THE NEW TEEN TITANS (VOLUME 2) #6

"TITANSMANIA"
Writer-Editor-Co-Plot: Marv Wolfman | Co-Plot: George Pérez | Layouts: Daniel Jurgens
Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal | Letterer: John Costanza | Colorist: Adrienne Roy

The Plot: New York honors the Titans with a parade and a presentation of the Key to the City. Wally West and his family, with Frances Kane, watch the parade on TV while elsewhere, the winged alien pines for Lilith and Jericho recovers in the hospital after the Titans' encounter with Trigon. Later, the Titans assess damage to their tower and then attempt to adjust to life as celebrities, while Arella heads out to search for Raven. Eventually, when he realizes that something is troubling Donna, Terry suggests a Titans' holiday in the Grand Canyon. There, the group discusses their experiences with their dark sides and eventually reaffirms their status as a team.

My Thoughts: I just had to give it one more issue, didn't I? Based on the cover and then the splash page, I figured this would be a feel good "quiet" issue in the aftermath of the Trigon saga. Well, it's definitely the latter, but in no way is it the former. It seems the Titans' fame has made them all suddenly realize how laughably careless they've been with their secret identities since the series began, as they suddenly can't get a moment's peace with the press and fans hounding them. Besides that, they're all disturbed by the visions Trigon showed them, in which their dark sides did terrible things to their loved ones, which led to the Titans giving in to the darkness and killing those evil versions of themselves.

So, to cope with this trauma, the group spends the final nine pages of the issue moping about their feelings to each other. The entire Grand Canyon scene is a slog, as the Titans pour out all their emotions in a way that just doesn't feel real to me. I like my super heroes to keep their angst bottled up, to soliloquize about their feelings through thought balloons, and to express their emotions by screaming and punching teammates who say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Seeing this group sit around and yak about what's eating them rubs me the wrong way.

TALES OF THE TEEN TITANS #51 & #52

"THE JERICHO IMBROGLIO!" | "JERICHO'S STORY"
Co-Creators/Co-Editors: Marv Wolfman & George Pérez
Pencils: Rich Buckler | Finishes: Bob Smith (#51) & Mike DeCarlo (#52)
Letterers: Ben Oda (#51) & John Costanza (#52) | Colorist: Adrienne Roy

The Plot: (issue 51) The Titans bust up an international gunrunning operation and make the front page news. When this publicity reveals to the world that Jericho is with the group, a Middle Eastern president named Marlo uses him to find his mother, and hires Cheshire to kidnap her.

Later, Cheshire attacks Adeline Wilson in her home, killing her elderly aide in the process. Cheshire defeats Adeline but Jericho arrives to challenge her. She takes him out as well and escapes with Adeline. Meanwhile, Nightwing visits the Pentagon and learns that Jericho and Adeline may be involved in the weapon smuggling ring. He calls Changeling, the only Titan near Manhattan, to investigate. Changeling heads for Adeline's apartment and finds Jericho, who refuses to go with him to turn himself in. Jericho defeats Changeling and goes into hiding.

Later, the Titans debate what to do about Jericho while Cheshire questions his mother. Meanwhile, in Alaska, a group of S.T.A.R. Labs scientists find an alien starship which crashed centuries earlier.