Monday, December 30, 2013

"The End" Week: Teen Titans #100!


This issue was next to my desk at work, and hey, it's the last one! From 2011 and pre-New 52, it's Teen Titans #100, "Family Reunion" Written by J.T. Krul, pencils by Nicola Scott, and inks by Doug Hazlewood, Jack Purcell, and Greg Adams.

Well, I guess if they're one thing I'm thankful to the New 52 for, it's that they appear to have gotten rid of Superboy-Prime. Originally intended as an innocent goodbye to the classic, S-P was brought back as a selfish, whiny, entitled brat who never took responsibility for his actions and always blamed everyone else. (Being the sole survivor of his universe, he was probably also seriously mentally ill, but rarely if ever was portrayed in a sympathetic light.) This time around, he's put together a "Legion of Doom" of Titans villains and Superboy-clones, intent on wiping out what he sees as "inferior versions."


The Titans clear the benches for this brawl, bringing in reams of characters. Kid Flash gets a brief (or rather, quick) moment of victory over Inertia, the villain that killed him in his brief and ill-fated 2006 series as the Flash. Superboy has Ravager get his Kryptonite shard, so she and Damian can stab some clones with it. And the Titans pummel Superboy-Prime down--somewhat unsatisfyingly, over only a couple of pages, and into unconsciousness, rather than beating him until he cries like the little toadie he is. The good, Conner Superboy and Supergirl leave S-P imprisoned in the Source Wall, which I'm sure is exactly what Jack Kirby intended it used for. Then a couple pages intended for closure, a bunch of pin-ups, a preview for the far-superior looking Marv Wolfman/George Perez Teen Titans graphic novel Games, and the start of the New 52 hype. The latter includes an ad for six books under the heading "Young Justice," all of which have been cancelled except for the rebooted Teen Titans book.

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