Teen Titans (vol.2) #16 (Late January, 1998)
"Titans: Then & Now, Epilogue"
Story & Layouts - Dan Jurgens
Finished Art - Joe Rubenstein
Colors - Gregory Wright
Enhancement - Digital Chameleon
Letters - Richard Starkings & Comicraft/LA
Associate Editor - Dana Kurtin
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $1.95
When I started this blog, I figured I would use "blog tags" for writer, penciller, title, and year... just to assuage my own compartmentalizing-mania. I always get a bit "itchy" when we get into "layouts" and "finished art"... never know what to include.
I suppose the "correct" answer is "include everything... colorist, letterer, inker, etc." which, if I had it to do over again... I probably would. Not gonna go back and edit nearly a thousand reviews though! I say all of that, so I can say this... welcome to the tags Joe Rubenstein!
When I'm done with this discussion, I'll add it to the "Collected Editions" Page with the rest of "Titans: Then & Now" for easy revisiting and/or for time-travelers.
--
We open with the surviving Titans preparing to attend the funeral of the fallen Joto. Worth noting... Lilith's "funeral attire" might be the worst thing ever. I mean, a do-rag?! Anyhoo, they happen across Isaiah's diary... which Lilith spoils, due to her "hocus-pocus witchy stuff". Cody heads in to gather the team... and suggests that Isaiah's journal will rake him over the coals for being a jackass. Lilith tries to correct him, but he ain't havin' it.
Next stop, the graveyard. The Titans (Then & Now) are in attendance... as well as the Crockett family. I'm tellin' ya, I can't get over how ridiculous "Do-Rag Lilith" looks.
After the ashes to ashes, the Titans split off. Wally suggests that things like this shouldn't happen... which, I mean... it's a bit too late for that, ain't it? While the oldsters discuss the validity and efficacy of this new team, Mr. Jupiter is confronted by Isaiah's father, Judge Crockett. It's not a comfortable chat.
Jean Loring, the Atom's ex-wife approaches to diffuse the situation by... riding the fence. Ray overhears the chat and wanders over... the Judge suggests that it might be time to pull the plug on "people like him", and goes as far as to claim that, more than anything, vigilante heroes actually create the bad guys. Nothing we haven't heard before... and it doesn't really get the adequate room to "breathe" here.
Elsewhere, Cody is approached by Isaiah's sister Nikki. He braces for a reaming... ya know, because he was never all that nice to Joto. He is surprised to learn that Isaiah actually held him in high regard. Nikki thanks him for being her brother's friend. It's a pretty neat little scene, and provides an interesting juxtapositional contrast from the funeral.
Elsewhere again... Argent approaches Dick (who she calls "Joe" since nobody knows his civilian identity) about training the Newbie-Titans. He turns her down flat... and in kind of a jerky way. He tells her that she needs to find her own way. Probably not what she was expecting... especially as they're in the process of burying one of their own! Apropos of nothing, Dick is drawn with reddish hair here... not sure if that's a "civilian disguise", though I assume it is. Either way, every time I see him, I mistake him for Matt Murdock!
We follow Toni as she heads over to Prysm. She refers to the originals as "elitist jerks" which sounds like something a petulant teen-ager might say. Anyhoo, she vows to redouble her efforts in making these Titans a "thing"... in honor of Joto.
Off to the side, the originals reconnoiter. Roy decides he's going to keep his Haze-given outfit... and go back to wielding a longbow (as opposed to the crossbow he'd been carrying). Wally suggests perhaps they stick around and mentor the kids... which Dick kinda scoffs at. He doesn't think they're needed because the Newbie Titans already have a mentor in Lilith.
Speak of the devil, and she appears. Lilith, in full Omen get-up arrives... and explains that her "new" powers were passed down by her (unrevealed to us) mother. The Titans agree to get together and talk things out later that evening. Hey, there's a scene I'm looking forward to!
We shift over to the Newbie Titans as Argent approaches them in her uniform. She wants the gang to get their stuff together right away, and train to be the Titans Joto would've wanted them to be. None'a the others are really "feeling it"... and suggest that Toni's actually being disrespectful.
An argument ensues... and it gets pretty volatile, until Lilith arrives... Joto-journal in hand. She decides to read from it to settle everybody's tea kettles.
Just as her teammates start getting the "warm fuzzies", Mr. Jupiter saunters in to spoil the mood. He tells his "kids" that the Teen Titans... are no more!
Later that night, Judge Crockett is visited by... some dude. He is Garrison James, and he works for the man in charge of some governmental "alien investigations". I always kinda roll my eyes when we hear about these investigations in the DC Universe... I mean, c'mon... aliens ain't nothin' new or special here. Anyhoo, James wishes to talk about the "alien Titans" that killed Isaiah. I'm bored already.
