Review: Terror Titans #6 (of 6)

Or – “The End Is Always The Beginning…  Especially In Comics.”

Ever since her exit from Teen Titans several months ago, Rose Wilson (the Ravager) has fallen into the clutches of the Dark Side Club, and has been forced to fight other teenage heroes in death duels.  Aside from serving as a reminder that some of these characters (Hardrock, Sapphire, Argent, Aquagirl and others) still exist, the series has also shown Rose’s attempts to make a hero of herself, with or without her teen sidekick partners.  In this, the last issue, we see whether or not this particular tree has borne fruit…

Previously, on Terror Titans:  Boss Dark Side disappeared out of the metahuman underground (the better to take over Dan Turpin and murder the Batman, one presumes) leaving behind his underground underage fighting ring.  When the lunatic known as the Clock King took it over, he began stealing young superhumans to fight in his battles, as well as assembling a team of supervillains legacies, including the Disruptor (supposedly the daughter of the original Disruptor from Teen Titans) a new Copperhead, the son of Bolt, and someone who seems to be an antecedent of the Persuader from the Legion of Super-Heroes, completely damning linear time in the post-Final-Crisis DCU.  These Dark Mirror Titans have taken over the Dark Side Club, and Clock King has used his methods to brainwash all of the young heroes into doing his bidding, unto the death.  What he didn’t plan for was that DEATHSTROKE’S daughter is just as vicious and calculating as her old man…

Los Angeles is in flames, as superteens rampage through the streets, firing energy, manipulating magic, throwing cars and crushing buildings, all the while observed by the Ravager, held at bay by the four Terror Titans.  Disruptor laughs as Ravager is forced to witness the horrors in the streets, when suddenly the Star-Spangled Kid (old-school male version) steps out and starts calming the rampaging kids.  Rose gets her old sick smile, as she whips her elbow around, snapping Disruptor’s knee joint with full force.  “I don’t need any special powers to kick your trashy ass!” snarls Ravager, and threatens to use the girl’s own powers to kill her.  The hero teens suddenly arrive on the scene, having broken free of Clock King’s brainwashing, led by the Star-Spangled Kid.  Rose tells “him” to drop the stupid face, and the Kid morphs into Miss Martian, telepathic shape-shifting cheerleader…

The Terror Titans take advantage of the chaos to escape, teleporting back to Clock King’s lair, where their erstwhile leader chides them for their failures.   He is especially unhappy with Disruptor, reminding her, “Didn’t I tell you not to make another attempt on Ravager’s life?”  He kills Disruptor just as the heroes arrive on the scene.  Meanwhile, the last of the Dark Side Club’s backers escape through the sewer, running in the hopes of setting up their operation in a new city.  “We’ll get away and start again,” one of them asks as they turn a corner only to be confronted by…
STATIC!!!!!!!  Awww, HELL YEAH!!!

Dakota’s defender isn’t quite back to normal, but he’s awake enough to realize what his job is.  “I could SWEAR you just said something UNBELIEVABLY dumb…  Hey, you guys ever been tasered before?”  YEAH!!!  Virgil leaps into action, zapping the living hell out of all of them, and remarking that it was Rose who woke him up and sent him out.  Upstairs, Ravager and Clock King have it out while his Titans are taken down by an army of heroes, and he moves in to punch her.  Nice guy, taking shots at teenage girls…  Of course, THIS teenage girl is a psycho-killer and a stone-cold warrior, who immediately uses his close quarters to kick the living bajeezus out of him.  In the end, the Clock King escapes, the Terror Titans are taken into custody, and the heroes are freed, and all is right with the world…  until the three surviving Terror Titans break out of jail to seek out the Clock King.

This issue was very effective for me, with killer art from Joe Bennet, and a taut story from Sean McKeever.  As much as I’ve been annoyed with the glacial pace of the regular Teen Titans series, but this one really made up for it in action and drama, including bringing the awesomeness of Static into the Titans’ sphere of influence, which should herald some big doings in the near future, and I like the depth of the villainous characters, especially the camaradery between the terribly damaged Terror Titans.  Overall, this issue is a fine capstone to an interesting series (although I do wonder why it couldn ‘thave been streamlined into the regular Titans continuity, keeping us from having to deal with what is essentially filler for the last six or so months) and ranks a very impressive 4 out of 5 stars.  

Plus:  STATIC!!!