Convergence: New Teen Titans #2 Review

Plucked from the lost world of Earth-1, the New Teen Titans have been thrust into conflict with the Doom Patrol of an alternate world, fighting for the fate of their city.  Fortunately, these heroes know a thing or two about operating under pressure.  Your Major Spoilers review of Convergence: New Teen Titans #2 awaits!

CONVERGENCE: NEW TEEN TITANS #2
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: Nicola Scott
Inker: Mark Deering
Colorist: Jeromy Cox
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Editor: Marie Javins
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in Convergence: New Teen Titans: Assembled to combat the extra-dimensional threat of Trigon, the New Teen Titans have seen more than their share of tragedy.  Last issue, they regained their powers after a year under a dome, only to be attacked by the Doom Patrol of another universe, who are more than willing to use fatal tactics against the former sidekicks and their pals.  Can the Teen Titans save their city without themselves becoming killers?

THESE WILL ALWAYS BE MARV’S KIDS

I feel like I need to make one thing clear up front: While I’m generally a fan of the Tangent Universe properties, I truly dislike this Doom Patrol, and this issue reminds me exactly why.  While Nightwing agrees to parlay with the Patrol’s Firehawk, her comrades stage an attack on the other Titans, shoot Beast Boy down in cold blood, and steal Cyborg so that they can use his power cells to return their city back home.  (A process that would prove fatal to Victor, by the way, not that the Doom Patrol really cares about such ephemera.)  It’s a battle between 80s and 90s, and kudos is due to Marv Wolfman for putting together such a meta-plot in a book that many are calling a throwaway tale.  The use of the Titans is very well-handled here, with their original personas restored, and Wolfman uses the limited real estate in the issue well, giving us moments of Dick & Donna, Gar worried for Vic, Kory angrily insisting that it’s time for Tamaran justice, and even Vic saving his own bacon by urging the Patrol to remove his power cells, knowing that his team can trace the unique Prometheum radiation signature.  The one downside comes as the issue ends, as the Doom Patrol simply up and disappears during a strange earthquake, and the Titans are left on a strange alien landscape, alone…

THERE’S THAT EARTHQUAKE AGAIN!

At this point, it’s clear to me that the Earthquake is going to be important to however this story winds up, but having the antagonists simply disappear is really unsatisfying.  The issue wraps with a nice emotional moment resolving three different bits of relationship conflict, including what I’m reading as a strong indication that Jericho is gay, which makes me wish there was some way to explore that going forward.  Sadly, all parties involved are pretty dead right now.  Bygones…  Nicola Scott’s art is wonderful throughout this issue, with very limited exceptions (including Beast Boy’s hair.)  She even draws the dumb costumes and ridiculous haircuts of the Doom Patrol on-model, which would be the most difficult thing not to update for me, and the final panels of the issue are lovely if, like me, you remember the relationships that are being mended through the story.  If not (and I don’t blame you if you don’t, Kole was a Teen Titan for about twenty minutes in 1984), this story may not have any resonance for you.

THE BOTTOM LINE: WORKS IF YOU’RE ALREADY EMOTIONALLY INVESTED

In short, this one does what the good Convergence books have done: Give you a little show featuring familiar characters that revolves roughly around the central premise.  Wolfman brings his love for his creations in a way that serves as a nice flashback to days long gone, before all these kids grew up, turned dark, and probably died at least once, and the art is lovely and reminiscent of the time period in question, when Perez and Garcia-Lopez gave us the adventures of the team twice a month.  Convergence: New Teen Titans #2 is a nice read, with an abrupt and somewhat confusing deus ex machina ending and truly awful antagonists, with strong art and characters that the creative team clearly loves, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall.  Here’s hoping that maybe these Titans might exist again after the Convergence mess concludes next week…