“THE TOMB BE THEIR DESTINY.” The Titans stop Calibano Loggia’s smuggling scheme. Romeo Loggia and Lilith discover the true story behind Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet story.
The Tomb Be Their Destiny!
Robin, the Teen Wonder, Speedy, Wonder Girl, and Mister Jupiter stand in the fabled crypt of the Capulets, the final resting place of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The Teen Titans had accompanied Mister Jupiter to Verona, to set up an Italian branch of Jupiter Labs. Almost immediately, Lilith began acting strangely. She claimed to recognize the very balcony Juliet stood upon, when Romeo professed his love to her. Donato Della Loggia, a powerful Italian magnate, warned Jupiter not to establish ties in Italy. Lilith met Della Loggia's son, Romeo, at a costumed ball, and fell madly in love with him. In a jealous rage, Kid Flash attacked Romeo. Later that evening, Kid Flash is stabbed in the street by a hunchbacked member of the Della Loggia clan. In the midst of giving Kid Flash a life saving blood transfusion, Robin over hears Kid Flash speak Mercutio's lines from Shakespeare's play.
Speedy points out that there are three slabs in the crypt, not merely two. Speedy is startled to discover that one of burial slabs still feels warm. Wonder Girl spies the hunchback standing in the shadows, just before the entryway to the crypt collapses. Jupiter, and the Teen Titans, are buried alive. The hunchback drags the unconscious bodies of Romeo and Lilith into a boat, and sails across the river, to a mist-enshrouded island. Della Loggia receives news from his nephew, Calibano, regarding the attack on Kid Flash, as well as Romeo and Lilith's disappearance. Della Loggia orders Calibano to return Romeo to him. On the island, Romeo and Lilith find they are the prisoners of Calibano's ancestor, the hunchback, also called "Calibano".
Reading his mind, Lilith learns that this Calibano also coveted Juliet's heart. Calibano confronted the two lovers in the Capulet crypt, and slew Romeo, during a sword fight. Calibano turned to see that Juliet had taken her own life, rather than live without Romeo. Refusing to let her go, Calibano sprawled out on the third funeral slab, and fell into a deep sleep. Inexplicably, sealing the tomb placed Calibano in a state of suspended animation. Only when the tomb became unsealed, during the excavation for Jupiter Labs, did Calibano awaken. Now history repeats itself, as Calibano challenges Romeo, once more, for the hand of Juliet/Lilith. En route to the island, Jupiter, and the Teen Titans, spy Calibano Della Loggia, leading a funeral procession of boats, across the river. While Speedy and Wonder Girl head on to the island, Jupiter and Robin decide to investigate Calibano Della Loggia's activities.
The hunchbacked Calibano disarms Romeo. Before he can deliver the fatal sword thrust, Speedy takes Calibano down. Beneath the surface of the river, Jupiter and Robin watch, as waterproof bundles are released from the funeral barges. Seeing scuba divers collecting the bundles, Jupiter and Robin move in, and engage the smugglers. Jupiter boards Calibano Della Loggia's boat, only to be taken at gunpoint. Suddenly, a shot rings out, as Donato Della Loggia guns down his nephew, from another boat. Della Loggia has long suspected his nephew's involvement in illegal activities, in this case diamond smuggling, and mounted his own investigation. Della Loggia, Jupiter, and Robin join the others on the island. Following the hunchbacked Calibano back to the tomb of the Capulets, the team arrives just as the hunchback crumbles into dust, the long centuries finally catching up to him.
"The Girl Of The Shadows!"
Aqualad is compelled to seek out a mysterious woman, on the waterfront. Aqualad had seen her earlier in the evening, at an outdoor dance, but had lost track of her in the crowds. When he finally finds her, she seems to have been expecting him. Suddenly, the woman is attacked by an armed man, Lelant, who refers to her as "Queen". Aqualad disarms Lelant, then beats him until Lelant retreats. Refusing to answer Aqualad's questions, the woman urges him to accompany her to "The Wall". Aqualad tries to explain to the woman that he can't be away from water for more than an hour. He turns away from her, briefly, to stare at his home, the sea. When he turns back to her, the woman is gone. Aqualad returns to the sea, tormented by the thought that he has not seen the last of the mysterious woman.
Superboy Meets Robin The Boy Wonder
This story was originally published in Adventure Comics #253 (October, 1958). A plot summary for this story can be found on that issue page.
"The Teen-Ager From Nowhere!"
In a small Kentucky mountain town, young Lilith Clay watches, as a mob of men, carrying torches, head down to the river. The men are searching for a lost boy. Lilith realizes that the boy has not drowned. Intuitively, she seems to know exactly where he is. Lilith leads the townsfolk to an old abandoned well. Sure, enough, the boy is found clinging to the wall of the well. The eyes of the men fall on Lilith with suspicion. Just as they're about to get violent, Lilith's father appears, and pulls her from their midst. Lilith has another vision. The boy had chased after his dog, into the well.
Sure enough, upon a second look, the dog is found in the well, too. Later, at the dinner table, Lilith reveals that she now knows she is adopted. Her parents admit to the adoption, which sends Lilith racing out of the house. Lilith runs, for miles, to the county orphanage. There, Miss Hardin, the head of the orphanage, comforts Lilith, revealing that her real mother also possessed telepathic abilities. Hardin convinces Lilith not to pursue what could be a tragic past, and to hold off on searching for her birth parents. Somewhat relieved to have an explanation for her strange new abilities, Lilith returns to the Clays
Log in to comment