New Titans #76 (June, 1991)
"Tower of the Damned!"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Pencils - Tom Grummett
Inks - Al Vey
Letters - John Costanza
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Jonathan Peterson
Cover Price: $1.75
As we can see from the cover... today, the walls come tumblin' down. Hmm... Walls... of Jericho?!
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Picking up right where we left off... a Titan-carrying rocket just exploded... and our newly-revealed "big bad" Jericho has taken control over Pantha's body. A fight is on... and Pantha-Jericho lunges right for the odd variable he wasn't planning on... the appearance of the Phantasm! He swats the mask of Phanto's face, revealing... nothing! Hey, whodathunkit... the limbless, floating sheet-man doesn't have a face!
Slade tries to talk his son off the homicidal precipice... which, doesn't go all that well. Jericho lashes out at his father, and insists that he became a killer, just like Deathstroke! He really starts letting loose with these energy powers... which I can't recall if he'd ever exhibited before.
As the Wildebeest Compound starts coming down around them, Phantasm protects the "good guys" in a clear bubble. A few moments later, Jericho vanishes from sight.
The "Titans" (I guess we can call them the Titans... for now) rush out of the joint, with Phantasm swooping in to save Pantha from falling debris on at least one occasion. They bail out just in the nick of time.
Once the dust settles, Phantasm takes his leave. He assures the Titans that he'll be back when he's needed. Elsewhere, Jericho is addressed by our old friend (and tattletale), Wildebeest Number Eight. Joey's only real concern seems to be that X-24 escaped with Titans... because, she knows too much.
We shift scenes over to the U.S.S.R. I had to check to make sure there still was a U.S.S.R. back in 1991... turns out, there was! Anyhoo, there are choppers in the sky... approaching some fallen debris. Looks like this is where that rocket went down. A man in shadows addresses a pilot. Hey, don't the Titans have an associate from out this way? Hmm...
Back at Titans Tower... the good guys argue. Like, a lot. Pantha is still pulling the "I work alone" gimmick... and, gotta say folks, it's getting a bit old. She uses her claws to cut a hole in a window, and attempts to escape. Nightwing stops her with a convenient lasso. Nearby, Phantasm looms.
After pulling her back inside, Deathstroke proceeds to swing her over his head by her tail. Yeesh. He then pins her down and tells her if she don't quit squirmin', that he'll break her back. This (and some sleep powder?) gets her to settle her tea kettle. Dick asks Slade if he'd really have snapped her like a twig. C'mon Dick, Deathstroke don't play.
When Pantha comes to, she finds herself bound to a wall. I didn't even realize Titans Tower came equipped with such kinky apparatus? At this point, Pantha stops droning on about "working alone" and instead threatens to kill everybody. Fair enough.
Moments pass... and suddenly, Titans Tower is under attack! Wildebeests are being lowered onto the roof via some strange flying craft. Upon hearing the stomping above, the good guys start heading down to the sub-basement to escape in the T-Sub. Dick lives up to his name by... leaving Pantha behind? Yikes.
Lucky for her, Phantasm lives up to his word... he'll always be where he's needed. He frees her from her shackles... after which, she threatens to kill him. Same as it ever was.
The Wildebeests gain entry to the Tower with ease. Ya see, they just used Jericho's old passcode... it's not like the Titans would, I dunno, change it or anything. They're each equipped with a few wonky looking glass orbs... and they spread out to scatter 'em. Oh, they're totally explosives, by the way... just want to make that clear.
It's not long before a fight is on! Oddly, when the Titans appear to have the upper-hand, the Wildebeests... disintegrate!
We briefly shift scenes over to Jericho... where it's revealed that this raid on Titans Tower is little more than a suicide mission. Joey ain't planning on any of these Beests ever making it out alive.
When the Titans realize what's going on... they make a mad dash to the T-Jet. But... did they make it in time?!
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Alright, we're just chuggin' along here! Another very strong chapter of Titans Hunt.
I've talked a time or two about this story's pacing. I suggested that perhaps it was moving too slow to follow in its original "monthly" format. I've had a handful of folks who were in the "Titans trenches" back in 1991, and they assure me that there was no problem with the pacing.
Looking at this issue... and realizing that it came out two months after the previous one... I really don't know how I would have received this. This isn't even the first Titans Hunt delay! They missed a month after the first chapter as well. Jumping ahead a few issues, we already know that New Titans #80 interrupts the flow of the Hunt with an issue dedicated to introducing the Team Titans. So, there are three hiccups (plus: I wanna say there's a War of the Gods tie-in smushed in at some point too). I'm willing to take folks word that this didn't really hurt the story... but, I'm not convinced I'd've felt the same way back in the long ago.
