batman lurking in the stairwell, telling Diana his presence wouldn't help Ollie and when she disagrees, he says, "that's because you've never lost a son." Wow.

But the bits that are rattling around in my head are from the scene in the waiting room with Ollie, Dinah, Mia, and Roy. Judd Winick has taken a lot of flak for his writing over the years, some deserved, some not, but this time, he nailed it. The understanding that Ollie and Dinah have of each other. How can anyone doubt their love or that they belong together after reading this?

Ollie confessing that he always knew about Connor, then lied that he didn't, even lying by "pretending to be surprised" when he discovered he was Connor's father. Ollie's admitted before that he has guilt about abandoning Roy and not being good with commitment, but this was a full confession. And Dinah tries to help.

And I couldn't help but think about the time Roy had been shot (and had almost died) and wondering if he was thinking about that, wondering if Ollie had been this upset, or worse, if he hadn't been.

Ollie saying he once tried to find Connor, but stopped after he met Roy. And the look on Roy's face, pain that maybe he was partly at fault for Ollie no longer looking for his real son because he had found another.

Mia telling Ollie that Connor had known the truth for years because his mother had told him, and that he'd forgiven Ollie for knowing and for lying about it.

Hal healing the wounds, but not before the toxin he discovered had been on the bullets had spread to Connor's brain, leaving him brain dead.

The last page will stay with me a long time, Ollie with an inert Connor, telling him "Daddy's right here."

This was Ollie stripped of his smart ass self-righteousness and the facade he puts up to protect his feelings. This was Ollie with emotions as raw as when he'd first become GA as per Green Arrow Year One. This was Ollie broken down to his core, reminding me why I love him. Roy is the main character for me, but without Ollie, there would be no Roy there. Ollie might have been written poorly over the years by some writers, but the ones who get him, write him stories like this.

The Last LoC

This was my last published LoC, published in New Titans 82, 1991. It was my farewell letter to the comic, and to all comics (although this was pretty much the only comic I was reading by then, having started my almost near boycott of DC in 1985 after Crisis), for the next 4 or 5 years.
-----
Dear Titans Gang,

Or rather, "Bye," Titans gang. To make this short and not very sweet, NEW TITANS #76 was the last issue I plan to buy. Ever. I want you to understand how painful it is for me to say this, so I'll explain. I've been reading this book from the beginning, back to the first run of TEEN TITANS. I've followed the group from their days in THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD. I guess that dates me. It's not that I don't like change, but after CRISIS, my total of comics bought per month went from 22 to 3. The Titans were number one on that list. I wouldn't have minded a new, alternate Earth, so things could start over with new origins and the whole works. I actually pretended that's what happened -- Supergirl is alive and well somewhere, etc. At least, I had the Titans to read. They were solid and dependable and always entertaining. I don't even mind having characters die (Ferro Lad in LSH was an especially poignant case); however, when it seems to be done just to clean out the super-hero closet, I resent it, as a longtime, loyal reader. The recent storyline in NEW TITANS disturbed me. It was the final straw.

Maybe I'm getting too old (38 in two weeks) or maybe I've been reading comics too long (30 years now) and I have gotten jaded, but I've had it. I give up. I don't care which Titan is dead. Id on't want to know. This wonderful book, so full of truth, reality, fun, drama, pathos, humor, and wonder has lost its sense of joy. Don't tell me you're trying to be more real or some other such thing. I've seen it before, a few times, in a number of titles, and much better done than this. It's not just the loss of innocence -- I don't really mind that. It's the apparent mean-spiritedness that is driving me away. I'm sure I won't be missed, what with all the other readers you have. Good luck with the book. It doesn't matter if you print this LoC or not -- I won't be buying the book to see it. Believe me, I never thought I'd be writing a letter like this and I wish I didn't have to, but the book's current direction has saddened me deeply. I hope you guys really know what you're doing, because I feel as if I've lost and old and dear friend. I had hoped to be reading NEW TITANS forever.
------

Okay, so, yeah, I kept checking the next issues, eager to see if they dared to print the above, and they did, so I bought it because I like having copies of my published words. And the answer was about as long as my letter. I don't feel like retyping it all, so I'll excerpt it here:

"Actually, [my name], so did we. We're sorry to see you go, and even though you may never see this reply, I'd still like to publicly say that your letter so moved me when I first read it, that I felt a need to share it with ALL our readers.

