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Teen Titans (2011) #3
Teen Titans, Volume 3: Death of the Family
The team is finally reunited in the wake of Death of the Family, but something is very wrong with Red Robin! What did The Joker do? As Red Robin's condition worsens he and the team must face an even greater threat when the new Dr. Light is coming for Solstice!
Collecting: Teen Titans #0, 15-17, Batman #17 and Red Hood and the Outlaws #16!
Collecting: Teen Titans #0, 15-17, Batman #17 and Red Hood and the Outlaws #16!
160 pages, Paperback
First published December 24, 2013
24 people are currently reading
716 people want to read
About the author
Scott Lobdell
1,624 books230 followersScott Lobdell (born 1960) is an American comic book writer.
He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.
He is mostly known for his work throughout the 1990s on Marvel Comics' X-Men-related titles specifically Uncanny X-Men, the main title itself, and the spin-off series that he conceived with artist Chris Bachalo, Generation X. Generation X focused on a number of young mutant students who attempted to become superheroes in their own right at a separate school with the guidance of veteran X-related characters Banshee and Emma Frost. He also had writing stints on Marvel's Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and The Adventures of Cyclops and Phoenix mini-series with artist Gene Ha. He wrote the script to Stan Lee's Mosaic and an upcoming film from POW Entertainment featuring Ringo Starr. He also participated in the Marvel Comics and Image Comics (from Jim Lee's WildStorm) crossover mini-series WildC.A.T.s/X-Men.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 116 reviews
January 14, 2021
(B) 74% | More than Satisfactory
Notes: It’s generic ephemera: trivial team-ups and rehashed plots, featuring all the narrative nuance of a TV toy commercial.
Notes: It’s generic ephemera: trivial team-ups and rehashed plots, featuring all the narrative nuance of a TV toy commercial.
March 6, 2019
3.5 stars
Shallow Sidekick Buddy Read!
So. I've read most of this before in various Death of the Family titles.
It's not bad, but some of the enjoyment goes away after you've seen the 'Faces on Ice' scene for the bjillionth time, you know?
If you haven't read Death of the Family, then that sentence will mean nothing to you. But if you have? Yeah. You know what I'm saying. The *GASP!* factor is gone for me at this point.
Anyway, it started off with Red Robin's origin story. And, I have to say, he came off far less douchey in this origin than he in the last one I read.
And for the life of me, I can't remember where I read it.
The reason he ended up with Batman made more sense, and he didn't seem like a callous brat this time around.
Of course, it could be that I hated the other version so much that this just looked like a better backstory, you know?
After that issue, it heads into the crossover with Red Hood and the Outlaws. Some of this I'd read, some of it was new. I think.
WhoTheFuckKnowsItIsAllBleedingTogetherAtThisPoint.
Then it's the issue with Batman and the rest of the Bat-family doing the Death of the Family dance. One. More. Time.
Next issue? Wheee! Brand New Stuff!
Which includes a peek at Raven and her...feathered hood?
Ok. Roll with it.
The Titan Tower gets a makeover. And by that, I mean it's now a boat.
There's kissing. More kissing. And finally, some hinky goings-on with Tim that I don't understand, but am veeeeery curious about.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I liked the new stuff, but there wasn't a whole lot of it. At any rate, I'm definitely interested enough to keep reading this title.
Shallow Sidekick Buddy Read!
So. I've read most of this before in various Death of the Family titles.
It's not bad, but some of the enjoyment goes away after you've seen the 'Faces on Ice' scene for the bjillionth time, you know?
If you haven't read Death of the Family, then that sentence will mean nothing to you. But if you have? Yeah. You know what I'm saying. The *GASP!* factor is gone for me at this point.
Anyway, it started off with Red Robin's origin story. And, I have to say, he came off far less douchey in this origin than he in the last one I read.
And for the life of me, I can't remember where I read it.
The reason he ended up with Batman made more sense, and he didn't seem like a callous brat this time around.
Of course, it could be that I hated the other version so much that this just looked like a better backstory, you know?
After that issue, it heads into the crossover with Red Hood and the Outlaws. Some of this I'd read, some of it was new. I think.
WhoTheFuckKnowsItIsAllBleedingTogetherAtThisPoint.
Then it's the issue with Batman and the rest of the Bat-family doing the Death of the Family dance. One. More. Time.
Next issue? Wheee! Brand New Stuff!
Which includes a peek at Raven and her...feathered hood?
Ok. Roll with it.
The Titan Tower gets a makeover. And by that, I mean it's now a boat.
There's kissing. More kissing. And finally, some hinky goings-on with Tim that I don't understand, but am veeeeery curious about.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I liked the new stuff, but there wasn't a whole lot of it. At any rate, I'm definitely interested enough to keep reading this title.
April 6, 2018
[3.5 Stars] I think I would have enjoyed this more if I hadn't read the Death of the the Family event from so many different series already. I ended up just skipping over the issues I've already read which ended up being a fair few in this volume. However, I think this sets up some good potential threads for the next two volumes (if they use them) with some interesting villains. I thought Raven was a part of the teen titans (at least she was in the cartoon I watched as a kid), but I'm interested to see her be on the opposite side now.
May 25, 2014
What an improvement from Vol. 2! I think part of it is because this was the larger storyline of Death of the Family, and perhaps Mr. Lob(otomy)dell got an outline from Mr. Scott Snyder telling him what to write. (This is also the 3rd TPB this month I've read with Batman #17 in it. - A classic for sure, and apparently DC wants EVERYONE to read it multiple times).
We start with Teen Titans #0, which, as you know, means an origin story. This time it is Tim Drake/Red Robin's origin. Here, he's still trying to figure out who Batman is, and to prove himself, steals a bunch of Penguin's money. This leads to a hit on his family, which is stopped by BATMAN!!!! of course. However, Batman just lends so much more credibility to things, even Lob-otomy-dell isn't ruining it totally. They all survive, and Tim's parents must go into witness protection, while Batman is convinced of his worthiness, and takes him on as the new Robin.
Decent enough, and masterful when compared with what's come before in this series.
Next ish: Joker's got RR, and Batgirl ends up telling the TTs what to do (Kid Flash, Wonder Girl and the TRON-jects). They are getting their asses handed to them while Joker and RR chitchat. Randomly Dinah Lance (Black Canary) lets off her Canary Scream...somehow tied to a guy who showed up in the previous volume...AGENT LANCE! Who works with Amanda (Suicide Squad) Waller. I'll investigate later, no real issue here.
But who should show up as the TTs (minus Batgirl who has her own book to run - very well I should add) are about to get taken out by Joker Toxined Gothamites? [As a side note, I think I will start a thrash metal band and call it Joker-Toxined Gothamites]
That's right, 2/3 of Red Hood and the Outlaws! (The Outlaw thirds - Arsenal and Starfire)
Next issue is actually a RH&O book. Which is somehow far better than TT books even though Lobotomydell is writing. That being said, he is still writing, so the potential is wasted.
Right from the get-go Wonder Girl has decided she didn't like Batgirl (who the gay Mexican was crushing on...ummm...does Lobotomydell even KNOW that gay men don't like boobies? or GIRLS IN THAT WAY?) she doesn't like the Outlaws either. Shocking. In-fighting; how 1990s.
Arsenal suggests something (after saving them and proving to be a far more seasoned fighter with knowledge) and Wonder Girl's reply? :"We have our OWN way of doing things. We HIT things."
Aresenal: "And when that doesn't work out?"
WG: "We hit HARDER."
Wow she's so tough. I'm in love. Ugh.
Then we have a random flashback of Arsenal (Roy Harper) when he was a kid, and Killer Croc saved him, gave him a place to stay, if only he'd agree to go to AA. Yes. This is right. Killer Croc has a soft spot for fellow addicts, and saved Green Arrow's #1 protege. While that's an interesting enough idea for a whole book...it feels very random here, unless I've missed something. Though having Croc with humanity is a crazy idea that a GOOD writer could do something with.
