Pre-Crisis Primer: The Kids Aren't Alright

Tales of the Teen Titans 42-44

Tales of the Teen Titans Annual 3

“The Judas Contract”

They get captured pretty often.

'The Judas Contract' is the climax for all the stories and most of the sub-plots that have been running through the Teen Titans title covered thus far in this blog.

Deathstroke the Terminator has taken a contract offered by the would-be criminal organization H.I.V.E. requiring the Titans delivered alive and in chains. Having failed his first attempt, The Terminator has come up with a new plan: plant a spy within the Titans, discover their secret identities, and take them down when they least expect it. His weapon: new Titans member Terra.

Terra, as has been covered before in this blog, is the spunky, secretive, blond 16-year-old teenage powerhouse with the ability to control and form rock and earth. She joined the Titans weaving a story of political assassination and intrigue, her parents lives at stake, and claiming to be the brother of another superhero, a low-tier character not yet covered in this blog, Geo-Force; a character possessing super-strength. While the Titans didn't quite believe her story, they eventually did come to trust her, letting her in on their greatest secrets: where they live, their real names, the people they love, everything. Readers have known for a while that Terra is working with Deathstroke, feeding him this information. Even more shocking, Terra, certainly 30+ years The Terminator's junior, is also his lover. 

Arrrggghhh, goddamn windows, Deathstroke hates windows!

   

Even more chilling, the assumption is that Terra is being manipulated by the older assassin and is as much a victim as the Titans. Not the case: As has been shown in an ever-increasing manner, Terra's hatred for the Titans far outweighs Deathstroke's. In fact, Deathstroke has no hatred for the Titans; their death is just a contract for him to fulfill. It's a matter of honor. In fact, not only does Terra hate the Titans, but she's also shown an inability to control her own powers and on different occasions has almost killed both Changeling, a member of the Teen Titans, as well as Deathstroke himself during a training session. He later wonders what it is he's unleashed.

This story opens in a very 'slice-of-life' manner. Terra is staying with Changeling, Garfield Logan, who, just for a bit of back-story, as a green-skinned shape changer, was abandoned by his parents and adopted by an ex-member of the odd superteam The Doom Patrol, Mento, a telepathic hero. The Doom Patrol have been dead for years now, having sacrificed their lives to save a handful of innocent people, and Mento has lived in his mansion, atoning for his inability to save the team by taking care of the young Changeling. This is all info that Terra is feeding back to Deathstroke. Terra and Gar bounce around New York City, meeting up with various members of the Titans on what amounts to a day off. Dick is with Donna and Terry as they plan their wedding, Starfire is shopping around the city, and Cyborg on a skating date of all things with a neighbor. Incidentally, I do enjoy the portrayal of Cyborg in this series. Far from being the grim, scarred, bruiser of the team, he's extremely sensitive, and while emotionally distant at times given the horrible accident that predicated him having cybernetic implants, his optimism trumps any cynicism he may play at.

After their day bouncing through New York City, Terra and Gar part ways, but not before she leaves him with a sunset kiss by the East River. One might even begin to think Terra might have had a change of heart.

Awwwwwwww

 No such luck, Deathstroke and Terra strike hard, attacking the team when they least expect it and subduing them with relative ease. The only member to escape being the currently codename-less Dick Grayson, having abandoned the Robin identity.

Deathstroke delivers the captured Titans to H.I.V.E while Dick receives aid from an unlikely source: Deathstroke's own family. Ex-family more likely, his ex-wife Adeline Kane, herself an ex-military spy, reveals that she has been hunting Deathstroke ever since his actions lead to the death of one son and the maiming of the other. Joseph Wilson is the surviving son, a throat injury having removed his ability to speak. The boy also has powers: make visual contact with him and he can possess a person's body for a limited amount of time. Adeline convinces Dick of her sincerity to stop her ex-husband and he agrees to her help. Fighting a traitor to the team, a super-powered assassin and a clandestine criminal organization sans superhero costume and codename would be tres gauche so Dick reveals his new identity and Nightwing is born. The costume sports an absurdly high collar too which transcends lame to become radical again. Not to be left hanging, Joseph takes the name Jericho and officially joins the Titans, now reduced to a two-man squad.

I love these outfits. Jericho's mom is in the background, how cute.

Dick freeing his teammates in the Titans is never in doubt: they make short work of the H.I.V.E goons, and Cyborg is able to take Deathstroke down hard. The tables have turned in dramatic fashion and it looks like the Titans finally have the upper-hand; too bad that's when Terra loses her shit.

Part of what I really enjoy about this story is Terra herself. As mentioned before, when she displays moments of touching emotion, like when she surprisingly kisses Gar, who's pined after her for almost the entirety of her tenure with the team, it's easy to believe this confused 16-year-old girl will realize that what's she's doing isn't right and she'll come to her sense. No, not Terra, she hates the Titans. It's never explained why she hates them either. She had no history with the team before infiltrating them on behalf of Deathstroke. She hates them because they're good people. Terra hates the Titans because they're together, because they're friends, because they have a support group. She hates them because they're better than her in some ways. She hates them because she feels lost, adrift, left out. Possibly she even hates them because she believes she's not as strong as them, not worthy of their friendship.

She can't stop hating them.

Regardless of why, it's that hatred that proves her undoing. In an act of pure desperation, Terra lashes out with her powers, flinging rocks and earth around the H.I.V.E. Structure in an attempt to crush everyone, to silence her own hatred by killing those she holds responsible for it. She only succeeds in taking her own life. It's Garfield who finally finds Terra's body, small, crushed, and broken under so much rock.

Thus far it's the greatest loss that's rocked the Titans. Even in the end, they tried to reach out to Terra, they would have forgiven her, and for her part, she probably hated them even more for it.