Pre-Crisis Primer: Batman Learns a Lesson

Batman 364

Detective Comics 531

“Chimera”

Batman is a shithead at the zoo.

Batman's not doing so well. Because he was an inattentive douche, both his new ward Jason Todd as well as long-time girlfriend Vicki Vale bailed on his ass and left him high and dry. While Bruce is sad about Vicki, since she a least had the decency to stay in Gotham City he makes the choice to go after Jason since the tire-boosting kid made the incredibly 12-year-old-who-wants-to-be-Robin choice to run away and join the circus.

Jason did not join a traveling circus to be a cliche, instead he'd seen a pattern between towns visited by the circus and a rash of violent robberies occurring. Solving a crime and possibly helping people is secondary to Jason's main task of impressing Batman and proving to him that he will make a good Robin. It just can't be healthy the amount of pressure Bruce has unknowingly put this kid under and then to abandon him to punch psychopaths. Look at Dick Grayson as Robin, he's going through all kinds of identity-crisis shit in Teen Titans. And what did Bruce do in response? Throw him out of the manor. It's not really a big surprise then that, to delve into the future a little bit, Dick will have a chip on his shoulder for the next ten years of stories and Jason....well, Jason gets a raw deal.

Robin was really hoping to kick Bruce but got confused.

 As a mystery, this story is a complete failure, which is kind of a shame that it's a mystery. The title, 'Chimera' refers to the name of the man perpetrating the robberies that follow the circus: he uses different masks and identities. Jason is convinced the robber is part of the circus and even investigates and interviews a list of suspects: Strong Man, Bearded Lady, Waldo the Clown, who could it be? The answer turns out to be irrelevant because midway through Jason's investigation Batman appears, because, really, did the kid think he could hide from Batman? Batman lends his own expertise to the search for Chimera in the form of a punch to the face. Once Chimera is down, Jason agrees to go back to Wayne Manor with Batman who also agrees to give training Jason a chance to train as a teen sidekick.

I'm making that sound-effect next time I punch a man in the back of the head.

 The only kind of mystery that makes a big deal regarding the identity of the criminal and then completely dropping this story thread is a shitty mystery. 'Chimera' is one of those comic book stories, and we will encounter more, that have completely worthless and terrible main plots where the only reason to read would be the advancement of the sub-plots of the continuing series. If 'Chimera' had just been about Bruce talking through his damaged relationships instead of just enticing an impressionable child with promises of teen-sidekick superhero action, maybe it would have been construed as a boring story. I contend it would have been a better and more worthwhile story.

In a last bit of sub-plot development, while Bruce is able to win Jason back to his fold, Vicki Vale, doubly upset at being unable to get a hold of Bruce to perhaps talk through the issue that have arisen over the course of their fairly lengthy courtship, decides to ditch him and demands a photographer assignment overseas. By the end of the story, she's trashing her personally autographed photo of Bruce Wayne and jet-setting her way to Guatemala. I really do enjoy the way Vicki Vale refuses to take Bruce's shit. Although, Bruce still isn't as much of an asshole as the Flash, who I still can't believe would allow his fiancee to languish in a mental hospital in an attempt to protect his own secret identity. Perhaps I should be writing a side essay on how horrible superheroes are at interpersonal relationships.

When in doubt: look cool.

Pre-Crisis Primer: Jaundice is Lethal

Green Lantern 173-174

"Old Friends, New Foes...!"

I am the Javelin, and I love bananas.

While unbeknownst to him that Justice League compatriots Flash and Batman are dealing with some serious personal problems, Green Lantern Hal Jordan is back on Earth, back in Coast City, and ready to party; partying including punching out criminals all day and kinky superhero sex all night. Some heroes just have no self-pity.

One shouldn't hate on Hal because he can actually keep a woman happy: it's not his fault his hero compatriots have dead wives or flat-out forget girlfriends even exist; no, one should hate on Hal because his stupid ring is useless against the stupid color yellow and he continually makes a habit of fighting villains that have fetishes for said color. I feel the need to point out that this is the third story so far featuring a prominent role for Green Lantern and the second time he's encountered the color yellow.

If Hal Jordan can get the drop on you, you deserve the insult.