So then, to cure the Jokerized Gothamites, Arsenal has the idea to get syringes with anti-toxin. There's not much time, but luckily, Kid Flash can stick them all with needles before the time runs out...but KF is afraid of needles!!! (that oughta keep him of the smack for a while).
YAY we're all super!
Throw in a 1 page piece of Hugo Strange book signing in St. Louis...ya. what? And some thought bubbles about how evil he is...then back to saving the day in Gotham. Aresnal compliments DON'T CALL ME WONDER GIRL and she responds by being a bitch. Yup that seems about right.
Now back to another random 1 page interlude...this time, Deathstrike taking a contract out on Red Hood and the Outlaws (I assume because he says he'd do it for free; then throws knives at pictures of them all, like the scariest badguys always do.)
Seriously, Lob-otomy-dell loves his one page interludes that have absolutely NO context.
The next issue is pretty decent, and that's because Fabian Nicieza was co-writer with the Lobotomydell. This one focuses on Red Hood and Red Robin being held by the Joker and their shared bond and closeness as the 'outsider' Robins. Of course then Joker makes them fight each other with their dads both tied up and about to be killed...what will happen???? This isn't too bad really, they even give Jason the edge as making him a better fighter than Tim. We get a quick Flash to Arsenal and the TTs, then there's a STUPID scene in Hell where we see the lauching of Raven....yes. Somehow the former TT from pre-Flashpoint is now some minion of Satan??? Jason and Tim fight, then team up to take out the Joker...but no, of course not. (Though Tim doesn't seem all that upset about Jason shooting him...who of course, isn't him)
The next issue is Batman #17, which DC wants EVERYONE who ever read to read. It's been in every TPB I've read from DC for the last month I swear. No need to recap that here.
The final issue is a clusterfuck. More Lobotomydell.
Some Doctor (apparently Doctor Light - a new version) is controlling Red Robin and making him a manslut and REALLY creepy smiler...or is it Raven? I cannot honestly tell...both sit back and watch what's happening...Red Robin appears in non-costume version and still makes them call him RR, their new HQ is some stupid looking yacht, and he turns that into booty with both females left on the team (at 2 diff times) even though Kid Flash is getting with one, and Superboy was getting with the other...but Superboy isn't really in this issue at all so it doesn't really matter...Guess Skitter is a Quitter?
Whew. Yes, somehow this is MUCH better than Vol. 2 I give it 2.5 stars, because the good parts aren't actually due to Lobdell at all. That being said, it's still such a mess I can't give it 3 stars.
I don't know if my mind could handle another Lobdell book right now...or ever...
We start with Teen Titans #0, which, as you know, means an origin story. This time it is Tim Drake/Red Robin's origin. Here, he's still trying to figure out who Batman is, and to prove himself, steals a bunch of Penguin's money. This leads to a hit on his family, which is stopped by BATMAN!!!! of course. However, Batman just lends so much more credibility to things, even Lob-otomy-dell isn't ruining it totally. They all survive, and Tim's parents must go into witness protection, while Batman is convinced of his worthiness, and takes him on as the new Robin.
Decent enough, and masterful when compared with what's come before in this series.
Next ish: Joker's got RR, and Batgirl ends up telling the TTs what to do (Kid Flash, Wonder Girl and the TRON-jects). They are getting their asses handed to them while Joker and RR chitchat. Randomly Dinah Lance (Black Canary) lets off her Canary Scream...somehow tied to a guy who showed up in the previous volume...AGENT LANCE! Who works with Amanda (Suicide Squad) Waller. I'll investigate later, no real issue here.
But who should show up as the TTs (minus Batgirl who has her own book to run - very well I should add) are about to get taken out by Joker Toxined Gothamites? [As a side note, I think I will start a thrash metal band and call it Joker-Toxined Gothamites]
That's right, 2/3 of Red Hood and the Outlaws! (The Outlaw thirds - Arsenal and Starfire)
Next issue is actually a RH&O book. Which is somehow far better than TT books even though Lobotomydell is writing. That being said, he is still writing, so the potential is wasted.
Right from the get-go Wonder Girl has decided she didn't like Batgirl (who the gay Mexican was crushing on...ummm...does Lobotomydell even KNOW that gay men don't like boobies? or GIRLS IN THAT WAY?) she doesn't like the Outlaws either. Shocking. In-fighting; how 1990s.
Arsenal suggests something (after saving them and proving to be a far more seasoned fighter with knowledge) and Wonder Girl's reply? :"We have our OWN way of doing things. We HIT things."
Aresenal: "And when that doesn't work out?"
WG: "We hit HARDER."
Wow she's so tough. I'm in love. Ugh.
Then we have a random flashback of Arsenal (Roy Harper) when he was a kid, and Killer Croc saved him, gave him a place to stay, if only he'd agree to go to AA. Yes. This is right. Killer Croc has a soft spot for fellow addicts, and saved Green Arrow's #1 protege. While that's an interesting enough idea for a whole book...it feels very random here, unless I've missed something. Though having Croc with humanity is a crazy idea that a GOOD writer could do something with.
So then, to cure the Jokerized Gothamites, Arsenal has the idea to get syringes with anti-toxin. There's not much time, but luckily, Kid Flash can stick them all with needles before the time runs out...but KF is afraid of needles!!! (that oughta keep him of the smack for a while).
YAY we're all super!
Throw in a 1 page piece of Hugo Strange book signing in St. Louis...ya. what? And some thought bubbles about how evil he is...then back to saving the day in Gotham. Aresnal compliments DON'T CALL ME WONDER GIRL and she responds by being a bitch. Yup that seems about right.
Now back to another random 1 page interlude...this time, Deathstrike taking a contract out on Red Hood and the Outlaws (I assume because he says he'd do it for free; then throws knives at pictures of them all, like the scariest badguys always do.)
Seriously, Lob-otomy-dell loves his one page interludes that have absolutely NO context.
The next issue is pretty decent, and that's because Fabian Nicieza was co-writer with the Lobotomydell. This one focuses on Red Hood and Red Robin being held by the Joker and their shared bond and closeness as the 'outsider' Robins. Of course then Joker makes them fight each other with their dads both tied up and about to be killed...what will happen???? This isn't too bad really, they even give Jason the edge as making him a better fighter than Tim. We get a quick Flash to Arsenal and the TTs, then there's a STUPID scene in Hell where we see the lauching of Raven....yes. Somehow the former TT from pre-Flashpoint is now some minion of Satan??? Jason and Tim fight, then team up to take out the Joker...but no, of course not. (Though Tim doesn't seem all that upset about Jason shooting him...who of course, isn't him)
The next issue is Batman #17, which DC wants EVERYONE who ever read to read. It's been in every TPB I've read from DC for the last month I swear. No need to recap that here.
The final issue is a clusterfuck. More Lobotomydell.
Some Doctor (apparently Doctor Light - a new version) is controlling Red Robin and making him a manslut and REALLY creepy smiler...or is it Raven? I cannot honestly tell...both sit back and watch what's happening...Red Robin appears in non-costume version and still makes them call him RR, their new HQ is some stupid looking yacht, and he turns that into booty with both females left on the team (at 2 diff times) even though Kid Flash is getting with one, and Superboy was getting with the other...but Superboy isn't really in this issue at all so it doesn't really matter...Guess Skitter is a Quitter?
Whew. Yes, somehow this is MUCH better than Vol. 2 I give it 2.5 stars, because the good parts aren't actually due to Lobdell at all. That being said, it's still such a mess I can't give it 3 stars.
I don't know if my mind could handle another Lobdell book right now...or ever...
July 13, 2024
New 52, new Teen Titans, third book. The lineup is Red Robin (Tim Drake), Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandsmark), Superboy (Kon El), Kid Flash (Bart Allen), Solstice and Bunker. There's an extended cameo from the New 52 incarnation of Red Hood and the Outlaws, the one with the porn-star version of Starfire, in a sort of amalgam of bad writing and worse concept.