Then again... I'm currently reading Doomsday Clock as it comes out, so what do I know?!
Okay okay... with that out of the way, how was the issue? Well... it was good! A creative way of getting us from A to B... both the Beests and the Titans lose their headquarters here, which really ups the stakes on the Hunt.
Jericho is depicted as even more psychotic than his dear old dad... sending his loyal followers on a suicide mission without as much as a second thought, just to carry out his plan. Pretty wild stuff, and kind of a crossing of the Rubicon for him. It'd be really tough to walk this one back.
It's really too bad. I'll concede that I had trouble "getting" Jericho when I read this through as a younger fella. I think I was probably thrown off by his horrid costume and overall look. He's just not pleasant to look at. However, in getting to know him better via subsequent re-reads, I've come to appreciate him... and feel like he not only belongs with the Titans, but... in a way, he kind of became the heart of the team.
Overall... this story becomes more heartbreaking with each chapter. This really is "must-reading" for any fans of the Titans.
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New Titans #75 (April, 1991)
"Countdown to Doomsday!"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Pencils - Tom Grummett
Inks - Al Vey
Letters - John Costanza
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Jonathan Peterson
Cover Price: $1.75
Okay friends... today the hood comes off! We learn who has been behind the Titans Hunt and the Wildebeest Society... and, more importantly... I finally get to spill the beans on who the "big bad" really is!
If you've followed this blog (or at least the Titans-centric entries of it) for any amount of time, you'll know that I've kept this reveal under wraps (as best I could for a nearly thirty year old story), because I knew that... eventually... we'd discuss it.
Well, eventually... is today!
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Alrighty, today's issue is basically going to be the same scene over and over again from different points of view... it's much easier to follow than that "number of the beests" mishegas yesterday, but I want to clarify the structure up front, just in case I make it difficult to keep up with in my synopsizing. Anyhoo, we open with Nightwing laid before the lead Wildebeest. He claims that, despite Dick having no superpowers, he was the Titans the 'beests feared the most (I wonder if he ever gets tired of hearing that?). Dick gets lippy, and is socked in the mush. He is then shown just what happened to his teammates (current and former)... they've been cryogenically frozen!
Nightwing lashes out and attempts, once again, to fight off the Wildebeests. This doesn't go all that well, as you might imagine. He does manage to tear the mask off of the leader though... and he is rather shocked to see who it really is! We don't get the reveal yet... but, it's comin'!
We jump back a few minutes and head back outside. This bit comes from Deathstroke's point of view. He, Dayton, and Arella have a "but my kid's in there"-athon, before Slade rushes back into the Dayton-copter to try and follow up with Pantha and Phantasm. He winds up being jumped by a bunch'a Beests...
... and the chopper goes down! Under the cover of smoke and flame, Deathstroke narrowly manages to escape.
After hitting the drink, he is dragged under by a nearby intake duct, which actually brings him right where he wanted to be... inside the compound! He uses his enhanced reflexes to finagle himself through a fan-duct to avoid being pursued by a pair of persistent Beests.
Slade presses on and manages to escape the ducts. Unfortunately for him, he is immediately taken out by the big Beest in charge, the unmasked... Joe Wilson?!
Jumping back a few minutes, from the point of view of Arella... Slade's helicopter blows up over the water... and neither she nor Dayton can see whether or not he was able to bail out in time. Dayton damns him for damning their children to whatever the Beests have in mind.
She and Dayton split up to do a little reconnaissance... only, she actually just decides to head inside and take care of business herself. She watches as Pantha charges in, and decides to follow her path. Inside, she is spotted by a Wildebeest... but uses her empathic powers to control him... even convincing him to protect her along the way... until they happen across, Dick, Slade... and Joe! She seems more shocked that Joey is able to speak than anything. He blah-blahs about killing them all.
Dick lashes out... again. This doesn't work out so well... again. The Beests overwhelm their guests and drag them along the corridors. Arella says the only thing that can help them is a miracle... and, I don't know about you... but that sounds to me like a perfect segue to...
... Pantha? Sure, why not? Anyhoo, we jump back a few minutes and join her being chatted up by Phantasm. That's kinda where we ended things last issue. He wants to team up... she ain't playin'. She swipes at him, and is shocked that the floating limbless sheet-man doesn't actually have a body.
The pair then fight off some attacking Wildebeests before she breaks away in order to head inside. Of course, along the way, she sees Deathstroke's helicopter go down.
She manages to find her way inside... which we already saw through Arella's eyes, and makes her way to where all the action is happening, just as Jericho is getting ready to explain what he plans to do with the hunted-Titans.