Next we join Lilith, as she visits her half-brother Jarrod Jupiter at the psyche unit. She taps into his mind, and sees his "vision". It's a somewhat happy childhood with his sister and father. The Jarrod-tot proclaims himself to be "king" and kicks over all of his Teen Titans action figures.
We shift outside "The Slab" where a woman proclaims it would be easy for a member of Dark Nemesis to bust out. I'm bored again.
We wrap up with a couple of pages of the Newbie Titans going their own way... and the originals going to Bibbo's Ace of Clubs to reconnect. Unfortunately, we don't really get to "join" them. C'mon, that was the scene I was waiting for the entire issue! Oh well. Oh, also... Argent creates a statue of Joto at his gravesite.
--
For starters... I wanna say how pleased I am that they didn't reuse the "Titans Walking Away" cover. Ya know, this one:
Though, in fairness... it hadn't been homaged yet in 1998... but still, looking back in 2018, feels like anytime the Titans split up anymore, we get one of 'em.
Now... onto the issue.
It was a bit... hmm, uneven? I mean, there were some neat scenes that I wish they could've expanded on... interspersed with scenes I felt went on too long or I'd rather we didn't get at all. I guess "epilogues" are kinda like that sometimes.
Also "uneven" here... the art. We get a few spectacular pages... and some really, I dunno, halfhearted ones. Makes the book feel kinda like an afterthought... which, again... I guess "epilogues" are kinda like that sometimes.
Not sure why Dick was so intent on living up to his name here when Argent approached him. He could have (and, I feel, should have) turned her down a bit gentler. Him shutting her down the way he did just didn't feel in-character. It's especially baffling when he tells the originals that Lilith will be the Newbie Titans' mentor. Why couldn't he just tell Argent that? Also, just a short while later, Dick's going to start a new team of Titans... with the express purpose of mentoring the next generation! So weird.
I'm not sure why Mr. Jupiter pulling the plug on the team actually means anything. It's not like he was on the front lines or anything. Hell, the one time he was, it cost them a team member! I see no reason why Ray couldn't just say "Okay, beat it old man... we'll do this our way". Does Jupiter own the Teen Titans "intellectual property" or something?! I dunno... just felt kinda weak.
Much as I hate to say it, "weak" might just be the right word for this issue. Doesn't feel like anybody's heart was completely in it. Also, the one scene I was actually looking forward to (the old Titans "catching up") we don't even get! Felt kinda like a cop out.
Overall... I dunno. This issue is kind of important, while at the same time feeling unnecessary... which is a shame. I know the Teen Titans would eventually get "funeral heavy", but this comes from a time before that. I don't really see this as a send-off worthy of a Titan.
--
Letters Page:
--
Interesting Ads:
942
Teen Titans (vol.2) #15 (Early January, 1998)
"Titans: Then & Now, Part 4 of 4"
Story & Art - Dan Jurgens
Finished Art - George Perez & Larry Stucker
Colorist - Gregory Wright
Enhancement - Digital Chameleon
Letters - Richard Starkings & Comicraft/LA
Associate Editor - Dana Kurtin
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $1.95
Let's wrap up "Titans: Then & Now"!
Adding this story arc to our "Collected Editions" Page for ease of reading... or at least, not reading it backwards!
--
We pick up where we left off last issue... what I believed was each of the original Titans seeing a different head under the Omen hood was actually... Omen just cycling through a bunch of faces, before finally settling on Lilith. Yes folks, Lilith has been Omen all along... but, c'mon, you already knew that. She reveals a couple of things... first, that she absorbs bits and pieces of the people around her... second, that Mr. Jupiter is her father!
The original Titans aren't quite sure what to make of this... Lilith took pieces of them without their knowledge or consent. Also, the big-bad of this story line, Haze... is her half-brother! There's also that whole "mind-wipe" thing, but nobody mentions that yet. Haze is annoyed that, at least for the moment, the spotlight is off of him. I mean, he even does the "Hel-lo?" thing.
So, he then kicks things up a notch. Tying his powers with Lilith's, he's able to give his visions "form". He can tap into the dreams of his foes, and make them "real"... and he starts with Roy, giving him a new costume... which is basically Ollie's Grell-era outfit in red. Ya see, Roy always dreamed of following in his mentor's footsteps.
Haze then turns his attention to Prysm, and gives her a glimpse of her family... before snapping it away in an instant. Jupiter implores Lilith to boot Jarrod from her head, however he's too powerful to evict.