The artwork again drops in quality, but the story somewhat improves. Introducing the Joker as the bad guy is a great help with this because the bad guy doesn't have to make sense when he's already archetypically insane.
The ongoing background storylines imply emerging Amanda Waller and Trigon plot arcs going forward and (hopefully) some explanation of why Red Robin turns into an absolute jerk at the end of this book.
The artwork again drops in quality, but the story somewhat improves. Introducing the Joker as the bad guy is a great help with this because the bad guy doesn't have to make sense when he's already archetypically insane.
The ongoing background storylines imply emerging Amanda Waller and Trigon plot arcs going forward and (hopefully) some explanation of why Red Robin turns into an absolute jerk at the end of this book.
February 3, 2015
How could I like this less than the last volume, you ask? It was even more of a mess in my opinion. By the end of this volume, Tim Drake STILL hasn't told anyone on the Titans' Team what his real name is, etc. - even after they all rescued him from a murdering psycopath! Also, he now seems to be stringing along Cassie AND Kiran - for no apparent FREAKING REASON. Plus there were some scenes thrown into this volume that had no connection to the rest of it. For example, we get one page of some evil author-guy-person, Hugo Strange, then nada to explain WTF he was at all important. Also, moments with Trigon (who looks like the Devil?) and his sidekick Raven, who from what I've read was a former Teen Titan. Ummm...okay? Also, the whole thing with the Joker felt very anti-climactic in regards to the Teen Titans, because they have nothing to do with Gotham (other than Tim, of course), so they never really had any stake in things. The only good parts of this were the scenes with Red Robin (Tim) and the Red Hood (Jason) working together against the Joker, in captivity. The rest of it, meh. We seem to be on a downward trend. Is it too optimistic to hope the next one gets better?
December 10, 2015
I think it was a great book to read. Really enjoyed it
May 3, 2020
I can say that this volume of Teen Titans was much better than the previous one. The story somewhat flowed better & was easier to follow, but I haven’t read “Death of the Family” so I didn’t have a lot of context about the relationships between Nightwing, Batgirl, Robin, Red Robin, & Red Hood. I was slightly lost by how the story ended. Guess I’ll need to dive into “Death of the Family” after I finish the Teen Titans. I did enjoy the cameo appearance of Starfire & Arsenal.
The final issue in this volume Raven is introduced with a weird feathered head (wtf!?) & is doing something to Tim Drake that causes him to first make out with one teammate Kiran (Solstice) then going to make out with Cassie (Wonder Girl). I mean WTF!?
Am hoping this volume hasn’t peaked for this series. Cause so far I’m really not impressed with how this comic is being written.
The final issue in this volume Raven is introduced with a weird feathered head (wtf!?) & is doing something to Tim Drake that causes him to first make out with one teammate Kiran (Solstice) then going to make out with Cassie (Wonder Girl). I mean WTF!?
Am hoping this volume hasn’t peaked for this series. Cause so far I’m really not impressed with how this comic is being written.
January 4, 2024
This arc of the team had a lot more energy and cohesiveness to it than the previous two before. I think, in part, because it was a complimentary storyline to the Death of the Family event running in the main Batman titles at the time. Here we have the Joker, an always compelling foe, and his master plan against the entire Bat-family. For this volume, we get a bit more background on Red Robin, and we get to see his teammates hit his home turf of Gotham City. Even the guest appearances of Arsenal and Starfire add to it well (though it is really mostly Arsenal focused - Kory is just along for the ride in the issues here).
I am thinking I might need to check out the Red Robin and the Outlaws run at some point to see if it is an enjoyable as this teaser to it was. Maybe after I get through another Titans volume from this run.
I am thinking I might need to check out the Red Robin and the Outlaws run at some point to see if it is an enjoyable as this teaser to it was. Maybe after I get through another Titans volume from this run.
August 19, 2017
I liked this, but I didn't love it. I really like the cover artwork and the new design for Raven, but the rest was good, not great. I think the best story in the collection is "The Punchline" mainly because I appreciated how dark it was. It's worth reading, but maybe not worth buying, save for a few pages of nice artwork and the inclusion of the story I mentioned.
February 7, 2014
I was fortunate enough to win this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I was so excited because I love the Death of the Family storyline in the Batman comics. I was really looking forward to seeing this side of the story. I hate to say it, but I was kind of let down.
I love the Death of the Family story line because the Joker is back and crazier than ever. He is on a mission to kill all of the different members of the Bat family like Red Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl. Joker feels like they make Batman weak, and he wants the old, darker Batman back. It was more fun then.
This book opens up with Batman telling sort of an origin story of how Tim Drake became Robin. This I really liked because it told the story from Batman's point of view, and I really enjoyed this part. Once the origin story passes we see the Teen Titans on the hunt for Red Robin in Gotham city. They also ask for the help of Batgirl to find him. The Titans story line was just ok. There was some adventure to their hunt but nothing really gets resolved. It just sort of ends once the book shifts to the ending of the Death of the Family story that I had already read in the Batman Vol 3. The last issues in this collection is all set up for the next story line in the Teen Titans story.
I am curious to see what is next for the Titans after this little tease, but I was really not satisfied with how their part of the bigger story was handled. I guess I was expecting so much more after reading the main title graphic novel Batman Vol. 3. The artwork was pretty good, and I did really enjoy that. The parts of this book that dealt with mainly Red Robin I enjoyed, but the rest fell flat.
Because of the parts I did enjoy I will give this 3 out of 5 stars. Really this is almost a 2.5 star book, but I really do love the Death of the Family story, and I was more than happy to read the ending of it again. That is why I am giving this 3 stars. It's not the strongest book in the story line, but I am glad I read it.
I love the Death of the Family story line because the Joker is back and crazier than ever. He is on a mission to kill all of the different members of the Bat family like Red Robin, Nightwing, and Batgirl. Joker feels like they make Batman weak, and he wants the old, darker Batman back. It was more fun then.
This book opens up with Batman telling sort of an origin story of how Tim Drake became Robin. This I really liked because it told the story from Batman's point of view, and I really enjoyed this part. Once the origin story passes we see the Teen Titans on the hunt for Red Robin in Gotham city. They also ask for the help of Batgirl to find him. The Titans story line was just ok. There was some adventure to their hunt but nothing really gets resolved. It just sort of ends once the book shifts to the ending of the Death of the Family story that I had already read in the Batman Vol 3. The last issues in this collection is all set up for the next story line in the Teen Titans story.
I am curious to see what is next for the Titans after this little tease, but I was really not satisfied with how their part of the bigger story was handled. I guess I was expecting so much more after reading the main title graphic novel Batman Vol. 3. The artwork was pretty good, and I did really enjoy that. The parts of this book that dealt with mainly Red Robin I enjoyed, but the rest fell flat.
Because of the parts I did enjoy I will give this 3 out of 5 stars. Really this is almost a 2.5 star book, but I really do love the Death of the Family story, and I was more than happy to read the ending of it again. That is why I am giving this 3 stars. It's not the strongest book in the story line, but I am glad I read it.
April 16, 2023
Just going through and making reviews for some Comics that I have read.
Great "Batfamily" comic!
Great "Batfamily" comic!
July 19, 2017
OK, this volume was an entertaining, Red Robin-centric detour through Gotham and the events of "Death of the Family", where the B-lister in the Titans team up with an unexpected guest appearance by some C-listers like Arsenal (who has sketchy tattoos and insists on wearing a trucker's cap while fighting crime with a bow and arrows in the New 52), Starfire (whose superpower seems to be the effective application of invisible tape to keep that outfit in place whilst flying: see below) and DC's angriest young man, Jason Todd .