"Why? Because, my friends, the unfortunate truth is that things ARE boing to be changing around this title. Big tiem. And I know that some of you "longtime" readers are going to be put off by quite a few of these changes. You're going to watch a a lot of old "friends" (Dick, Donna, Kory et al.) move on into all-new directions. But then, isn't that what life is all about?"

[More explanation along this line follows]

At the time, I don't think I wanted to see that, but I can also say that it wasn't the changes so much as the execution and the overall tone of the book that bothered me. Having more recently read Brad Meltzer's "Identity Crisis" which was about some horrible things and a lot of change, I can honestly say that for me, despite a few bumps here and there (mainly on the overall pacing and mystery elements), he handled the characters with more respect and understanding than I recall feeling about the NEW TITANS book I dropped back in 1991.

In his response, Jonathan (the Big Kahuna) Peterson (yes, that's how he signed the lettercol), also said:

"Now, I want everyone out there to realize that we're not out to create an aura of 'mean-spiritedness.' I hope that you all realize that ANYTHING we do -- from a simple costume change to a character's demise -- is done for a particular REASON (which might not be clear to you until you've read a follow-up story several months down the road). But believe me, despite the seemingly unpredictable nature currently prevailing in this book, we DO love these characters every bit as much as you. Heck, think about this for a minute -- We love these guys so much, we made taking care of them our professional jobs!"

Which brings me to a related issue. The need to move forward, the love for characters, and the attempt to write intricate stories not quickly resolved vs the need to keep a readership and to make each chapter as good qualitatively as the previous one. With books, we can read as quickly as we want. We don't need to wait a month or longer for the next chapter, or even a year for it all to become clear. A writer needs to keep us reading. Some readers kept reading, obviously, but I didn't For me, the writing failed.

As for love of characters, that can be said for writers who would take the same characters in very different directions, often portraying them in ways out of character from what is considered the norm. Devin Grayson attempted something with Nightwing that could have worked better if she'd executed her premise better (her pre-OYL storyline in his book), but next to what Bruce Jones did after, hers was sheer brilliance. And I didn't like the whole Dick in the mob, Dick teaching Rose Wilson, etc. story at all. I wouldn't say Bruce Jones hated Nightwing, but he sure didn't have a handle on him.

Now, Marv pretty much created Nightwing from Robin and he wrote NEW TITANS and he's writing Nightwing now, and I like how he writes him, but I think back then, the book needed a change, but the direction they went, and from what I understand from after I stopped reading, was not good. It wasn't good writing. It wasn't good comics. For me, it seemed they ran out of ideas and were making changes to make changes because "life is like that." They didn't let the changes happen naturally. And at the heart of things, they didn't write good stories.

The answer to my LoC went on about the reason for change, stuff about "Blazing new trails" leading to a "bumpy road ahead," but why should that be? The bumpy road should be for the characters, not for the readers. We should be pulled along where we eagerly await the next issue, not dread it.

"Stories where there isn't just some monthly run-of-the-mill 'super-powered' criminal for the Titans to easily triumph over and throw into jail. I'm talking about stories where there might not be any EASY choices or PAINLESS solutions. Stories that will NOT leave you complacent -- but rather stories that will leave you angry, tearful, astonished and emotionally torn. In short: stories that MATTER once again."

And that takes more than what they were doing, because the book around the time I stopped reading wasn't giving us any more "Judas Contract"s. Again, it's all about execution. The only emotion I was feeling was sad about the state of the book, disappointed, disgusted, heartsick that something I loved was dying. Not the characters dying, but the book losing its heart and soul.

There was some "sorry to see you go" comments, then the line that really bugged me: "The TITANS can't be an 'old-style 1960's amiable' comic anymore. It's the 1990s -- and it's time the TITANS moved into that era."

