Teen Titans, Vol. 9: On the Clock

Teen Titans (2003) #9

by Sean McKeever, Eddy Barrows (Illustrator), Jamal Igle (Illustrator)

It's The Teen Titans vs. The Clock King and his Terror Titans in this new trade paperback collecting TEEN TITANS #55-61.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Superheroes, Batman, Sequential Art

168 pages, Paperback

First published December 9, 2008

About the author

After writing indie comics (such as the ensemble teen-drama The Waiting Place) for six years, Sean got his big break writing an issue of The Incredible Hulk for Marvel Comics in 2001. Since then, Sean has written hundreds of comics for Marvel, DC Comics and other publishers, including notable runs on Sentinel, Inhumans, Mystique, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, Gravity, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, Birds of Prey and Teen Titans.

Best known for delivering introspective, character-driven work, Sean also wrote several weeks of the Funky Winkerbean syndicated comic strip, much of which has been reprinted in the celebrated collection, Lisa's story: the other shoe.

In 2005, Sean won the Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition.

Sean continues to write comic books; he also writes for the videogame and animation industries.

Reviews

[James DeSantis]

This went back and forth between Okayish and Oh this is pretty fun.

Everyone is dealing with their personal issues. Kid Devil dealing with the brunt of feeling alone and depressed. Everyone is kind of blowing him off and he just wants to feel included. On top of that Cass and Tim dealing with their "relationship". Ravenger being...Ravenger lol. And a new baddie, clockmaster...or some dumbass name he called himself.

This was pretty fun at points. I liked some of the interactions at times. I really thought the villain was silly as fuck and kind of stupid. I also thought the faces were REALLY weird sometimes and didn't match what the characters were saying.

Overall, a 3 out of 5.

[Brad]

The subtitle "On The Clock" only vaguely makes sense. The Titans fight back against an attack from the Clock King and his Terror Titans. (If I led a team of villains, I'd think twice about parroting the name of a hero team. That'd paint a big target.) The words on the back cover, "Divide and Conquer," make more sense. The team doesn't spend much time active heroing, but instead is a target for villains. Sean McKeever repeats his old trick of splitting the team up and focusing on individual characters, but it works a bit better than in the last volume. Near the end of the book, it seems like the teen team's roster will stop being in flux, and McKeever finally gets a handle on writing Robin, Wonder Girl, and all the rest. The roster is getting awfully tiny, though. And McKeever also deftly handles what I think are references to Countdown to Final Crisis without derailing the main story.

[Sean]

Sean McKeever puts the team through hell as a new villainous team starts to attack. While this new team is somewhat lame and mostly generic, their leader and his motivations are interesting. What I really did like was getting into the kids' minds, especially Miss Martian and Kid Devil. I also like seeing Blue Beetle around more. The art was okay but unspectacular. Overall, a decent but by the numbers team book.

[Robert Wright]

This iteration of the Titans just seems to be loosing steam at this point in the run. Not a bad book, just nothing memorable.

The most shocking turn, perhaps, is that Kid Devil can actually be a character and not a punchline.

Worth reading as a good story if you've followed Titans to this point, but not worth seeking out on its own.

[Freddie]

I hope I’m not the only one in the world that thinks that clock king and the terror titans are some of the lamest villains ever. I feel like somebody just pulled them out of their ass, and I literally can’t take them seriously, not with those doofus clock glasses and a teammate named cobra who is dressed in a cobra outfit. This is like he-man villains gone wrong.

The idea of titans being kidnapped for the dark side club was a good idea, however.

This is only getting three stars thanks to kid devil’s part in this story.

[Laura]

3.5 rounded up.

The Terror Titans are... not much of anything yet, though reading their miniseries tie in already helped with that. Highlights definitely are the exploration of Ravager and Kid Devil's characters, but this wasn't the most interesting entry.

You can definitely tell the difference from the Johns Teen Titans work, but the Dark Side club conflict set up is ok so far. Like many of these TT tpbs, it wavers between good and 'meh' moments in terms of enjoyment.

[Jeff]

The Titans aren't just a team, not just a group of friends, but they are a family. And just like any family, especially one made up entirely of teenagers, there are going to be some bumps and bruises along the way. With Supergirl leaving on the first page, to friction between Blue Beetle and Kid Devil, to relationship issues with Robin and Wonder Girl, and Miss Martian struggling with her "personal demons" the current Titans are experiencing some cracks in the team. This creates the perfect in for the Clock King and his team of Terror Titans. Exploiting the tension that is already happening within the team, a precision plan goes into effect for the King and his Titans to try and capture the entire team in order to make them wealthy. This collection is by far a "coming of age" story for both Kid Devil and Miss Martian, with the most focus on the former. The last "issue", features a fun buddy movie adventure with Kid Devil and Blue Beetle that ushes in a new direction for the Titans. As always, I also enjoyed Ravager as a character and she does some growing of her own. I am interested to see where these teen heroes go from here.

[Dean]

Really enjoyed this. Yes I know the plot is a little derivative, but McKeever writes great snappy dialogue, gives all his characters district personalities, and tells a breezy, fun story that moves along at a fair click. The artwork was also top notch, bright, clean, and clear, perfect for the story and characters. Made me want to seek out more, which is the biggest compliment of all!

[Fraser Sherman]

Feh. Lots of bickering, an unimpressive villain team and I don't think the Darkside Club (from Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers miniseries) works well in the main DCU. In fairness, no worse than a lot of by-the-numbers comics I have in my collection ... but it's a big collection so that's not much of a compliment.

[Shannon Appelcline]

McKeever really grows into the Titans with this volume, which features great characterization for Ravager and Kid Devil and a terrific fight against the Terror Titans, who seems like interesting characters themselves …

[Sesana]

Didn't we just do this story? With the Titans being suddenly targeted by an outside force while the team falls apart due to a lack of trust? Why, yes, we did, in the previous volume. And the one before that, as well. I'm hoping for something different in the next volume.

[Kris Ritchie]

3.5 rounded up because Kid Devil's character development to Red Devil really elevated this arc. I originally did not care for his character, bit he has really grown on me. Also, buh-bye Ravager smell ya later.

[Cait]

Okay, I'm seriously ready for a Titans storyline that isn't about Titans not trusting each other.

Also, Ravager is awesome. Why the hating?

[John Yelverton]

Another fantastic addition to the "Teen Titans" book series.

[David]

Very good little comic series :)

[Angela]

The terror titans go after the teen towns. Bog standard bad guys. There's an interesting subplot with Megan and Ravager but nothing else stands out. A good read.

[Jena]

Thought about giving it two stars because the titans don't trust each other/random team of enemies showing up stuff is quickly getting old, but it had a few good moments so I bumped it up.

[Galion Public Library Teens]

Review by C.M.: "Great heroes with great action, but they also had problems they had to face."

[Dan]

Some interesting heroes I have never seen,and some terrible villain counter team.

[Patrick]

The new writer is doing the current roster justice. Unfortunately, this marks the end of what I have been able to find thus far.

I'll be keeping an eye out for the rest of this line for sure.

[Kayleen]

Not as good as the others. I miss Geoff Johns!