Written by Adam Glass
Art by Bernard Chang
Published by DC Comics
“Any other bright ideas?!”
This month’s issue of Teen Titans is a continuation of last month’s action bonanza, with Lobo on a contract to kill his daughter… and everyone else on the team while he’s at it.
But with Crush down for the count that means it’s time to regroup, super-hero style. And that’s an excellent chance to do a little character work with the team.
The team has faced down a number of genuine threats since their formation, but after Lobo’s deadly serious performance last issue, it’s clear they are dealing with a do-or-die moment.
Lobo is gloriously mean, tough and relentless in this escapade, and it’s clear he has no intention of taking prisoners.
And that’s bad for the Teen Titans.
With the ante full up like that, emotions are high, sparking a number of interesting team-bonding moments, as the team gets to find out how they deal with a Superman-level crisis coming at them full-force.
Turns out they have a pretty good arsenal of responses when Lobo shows his mug again, and it turns out the team is really starting to act like one too, for all that more than half of them are no longer sure if they’re interested in Robin’s leadership after his secret prison was revealed.
And still, Lobo bulldozes through all of them.
It’s an impressive display.
Between last issue and this, our storytellers Adam Glass and Bernard Chang have doled out a remarkable amount of abuse to our team, and to Lobo in particular. And man, that guy’s tougher than I realized. Simply put, the Main Man does not stop. And the kids are running out of options.
Which begs the question – what happens when a team of morally ambiguous youngsters are confronted with the reality of an unstoppable, unrelenting force who is determined to kill them no matter what they throw at him?
Thankfully this is a super-team, so there are some… unanticipated options. And thankfully for Crush, there’s a chance for her to release a little pent-up aggression against, let’s face it, the worst father figure anyone could ever possibly have.
But for all that things end this round on a particularly satisfying note, it leaves one to wonder – did whoever it was that hired Lobo, actually expect the kids to survive this encounter? Because after the last two issues… that seems like a risky bet.
Either way, it’s been no picnic for the team. It’s very clear that one or all of them could have died. And based on the sinister presence of Lex Luthor in the final pages it seems equally clear that that’s still an option.
And so, still, we are left with a central question.
Who the heck hates these Teen Titans that much? And what exactly, is their connection to the team… ?
Next Issue: Dark Gifts