New Teen Titans #24-27 + New Teen Titans Annual #1

New Teen Titans #24-27 + New Teen Titans Annual #1

Originally released in 1982

Written by Marv Wolfman

Art by George Perez

Realizing it's been a while since I read the New Teen Titans comics, I picked up where I left off, with Starfire being kidnapped by her traitorous sister Blackfire, and the Titans setting off to save her with the help of a group of heroes from Starfire's part of the universe called the Omega Men.

The story largely focuses on Starfire, as one would expect from a premise like that, with her battling her sister in a fight to the death. (Blackfire betrayed her people, allowed an alien empire to conquer their world, and sold Starfire into slavery)  However, other members of the Titans get focus, with Raven becoming so overwhelmed by all of the fighting that her demonic father Trigon starts to influence her mind.

At one point, Robin sees Starfire, and believing her to be dead, he comes to realize that (despite telling her earlier that he sees the two of them as just being friends) he actually loves her.  Once Blackfire is beaten and peace is restored, he starts to act on that when they get back to Earth.

Cyborg's found someone that he cares for with Sarah Simms, who teaches children that have lost limbs, and Donna has Terry Long, while Wally and Raven have a sort-of relationship (even if it mostly seems one-sided from Wally's end).  Beast Boy is the odd one out, but he winds up briefly meeting Terra, a young woman who will be a crucial part of the Titans mythos going forward, by my understanding.

Issues 26 and 27 also deal with what seems to be a big issue in the US at the time, the drug trade, by focusing on runaway teenagers.  It's a more realistic problem than the past few issues have dealt with, but I'm assuming it's one that the creators wanted to make sure that the audience was aware of.

These issues have minor characters facing stomach-churning problems, like a teen girl who got pregnant only to be disowned by her father.  By the end of the issue, she returns home, only to discover that her father wants nothing to do with her.  Between that and the issue ending with another teenager fighting with his parents and leaving home, the story makes it clear that this is a recurring problem and no amount of superhero beatdowns is going to solve the problems that the Titans dealt with here.

These issues were all right, giving further context for the world that Starfire grew up in while showing that Starfire and Raven are potentially going down darker paths in the future. (between Starfire not even trying to talk her sister out of fighting and going straight for the kill, and Raven's possible demonic possession)  I thought the comics did a pretty good job with handling the topics that they covered, such as how criminals prey on the weak and desperate (such as people running away to the big city to try and change their life without any money or plan) to do their dirty work for them.