Argent arrives on the scene, juuuuuust in the nick of time to be imprisoned in a concrete dome alongside her teammates. Thanks for comin', Toni!
Turns out these concrete domes are all in their heads, maaaaan. Just a mindgame from Haze. He's tickled by Wally's attempt at miming. In the Newbie-Titan dome, they chat about having a secret weapon.
That secret weapon? The Atom! At this moment, Ray is being taunted by his JLA pals... and his ex-wife. Jean calls him out for running away while their marriage was on the rocks... and, ya know... she ain't wrong. After reducing in size to be smaller than the individual atoms of Haze's gas, he's able to regain his composure... from here, he grows!
And what he sees? Well...
A pretty awesome sight of many of the Titans' foes to this point (minus Terra). The Titans, Then & Now take the fight to the hard-illusion baddies. Nightwing delivers a whopper of a kick to "Deathstroke", while commenting that Haze isn't quite up to speed on his Titans Lore... Deathstroke's vendetta is long over. Dick sends Roy off to snag Haze. Isaiah follows.
We shift over to a tower, where Haze unmasks... revealing his acne-riddled face. He cries out to his father... wanting to know why he never loved him. Jupiter hems and haws... before promising to "cure" him. Lilith tries reasoning with her brother too. This doesn't go all that well. Jarrod blows her off the platform.
Roy fires a trick "line" arrow for Lilith to snag on her way down. In the distraction, Joto cold-cocks Haze... causing the illusions to dissipate.
Haze threatens to "go nuclear"... so Roy, naturally, fires an explosive arrow at him. That oughta fix everything, right?
Roy hops down and snags his "line". Lilith has already grabbed Haze's limp body. Still on the platform, however, is Mr. Jupiter. Joto fights his way through the flames, and promises to rescue his boss.
On the ground, the Titans (Then & Now) reconnoiter. Then... from the smoky horizon, a figure emerges. An apologetic figure... carrying another.
It's Mr. Jupiter! He drops to his knees, dropping the man he was carrying... Joto. Joto has been burned beyond recognition... and is just barely conscious.
We wrap up with Joto passing away. His last words are to the effect that he died... a Titan.
--
That was a pretty good ending! Had some interesting reveals... and suffered a loss (for now, anyway).
Something I'm not sure about is... well, what was this story supposed to be? Was it intended as a "passing of the torch" from old to new? If that's the case... I'm not seeing it. This whole arc, despite being steeped in Titans lore, felt very... I dunno, non-committal? Perhaps I'm projecting... knowing how weirdly hard-lined DC seemed to be about separating this series from the Titans franchise... while still using the name, and certain trappings.
What we basically have here is... the Newbie Titans being shown as heroic... yet inept. Not the best look for a team trying to prove itself... or step out of the shadow of its predecessors. For the founding Titans... it seems like this is just another day. Even though they fought side-by-side with their successors, it didn't feel like a) they were a team, and b) that this was an endorsement or anointing.
I dunno.
What we do get is, some pretty neat action... and some wonderful art. It was cool seeing like 99% of the Titans rogues gallery, even if they were just illusions. Really cool seeing them flex these characters every now and again.
There was also the reveal of Lilith's parentage. Mr. Jupiter has always been her father... which makes her early appearances feel a little bit weird, I suppose. It's not like they implied anything salacious between the two... but, it was still kinda weird. Either way, this paid off a long-lingering Teen Titans mystery... so, it's got that going for it.
Now, I'm a little confused by the final conflict. Why in the world would Roy fire a heated arrow at a man threatening to "go nuclear"? Does that make sense? Did I misread it? Seems not only like the wrong thing to do... but the most wrong thing to do!
Overall... a pretty satisfying ending, in the sense that it felt like an ending. We had most of our questions answered... and are left with new worries on the horizon. The next issue of this series is a "Then & Now Epilogue"... I suppose we could take a look at that one tomorrow, and hopefully tie a bow on this arc.
--
Letters Page:
--
Interesting Ads:
941
Teen Titans (vol.2) #14 (November, 1997)
"Then & Now, Part 3 of 4"
Story & Art - Dan Jurgens
Finished Art - George Perez w/Larry Stucker
Colorist - Gregory Wright
Enhancement - Digital Chameleon
Letters - Richard Starkings & Comicraft/LA
Associate Editor - Dana Kurtin
Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $1.95
Ready to find out who Omen really is?!
Well... about that...