Much like in the preceding volume with Kid Flash, the time and attention dedicated to giving Tim Drake a solo story here was well worth it, and the volume concludes on an intriguing note as the Titans take up residence in some new digs. Volume 4 is definitely on my horizon!
PS Oh yeah, where that Superboy at?
Much like in the preceding volume with Kid Flash, the time and attention dedicated to giving Tim Drake a solo story here was well worth it, and the volume concludes on an intriguing note as the Titans take up residence in some new digs. Volume 4 is definitely on my horizon!
PS Oh yeah, where that Superboy at?
June 14, 2014
Another mediocre volume in one of the worst runs ever for the Teen Titans (and I include the Titan Hunt in that listing). There are glimmers of goodness, primarily when the team gels as a family, but there's also a lot of bad, over-the-top writing and a lot of who-cares fighting. The comic really isn't helped by its inclusion in the kidnap-a-member-of-the-bat-family event.
Overall, a yawner.
Overall, a yawner.
April 21, 2017
Only person I like is Wonder Girl.
October 1, 2024
I don't like the teen titans in this series, they aren't bad but they just don't feel like the titans to me. It's a lot better than i was expecting though I had been prepared to rate this one star
May 7, 2018
Teen Titans: Death of the Family picks up where the previous trade paperback left off, collecting the next three issues (15–17) of the 2011 on-going series, the Zero Month issue (Teen Titans #0), Red Hood and the Outlaws #16, and Batman #17.
The trade paperback opens with the Zero Month special, Teen Titans #0. It is written by Scott Labdell and penciled by Tyler Kirkham and it is the origin story of the person who would become Tim Drake. Of all the former Robins – excluding Stephanie Brown, because at this juncture, she doesn't exists – it is Tim Drake's origin story that changed the most.
Apparently, Tim Drake, in honor of the deceased Jason Todd, decided against the mantle of Robin and instead become Red Robin and that his real name isn't Tim Drake at all – it's an alias used because his parents went into Witness Protection Program, because of his deeds to anger Oswald Cobblepot – The Penguin. This iteration of Tim Drake is an Olympic-level gymnastic athlete with a genius I.Q., which felt slightly disingenuous, because the Tim Drake that I knew wasn't much of an athlete, but because of intense training he became a capable vigilante.
The rest of the trade paperback focuses on The Death of the Family event, which would have suffered greatly had the publisher hadn't included Red Hood and the Outlaws #16 and Batman #17. These two issues were critical in making the story line (Teen Titans #15–17) makes sense – well at least a semblance of one. Although we don't know how Jason Todd as Red Hood was captured along with Tim Drake as Red Robin, I think the narrative flowed better without the tangent and Batman #17 makes a rather good closure to the event.
For the most part, Teen Titans: A Death of the Family is written by Scott Lobdell (including the Red Hood and the Outlaws issue) with help from Fabian Nicieza for some dialogue in a couple of issues and Scott Snyder provided the text for the Batman #17 issue. The text was alright – slightly better than mediocre, but I'm not sure if the reason I feel this way is because I read Death of the Family from two other perspectives already (Nightwing and Red Hood and the Outlaws) and feel worn out or that the text is really just above mediocre.
Teen Titans: A Death of the Family had five pencilers: Tyler Kirkham penciled the Zero Month special, Bret Booth penciled two issues (Teen Titans #15–16), and Eddy Barrows penciled one issue (Teen Titans #17) with Timothy Green II penciling the Red Hood issue and Greg Capullo penciling the Batman issue. Surprisingly, with all these pencilers in one trade paperback, the illustrations flowed and worked rather well with each other – except for Tyler Kirkham and Timothy Green II – while they are wonderful pencilers on their own, they didn't gelled well with the others.
Notable cameos include Jason Todd as Red Hood along with his Outlaws, his Bat Family, Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, The Joker, and interesting enough Rachel Roth as Raven, and Kurt Lance – a member of Team 7 and spy for Amanda Waller. It looks like we're heading into a Trigon story, but having Waller spying on the Teen Titans seems rather interesting.
All in all, Teen Titans: Death of the Family was a somewhat good continuation of the on-going series. I look forward to the next story arc staring Raven, but the conclusion is a tad disturbing for me for Tim Drake as Red Robin.
The trade paperback opens with the Zero Month special, Teen Titans #0. It is written by Scott Labdell and penciled by Tyler Kirkham and it is the origin story of the person who would become Tim Drake. Of all the former Robins – excluding Stephanie Brown, because at this juncture, she doesn't exists – it is Tim Drake's origin story that changed the most.
Apparently, Tim Drake, in honor of the deceased Jason Todd, decided against the mantle of Robin and instead become Red Robin and that his real name isn't Tim Drake at all – it's an alias used because his parents went into Witness Protection Program, because of his deeds to anger Oswald Cobblepot – The Penguin. This iteration of Tim Drake is an Olympic-level gymnastic athlete with a genius I.Q., which felt slightly disingenuous, because the Tim Drake that I knew wasn't much of an athlete, but because of intense training he became a capable vigilante.
The rest of the trade paperback focuses on The Death of the Family event, which would have suffered greatly had the publisher hadn't included Red Hood and the Outlaws #16 and Batman #17. These two issues were critical in making the story line (Teen Titans #15–17) makes sense – well at least a semblance of one. Although we don't know how Jason Todd as Red Hood was captured along with Tim Drake as Red Robin, I think the narrative flowed better without the tangent and Batman #17 makes a rather good closure to the event.
For the most part, Teen Titans: A Death of the Family is written by Scott Lobdell (including the Red Hood and the Outlaws issue) with help from Fabian Nicieza for some dialogue in a couple of issues and Scott Snyder provided the text for the Batman #17 issue. The text was alright – slightly better than mediocre, but I'm not sure if the reason I feel this way is because I read Death of the Family from two other perspectives already (Nightwing and Red Hood and the Outlaws) and feel worn out or that the text is really just above mediocre.
Teen Titans: A Death of the Family had five pencilers: Tyler Kirkham penciled the Zero Month special, Bret Booth penciled two issues (Teen Titans #15–16), and Eddy Barrows penciled one issue (Teen Titans #17) with Timothy Green II penciling the Red Hood issue and Greg Capullo penciling the Batman issue. Surprisingly, with all these pencilers in one trade paperback, the illustrations flowed and worked rather well with each other – except for Tyler Kirkham and Timothy Green II – while they are wonderful pencilers on their own, they didn't gelled well with the others.
Notable cameos include Jason Todd as Red Hood along with his Outlaws, his Bat Family, Barbara Gordon as Batgirl, The Joker, and interesting enough Rachel Roth as Raven, and Kurt Lance – a member of Team 7 and spy for Amanda Waller. It looks like we're heading into a Trigon story, but having Waller spying on the Teen Titans seems rather interesting.
All in all, Teen Titans: Death of the Family was a somewhat good continuation of the on-going series. I look forward to the next story arc staring Raven, but the conclusion is a tad disturbing for me for Tim Drake as Red Robin.
October 25, 2019
Z nowymi Młodymi Tytanami miałem ten problem, że czytałem wcześniej trzeci tom Red Hooda, który ma z Tytanami crossover w ramach eventu Śmierć Rodziny i tam twórcy mieli nam więcej do zaoferowania, dlatego też uważam, że omawiana pozycja to taki must have, ale tylko dla hardcorowych fanów, którzy muszą mieć wszystkie tytuły z Teen Titans na okładce.
Tym bardziej, że poza dobrą kreską, przygody młodzieży nie oferują nic ciekawego. Mamy tutaj zeszyt zerowy, pokazujący jak Tim Drake stawał się Red Robinem i pomagał Batmanowi, ale nie było w tym takich emocji jakich oczekiwałem. Ot znalazł się chłopak, który przejrzał przykrywkę Wayne'a i stał się godzien mu partnerować. Dalszą część tomu zajmuje między innymi jeden zeszyt przygód Batmana, zawierający pamiętną kolacje i starcie z Jokerem i jeden opisujący współpracę Red Hooda z Red Robinem, po to aby pokonać morderczego klauna.
