Teen Titans #39 – Adam Glass, Robbie Thompson, Writers; Eduardo Pansica, Penciller; Julio Ferreira, Inker; Marcelo Maiolo, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 5/10
Ray: Robbie Thompson has jumped on script duties in Teen Titans for the final act of Adam Glass’ run, and the title does seem to have ticked up a bit in quality. Unfortunately, Thompson is still stuck with the same major problem – a weak team that mostly seems like a group project crew forced to work together rather than an actual team. Teen Titans #39′s opening drives it home that none of them actually like each other, as they head towards a mission and spend as much time insulting each other and telling Roundhouse to shut up as anything else.
And this is right before their biggest mission yet – invading the realm of the demon-Djinn Elias to capture him and get him to release Djinn from her ring. Naturally, it doesn’t go as well as hoped. Elias manages to capture the ring, Emiko is too slow in reading the inscription needed, and soon the Titans are fighting for their lives against an army of demons in an underworld casino.
With his sister back under his control, Elias can move on to the next stage of his plan – using Djinn to hunt down and wipe out other Djinns and magical being around the world. That brings a very unexpected guest star into the run – Jakeem Thunder, with his famous genie in tow. Jakeem mostly seems okay, still snarky and street-smart like he was in the Justice Society. He seems to have shrunk a bit, coming off more like a little kid than a teenager, but that might just be the art style. He adds some new energy to the title, mostly because he’s not really part of the team dynamic and is more self-aware than the bickering Titans.
But as Elias puts his plan into motion and the Titans are left to lick their wounds, it strikes me again that this book seems to bring out the worst in everyone. They’re not focused and working well as a team, and should probably go their own ways. And for Roundhouse, that should hopefully be into limbo.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
