The Teen and The Joker
Every now and then I will post a message on Twitter or on a message board to a comic creator to see if they will respond. The message isn't anything to bait them or something like that. It is usually words of praise or maybe a request for some behind the scenes material.
So I post sometimes on comicbookresources.com and hve gotten the occasional response. I posted to a forum about this particular comic, and got a response from Fabian Nicieza. You can read it here.
Back? Coolness. Because the dialogue was done very well in this issue. The plot and art is something else.
We open up with Batgirl bending over, because it is a pose that some people naturally have happen to them when they are flying through the air. Mind you, I've liked Booth's art in previous issues of Teen Titans. He has the tendency to draw teenagers like teenagers. And let's face it, he has some talent.
Now the dialogue I don't have too much of a problem with. Having been away for a bit from the book, the ground work for who all the characters are is laid out. My problem is with some of the plot. The first was having Batgirl appear for no other reason than to exchange some dialogue that catches the reader up. If you are a Batgirl fan, you can skip her appearance in this issue, it pretty much is the preview pages for the book.
Then we move to Red Robin waking up in his "original" Red Robin costume. It is the same one that Lobdell put him in when he was technically Robin but went by Red Robin. Joker lays it out to him that the Teen Titans searching for Tim is what brings about the Joker-ization of all the people in Kid Flash's dust wake. Don't worry, because for some reason we get a flash to check out Birds of Prey #15 to get further background behind what is happening with the Teen Titans in this issue. I know, completely out of place, but feel safe in knowing that I don't get it either.
Mind you, this book is almost page for page on the same pace as Red Hood and the Outlaws #15. There are some differences between that comic and this one. Just look at Starfire's costume. Completely different in this comic than in Red Hood.
Can we just go back to the fact that Joker kidnapped Red Robin and then dressed him up? And, considering the fact that this will cross over with Red Hood, and the books are written by the same writer, there would have been a little bit of paying attention to details like that one. Over in Red Hood, Tim was wearing the new Red Robin outfit. So where is Jason Todd in this book? Hopefully that little detail will be explained, but who knows.
Over in Batman, Scott Snyder has been building on this twisted Joker. It is a more psychological, twisted scare and atmosphere he has around him. In both this comic and Red Hood, Joker comes across like a classic Joker. There isn't that twisted edge to him that makes an appearance in Suicide Squad or Batgirl. Joker is just corny under Lobdell's writings. And that's really where this crossover just doesn't feel like it has gravity to it like the other books do. The other books are bordering on disturbing, this just feels elementary.
Grades
Words: Plot - 2/10; Dialogue 7/10 - which isn't bad considering what was handed to him.
Pictures: 6/10 - Joker's face didn't have a "mask" feel to it. It just looked like bad plastic surgery.
Buy Next Issue: If I feel like I will know what will happen when I read Red Hood, then I may just skip it.