Bardziej niż w poprzednich tomach miałem wrażenie, że takie zastosowania to ordynarny skok na kasę, zwiększający tylko objętość poszczególnych tomów i zapewne mam rację. Pozostałe zeszyty Teen Titans wieją nudą. Młodzi docierają do Gotham, bo obawiają się o życie swojego młodego lidera, ale na miejscu spotyka ich tylko więcej rzeczy do roboty, bowiem Joker nasyła na nich ludzi zatrutych jego gazem. Tu pojawiają się banici Red Hooda i łączą siły, aby działać efektownie. To mocny punkt tego tomu, ale podobny mamy w trzecim tomie Red Hooda, gdzie mamy o niebo ciekawsze historie dodatkowe.
Końcówka należy do Raven, bo swoim wyglądem kradnie całość, zwłaszcza przy miernym poziomie całej reszty, która ląduje w nowym miejscu dowodzenia, jakim okazuje się luksusowy jacht. W międzyczasie widzimy dziwne zachowanie Tima, który całuje się zarówno z Solstice jak i Wonder Girl. Zabieg celowy, mający za zadanie chyba rozbić całą grupę, gdyż końcówka wskazuje, że Red Robinowi coś się stało... I to był jedyny interesujący element tego tomu.
Jeżeli miałbym coś polecić to raczej równoległy tom z serii Red Hood and the Outlaws. O niebo ciekawiej. Tutaj mamy ładną wydmuszkę. Ale to za mało by się obronić, nawet gdy doliczymy się całej masy smaczków i wtrąceń z Mr. Lightem, jakimś kolesiem od Amandy Waller, Batgirl. Nie warto.
Tym bardziej, że poza dobrą kreską, przygody młodzieży nie oferują nic ciekawego. Mamy tutaj zeszyt zerowy, pokazujący jak Tim Drake stawał się Red Robinem i pomagał Batmanowi, ale nie było w tym takich emocji jakich oczekiwałem. Ot znalazł się chłopak, który przejrzał przykrywkę Wayne'a i stał się godzien mu partnerować. Dalszą część tomu zajmuje między innymi jeden zeszyt przygód Batmana, zawierający pamiętną kolacje i starcie z Jokerem i jeden opisujący współpracę Red Hooda z Red Robinem, po to aby pokonać morderczego klauna.
Bardziej niż w poprzednich tomach miałem wrażenie, że takie zastosowania to ordynarny skok na kasę, zwiększający tylko objętość poszczególnych tomów i zapewne mam rację. Pozostałe zeszyty Teen Titans wieją nudą. Młodzi docierają do Gotham, bo obawiają się o życie swojego młodego lidera, ale na miejscu spotyka ich tylko więcej rzeczy do roboty, bowiem Joker nasyła na nich ludzi zatrutych jego gazem. Tu pojawiają się banici Red Hooda i łączą siły, aby działać efektownie. To mocny punkt tego tomu, ale podobny mamy w trzecim tomie Red Hooda, gdzie mamy o niebo ciekawsze historie dodatkowe.
Końcówka należy do Raven, bo swoim wyglądem kradnie całość, zwłaszcza przy miernym poziomie całej reszty, która ląduje w nowym miejscu dowodzenia, jakim okazuje się luksusowy jacht. W międzyczasie widzimy dziwne zachowanie Tima, który całuje się zarówno z Solstice jak i Wonder Girl. Zabieg celowy, mający za zadanie chyba rozbić całą grupę, gdyż końcówka wskazuje, że Red Robinowi coś się stało... I to był jedyny interesujący element tego tomu.
Jeżeli miałbym coś polecić to raczej równoległy tom z serii Red Hood and the Outlaws. O niebo ciekawiej. Tutaj mamy ładną wydmuszkę. Ale to za mało by się obronić, nawet gdy doliczymy się całej masy smaczków i wtrąceń z Mr. Lightem, jakimś kolesiem od Amandy Waller, Batgirl. Nie warto.
October 16, 2017
Another great read. I particularly enjoyed the first issue, which dove into Tim's background in the New 52. I haven't gotten to know Tim Drake as well as I have the other Robins, so I really liked reading what was basically both a character study and an origin story. And while I've not read all of Tim's original introduction into the DC universe ("A Lonely Place of Dying"), from what I have read, I still think I like that original story more; however, that is not to say that this story--with his parents in a witness protection program--is not still solid. So far in this series, Tim has come across as a likable jerk--but what separates him from so many other such characters in comic books is the fact that he's not actually a jerk. He just puts so much pressure on himself to always succeed and always be the best that he can be that he allows very little of himself to actually filter through. He's too busy being a leader to be a person. And, I have to admit, that's an interesting internal conflict. The Bat Family never fails to impress me with how complex its characters are. Speaking of which, the "Death of the Family" story arc is obviously a masterpiece in terms of Joker stories. It's dark, creepy, and psychological with a thousands twists and turns. It's exactly what any fan would expect from the modern Clown Prince of Crime. (I've obviously read this story countless times as I've worked my way through the Bat Family's stories in the New 52, but each time I come across it, I'm reminded of how intense a story arc it really is.) The Teen Titans' involvement, as well as Arsenal's and Starfire's, made for an action-packed side story. And, all the while, the writers still continued to give us more layers and more hints of even bigger plots waiting for the Teen Titans. And now, with that cliff-hanger ending of Red Robin being... mind-controlled, I assume? Well, to put it quite simply... bring on the next volume!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2022
And the winner of, 'How Long Can Red Robin Keep His Identity A Secret?' is....
17 issues! (and counting)
That's right. You fight, sweat, and bleed with fellow superheroes for...a year(?) and none of them puts up a stink about their defacto leader never telling them his real name. At this point, Conner flew off, Cassie has almost died from parasitic armor, Bart almost vibrated apart, and Skitter was squashed during the Culling. What teen (or super teen) would just nod their head and blindly follow some preachy kid? All of them?!?!
--------------
It IS nice to see that issue #0 is included with the new (revised) origin story of Red Robin. This version still has Tim tracking down Batman just after Jason Todd was murdered, however THIS version was dumb enough to incite The Penguin's mob. Hacking into a mobster's bank account and stealing money will get you killed. Tim's family goes into witness protection and they beg(?) Batman to watch over their amazingly awesome son. He won't wear a Robin costume out of respect to the last Robin dying. Just call him Red Robin. Unique enough, right?
The 'Death of the Family' crossover issues were nice to see, even if this team spends most of it apart. As a Teen Titans story arc, it's more of the same. These kids keep getting pinballed back and forth and they even mention it at one point. Can't stop...won't stop. We also get a cameo by the New 52 versions of Starfire and Red Arrow. There's also the feather mask wearing New 52 Raven providing future villain angst. This could get messy...er...
Bonus: Since when is Roy Harper a genius intellect? New 52 Roy is as smart as Batman?!
Bonus Bonus: Also, since when is Killer Croc anxious about Roy's attendance in AA meetings?
17 issues! (and counting)
That's right. You fight, sweat, and bleed with fellow superheroes for...a year(?) and none of them puts up a stink about their defacto leader never telling them his real name. At this point, Conner flew off, Cassie has almost died from parasitic armor, Bart almost vibrated apart, and Skitter was squashed during the Culling. What teen (or super teen) would just nod their head and blindly follow some preachy kid? All of them?!?!
--------------
It IS nice to see that issue #0 is included with the new (revised) origin story of Red Robin. This version still has Tim tracking down Batman just after Jason Todd was murdered, however THIS version was dumb enough to incite The Penguin's mob. Hacking into a mobster's bank account and stealing money will get you killed. Tim's family goes into witness protection and they beg(?) Batman to watch over their amazingly awesome son. He won't wear a Robin costume out of respect to the last Robin dying. Just call him Red Robin. Unique enough, right?