--
Picking up a handful of minutes after we left off, we open inside of Haze's "neighborhood". We're with Tempest and Risk as they're questioning a down and out wino. They ask him how he came to be here... to which he spins a yarn about Haze tricking him into a date by posing as a pretty young thing. He claims that there are hundreds of others Haze ganked off the streets here, and also explains that Haze is something of a Psychic Vampire, drawing from his captives to fuel his own powers.
Just then, some of Haze's rent-a-cops burst on the scene (what, you can't even chat up a wino anymore?)... Risk is stompin' for a showdown, but Tempest suggests he settle his tea kettle. Ya see, if Haze really is feeding off of energy, the last thing they ought to do is expend more of it! Garth grabs Risk, and they dive into some nearby raw sewage to flee into the sewers. Man, that Haze has thought of everything... even sewers!
While in the muck, Risk begins to come around to Tempest's methods... and they make nice. While attempting to rearrange some pipes, a trap door opens below them... and they fall into the purple "ishy, gooey" water below. While submerged... they are confronted by their fears... again. Getting tired of that yet?
We shift scenes to Wally and Prysm, and they get to know one another. Then... they see some dead bodies, annnnd lights out! Prysm freaks out, and somehow Wally is now wearing Barry's version of the Flash costume. After being confronted by the Jupiter Father and Son, Wally is overcome with the lightning bolts on his costume... and Prysm is wrapped up in an outfit not unlike Doomsday's original duds post-break out.
Next stop, Nightwing and Argent. They dodge some gliders as they attempt to infiltrate a tower. Get this... Dick is confronted by Batman... again. Argent is haunted by generic-looking aliens, all claiming to be her biological father.
Dick seems like he's going to be able to snap out of it... but is then attacked by Haze himself! Haze resorts to some dirty tricks and puts Dick in a state of Vertigo, before kayoing him with right fist. He then backhands Argent before dragging Dick away with him. Argent is left behind because... really, why would you need her? Devin Grayson ain't writing the book yet.
Next... Arsenal and Joto. You remember all the chuckles when we found out this dude's name was "Joto"? Weird stuff. I suppose I ought to mention that Joto is Swahili for "Heat"... which makes sense. Don't urban dictionary it though. Anyhoo, Isaiah and Roy plan to fire a bolt into Haze's tower after Joto works his mojo on it... this way they (or he) can "see" inside. Despite Roy's crossbow not having the penetration power of his old bow, Isaiah is able to get a snippet of what's going on.
Turns out, however, that's all a ruse! The real Haze isn't even there... in fact, he's here! Haze hits Roy with an awkward-looking superkick before haunting Isaiah with visions of Argent. After giving Joto the kayo, Haze haunts Speedy with... you'll never guess... visions of his time as a -- junkie?! It must really suck to have like one event in your life define you from that point on.
Anyhoo... we next check in on Atom and Omen... lotta four-letter team-members here... Atom, Omen, Joto, Risk... hmm. Argent comes to, and sees them... however, they don't see her. Before she can call out, they disappear. We wind up inside Haze's "office", where he has his collection of Teen Titans... new and old. Also, Mr. Jupiter. He sends his rent-a-cops off to find Omen... but, not so fast, kemosabe... just then, the Atom tears the roof off the place.
Haze is initially rather surprised (perhaps even impressed) with the fact that the Atom can now grow huge. Then... it's hoo-doo time! Ray is haunted by the laughter of his former JLA teammates. This gimmick, man... getting tired. Haze then threatens to kill Mr. Jupiter in front of everyone.
Suddenly the Titans are able to move again... and Omen is revealed to be... Raven! No, make that Phantasm! Err, maybe Lilith! Um, or the Hornblower! Ya see, each Titan sees Omen as a different person! The newbies are as confused as we are!
--
So, yeah... the gimmick is kinda getting played out.
How many pages do we need to spend on the Titans (new and old) being confronted with their fears of letting people down? I think we all get it by now. Perhaps if these visions added anything new I'd feel different... but, really... it's just the mentors telling the Titans that they're failures over and over again. Well, that and Argent's dad might be an alien.
It feels a little bait-n-switchy on the Omen reveal... which might be a weird thing to say in 2018... we've known who Omen really is for over 20 years at this point (where did my life go?). I mean, it's some good intrigue, I suppose... but, not the payoff promised in last issue's "blurb".
Really not much more to say about this one, I mean... it's a "Part 3 of 4", we're just putting pieces in place. At least not anything that we won't expand on tomorrow when we wrap this up. Is it worth checking out? Sure... I mean, the gimmick is beyond played out... and it feels a bit like we're filling pages... but, I feel like there is a solid story worth being told at its core.
We'll wrap up "Then & Now" tomorrow!
--
Letters Page:
--
Interesting Ads:
940
