New Teen Titans #28-31

New Teen Titans #28-31

Originally released in 1983

Written by Marv Wolfman

Art by George Perez

This set of issues fully introduces Terra to the rest of the Teen Titans, along with having her join the team.  Admittedly, the ultimate fate of Terra is something that I've picked up from other media, though it's clear that there are hints at what's going on - her backstory (which involves being the illegitimate daughter of a deposed king, and being forced to commit crimes to protect her parents only to learn that they were killed) has so many holes in it that the characters call it out.

However, the team doesn't have time to dwell on that, because a conflict is brewing between two of their enemies.  The Brotherhood of Evil seeks to destroy the cult of Brother Blood, and they believe that Raven's power is necessary to accomplish their goal.

In addition to this, there's more relationship drama brewing than most soap operas.  Beast Boy has a crush on Terra, Wally West loves Raven but she can't reciprocate without the risk of freeing her demonic father, and Starfire and Robin are starting a relationship though Robin is spreading himself too thin and comparing himself to Batman too much for his own good.  Cyborg discovers that his friend, who he has a crush on, is engaged, while Donna Troy meets Terry Long's ex-wife and daughter.

On top of this, Speedy (Green Arrow's former sidekick, and one of the early members of the Teen Titans) stops by for a short time, getting caught up in an attack by the Brotherhood of Evil.  He's a shameless flirt, hitting on just about every woman present, though they all turn him down.

I'm not familiar enough with the Brotherhood of Evil to know if they were made up for this series or if they have a history prior to the Teen Titans.  The team is lead by the Brain and Monsieur Mallah (a brain in a jar and a talking French ape, respectively), with the most active members being Phobia (who would likely make Scarecrow jealous, though she can only exploit a given fear once), Warp (a teleporter who mainly seems to be there to give the team a quick escape; he doesn't do much otherwise), Plasmus (a blob monster), and Houngan (his powers are a mix of computers and voodoo with an unfortunate-sounding name).

The Brain wants the secrets of Brother Blood's powers, which he believes Raven knows. (or at least, he thinks that she absorbed them when she fought Brother Blood)  The Titans travel to the criminal nation of Zandia (in that it's populated largely by criminals; it's also Brother Blood's headquarters) in order to rescue her, which is surprisingly easy.  They find her almost immediately.

However, during the fighting, Raven sees her friends injured, possibly dead, and she loses control of her emotions.  She goes berserk; letting herself slip for just a moment nearly allows Trigon to control her body, which wouldn't end well.  It's clear that her concerns about getting emotional aren't exaggerated.

The New Teen Titans continues to hold up well, and I can see why it was seemingly considered DC's answer to the X-Men back in the 80s.  I'm already preparing myself for the inevitable gut punch once Terra's plot reaches its climax, and with bits of it being hinted at here, I'm curious to see what brings about Dick Grayson's shift from Robin to Nightwing.