GUILTY! Review of TEEN TITANS #28

Teen Titans #28Hold on to your hats, Bart fans!  This issue of TEEN TITANS is a big one for Kid Flash…and the results are certainly not what you may expect!

LIGHT SPOILERS ONLY

The fight is on between the forces led by Bar Torr and the Functionary, with the Titans caught squarely in the middle!  The Jon Lane Kent Superboy uses the opportunity to cut loose for a little extra mayhem…while realizing that if things don’t change we will soon die himself due to the mutual rejection of his human and Kryptonian DNA.  This battle continues to get worse, with Bar firmly believing in what he is doing, and the Titans doing their best to end the killing.  There is an end to all of this from a surprising source, and an ending that effectively takes not one, but TWO Titans out of action.

Your opinion of this tale will rest largely on whether you can put the pre-New52 Bart Allen out of  your mind.  Taken at face value, Scott Lobdell has written a powerful and gut-wrenching story of a freedom fighter who has taken his fight too far.  The book is illustrated exceptionally well by Scott McDaniel, Tyler Kirkham, and Art Thibert.  It is a remarkable tale on it’s own merit, and if you don’t attempt to reconcile this character with things that happened before “FLASHPOINT”, it is a well-crafted story.  However, if you want to remember the “old” Bart Allen, this is not the story for you.  More than possibly any other character in the New 52, Bart Allen has been transformed in his basic nature, going from from a bounce-off-the-walls “impulsive” kid into a tragic figure with massive amounts of blood on his hands.  That change is certainly jarring for anyone who read the “old” Bart, and I certainly hope at some point in time there may be some measure of redemption available for this character.

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5 thoughts on “GUILTY! Review of TEEN TITANS #28

  1. KoderKev

    I know this book is ending, but I’m seriously worried where that will leave Bart, Kiran, Kon, Jon, and the others. I agree, the story is a good one, but it’s sad it took 2 years to get to a good story. And now that the book is finally working, they’re ending it.

    Reply
  2. Kyer

    Yep. What they did to Bart Allen is 25% of why I worry so much about their bringing Wally West (or any other MIA character into their DC52. Other factors for me are the loss of history, character relationships, that being placed solely in a team-only position means scarcity of stories for that character– anyone seen Jay Garrick lately?–and so forth.)

    On the book on it’s own merits: It shouldn’t have taken two years to get well-done stories if you want to keep new readers. If you wanted to keep old readers….don’t do such drastic changes.
    After the first eight months of tanking why didn’t DC change the creative team?

    Reply
  3. Martin Gray

    I skipped this one, I simply can’t take any more of the new Kid Flash. I just want him gone. When a character is so different from the source material, don’t give him the same name or look.

    Reply

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