Sunday, August 28, 2011

Graphic Novels - Teen Titans Vol. 6: Titans Around the World Part 2



Previously, on Graphic Novels……Stuff happened. Moving on!

Before I start with the second arc, I want to list the rest of the creative team for the tpb:

  • Carlos Ferreria – does the art to the first part of the arc. Not too bad, though I have never heard of him till this day.
  • Paco Diaz – does the art to the last part of the arc. His art’s okay, not too great though. I have never heard of him till now as well.
  • Ryan Benjamin - Also does art on the last part of the arc. his art is okay as well.

So let’s finish this!

Titans Around the World

Part 1

We start out as The Teen Titans battle the villain Girder in San Francisco. Afterwards, they are surrounded by a lot of young people asking for their autograph. Back at the Tower, Kid Devil and Ravager (well, mostly Rose) argue with Wonder Girl at Robin about their place in the team since Robin has brought up that they need more experienced people on the team. Cyborg interrupts them and shows them a video involving Raven talking to Vic about leaving the Titans because she has a deep secret that could team the team apart. They then go out to search for Raven (…again).


In Moscow, Russia, former Titan Red Star (formerly known as Starfire) busts up a terrorist cell known as the Meta-Men Militia. He’s then afterwards greeted by the Titans, who start here to look for Raven.

We then move abruptly to Edgewater, Colorado, Cody Driscoll, formerly known as Risk (remember the dude in Infinite Crisis who got his arm ripped off by…PRIME? Yep, that guy) robs a convenience store and apparently doesn’t know about Native Americans. Apparently, he fell on hard times and hates the Titans now. He goes back to his trailer to wallow in his filth until he is approached by some unknown figure. He tells Driscoll to join Titans East or Die.

Funny(?) Pic not here...yet.
…Uh…well, I don’t know what to say about that.


The Titans get teleported to Red Star’s spaceship. After some back story on his life and powers, we see a little conversation between Cassie and Tim regarding “the Kiss.” Rose notices them off to the side and thinks that they’re talking about her and Eddie. Rose and Cassie get into it again. Red Star sees the bickering and then tells all of the Titans that they should quit the team. before they end up dying like a lot of the Titans have. They try to talk him into re-joining the team but he refuses. He gives them an address that Raven has used in Beijing and tells them to leave. The Titans go to Beijing. They don't find Raven at the apartment, but they do find a journal. Apparently, it looks like that something was stolen from the Tower during the past year by one of the many members that went and came. We end part one with Raven, carrying a book, running from armed men in a forest.


Who could it be?

Part 2
We start in Tokyo, where Zatanna’s cousin Zachary Zatara is doing a show. His assistant tells him that the Titans are back in his room. He’s not pleased. As they talk, it turns out that Zatara found the whole Titans experience to be crap and quit. They also talk about raven for a bit. He tells them that Raven did come by to see him recently, but he doesn’t know where she is. The Titans try to recruit him, but he “quietly” tells them to get out. I should note that after they leave, Zatara does try to follow them to see Eddie, but they have left already.


Well! Someone sounds bitter!

They then go to Brisbane, Australia. There, another former Titan, Miss Martian, is going against some villain named Gunshot. After dealing with the villain, she goes talks to the Titans. Miss Martian has also talked to Raven recently. She tells the Titans that Raven wanted her to use her telepathy on the Titans to find out the identity of the traitor. Miss Martian refused the request, saying that it’s against personal beliefs to read the minds of "good people" without their own permission. She tells them she left the Titans because of all of the bickering that was going on then. She also tells them where Raven was going next: the China Sea.

In the South China Sea, Bombshell, another one-time member, fights some “Dang Dirty Nasties”. The Titans show up and help her in stopping those “Dang Dirty Nasties”. After the battle is won, they ask if Bombshell has been in contact with Raven. Bombshell then tells them that she and Raven are investigating the rumors about the traitor and she reveals the traitor to be….RAVAGER!!!


Part 3 We start out with Miss Martian doing something she said she wouldn’t do: read people’s minds without their permission. She reads the titans’ minds and discovers something. During all of this, she begins to change into….”What The He---“.

Back at the China sea, bombshell tells the Titans that Rose never reformed and is on the team to learn their secrets. Rose doesn’t take the news lying down. She refuses her claims and tries to attack Bombshell, but Bombshell breaks her swords and continues to talk down to her. Luckily, Cassie chimes and tells Bombshell that Rose hates her dad Deathstroke just like they do. To ease tensions, Cyborg tells Rose to head back to the tower in the T-Jet until all of this is settled. The rest of the Titans and Bombshell board the Quantum Jet and head out to find Raven. Robin pieces together that Raven has been researching the Church of Blood and knows where Raven will head next: Phoenix.

