And after Prime is defeated, and sent to his latest ultimate prison, there's room for the rounding-up of subplots: Ravager learns that Conner isn't interested in her as a potential girlfriend, he simply wants her to be his personal kill switch should he ever go bad (awwwww!). And Raven decides to follow through on her attraction to Beast Boy (hurrah!).
These codas are the best bit of the comic, with the fight scene, while full of enjoyable, action-packed encounters, not quite meeting my hopes. What I wanted to see was big moments for such little-seen Titans as Argent, Risk and Prysm, but while the likes of Damian Wayne and Blue Beetle come into play, Red Star is the only non-current member who really makes an impression.
Still, the pencils of Nicola Scott and inks of Doug Hazlewood, Jack Purcell and Greg Adams bring us some great-looking pages, beautifully coloured by Jason Wright. The small panels carry a greater impact than their size might suggest, while the splashes make the most of the extra space allowed. A page of Prime being pummelled repeatedly uses the Titans' fetishistic T to help convey the impression of repetition. And the final page, of the Teen Titans going their separate ways, is a winner, with the sunlight framing the figures in such a way that they echo the classic Titans statue at the beginning of the story.
And there's more. Page after page of pin-ups by (deep breath) Rob Liefeld, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Karl Kerschl, Tony S Daniel and Norm Rapmund, Amy Reeder, Brett Booth and Rob Hunter, Marcus To and Chris Burnham. There's something to enjoy in each of them, but if I could choose just one it'd be Burnham's shot of the Titans villains. And Reeders charmingly un-cheesecake shot of lady Titans.
"DC writers just love him"
ReplyDeleteThe writers seem to be the only ones to like Superboy Prime, and haven't yet twigged to the fact that most readers just don't particularly care for the character.
I thought Superboy/man/boy Prime was a neat concept in Infinite Crisis but he's been played out.
ReplyDeleteAs for the issue, this has been my favorite TT issue in a long time. I'm not too keen on the reboot, but I've been digging these series endings. Definite conclusions are rare in comics, and it's been a joy to see many characters go out on a high note.
i love Ms. Martian's pose on this pin-up page!
ReplyDeleteOne good thing about the New 52 business, Knightsky, no more Superboy Prime until the next multiversal reboot, which will be at least a couple of years away.
ReplyDeleteKeith, I do feel sorry for Superboy Prime. He was such a good boy when he debuted.
David, I do hope Ms Martian shows up again.
Knightsky: It's not that readers don't care for him, it's that they actively hate him. At least, I do. The only Prime story I cared for was Johns' in Adventure Comics, which I felt put a big, final bow on the character. He was put to rest by the guy who made him what he was, with a real grace note.
ReplyDeleteHis return here was the weakest part of the Titans' final issues (which I agree, had the book going somewhere good, only to be binned for the Flushpoint).
The DC writers hate Prime. They've twisted his character into everything they despise about DC fans. Even though when you really think about it he's right about modern heroes being awful at their jobs. "Never stops coming back" Yeah, after like year long absenses. No one ever complains when Wolverine's in 3 different comics a month, but Prime shows up once in 2 years and suddenly he's all over the place.
ReplyDeleteHe's excruciatingly poorly written, and only once has anyone tried to give him traits besides ranting about HIS Earth. And if you're gonna ask, yeah I like him. Because someone has too.