A few minutes earlier... and from the perspective of Phantasm. He, uh... enters the compound and catches up to Pantha. That's really about it. At this point, Jericho explains that the Titans are strapped inside rockets... which kinda comes outta nowhere. Anyhoo... he pushes a big... shiny... candy-like red button, which launches 'em! I ask you, who could resist a button like that?
At this point, Pantha launches herself... into an attack. Say it with me... it doesn't go all that well. Jericho, despite being suddenly evil, still has his powers of -CONTACT-! He takes over her body. Thankfully, Phantasm is also there... and his salvo is enough to cause a bit of a distraction.
We wrap up with the sight of one of the Titan-carrying-rockets... bursting in air! Nightwing is certain... that a Titan just died!
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Ya know what really sucks? Titans Hunt was one of the first Titans stories I read (in full)... which made the reveal fall completely flat for me. I just didn't have the proper context to understand why this was so important... why it was so shocking. To me, it was just this curly-haired blonde guy was now the "big bad". I just didn't get it. I knew it was supposed to be important, which I guess is something... but, unfortunately, since I wasn't a tenured Titan at that point, it lacked "oomph".
Also... Jericho wearing that ridiculous Wildebeest outfit... eesh. I don't know how he managed to hide that bowl of buttered popcorn he calls a head under a Beest hood!
Of course, none of that is the book's fault. Well, maybe the silly Wildebeest costume is, but by this point that ship had already sailed.
I dug the way this issue was structured... each snippet was not only focused on one character... it was also narrated by them. It really allowed us to get into their heads and learn a bit more about our newcomers.
Phantasm was shocked by the Joey reveal... even more so that he could now speak. That tells us for certain that he's Dann... er, that he's familiar with the Titans.
We learn more about Pantha having been experimented on at the Wildebeest Compound. Jericho even goes so far as to refer to her as their first (and only) successful test subject to date.
The bit with the hunted-Titans being strapped into rockets? Ehh, that was a bit out of nowhere. Kinda resulted in a "Wait... what?" reaction, followed by an "I guess we're doing this now?". I dunno... it seemed so "out there" that it almost took me out of the story. I mean, we get this big reveal and betrayal... then suddenly, we're back in a comic book? Does that make any sense? Ehh, probably not.
Overall... an important issue (and arc), that is well worth your time. Tomorrow... believe it or not, things are going to get even worse for the team!
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New Titans #74 (March, 1991)
"When Pantha Strikes"
Writer - Marv Wolfman
Pencils - Tom Grummett
Inks - Al Vey
Letters - John Costanza
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Jonathan Peterson
Cover Price: $1.75
Holy smokes... two installments of Titans Hunt in as many days?! We might just get through this one yet! Not bad for a long-form discussion I wanted to have done almost three years ago!
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We pick up with Slade, Arella and Steve Dayton atop Titans Tower. They catch us up with everything that's gone down... at least insofar as everything they've lost. The women of Jackson Hole, Danny Chase, Golden Eagle... maybe Aqualad... not to mention all of the missing Titans. This conversation is being watched from afar by... Phantasm. He just floats there looking mysterious... because, that's kinda what he does at this point.
We shift scenes over to the... oh boy... Wildebeest Headquarters. I warn you, this is about to become pretty difficult to follow. We arrive just as Eight and Fourteen stomp on into the conference room. The 'beest holding council starts lambasting them for their methods... they were only to capture the Titans... and instead left a whole lotta dead bodies in their wake.
Eight turns on Fourteen, claiming it's all his fault. Fourteen responds by accusing Eight of having lost his fool mind. The Council-head-beest then blasts Eight with a shot of pink energy that causes him to run away. So... the Beests are now going to hunt down Number Eight. Still with me?
The rest of the Beests (Number Fourteen included) decide to track Number Fourteen down within the compound. Oh, also... the girl we'll soon know as Pantha is skulking around. Hey, if they can spoil it on the cover, I can spoil it here!
During the Wildebeest hunt, Number Fourteen catches upto and knocks down Number Eight. Other Beests are watching this go down on a monitor... one is pleasantly surprised at how well Fourteen handled himself. The other, is more concerned... and suggests they "keep an eye on" him.
The other Beests give the command for Fourteen to kill Eight... but he hesitates, giving Eight enough time to blast him with a bolt, and flee once again down yet another corridor. He runs into Number Nine... and kills him! He then takes Nine's uniform... so he can hide in plain sight. Oh, by the way... Pantha (being referred to here as X-24... must be another Wolverine clone) has been spotted by the Beests.
The rest of the Beests arrive, and ask "Nine" for a status report. He claims he was forced to kill Fourteen... and apologizes, as he knows the others really wanted the pleasure. Elsewhere, Pantha is inside... and fighting. She doesn't stick around all that long... fleeing into the night before being overwhelmed.
