More thoughts about New 52 Teen Titans
Oct. 27th, 2013 11:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainwatersparkExpanding on what I wrote in my previous post.
I do consider myself a fan of this series, mostly because I'm a fan of the characters (particularly Red Robin *cough*). That's...not to say that I don't have problems with the writing, though.
I really like the opening arc that featured the Teen Titans getting together, did not really care for "The Culling" arc (read: basically skipped it), was "meh" about Wonder Girl's origin arc, adored the "Death of the Family" tie-in, and really disliked the Raven's joining/Trigon invasion arc.
The Culling: I only read the prologue & epilogue for this (issues 8 & 10), though I did enjoy them. #10, in particular, had great character interactions & a nice look into Tim's head, regarding his insecurities about being the team leader and his struggle to maintain his cool. He's a pretty fascinating character.
On Wonder Girl's origin: I don't know, I felt that her background was kind of cliché, especially the part where she takes on the Silent Armor in order to save her boyfriend. (It didn't help that the art for that arc was also pretty meh.)
Death of the Family: Anything that has Red Robin scheming to get out of trouble is going to win me over. IGN's reviews claim that Tim is basically the most fleshed-out and nuanced character, and while I do like the other Teen Titans a lot, I have to agree that so far he seems to have the deepest characterization. And yet, I feel like in some areas it could be pushed further. For example, his argument with Solstice when the gang is saving Superboy is never satisfactorily resolved. He has a pretty interesting monologue in the wake of "Death of the Family" about how he felt that he failed the Teen Titans, and while I guess it's in-character for him not to discuss those thoughts openly, it still hasn't led to any inter/intrapersonal payoff. And that leads me to the next arc...
Teen Titans vs. Trigon: Bleh. Okay, part of my issue with this arc is the interpretation of Raven. Granted, my only previous encounter with Raven was in the cartoon Teen Titans, where she was a pessimistic goth girl but still very much a hero. So I don't know whether there's some precedent for her to be evil. Still, I just don't like it. (I also still don't really have any idea as to why Red Robin thinks Raven would make a good second-in-command? Yeah, she stood up to her demonic father [except not really because right now she's a mole/double agent], but all of the other Titans are also fearless Determinators, and just, I don't get this reasoning at all.)
The other thing I really hated was the revelation that Tim was partly possessed by Trigon. I mean, yes, it explained why he was being really weird in issue #17 and making out with all the girls (which definitely struck me as super OOC at the time), but other than that there was not much foreshadowing, and also he isn't shown dealing with the repercussions of having been possessed. And that's huge! I mean, here we have Red Robin, the Teen Titans' leader, the super-smart guy who keeps a lot of secrets and generally has a lot of control over himself and his emotions...realizing he was possessed and made to do things he would not have done if he were in full control (even if, as the writing insinuates, part of him wanted to). This is also the guy who felt like he failed his team when the Joker kidnapped him and thereby lured his team into fighting against hordes of aggressive people infected with Joker's HA toxin. (Tangent: Note that all of his thoughts are about what his team went through; he barely reflects on the fact that he himself nearly died several times.) All evidence points to the fact that he should, at the very least, be having an internal self-talk about what happened.
So yeah, failure all around for that one. *bangs head on desk*
On the positive side, though, I am looking forward to the next arc and the explanation of Kid Flash's background...
I do consider myself a fan of this series, mostly because I'm a fan of the characters (particularly Red Robin *cough*). That's...not to say that I don't have problems with the writing, though.
I really like the opening arc that featured the Teen Titans getting together, did not really care for "The Culling" arc (read: basically skipped it), was "meh" about Wonder Girl's origin arc, adored the "Death of the Family" tie-in, and really disliked the Raven's joining/Trigon invasion arc.
The Culling: I only read the prologue & epilogue for this (issues 8 & 10), though I did enjoy them. #10, in particular, had great character interactions & a nice look into Tim's head, regarding his insecurities about being the team leader and his struggle to maintain his cool. He's a pretty fascinating character.
On Wonder Girl's origin: I don't know, I felt that her background was kind of cliché, especially the part where she takes on the Silent Armor in order to save her boyfriend. (It didn't help that the art for that arc was also pretty meh.)
Death of the Family: Anything that has Red Robin scheming to get out of trouble is going to win me over. IGN's reviews claim that Tim is basically the most fleshed-out and nuanced character, and while I do like the other Teen Titans a lot, I have to agree that so far he seems to have the deepest characterization. And yet, I feel like in some areas it could be pushed further. For example, his argument with Solstice when the gang is saving Superboy is never satisfactorily resolved. He has a pretty interesting monologue in the wake of "Death of the Family" about how he felt that he failed the Teen Titans, and while I guess it's in-character for him not to discuss those thoughts openly, it still hasn't led to any inter/intrapersonal payoff. And that leads me to the next arc...
Teen Titans vs. Trigon: Bleh. Okay, part of my issue with this arc is the interpretation of Raven. Granted, my only previous encounter with Raven was in the cartoon Teen Titans, where she was a pessimistic goth girl but still very much a hero. So I don't know whether there's some precedent for her to be evil. Still, I just don't like it. (I also still don't really have any idea as to why Red Robin thinks Raven would make a good second-in-command? Yeah, she stood up to her demonic father [except not really because right now she's a mole/double agent], but all of the other Titans are also fearless Determinators, and just, I don't get this reasoning at all.)
The other thing I really hated was the revelation that Tim was partly possessed by Trigon. I mean, yes, it explained why he was being really weird in issue #17 and making out with all the girls (which definitely struck me as super OOC at the time), but other than that there was not much foreshadowing, and also he isn't shown dealing with the repercussions of having been possessed. And that's huge! I mean, here we have Red Robin, the Teen Titans' leader, the super-smart guy who keeps a lot of secrets and generally has a lot of control over himself and his emotions...realizing he was possessed and made to do things he would not have done if he were in full control (even if, as the writing insinuates, part of him wanted to). This is also the guy who felt like he failed his team when the Joker kidnapped him and thereby lured his team into fighting against hordes of aggressive people infected with Joker's HA toxin. (Tangent: Note that all of his thoughts are about what his team went through; he barely reflects on the fact that he himself nearly died several times.) All evidence points to the fact that he should, at the very least, be having an internal self-talk about what happened.
So yeah, failure all around for that one. *bangs head on desk*
On the positive side, though, I am looking forward to the next arc and the explanation of Kid Flash's background...