Hal's back, enjoying life on Earth and generally getting into hijinks with his rich girlfriend. Hal's girlfriend, Carol Ferris, justifies the rich by running the family business, Ferris Aircraft, which designs and tests all sort of experimental aircraft for the army. She's much better than Hal and I don't know she gives him the time of day. 

Ferris is an interesting place, providing employment to both a scientist obsessed with building a telekinesis apparatus and harboring a secret as well a second scientist, Bruce Gordon, who's very open about the fact that his body has been used as the host for the Angel of Vengeance, Eclipso, many times in the past. Bruce assures everyone that Eclipso is gone and will never show his half-shaded face ever again. Promise. Swear.

In addition to hokey scientists, Ferris Aircraft is also in the sights of a United States Congressman who, for some reason not mentioned in the story, has a mad-on for Ferris Aircraft and decides the best course of action is to hire a super villain to trash the place. Continuity Alert: the congressman decides to outsource any mercenary-hiring through the mysterious Monitor, last seen plaguing the Teen Titans. Who is The Monitor? Where does he get his inexhaustible supply of C-grade bad guys? Answers to come soon enough!

I wasn't kidding. It's even the cliffhanger.

In the meantime, the hired-gun super-villain Javelin make his debut, and, as the name suggests, he throws trick Javelins. As the name dos not suggest he also speaks with a ludicrous German accent. Normally trick javelins shouldn't really prove a problem to a man who wields an intergalactic space ring that turns thought to reality. In fact, when Javelin first appears, he can only one-up some Ferris guards because they think he looks like an ass and don't take his throwing sticks seriously. Walk in the park for any intrepid superhero, right?

Right. Too bad for Green Lantern but Javelin's favorite color is yellow. His costume is even mostly yellow, which has the unintended side effect that the ring won't work on Javelin. Regardless, the banana-colored criminal's love of yellow is so prevalent that one of his trick javelins explodes in yellow paint when it strikes the target. Too bad for Green Lantern that once covered in yellow paint, mid-flight, mind you, his ring goes worthless and he plummets like a stone. Almost dies. Fucking yellow. Eventually Hal skewers Javelin (ha!) and saves Ferris from destruction.

But really, I'm having trouble with the yellow thing. I enjoy Green Lantern for the goofy villains and the goofy alien races with cool designs, but I'm disliking the title because an unexplained weakness against the color yellow kind of tips the threshold of stupid for me. We'll receive an explanation for this weakness Post-Crisis, but for right now, I can't wrap my head around how a weapon poweful enough to give form to thought can't overcome a weakness such as yellow. The weakness is as boring as Hal Jordan is as a character.. He's not really interesting nor does he have any interesting conflicts or flaws. He's a bland white guy in a mask who really hates lemons. Things should be getting interesting soon though....

Javelin's masterstroke is a giant javelin. How can you not root for him?

Pre-Crisis Primer: I Like Pale Goth Chicks Too.

Detective Comics 529-530

Batman 363

'Nocturna'

Can't be bothered to fight crime with goth chicks around. She's so deep.

Oh boy.

These three issues represent the start of a multi-year run on Batman comics that I've been wanting to read for a long time. The same writer, Doug Moench, wrote the two titles Batman was appearing in at the time: Detective Comics and Batman. In an effort to create a stream-lined continuity for Batman, something the previous writer had started, Moench wrote both books as one, meaning the books would constantly crossover: one story continuing between both titles. Fun stuff, so let's dive in.

Batman hates your balloon.

cturna are introduced here and will going on to have a big impact in the next few years of Batman stories. Interestingly enough, while there won't be any stories directly contradicting these characters come the Post-Crisis, they will nary be mentioned past the 80s.

Regardless of what is to come Post-Crisis, both characters make a splash in this introduction with the Thief of Night besting Batman in combat by using the same methods: blending into shadows and attacking unseen while Nocturna (complete with classic comic book origin: lonely astronomer is performing an experiment that goes awry leaving her skin pale as night and incredibly sensitive to sunlight) is able to easily seduce the Dark Knight her connection to the darkness too much of an attraction for him. It's alright Batman, I dig creepy, poetic goth chicks too.

Nocturna's influence grows to infect Bruce Wayne's life as well; unable to shake her charms Bruce ignores the woman he's currently dating, Gotham News photojournalist Vicki Vale, who, much to her credit, doesn't really stand for this being ignored shit and lets Bruce have it with both barrels: asking him to get his shit together or she won't be around much longer. 

