Too Soon

Teen Titans #40, a book I thought had one positive development amidst several negative ones.

The good was the team came together a little in the latter stages of the issue. Kid Devil wasn't the only one defending Rose, Wonder Girl got in on the act. Ravager, despite not exactly feeling the love earlier, shows up to help out her teammates. It's the second time this group has actually gotten its act together a bit (the first being when they all helped Eddie stay out of Caulder's grasp). I get that they're teenagers, and prone to erratic, emotional behavior, but I'm really not a big fan of a Titans team that spends most of it's time screaming, snarking and sniping at each other. It's like a comic book version of Married with Children. Ugh. Which I think makes Cyborg Marcy Darcy, bringing us to the problem of...

Vic Stone's continued jerkification. I know, Cy's had a rough year, he's probably still adjusting to the situation he's been thrown into, but this is the guy frequently referred to as the "heart" of the Titans. The guy who told Speedy that there are Titans all over the world, and is now the one who seemingly can't wait to send Rose packing, and is still only lukewarm on Kid Devil. Raven had done some bad stuff, but Vic still welcomed her back after her most recent resurrection. Ravager was a hero at some point too, right? So why can't she get the same consideration?

Speaking of potential candidates for traitor, let's talk about Bombshell's reveal. It's the reason for the title of this post, because it had no impact. Yeah, she's the traitor, great. We hardly know anything about her that would either make it a shocking development, or something that makes a lot of sense based on past history. So it falls flat. Maybe there'll be something in 52 that sets the table, but that'll be a little too late won't it? Or maybe it wasn't supposed to matter given the big ending, the Return of Jericho.

Uh, why? Forget why Johns wrote this, why would Raven do it? Does she think giving Joe a body again will make him less crazy? Spending years trapped in the back corners of Deathstroke's mind warped Joseph's, and I doubt that just because he's corporeal again, that he isn't going to try and hop into someone's body - probably Bombshell's - and start pummeling Titans again. Sure, it minimizes Bombshell's employers' *cough Father Time cough* chances of using him as a weapon, but he's not much less of an immediate threat as is. I'm not sure it wouldn't have just been a better idea to pop the CD in the microwave for a few seconds.

If you're the JLA, are you a bit red-faced if you find out the key to stopping White Martians was just to give Captain Atom a call? All that garbage with mass hypnosis, and Phantom Zones and Kyptonian weapons, and pulling the Moon into Earth's atmosphere, when really, all you needed was Captain Atom to do what he does best - blow himself up when there are a bunch of the Martians around.

I know, I know. Just drop the book and stop your bitching, right? What can I say? I see the glimpses, and since we're talking Johns and not Bendis I've got more confidence that the glimpses will become a full time thing. Yeah, I'm a dumbass.

Tell you what. There's another issue coming out at the end of the month, maybe Geoff can end the arc on a high note. If not, I'll let it go, try to find another book to keep DC on my pull list.