Pre-Crisis Primer: She's a Little Runaway

Teen Titans 26-27

“Runaways”

George Perez, the artist and all-around class-act, does a hell of a title page.

Over the past year I've been putting together a near-complete collection of the Teen Titans series, also one of the few series to have its continuity basically unaltered in the switch from Pre- to Post-Crisis, giving me an opportunity to read these books as part of this project. These issues being the first in my unbroken run, I was really looking forward to reading this story.

Not only was I not disappointed, I was completely blown away.

For those of you new to the party: The Teen Titans are essentially a team of sidekicks: Robin, Wonder Girl, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. They hang out in a clubhouse that is shaped like a giant-T and generally get into misadventures with some of the oddest DC villains (a major bad guy is Monsieur Mallah: a malevolent, French talking gorilla (told you there would be more of these)).

Superman would lift the boat, Starfire plows through it.

 This story opens up with the wrap-up to a previous space adventure (my favorite kind of superhero jaunt) and the expectation by various Titans for some downtime and no one to have to punch. It wouldn't be a superhero comic story if that happened though, it would be an actual story. But I kid.

The tale that unfolds is decidedly down-to-earth and comprised of interweaving stories featuring different kids, all runaways and all with different reasons for running away. One child is fleeing a father who disowned her after she became pregnant; another wants to be rich and powerful; and another just up and runs fearing himself a disappointment to his family for poor grades. Each of these kids falls into drugs, prostitution or gangs on the streets of New York where, surprise, they find they're not as tough as each believed themselves to be.

The drug-related death of one of these children comes to the attention of Robin who calls in the rest of the Titans to see what they can do. The plot wraps itself up with an obligatory fistfight once the Titans locate the crime-boss using these young runaways as drug mules all over the city.

The story, regardless of all the costumed action, remains as grounded as it can in regards to the plights of several runaways spotlighted. There's no easy solution for these kids once our 'villain' is defeated. The epilogue makes a point of showing the pregnant girl trying to return home but her father will have none of it; she's back on the street. Nothing the Titans can could save this girl from an uncaring parent. Just like real life, no easy answers and little happy endings. Even the superhero plot ends indecisively, with the slimy crime boss being freed on a legal technicality. 

Where's Robin when you really need him?

In terms of the ongoing DCU, Teen Titans is one of the few books located in a 'real' city (New York City instead of a 'Gotham City' or 'Metropolis') and it's fitting that this title would strive for a little more realism (with comic-book reason) with the stories. In this respect Teen Titans acts as a great contrast with the more fantastic concepts of Pre-Crisis like multiple Earths and exploding volcano bases. Although every now and again an evil gorilla shows up, it is comics after all.

Pre-Crisis Primer: Say 'Hi' to Batman

Batman 331-335

'The Lazarus Affair'

If it has to be a volcano, make sure it's flaming.

I'm not going to lie; I have a lot of Batman comics and it was a struggle to limit the amount of Batman I read during this entire Post- and Pre-Crisis run. Batman consistently appears in multiple times and unless a cross-over warranted it, I tried to keep Batman stories to the major 'Batman' title or those stories with continuity points I wanted to hit. One of those continuity points happens to be represented with this early entry: 'The Lazarus Affair.' One of my goals was to hit all Batman stories featuring the the arch-foe Ra's Al Ghul, of which this is the first.

Like most Ra's al Ghul stories, that fact that  Ra's is even a part of the story is kept a secret from readers until a suitably dramatic reveal; it's never a well-kept secret, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of mystery now and again.

'The Lazarus Affair' begins with Bruce Wayne, not Batman, under fire for allegedly owning slum tenements throughout the city. This is of course not true and traced to an unscrupulous businessman with ties to a 'mystery benefactor.' An appearance by long-lost Batman love interest and some James-Bond-style globe-trotting and Batman ends up in the volcano lair of Ra's al Ghul, with Robin and Catwoman. We learn al Ghul doesn't have a cool, destroy-most-of-the-population-of-the-planet scheme in mind, he just wanted to screw with Batman, convince him to marry Talia, and gain usage of Wayne International assets. A little weak, but when the story leads to a drawn out sword/hammer/fist fight that ends with Ra's al Ghul ablaze and still fighting, I'm not complaining too much. The story ends with Ra's dead, Talia escaping, and Batman on top, per usual.

No, being consumer by lava will not be enough to kill Ra's Al Ghul you plebian.

This is also the first of many times a story will end with Ra's al Ghul believed dead (spoilers: he's not), so let's keep a running tally at the end of this entry.

With secret lairs, two femme fatale characters, an extended ski-chase with laser-wielding enemies and a global stage, the writer is clearly channeling James Bond films and does so to great effect. I'm a proponent of getting Batman out of Gotham City, out of the alleyways and away from disfigured psychopaths and muggers. The Batman character is incredibly versatile, he can really play in any sandbox, so why confine him? 

I love that he's been shot twice by lasers and doesn't seem to give a shit.

At five issues long, this is absolutely epic by the standards of comics at the time (1981) and it reads as something special, utilizing most of the main support cast as well as wrapping up several main sub-plots that had been appearing in the book. Another aspect I really enjoyed was the focus on Bruce Wayne in the beginning of the story: Bruce Wayne is being attacked and it is his reputation on the line, rather than Batman's. This is also a great subtle clue that Ra's, being the only villain to know of Batman's double-identity, would be behind everything as well as giving Batman a different kind of conflict, one he's unsure of how to tackle. I do so love seeing Batman stumped for anything length of time. Make him work at it.

Ra's al Ghul death count: 1