Teen Titans #25 – Adam Glass, Writer; Robson Rocha, Penciller; Daniel Henriques, Inker; Max Dunbar, Backup Artist; Sunny Gho, Ivan Plascencia, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 7/10
Corrina: Daughter of Lobo
Ray: For Teen Titans #25, an anniversary issue- but only the end of the first arc under new artist Adam Glass – Teen Titans does something highly unusual. It focuses its double-sized issue on its three original characters, with Wallace and Emiko only playing bit roles and Damian being completely absent.
That turns out to be the best move for its main story, a road-trip adventure for teenage bruiser Crush and mysterious immortal Djinn. The two girls steal a motorcycle and go on the open road, looking for a major loose end of Crush’s time on Earth. Along the way, Crush opens up a little to Djinn and reveals her past. A “space baby” like Superman, she was found by a pair of young drug addicts. Despite having next to nothing and not being responsible, they took her in and gave her the best childhood they could, trying to keep her from the harshness of the real world. But they died shortly after she found out the truth about her parentage, and her chain – which seems to have a symbiotic link to her – disappeared with them.
This issue focuses on Crush’s hunt for the chain, but it also goes into the bigotry that less “PR friendly” aliens face in the DCU. Crush’s confrontation with the drug dealer who killed her parents gets as violent as this series likes to, but it also reveals the moments before their death and settles some of her questions. But this main story wouldn’t work nearly as well if it didn’t build a genuine, sometimes sweet connection between the two girls. Are they hinting at a potential relationship? Would definitely be more interesting than a forced Djinn/Damian pairing. But this main story really worked for me. I can’t say the same, at all, about the Roundhouse backup. Adding a dead older sister to his story and upping the conflict between him and his mother doesn’t really make him any less irritating, and this flashback story to his “disappearance” after his seeming death doesn’t do anything to give him a solid role in the team. He’s the only member who just doesn’t work.
Corrina: Lobo is a character who rarely works for me so I approached this issue about his “daughter” with some trepidation. It turned out to be a mildly enjoyable road trip story with two of the new original characters. It’s the type of story that may well make readers fans of Crush and Djinn. However, it also tends to veer off into the extreme violence that has become a hallmark of Glass’ Suicide Squad writing and isn’t suited to Teen Titans at all.
Giving Crush parents who were basically people not at all together but still loved her will likely resonate with many readers who had a less than stellar upbringing. But the story veers into cliche when it kills off those parents. I’d have found it much more interesting if Crush had to deal with her unstable, dysfunctional, and yet loving, parents, rather than turning her into yet another anger-driven revenge fantasy.
Djinn was sweet enough this issue but I can’t pin down her character. She’s a thousands-year-old magical entity but she’s as innocent as a tween girl, despite all her past owners? That seems a stretch. But the chemistry between her and Crush is nice enough. Do I think they might eventually be in a relationship? Perhaps, though given how badly Glass handled relationships in his Suicide Squad work, I’m not sure I’d trust him to handle it correctly. Look at the already weird master-slave dynamic between Damian and Djinn.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