The 'Death of the Family' crossover issues were nice to see, even if this team spends most of it apart. As a Teen Titans story arc, it's more of the same. These kids keep getting pinballed back and forth and they even mention it at one point. Can't stop...won't stop. We also get a cameo by the New 52 versions of Starfire and Red Arrow. There's also the feather mask wearing New 52 Raven providing future villain angst. This could get messy...er...
Bonus: Since when is Roy Harper a genius intellect? New 52 Roy is as smart as Batman?!
Bonus Bonus: Also, since when is Killer Croc anxious about Roy's attendance in AA meetings?
July 4, 2023
As a Teen Titans fan who can't stand Scott Lobdell's writing, particularly around the new 52, and isn't too keen on Fabien Nicieza, I was dreading this part of my new 52 Batman readthrough.
While I'm happily skipping Sexy Starfire and the Outlaws, and haven't yet read the New 52 era Teen Titans, I was surprised to find this a decent read. You get the New-52ed origin of Tim Drake/Red Robin, and you see him and, eventually, Jason Todd take on the Joker while the rest of the Teen Titans (most of whom I'm unfamliar with) team up with Batgirl and Arsenal and Starfire from the Outlaws.
It's a decent, scrappy little book that also keeps tabs on the non-Death Of The Family plot points from Teen Titans, and I'm thinking of picking up more of this run to see what's going on with Deathstroke, and what's going on with Raven.I'm not expecting earth shattering storytelling and plot developments but if it's as breezy a read as this, I'd love to learn more about this generation of Teen Titans, particularly due to the lack of Red Robin stories out there.
If you slept on this series because the 90s-era X-Men writing staff isn't your favorite group of storytellers, I recommend giving it a chance.
While I'm happily skipping Sexy Starfire and the Outlaws, and haven't yet read the New 52 era Teen Titans, I was surprised to find this a decent read. You get the New-52ed origin of Tim Drake/Red Robin, and you see him and, eventually, Jason Todd take on the Joker while the rest of the Teen Titans (most of whom I'm unfamliar with) team up with Batgirl and Arsenal and Starfire from the Outlaws.
It's a decent, scrappy little book that also keeps tabs on the non-Death Of The Family plot points from Teen Titans, and I'm thinking of picking up more of this run to see what's going on with Deathstroke, and what's going on with Raven.I'm not expecting earth shattering storytelling and plot developments but if it's as breezy a read as this, I'd love to learn more about this generation of Teen Titans, particularly due to the lack of Red Robin stories out there.
If you slept on this series because the 90s-era X-Men writing staff isn't your favorite group of storytellers, I recommend giving it a chance.
October 4, 2023
I'd give this less than one star for a review, but they won't let me.
While I loathe decompression-style writing in comics, the overwriting by '90s holdouts Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza is far, far worse. Reading their dialogue is like chewing chalk. This is some stupid story about The Teen Titans teaming up with Red Hood And The Outlaws to save all twenty Robins from The Joker, or something like that. It was so difficult to read that I zoned out a few times while rattling off the story to my son, who seemed to enjoy it. It was a chore to read. Only my love for my son could have made me endure this nonsensical hot mess of a story.
The writing was stiff and clunky while the artwork suffered from a '90s Image influence. My apologies to those who consider bombastic, hyper-stylized '90s comic book art to be in good taste. The coloring was overdone and lifeless. I am just grateful that this was free from the library. I can't imagine how awful I would have felt if I spent my money on it or if my son spent his allowance money on it. Avoid this turkey at all costs.
While I loathe decompression-style writing in comics, the overwriting by '90s holdouts Scott Lobdell and Fabian Nicieza is far, far worse. Reading their dialogue is like chewing chalk. This is some stupid story about The Teen Titans teaming up with Red Hood And The Outlaws to save all twenty Robins from The Joker, or something like that. It was so difficult to read that I zoned out a few times while rattling off the story to my son, who seemed to enjoy it. It was a chore to read. Only my love for my son could have made me endure this nonsensical hot mess of a story.
The writing was stiff and clunky while the artwork suffered from a '90s Image influence. My apologies to those who consider bombastic, hyper-stylized '90s comic book art to be in good taste. The coloring was overdone and lifeless. I am just grateful that this was free from the library. I can't imagine how awful I would have felt if I spent my money on it or if my son spent his allowance money on it. Avoid this turkey at all costs.
August 20, 2017
If you are a fan of DC’s the New 52, you will enjoy this volume of "Teen Titans Death of the Family." The Joker is a big part of this story and intends to harm all of Batman's allies. He is characteristically mean and unpredictable, a living terror on Earth. The storyline evolves as The Joker plots to destroy those closest to Batman. There are recognizable elements of other Batman related titles like "Red Hood and the Outlaws" with illustrations that draw the reader into the crazed world of the Joker. He is clearly a psychopath out to wreak havoc throughout Gotham City but the Teen Titans rise to sabotage his ghastly schemes. This comic follows a path of triumph over tragedy and challenges the reader to ponder if good will prevail over evil. "The Death In the Family" New 52 volumes are worth while reading for Batman fans and those new to this comic series.
May 14, 2016
There are two different places on this Goodreads page where it says what issues are collected in this book. One place says issues #14-20. The other says issues #15-17. Both are wrong. This book contains Teen Titans #0, 15-17, Red Hood and the Outlaws #16, and Batman #17. I've now read The Joker: Death of the Family and every one of the individual volumes of each series that tie into this Death of the Family crossover event except for Nightwing volume 3.
So far, this volume and the Batgirl volume have been the best parts of the crossover. I love writer Scott Lobdell and his work on this series so far has been some of my favorite stuff he has ever done. With exception of issues #0 & #17 of Teen Titans and issue #16 Of Red Hood and the Outlaws, he only plotted out the story in this book. He wrote #0's Red Robin origin story on his own. That issue is one of the highlights of the book. That is one of the best issue #0's I've read for any series in DC's New 52. Lobdell also pens the Red Hood and the Outlaws issue by himself. Issue #17 of Teen Titans was written by him and Fabian Nicieza, but plotted out by Lobdell alone. The rest of the issues, except #17 of Batman by Scott Snyder, were plotted by Lobdell and written out by Nicieza. Scott and Fabian have worked together before back in the 1990's on X-men for Marvel comics and the two seem to work well together.
In this book, they give us a story of the Teen Titans coming to Gotham to search for Red Robin after he was abducted by the Joker. While there, they meet up with Batgirl and, later on, Arsenal and Starfire. The only time all of the Titans are together is in the last issue which is the aftermath of The Death of the Family and a bridge towards the next story arc. The rest of the time, Red Robin is showcased with Joker and Red Hood while the Titans and Outlaws search for their respective leaders. As stated earlier in the review, I loved the #0 origin issue and the rest of the Titans and Outlaws portions of the Death of the Family were some of the best parts of that entire crossover. Issue #17 of Batman is the worst part of the whole thing. If it were not included in this book, the writing would get 5 stars, but I hate that issue and it alone brings the writing score down to 4 stars.
The majority of the art in the book is drawn by Bret Booth. If you've read any of my other reviews of his work, then you know that he is one of my favorite artists of the past 20+ years. All of his art looks fantastic. The characters and everything else are highly detailed. All of the characters look superb, but like a lot of artists from his generation, the females characters stand out as being even better looking than anything else. In the previous couple of volumes, Cassie stood out as the best character, but in this one, she gets outshone by Batgirl. Barbara isn't on but just a few pages, but she looks amazing and is definitely the highlight of the entire book for me. Booth's art, as always, gets 5 stars from me.
