I am adoring this series so much, Jason is slipping right into the mentor role I was hoping for. Someone who has messed up in the past and is doing his best to guide a new generation, this is the exact kind of rep Jason needs right now. I am sick of him always being portrayed as the shoot first think later member of the bat family when he is so much more, even if there is still some distrust there from the powers that be especially when it comes to certain activities happening behind closed doors. But speaking of the powers at be, I love how Mr Terrific is trying to give the kids space to learn and grow, the whole point of the teen titans, while being a total overbearing father. And oh my gosh this art style, I love it so much alongside this emphasized color work. All of the characters feel so rich with it and this is just such a treat. We ended the last issue with the teen titans forming with a big middle finger right over to Nightwing as Jason takes the helm this time, and we start this issue with Jason carving the path forward with the team by gathering some information from one of the men he captured last issue. Except to get that information Jason left to dangling the man by his legs off a bridge until the blood rushed to his head and he couldn’t feel his face. Which made the man tell Jason all about a building he is aware of where ascend sends the “problem” children. While I still patiently wait for flatline to be added to the team I do find the dynamic the de-powered Eugene Choi still has with them especially the newer characters Wildcard and Proxy. These two see to act like the devil and Angel on Eugene’s shoulder as Wildcard takes every chance he can get to haze Eugene for no longer having powers and not being a member of the group because of it, all while Proxy is there to help defend him and bolster Eugene to try and defend himself.
As the group gets into their little spats, Red Hood it erupts to pull them in for the tether he just found out about. Everyone, but Eugene who didn’t want to slow them down, are geared up and ready to go as they leap from the rooftop…and to another rooftop where they sit and watch the building while striking a few poses. So the group gets right back to what they are best at…great character interactions on rooftops, lol. Red hood is staying cautious, ascend fronts as a youth development organization but promotes anti-meta ideology and if they are filmed raising them it will get turned into recruitment material. Their best bet is surveillance until they know what they are dealing with. As everyone chills out, Cheshire takes a moment to ask Jason of he told her dad about how she has been spending her nights. He hasn’t and he heard about the stunt she pulled with her mom robbing the justice league, but he has been in the same spot between two worlds just as she is now:
“Having your cake and eating it is great for a while. But eventually, you do have to make a decision. And no matter which path you pick…you will let someone down. The trick is figuring out how to not let that stop you.”
I feel like this moment is the perfect encapsulation of Jason’s growth and where he should be heading since under the red hood, the coming back with a vengeance is fantastic but writers have not known what to do with him since and I think having him go into this grayish redemption area where he isn’t fully accepted but he is doing the best he can with a bit more edge while pulling back on the no killing rule is exactly where he should go. An area where he has picked the side of good and he is starting his path down it, and being a mentor to these kids is just the boost down that path he needs. Proxy gets a chance to ask FairPlay how things are going with his dad since they didn’t show up to Mount Titans…FairPlay really hasn’t talked to him yet but it was his choice to turn Nightwing down as well and him and is dad exist in pretty different worlds. Wildcard ends up hopping in the middle of them as Proxy takes a moment to get on him for treating Eugene terribly. It’s clear that it drives Eugene crazy he lost his powers and wildcard chopping away at him doesn’t help. But wildcard disagrees, he thinks it should drive Eugene crazy and he should be doing anything he can to find a way to get his powers back. Hell three of the other Shazam family members have, but wildcard sees Eugene’s moping about and is not happy about it.
The group convos come to an end as Cheshire and red hood spot a girl getting dragged into the facility. Proxy doesn’t like the look of it and starts to sweat with anticipation as he wants to go on and help her now in case they make her disappear like Cole from their server. Jason tries to hold him back but Proxy leads the way and puts an aura around all the members so they float right down to the building as he leads the titans charge. Red Hood is left behind yelling for them to wait as they charge into the building and crash in deep as the building’s security, armed with strange guns with medical signs, calls a code gray. It’s utter chaos with the titans using their powers, and weapons in the case of Cheshire and FairPlay, as wildcard accidentally triggers the sprinkler system and phones are drawn as it looks like they are storming the children’s clinic. I love that proxy can cover up his face with his powers, but it’s really funny how most of the titans don’t look like they are attacking other than Cheshire who is literally kneeing someone in the face. Eventually the titans start to get overtaken by a the odd weapon which deploys canisters which covers Proxy in substance that grows quick and hardens around him.
Eventually everyone stops as a woman named Ms Maren steps out and begins to free the titans. They demand to know where the girl they saw getting dragged in is being taken but she won’t talk about her patients, further explaining that it takes a lot for someone’s parents to drive them to this program and it is a wellness center. Jason comes in civilian clothes moments later and apologizing profusely as he puts on his best youth counselor vibe as he introduces himself to Ms Maren as Monty Malone, the leader of a program there four are apart of. They got it in their heads the young girl was in danger and clearly they are mistaken. Ms Maren seems to go along with this story as clearly BS as it is and is alright with chopping it up to a misunderstanding with their door always open if these kids would like to join their program. As they head back to the dingy HQ in the warehouse, red hood rips into them for hearing in without knowing what it was. They ended up creating the exact show Jason wanted to avoid and the ascend spokesman is already spinning the story on them. He sends them all home as he heads out with a bat in hand, ignoring Nightwing’s calls in the process, to get more information out of the man he still has captive and continues to “interrogate” for information on ascend. We jump over to check on Nightwing and Mr terrific having a call together as they discuss the teen titans, Nightwing maintains that they should be allowed to make and figure out their own mistakes or until the point red hood makes them step in. Proxy heads home to his perfectly normal life where he finds his mom watching the tv on the recent meta attack on the wellness center, completely unaware her son is the one with the distorted face. She clearly doesn’t know her son has powers and is starting to fall for the ascend propaganda about powers leading to a lack of accountability. What she should really be worried about are all these crazy ass inventors who build death machines every week, but that’s just me. The funny thing is proxy gets home with the excuse he was just hanging out on Eugene’s dorm all night, only to get a text from Eugene who has more info on ascend but wants to meet in person. Only for Proxy to arrive to the dorm to find it busted open and Eugene gone as a white van drives off outside.