Teen Titans Go! #34, Oct. 2006

I'm a huge fan of DC's "kids line" of super-hero books!  They've been consistently putting out well-produced comic books based on their animated television shows since the Batman Adventures.  Where the rest of the DC Universe fights a grim and sometimes-losing struggle against continuity control and poor editorial edicts, the "kids" line seems to put out one great book after another.  Stories are often self-contained to an issue or so, and aren't smothered by what is going on in all the other books in the "real" DC Universe.  Often, too, the stories are more upbeat and humorous.

Teen Titans Go! was based on the hugely popular Cartoon Network Teen Titans, a fun, manga-influenced series which in itself was based on DC's influential New Teen Titans comics of the 1980s.  The series followed the exploits of Robin, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy (Changeling) as they fight crime in their city and as they go through the daily struggles of growing up and making friends, and discovering their capabilities and limitations.  The cartoon dealt with these situations in a fun, upbeat way that could entertain both children and adults.  As a treat, the series would bring in guest-star super-teens and villains from the comics like Aqualad and Speedy.

Unlike their regular Teen Titans comics of the past few years, DC carried this style over to Teen Titans Go!  The regular comic was seemingly an unending parade of tragedy and disaster, surprisingly many times darker and depressing than other DC books. The body count in Titans comics is statistically higher than others- watch out, kids!

This issue of Teen Titans Go features a fun criss-crossing, world-wide charity race between super-fast Kid Flash and tornado twins from Guatemala named Mas y Menos as they encounter villains and groupies along the way.  Kid Flash is confident, a bit full of himself, but is the fastest kid alive.  Mas and Menos (Plus and Minus) are Spanish-speaking brothers who derive their speed powers by literally keeping in touch with each other.  

Right before the race! Beast Boy lending his support and Cyborg asking for some food, while Speedy and Aqualad give Mas y Menos a pep talk.

Starfire starting the race in her fractured English!

Fashionable super-teen Argent (nicely borrowed from Dan Jurgens' 1990s run of Teen Titans), one of the many distractions, usually female, that Kid Flash feels confident to stray from the race to help.

Beep! Beep!

Mas y Menos are getting tired of Kid Flash's attitude- Beep! Beep!

Uh-oh, busted by his girlfriend Jinx...right before he reach the finish line!

Blood of the Demon #5, Sept. 2005

Hi, sorry for the long absence! Finally all done with grad school and, of course, no real job- so now, I have a ton of time to go through the giant stash of cheap comics I've accumulated from the abused quarter bins at nearby comic shows the past couple of years! I'm going to try to read at least a comic or or two a day, and then give my "twenty-five cents" on it! 

Today I read John Byrne's "Blood of the Demon" issue 5 from 2005, guest-starring DC's Holy Trinity: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. This issue starts with a detective, Sandra Kinkaid stumbling into the three heroes at the well-decorated Gotham City apartment of Jason Blood, who she doesn't know is also Etrigan the Demon!
 

They are about to explain all to cigarette-smoking detective when a distress call comes in. The Demon is under the spell of Morgaine Le Fay somewhere downtown, causing quite a commotion. The four head out to stop him. Superman fights Etrigan, Wonder Woman goes after the witch, and Batman goes to find help in the form of blind, stuck in the 1960s Hindu mystic named Randu. Randu, though blind, has quite the eye for hippie jewelry and hands over an amulet to Batman that when thrown over Etrigan will release him from Le Fay's spell.

What I Liked!:

Seeing DC's Big Three working together, shades of Super Friends!  (Would like to see a modern DC comics show the Trinity with Robin and Aquaman!)

How cool to knock on someone's door and have it answered by those three!  And oh, Superman is shy about sharing info about "how big" some guy is...but Batman is so willing to divulge!

Jason Blood has such an awe-inspiring apartment, filled with treasure, portraits, rare artifacts- and it has a great view of Gotham City!

I wonder if it smells like a museum?

I was a huge fan of John Byrne's fun-filled, and guest-star-filled run on Wonder Woman, which he wrote and drew back in the mid-late 1990's. The Demon was one of those guests from that run, so it was a nice reunion to read here. Back in that run, one could tell the Byrne was throwing in all his favorite characters from the DC's vast library- many created by Jack Kirby. I must admit, I've never been a huge fan of Jack "The King" Kirby's DC output, The Fourth World titles, OMAC, and the Demon. But Byrne does an excellent job putting his spin on Kirby's creations!

I really dig the way Byrne draws architecture!

Wondering how much money Gotham City would have to spend on crime-deterrance if it wasn't all spent on electric bills.

Batman using his detective skills to dare Le Fay to show her real face! Eep!

Batman, you're not supposed to point out a lady's flaws!  No make-over career for you!

 The speed, wisdom, strength, speed, and beauty of Wonder Woman!