Tyler Kirkham is the artist for the #0 issue. None of his art looks bad, but compared to Booth, he seems like a minor leaguer. The characters are nicely detailed. There is a good amount of environment drawn in. Close-ups are where his characters look their best. Some of the shots from further away have faces that are just a bit off in quality. Tim Drake and Batman both look equally good and are the 2 best characters in the book. Batman is the more consistent of the two. Tim is one of the characters that the art slips on sometimes. 3.5 stars for Kirkham's art.
Eddy Barrows draws the last Titans issue. His art is almost up par with Booth's, but just slightly behind by a hair. The characters all look so great that none really stand out as better than the others, but I do like his version of Raven and I'm kinda inclined to mention her since she hasn't been in any of these books until now. I didn't know who Barrows was until I read the first volume of Nightwing not that long ago. His name has definitely stuck with me because of how much I like his art. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite artists at DC during this New 52 era. he gets 4.5 stars for his efforts.
Ugh. Batman #17 is done by Greg Capullo. I'm not a fan. His art on top of Snyder's writing is really starting to turn me off the Batman series. Because of the ugliness of his art in this volume, it is gonna drag the overall score of the book down. His art is by far the worst in the book. 2 stars for Capullo. All the art scores average out to 4.16 stars which I rounded to 4 stars.
The art and writing scores are both 4 stars so that makes this an easy one to figure out the overall rating for. That score is 4 stars as well. Once I read Nightwing volume 3, I will have all of the Death of the Family behind me. I'm looking forward to that so I can get on to all of the volume #4's of all of these series. I'm really excited for volume 4 of this series because of how this one ends. If you've gotten far enough into this series that you're checking this book out, you've gotta go ahead and read this one. If you're just checking this series out because of the crossover event, I hope you find this series as good as I do. I know some people have hated on this series because it is a much different version of the team and how each character acts, but damn the writing is good and it sure is pretty to look at.
So far, this volume and the Batgirl volume have been the best parts of the crossover. I love writer Scott Lobdell and his work on this series so far has been some of my favorite stuff he has ever done. With exception of issues #0 & #17 of Teen Titans and issue #16 Of Red Hood and the Outlaws, he only plotted out the story in this book. He wrote #0's Red Robin origin story on his own. That issue is one of the highlights of the book. That is one of the best issue #0's I've read for any series in DC's New 52. Lobdell also pens the Red Hood and the Outlaws issue by himself. Issue #17 of Teen Titans was written by him and Fabian Nicieza, but plotted out by Lobdell alone. The rest of the issues, except #17 of Batman by Scott Snyder, were plotted by Lobdell and written out by Nicieza. Scott and Fabian have worked together before back in the 1990's on X-men for Marvel comics and the two seem to work well together.
In this book, they give us a story of the Teen Titans coming to Gotham to search for Red Robin after he was abducted by the Joker. While there, they meet up with Batgirl and, later on, Arsenal and Starfire. The only time all of the Titans are together is in the last issue which is the aftermath of The Death of the Family and a bridge towards the next story arc. The rest of the time, Red Robin is showcased with Joker and Red Hood while the Titans and Outlaws search for their respective leaders. As stated earlier in the review, I loved the #0 origin issue and the rest of the Titans and Outlaws portions of the Death of the Family were some of the best parts of that entire crossover. Issue #17 of Batman is the worst part of the whole thing. If it were not included in this book, the writing would get 5 stars, but I hate that issue and it alone brings the writing score down to 4 stars.
The majority of the art in the book is drawn by Bret Booth. If you've read any of my other reviews of his work, then you know that he is one of my favorite artists of the past 20+ years. All of his art looks fantastic. The characters and everything else are highly detailed. All of the characters look superb, but like a lot of artists from his generation, the females characters stand out as being even better looking than anything else. In the previous couple of volumes, Cassie stood out as the best character, but in this one, she gets outshone by Batgirl. Barbara isn't on but just a few pages, but she looks amazing and is definitely the highlight of the entire book for me. Booth's art, as always, gets 5 stars from me.
Tyler Kirkham is the artist for the #0 issue. None of his art looks bad, but compared to Booth, he seems like a minor leaguer. The characters are nicely detailed. There is a good amount of environment drawn in. Close-ups are where his characters look their best. Some of the shots from further away have faces that are just a bit off in quality. Tim Drake and Batman both look equally good and are the 2 best characters in the book. Batman is the more consistent of the two. Tim is one of the characters that the art slips on sometimes. 3.5 stars for Kirkham's art.
Eddy Barrows draws the last Titans issue. His art is almost up par with Booth's, but just slightly behind by a hair. The characters all look so great that none really stand out as better than the others, but I do like his version of Raven and I'm kinda inclined to mention her since she hasn't been in any of these books until now. I didn't know who Barrows was until I read the first volume of Nightwing not that long ago. His name has definitely stuck with me because of how much I like his art. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite artists at DC during this New 52 era. he gets 4.5 stars for his efforts.
Ugh. Batman #17 is done by Greg Capullo. I'm not a fan. His art on top of Snyder's writing is really starting to turn me off the Batman series. Because of the ugliness of his art in this volume, it is gonna drag the overall score of the book down. His art is by far the worst in the book. 2 stars for Capullo. All the art scores average out to 4.16 stars which I rounded to 4 stars.
The art and writing scores are both 4 stars so that makes this an easy one to figure out the overall rating for. That score is 4 stars as well. Once I read Nightwing volume 3, I will have all of the Death of the Family behind me. I'm looking forward to that so I can get on to all of the volume #4's of all of these series. I'm really excited for volume 4 of this series because of how this one ends. If you've gotten far enough into this series that you're checking this book out, you've gotta go ahead and read this one. If you're just checking this series out because of the crossover event, I hope you find this series as good as I do. I know some people have hated on this series because it is a much different version of the team and how each character acts, but damn the writing is good and it sure is pretty to look at.
June 23, 2018
I only have to say: was it so hard to use a tranlator, even Google's for the texts in Spanish? There were horrible mistakes twice that made my eyes almost bleed. Go hard or go home.
About the story, this is going NOWHERE (ironically, and yes, pun intended.) There were dark elements that I liked, but that had no relationship with the overall plot. I didn't see a real connection between the characters, but I'm really curious about what the hell will happen now or how it this mess supposed to end. Call me a masochist, but I wouldn't want to clear that doubt.
About the story, this is going NOWHERE (ironically, and yes, pun intended.) There were dark elements that I liked, but that had no relationship with the overall plot. I didn't see a real connection between the characters, but I'm really curious about what the hell will happen now or how it this mess supposed to end. Call me a masochist, but I wouldn't want to clear that doubt.
December 21, 2024
A significantly better volume helped by the Roy Harper-led Outlaws issue and Batman issue I’ve read three of four times over previously. These versions of the characters are still the worst versions of themselves, but Tim is better in his narration here, and I’ve always been one to prefer him getting along and working well with Jason. Interesting how Outlaws managed to level out at a certain quality level a little after the abysmal first volume but Titans hasn’t seemed to do the same.
February 24, 2025
This volume is shoehorned into the Death Of The Family storyline and it just illustrates how bad this book is compared to its contemporaries. The Titans here are so bad and the future looks worse. The plot is cookie cutter at best and the dialogue is even worse. Scott Lobdell just butchered these characters. I did enjoy Tim & Jason interacting and Brett Booth's Joker was creepy good. His other work, odd. Overall, another bad Titans book.
January 19, 2014
In retrospect, once you realize what DC's New 52 initiative really is, Teen Titans would have always been one of the perfect bridges between old and new continuity.
Back in the '80s, New Teen Titans was one of the top selling comic books in the whole medium. One of its defining stories was "The Judas Contract," one of the rare (for that time) story arcs that rewarded loyal readers when teammate Terra was revealed to be a pawn of Deathstroke the Terminator. It was a era for the team that introduced the likes of Starfire (now featured in Red Hood and the Outlaws) and Cyborg (now featured in Justice League) to the DC landscape.