Back inside, word of Number Fourteen's death is passed along to the Leader of the Beests. "Nine" tattles to the boss that Eight refused to kill Fourteen... and he had to do it himself. These numbers gettin' to ya yet? Feels like we need a flow-chart! Anyhoo... "Nine" finds this whole thing suspicious... because Eight (that is, he) was supposed to check out Dick Grayson's apartment... and Fourteen showed up there as well. Any guesses as to where we're headed?
Meanwhile, Fourteen wanders into a mad scientist's laboratory... where a human/Wildebeest hybrid is being experimented on. This doesn't go so well. It looks like the Society is looking for a way to save on costume expenses by actually making folks into horrible Wildebeests!
We rejoin Pantha as she runs across some rooftops. During her trip she happens across a woman being mugged. At first she ignores it... ain't her prob. Then, the woman says something familiar that causes her to change her mind. It's made pretty clear here that Pantha was one of that Mad Scientist's experiments. Though, with a descriptor like "X-24", we shouldn't really be surprised.
Pantha whoops the hell out of the muggers... but as she finishes up, she's confronted by... the Middle-Aged Titans, Slade and Arella! They want answers... and sorta get 'em. Pantha wants to kill the Wildebeests... which, ya know, kinda puts them on the same side. Unfortunately, she's not all that much of a team player. They do-si-do for a bit, before she flees to yet another rooftop.
Slade and Arella hop into a Dayton helicopter to pursue the feral woman. As they track her into the night, they talk about how odd it is to have run into two strangers... Pantha, and that cloaked one that showed up juuuuust as Danny Chase died!
Back at the Beests, "Nine" is kvetching about Fourteen to anyone who will listen. He recounts what a lousy "partner" Fourteen has been... and how it seems as though he's been more busy getting in his way than actually taking care of business. This is either really subtle storytelling... or I'm just too dense to take note of certain things.
We shift over to Fourteen as he enters the Data Retrieval Office. He relieves the folks on-duty and gets to work snoopin'. He is stopped by his fellow Beests before he can get all that deep.
A fight is on... also a chase. Number Fourteen does his damnedest not to hurt anybody as he attempts to flee the scene. He's finally surrounded... and unmasked, revealing... well, you know.
One panel later, Nightwing is out of his Beest gear completely. Worth noting, the Wildebeest Society knows that Nightwing and Dick Grayson are one in the same. They ask what he did with the real Number Fourteen... but aren't all that worried, because Dick's too much of a wimp to actually kill anybody.
Upon hearing that several of his teammates are dead, Dick loses his cool and lashes out. He is soundly beaten with the quickness. At that very moment, Pantha returns to the scene... and happens across a shred of Nightwing's costume... which she picks up. This leads to a misunderstanding when Deathstroke follows and sees her holding it... and so, we get another do-si-do.
Finally, Arella grabs Pantha from behind and reads her mind. She asks Pantha to help them save the Titans her daughter. Pantha does the whole "I work alone" thing, and bolts... again.
She doesn't get far though... because atop this latest building, she runs smack dab into... Phantasm!
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Okay, you know me... anytime I come across an issue that doesn't seem all that "clear", I usually blame it on my own density rather than even suggesting that the writer put together a difficult-to-follow story. Here though? I'm not so sure. I mean, referring to identical characters just by their numbers? Having full-blown "dogpile" fights... with those same identical characters? Having one of those identical characters trade costumes with another (though, in fairness... that other mask had a scar... and thank goodness it did!). This was a toughie.
Not only was it difficult to follow... the Wildebeest scenes really kind of overstayed their welcome. I don't think we needed that many pages to tell this one.
Also, the Dick Grayson is Number Fourteen reveal... I don't wanna say it came out of nowhere, because it didn't... but, since the build-up was so subtle (too subtle), there was very little "oomph" (for me) when he was unmasked. I mean, I knew it was coming... and was still trying to connect-the-dots in my head. I'm not reading this with a forensic comb or anything... though, again... maybe I'm just too dense.
I'd forgotten that Pantha was referred to by the descriptor "X-24". This is funny considering Wolverine's clone, Laura Kinney would be referred to as X-23 in her earlier appearances. Gotta assume that's just a coincidence. I doubt the writers of the X-Men Evolution cartoon were trying to pay homage to Pantha. Though, I've been wrong once or twice before.
Overall... a pretty down (though I suppose, necessary) chapter. Art was still quite solid... though, I find Grummett does draw an especially "jowly" Dick Grayson here... which is a bit off-putting. If you're following Titans Hunt, you're going to want to check this one out... just make sure to have a pad and pencil at the ready to track these Beests!
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