We then end up at the Church of St. Sebastian aka “ the Church where all of that crazy :$*( went down”. Raven teleports in and says it time to make the Titans a family again. Hmmm….what’s she planning?

At the Tower, Ravager is about to quit until Wendy and Marvin come tell her that they have discovered that someone had taken a computer disk (I won’t spoil it), which was hidden inside an encyclopedia. Ravager begins to piece together what Raven is planning to do and leaves.

Meanwhile, on the way to Phoenix, the Titans talk about how Rose wouldn’t betray the Titans for Deathstroke. As they talk about who else might be the traitor, Miss Martian suddenly comes into the Quantum Jet. Bombshell uses this opportunity to use some heat blasts on MM, which reverts her to her White Martian appearance. Short story is this: Green Martians – Good, and White Martians – Bad. It appears to everybody that Miss Martian is the traitor and a fight breaks loose.

The Quantum Jet gets damaged, but Wonder Girl carries it down and lands it at the church. Cyborg and Rob take on MM, while Cassie and Eddie go in the church. They interrupt Raven in the middle of some ritual, and Raven accidentally mistakes Kid Devil for Trigon, her father. They quickly tell her that Miss Martian is the traitor, but Raven points out that it’s not her. At that moment, Bombshell blasts Cassie and is revealed to be the traitor. It also turns out that her soldiers have defeated Cyborg, Robin, and Miss Martian outside. She prepares to take the book that Raven herself took from the Tower, but Ravager shows up at the last minute to help Raven. Raven opens the book to reveal the disk and throws the disk into the pond of blood. She finishes her incantation and suddenly, JERICHO rises from the bloody pit in his own body. This shocks Rose, who has never actually known her resurrected brother.


Jericho, Come Forth! And throw some clothes on for goodness sake!

Part 4 We start out with Jericho reliving his past as he gets out of the pond. Raven gives him some clothes and introduces him to Rose. The babe known as Bombshell (aka the traitor or …BS) starts blasting at the group. We find out that Jericho is still mute and can’t possess BS. It turns out that BS’s protective shell protects her from his powers. So, Jericho takes control of “someone stronger.”

Outside, Miss Martian does some Martian trickery on the soldiers and frees Vic and Tim. That “someone stronger” was Wonder Girl, and BS gets knocked through the church wall outside. The whole team then takes on the soldiers and BS. The take the soldiers with ease, but BS is a little more trouble. To stop her, Kid Devil makes it hot and heats Bombshell's metal skin. Then, Raven uses her soul-self to cool BS down, causing the shell to become weak. Finally Ravager puts her down….Don’t worry, she doesn’t kill BS.


I agree with the green-eyed man as well.

Afterwards, the Titans hand BS and her men over to Agent Diana Prince (Wonder Woman…long story) and Sarge Steel. It Turns out that BS and her men were hired to kidnap Jericho. Meanwhile, Miss Martian, Raven, and Jericho rejoin the Titans. Raven feels that something is off with Eddie (like his soul is in trouble or something like that). Cassie and Tim converse, with Tim mentioning that Raven may be able to bring back Conner like she did Jericho. Back at the Tower, Joey and Rose finally get some time together (AWWW.). But it seems like stuff may be brewing as we move to New York, home of Titans Island. It turns out that Deathstroke (!!!) is watching his two children and wants them both back. We end with Slade looking at some pictures of his new team.

Oh snap!

………… . . . . . . .. .. … . . .
And that ends the tpb Titans Around the World. When put all together, It’s a pretty decent read. Complaints? Well, I really miss Bart, Conner, and even Mia in this book. Their presence, especially Bart’s and Conner’s, was something that I liked even when the story wasn’t all that great. Some of the art is a little wonky in some places. Cyborg’s douchiness toward Eddie and Rose was a little annoying, but considering you have been asleep for a year and you come to find a former enemy and some random guy on your team, you would be douchy too. Also, why does Raven always need to be lost in some woods? Oh well…

Anyway, on to the good stuff. I like the new members on the team. Rose is kind of cool here. Eddie is alright. He fills in the Comic relief role for the team. Miss Martian aka M’Gann is really cheerful, and Jericho is back (again). I like the fact that this team doesn’t gel as well as the older team did. It’s also cool to see the Doom Patrol again, though I did not know that the Chief could be such a prick. The second arc is cool as well, which sets up the next (and final Geoff Johns penned) arc of the Teen Titans.

Well, it’s that time again. I’m trying to plan something for September involving a certain hero who starts with an “S”. I might as well leave with you with this image. Peace.



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