I never asked for the '60s back. Those stories, after all, were a bit silly, and are quite dated, were quite dated even in the late-'80s. All I wanted was for the book to return to the skillful plotting and deft characterization that marked the '70s and much of the '80s as it moved forward. That's all I ever want in comics. I don't think it's fair to ask readers to bear with the creators as they feel their way. They're professionals. Comics from a top company, as DC is and was, should be ready to put out stories where the bumps are for the characters, not the readers. We readers can feel those bumps with the characters, but we should never feel the ones under that surface. We shouldn't see or feel the seams, the jagged bits holding it all together.

As 52 moves onward with seamless energy, no matter what you think of the events, and the OYL titles show varying degrees of adaptability to the jump, we can see this more clearly. Some writers -- Wil Pfeifer and Gail Simone, among others -- can handle it far better than some others -- Bruce Jones. Still others, like Judd Winick, seem a bit stuck in the middle, doing okay, but not quite able to make it all seem so natural. Writing a serial that takes months and months to unfold, is difficult. I like change. I don't want to read the same thing over and over. But I want it to be well written and skillfully handled. Not too much to ask for, is it? It takes a lot of skill. And there are many places to lose or win readers along the way.

The publishers have to hope they gain more readers than they lose. Because gaining new, younger readers is hard, so losing too many loyal, longtime readers won't be good for them, either.

Back to the LoCs

I realized I'd forgotten to type up the rest of my published LoCs. After the last one I typed up, there were a few that weren't published. If I'm right, I'm up to New Teen Titans 43, May 1988. If not and this is a repeat, mea culpa and all that. Just think of it as a reissue.

Dear People,

Well, I was stunned. After so many (I don't dare count them or I'll really get depressed) issues of bickering among the Titans, padding of stories and mindless violence, you gave us the first feel good Titans story since Donna Troy married Terry Long. NTT #39 was such a mature look at Raven, Kory and Dick, I had to double-check the credits before I believed Marv wrote it. For the first time in a very long while, Kory showed her maturity, sensitivity, decency, understanding... I could go on forever. Her emotional strength, her opening up to Raven in friendship was beautiful and inspiring. I must admit I was worried when I read the start of this "Raven falls for Dick" storyline, but you guys surprised me by handling this delicate subject so well. Finally, Raven can come into her own as a character; the potential for growth is limitless. And Dick seems to be his old, wonderful self again. Thank you.

I had vowed not to LoC NTT again until I found a story I really liked. I'm glad I wasn't kept waiting indefinitely. There is so much I don't like about the post-Crisis DC, mainly the end of parallel time and the loss of many of my favorite heroes (most notably Supergirl) and storylines, that it is gratifying to know I can still count on the Titans to entertain and delight me.

Teen Titans 33

I was raised to not saying anything if I didn't have something nice to say. Fortunately, for you nice readers, I don't always follow that advice. So I'm ready and very willing to tell you about this poor excuse for a comic book.

I've been reading Teen Titans only because of the crossovers with the Outsiders and figured I'd get this one, too, because of the Crisis tie-in and because it's the last one before OYL. Let's just chalk that decision up to poor judgment on my part.

I figured, okay, it's guest-starring Nightwing. I like Dick Grayson, a lot, second only to Roy Harper. So how bad could this be. Especially since Wolfman and Johns were on writing chores. So what went wrong?

• First, there was the lack of an actual story. Nothing really happens in this. Not a thing.
• Then there's the art. It's decent enough, but those tiny mouths make all the characters look like they're pouting.
• The alternating thoughts of Conner and Dick. Conner's, red on black, were nearly unreadable, even on the slick paper. And after a while, it started reminding me of a romance novel. I was surprised when I got to the last panel, and Conner and Dick didn't kiss. Or at least, hug really tight.
• I didn't need to see Dick's old NW suit. Really.
• There was the bit with Cassie and Ares. I guess that was plot development. But not having kept up with all the Greek gods in the DCU these days, I would've thought Ares would've been more god-like, especially in appearance. He just looked like a surfer dude.
• And finally, "this is where everything changes." Y'think?

So many books are going out with a whimper, not a bang, pre-OYL. What a shame.