Teen Titans #77 Review

Teen Titans #77

Roll Call: Deathstroke, Ravager IV

Villains: various Black Lantern Ravagers and others (this is your spoiler warning)

Titled “A Family Affair,” this is a rather odd issue in many respects. None of the current Teen Titans actually show up in the issue for one thing, and the cover is my nomination for most misleading of the year, as no one pictured on it shows up, either. This issue is all about Deathstroke and his supporting cast. But wait, you may be saying, about everyone close to him is dead. True, but this is also a Blackest Night tie-in. As seems to be par for the course for many of these tie ins, the issue starts with the reflections of a character being brought back by the Black Lantern rings, reliving their life through the “memory download.” In this case, it’s Wintergreen, Slade’s former friend/butler. Actually, I always thought the Slade/Wintergreen relationship was about the closest the “bad guys” had to a Bruce/Alfred dynamic, but that’s another story. We see Wintergreen’s take on the highlights and lowlights of their time together, and then he is commanded to “Rise!” like the various other Black Lanterns throughout the DCU of late.

We then cut to what looks like it could be the Addams’ Family house, but it seems to be one of Slade’s many safehouses. He’s sitting in a chair by the fire, reading Wintergreen’s journal, going over his death at Slade’s possessed hands. Slade goes to the window and, in the flicker of lightning from the mandatory mood setting storm, he sees Ravager (Rose) outside, staring at him. Of course, they fight, with the usual guilt trips, recriminations, excuses, and justifications we seem to get whenever these two get together. He tells her she’s in danger, the dead are rising and he figures some are coming for him. Just as she finally beats him, standing over him with a gun she managed to get off him, an off panel voice says “If you’re really planning on killing Slade, you’d better get in line.” Enter BL Ravager I, Slade’s oldest son Grant, who died WAY back in New Teen Titans 2 and recently reappeared in one of Booster Gold’s fix the past missions. Grant, like the other BL’s, can regenerate rapidly from nearly any damage, making it hard for two fighters with normal weapons, no matter how good they are, to do anything to him. Rose stops fighting for a time, almost letting Grant kill Slade before stepping in on his side. Rose then gets attacked by Wade, yet another dead Ravager (III, Slade’s half brother).

As Rose and Wade fight yet another Battle of the Ravagers, Slade is intercepted by Wintergreen and Slade’s ex-wife, Adeline Kane in all their Black Lantern glory. They don’t physically attack him, but mount a fantastic psychological attack, saying their deaths were not his fault, they were adults, they made their choices, but Rose is too young. He hasn’t been able to shield her from all the ugliness of his life, and the only way to really get away from her is to die. Rose fights Wade, each with their own agendas- Rose killed Wade after Wade killed Rose’s mother Lili. Rose manages to use the gas lines in the house to burn Wade to a cinder, and he doesn’t seem to regenerate from this. Grant then attacks again, and Rose tries burning him, too. Grant screams in pain from the flames, surprising Rose a bit, and he says of course he can feel pain, he’s alive, as suddenly Jericho/Joey, Slade’s other son/Rose’s brother, emerges from the fire with odd glowing green eyes, and we end on what can be story telling’s most frustrating three words- To be continued.

What I liked- Deathstroke is a favorite of mine, so I almost always like seeing him in action. His rich history was used well, and Rose almost letting him get killed and then stepping in was well done. Also, Wintergreen and Adeline could never fight him in life, so their BL versions are smart enough to try and psyche him out instead, which I could see them doing.

What I didn’t- I am really tired of Rose’s on again, off again vendetta against her father. She’s officially abandoned it only to return to it a few times now, and it’s getting old. I also don’t like Jericho as evil bad guy. I really think they should have left him dead. I”m hoping they will explain how he suddenly seems to have switched places with Grant during the fight, and how he has new glowing green eyes. If they are supposed to be Black Lantern versions of his eyeballs, I may well have to drive to New York to slap the entire editorial staff. The artwork was odd, and it took me awhile to figure out what I didn’t like. Rose was drawn well, and the Black Lanterns were suitably grotesque. It was Slade I didn’t like. He seems to have been drawn kind of blocky, not the lean mean fighting machine we’ve seen so much of, and elements are missing from his costume. If he’s planning on a major fight with zombies, for example, why is his almost always present chest bandolier missing? Wouldn’t you want MORE ammo in that situation, not less? I also don’t like the entirely misleading cover and the lack of the current team, as I mentioned above. And, to be honest, this whole Blackest Night thing isn’t doing much for me, and I’d be just as happy if it had confined itself to the specials and limited series and stayed out of my mainstream titles.

My prediction- this is set-up for Slade taking over the Titans book in the near future, and a possible reconciliation (again) with Rose, who may be joining, as there is still no word on who Slade’s team will consist of, just rumor and speculation on the DC boards. Just my guess. What’s yours?