The New Teen Titans #10-12

 The New Teen Titans #10-12

Originally released in 1981

Written by Marv Wolfman

Art by George Perez

I had started the New Teen Titans before starting this blog, so I'm picking up where I left off. Deathstroke has already established his rivalry with the Teen Titans, being hired by the villainous organization H.I.V.E. to kill them, and in this issue, he plans to fulfill his contract and get more money out of H.I.V.E. by killing the Titans with a powerful bomb before selling more bombs like it to the highest bidder.

Admittedly, it's difficult to take Deathstroke entirely seriously when two of his assistants are basically Muppets.  Deathstroke is shown to have gotten a power boost here, making him more of a credible threat against the Teen Titans than he was before, though it still seems like he's outmatched by a team that includes Raven, Starfire, and Kid Flash.  In the middle of all of this, Cyborg and Beast Boy become friends, with Beast Boy explaining his history with the Doom Patrol and how Cyborg reminds him of one of the former members of that team, Robotman.

Deathstroke's demonstration doesn't work out as planned, and the Titans survive the bombing, though he is cunning enough to have multiple back-up plans in case the Titans survive or H.I.V.E. betrays him.  During the battle with Deathstroke's forces, Beast Boy is badly injured, resulting in the Teen Titans needing to go to Paradise Island, the home of Wonder Woman and Donna Troy, to heal him.  As men cannot set foot on Paradise Island without the Amazons losing their powers and immortality (George Perez's Wonder Woman series handled this by having Steve Trevor brought to a separate island that's used for medical purposes), it's up to Raven, Starfire, and Wonder Girl to take Beast Boy to Paradise Island, while Robin, Kid Flash, and Cyborg go to look for Beast Boy's missing adoptive father.

Unfortunately, the arrival of the women on Paradise Island coincides with a Titan and sun god, Helios, breaking free from his imprisonment in Tartaros.  Helios falls madly in love with Donna upon seeing her, and he brainwashes her to make her fall in love with him. Donna's relationships are handled in an odd way - aside from Helios's brainwashing, her relationship with Terry Long (a 29 year old college professor) comes across as creepy given that Donna is explicitly still a teenager while Terry is almost thirty.

Donna joins forces with the mythological Titans (not entirely of her free will) to try and kill the Greek gods on Mount Olympus.  After Donna is freed from her brainwashing and there's an extended family therapy session, the mythological Titans agree to return to Tartaros, making it into a home for themselves rather than a prison.  Donna returns to New York City, while Starfire and Raven wait on Paradise Island for Beast Boy to recover, leaving the story of Robin, Cyborg, and Kid Flash's adventure for the next issue.  The writing does a good job with juggling the team for the most part, though Kid Flash and Robin get very little to do in the first of these issues.