A lot of Teen Titans comics have tried to duplicate that era over the years. There was a whole Dan Jurgens run that attempted to introduce an entire line-up of new characters. Perhaps that was a little too ambitious (or his '90s youths weren't what actual '90s youths were interested in at a time of Gen 13 and Generation X, among the most popular comics of that decade).
Scott Lobdell's Teen Titans, now in its third volume of collected adventures, has a couple of brand-new characters, the Latino youth known as Bunker and the mysterious Solstice, who in the issues collected here is represented as full of the classic Titans tradition, a mystery just waiting to unfold. Tellingly, perhaps, another from that tradition, Raven, makes appearances late in the collection. If Solstice ends up anywhere near as iconic (Raven was a key presence in the Teen Titans Go! cartoons that reintroduced the team to a new generation), Lobdell might have finally figured out how to make these guys popular again.
What makes the Titans so relevant today to what they were doing thirty years ago? The New 52 landscape is an attempt to hook readers all over again by drawing them in with storylines, continuing arcs that develop over years. That's the '80s Titans in a nutshell, an early adopter of a model that has come to increasingly dominate comics. Another of the signature New 52 titles, Scott Snyder's Batman, is one such series, for instance, and the source for the crossover arc represented in this collection.
"Death of the Family" is the New 52's attempt to make an icon out of the Joker all over again. In this arc, the Clown Prince of Crime kidnaps each of Batman's allies to try and prove that they're detrimental rather than helpful to the cause (although this is as much a self-serving gesture as anything Heath Ledger pulled in The Dark Knight, no matter what the guy says). The gimmick that dominates this new era of the Joker is his new peeled-face-as-a-mask look, but really it's the character much as he always was, just a little more focused than usual. He's obsessed with his legacy, his relationship with Batman.
The Titans have Tim Drake, the third Robin, as their leader. The second Robin, Jason Todd, is leader of a team of Outlaws who were in a previous era signature members of the Titans (including Starfire). Both Tim and Jason are represented here in full, all relevant issues of Teen Titans, of course, as well as one from Red Hood (and the helpful concluding issue from Batman, which to my mind hints at a far bigger story Snyder has in mind).
The collection also includes the Zero Month issue from September 2012, which is Lobdell's version of Tim Drake's origin, which stresses Tim's fairly perfect childhood that somehow still wasn't satisfying or perhaps challenging enough to dissuade him from pursuing Batman as his next sidekick (a story originally told in the excellent "Lonely Place of Dying" arc that followed "Death in the Family" from the late '80s). Tim was the first Robin to have his own ongoing series. This new version of his origin suggests there is plenty left to tell about his formative years. If he ever gets his own series again, that would be a great place to start, and perhaps more accessible to new readers than the sometimes cluttered Teen Titans adventures.
If there's any failing in this collection, it's in a lack of clarity. You probably wouldn't want to start here, for instance. The blessing and the curse of the New 52 initiative is that it makes these collections as mandatory to continue reading as all those manga volumes I'm sure DC was thinking about (imagine if these collections were digest size!). The Solstice story doesn't end here. There's a recent Kid Flash story that explains his updated origins. I don't know if Bunker will become an actually interesting character (he's boasted as a future Justice Leaguer in this collection, although he'd have to develop far more to reach that point; for now his look evokes nothing more than an Alpha Flight reject, while his powers make him out to be a more limited version of a Green Lantern), but he's the weakest showing here, at least in costume. These characters, along with every other teen character in comics, could always benefit to step out of their superhero guises more often.
If you believe in the potential of the series, though, this is a great place to look, and a fine example of how it fits in with the rest of the New 52 landscape, as potentially one of its future headlining acts.
Back in the '80s, New Teen Titans was one of the top selling comic books in the whole medium. One of its defining stories was "The Judas Contract," one of the rare (for that time) story arcs that rewarded loyal readers when teammate Terra was revealed to be a pawn of Deathstroke the Terminator. It was a era for the team that introduced the likes of Starfire (now featured in Red Hood and the Outlaws) and Cyborg (now featured in Justice League) to the DC landscape.
A lot of Teen Titans comics have tried to duplicate that era over the years. There was a whole Dan Jurgens run that attempted to introduce an entire line-up of new characters. Perhaps that was a little too ambitious (or his '90s youths weren't what actual '90s youths were interested in at a time of Gen 13 and Generation X, among the most popular comics of that decade).
Scott Lobdell's Teen Titans, now in its third volume of collected adventures, has a couple of brand-new characters, the Latino youth known as Bunker and the mysterious Solstice, who in the issues collected here is represented as full of the classic Titans tradition, a mystery just waiting to unfold. Tellingly, perhaps, another from that tradition, Raven, makes appearances late in the collection. If Solstice ends up anywhere near as iconic (Raven was a key presence in the Teen Titans Go! cartoons that reintroduced the team to a new generation), Lobdell might have finally figured out how to make these guys popular again.
What makes the Titans so relevant today to what they were doing thirty years ago? The New 52 landscape is an attempt to hook readers all over again by drawing them in with storylines, continuing arcs that develop over years. That's the '80s Titans in a nutshell, an early adopter of a model that has come to increasingly dominate comics. Another of the signature New 52 titles, Scott Snyder's Batman, is one such series, for instance, and the source for the crossover arc represented in this collection.
"Death of the Family" is the New 52's attempt to make an icon out of the Joker all over again. In this arc, the Clown Prince of Crime kidnaps each of Batman's allies to try and prove that they're detrimental rather than helpful to the cause (although this is as much a self-serving gesture as anything Heath Ledger pulled in The Dark Knight, no matter what the guy says). The gimmick that dominates this new era of the Joker is his new peeled-face-as-a-mask look, but really it's the character much as he always was, just a little more focused than usual. He's obsessed with his legacy, his relationship with Batman.
The Titans have Tim Drake, the third Robin, as their leader. The second Robin, Jason Todd, is leader of a team of Outlaws who were in a previous era signature members of the Titans (including Starfire). Both Tim and Jason are represented here in full, all relevant issues of Teen Titans, of course, as well as one from Red Hood (and the helpful concluding issue from Batman, which to my mind hints at a far bigger story Snyder has in mind).
The collection also includes the Zero Month issue from September 2012, which is Lobdell's version of Tim Drake's origin, which stresses Tim's fairly perfect childhood that somehow still wasn't satisfying or perhaps challenging enough to dissuade him from pursuing Batman as his next sidekick (a story originally told in the excellent "Lonely Place of Dying" arc that followed "Death in the Family" from the late '80s). Tim was the first Robin to have his own ongoing series. This new version of his origin suggests there is plenty left to tell about his formative years. If he ever gets his own series again, that would be a great place to start, and perhaps more accessible to new readers than the sometimes cluttered Teen Titans adventures.
If there's any failing in this collection, it's in a lack of clarity. You probably wouldn't want to start here, for instance. The blessing and the curse of the New 52 initiative is that it makes these collections as mandatory to continue reading as all those manga volumes I'm sure DC was thinking about (imagine if these collections were digest size!). The Solstice story doesn't end here. There's a recent Kid Flash story that explains his updated origins. I don't know if Bunker will become an actually interesting character (he's boasted as a future Justice Leaguer in this collection, although he'd have to develop far more to reach that point; for now his look evokes nothing more than an Alpha Flight reject, while his powers make him out to be a more limited version of a Green Lantern), but he's the weakest showing here, at least in costume. These characters, along with every other teen character in comics, could always benefit to step out of their superhero guises more often.
If you believe in the potential of the series, though, this is a great place to look, and a fine example of how it fits in with the rest of the New 52 landscape, as potentially one of its future headlining acts.
February 24, 2024
The volume starts off with Tim's New 52 origin story. It then shifts to the Death of the Family arc. Followed by a standalone wrap-up that also introduces us to the New 52 version of an original Teen Titan. Superboy is for some reason absent from this volume after being seen riding up the penthouse elevator in the final pages of volume 2.
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