I love how sassy Batman is in that bottom-left panel.

The Thief of Night and Nocturna are a brother/sister team: she plans the heists and he carries them out. Batman is eventually able to get the best of the duo, finally besting the Thief of Night in combat while Nocturna makes a getaway, he does manage to recover much of what was stolen and imprison the Thief regardless of Nocturna's flight from his grasp. Not so lucky in his personal life, Bruce is unable to patch his relationship with Vale and Jason Todd takes the opportunity to literally run away and join the circus. Can't win them all Brucie-boy.

Pre-Crisis Primer: Race to the Crisis

The Flash 323-329

“The Trial of The Flash Part 1”

I love opposite arch-nemesis characters. The covers for this book are amazing!

Hi Barry Allen, let's get to know you as much as we can before...well...we'll get to that when the time comes.

Barry Allen has a pretty keen life: for starters he's The Flash, fastest man on the planet (possibly universe); and yes he's faster than Superman, he has to be, or else why would he exist? Back to Barry: he's a successful forensic scientist with the Central City police; he's set to be married to Fiona Webb, a woman who loves him very much; and his arch nemesis, the Reverse Flash (aka Prof. Zoom!), a psychopath from the future so obsessed with the Flash, he duplicated the speed powers and enjoys screwing with Barry by killing his wives. That last one's not so keen.

"If you're dead, I can satisfy myself with your screams of pain!"

While Wally West, Kid Flash, is having problems of his own in the Teen Titans books, Barry's about to have the mother of all bad days. He is to be married to Fiona Webb, five years after the death of his previous wife, Iris West, at the hands of The Reverse Flash (serious dick) whom Barry then left trapped in limbo to pretty much rot in eternity. As Barry is literally in his tux and ready to leave for the nuptials, one of the Oan Guardians (whom we met here) takes it upon himself to deliver a warning, based on Barry's friendship with the indisposed Hal Jordan (Green Lantern, indisposed here) (continuity!), that Reverse Flash was able to break free of limbo and has made his way to Earth.

Using comic book logic to deduce that Reverse Flash must be on Earth for revenge on Flash by killing Fiona Webb, Barry suits up as the Flash and leaves his bride-to-be standing at the altar. Notwithstanding, Barry is dead-on about Reverse Flash's need to do some wife-killing and the two end up slugging out while crisscrossing the world several times over as super-speedsters are want to do, the entire fight ending in a very dramatic moment where Reverse Flash is racing right to Fiona who is distraught, wandering outside the church, because no one knows what happened to Barry. The villain rushes towards Fiona, his arm outstretched, poised to ram his hand through her skull when Barry dashes in front of him and flat-out breaks the Reverse Flash's fucking neck in order to stop him. Exit one super-villain.

Reverse Flash is nude in that coffin.

Whew.

Of course, Flash did not mean to kill Reverse Flash, but the means in which he grabbed the criminal speedster's head and the speeds at which they were moving resulted in a yellow-suited corpse at the end of the day and one couldn't really fault Barry for not feeling all too terrible about it.

The killing happens in front of several witnesses, most of whom do not know of Barry's double-life as the Flash. With Barry Allen officially missing and the Reverse Flash dead in public, Flash is eventually arrested for the crime where a grand jury determines he will stand trail for the crime of murder. And while the Flash languishes in the public eye and Fiona Webb is in the hospital with a severe case of shock regarding what she went through, Flash decides Barry Allen must go missing until everything is sorted, and super-villain Gorilla Grodd (another giant malevolent ape!) does what bad guys do and schemes for the sake of scheming. 

Speeding tickets.

In addition to the impending attacks from Gorilla Grodd, Flash must also contend with his teammates in the Justice League. While the League has, as part of its charter, clauses which prevent members from interfering in the lives of other members unless asked, they are worried that Flash's impending trial might effect their ability to function as a team. This being the case, a mock-hearing is held over whether or not to eject Barry from the League in his time of need. The team decides against this by the slimmest margin, Superman casting the deciding vote to retain Flash's membership in the League.

This update consists of eight issues, all the opening salvo of the epic 'Trial of Flash' story that will ultimately span 27 issues and lead directly into the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths.' This is my first time reading this story, which is one of I wanted to read for a while now. 'Trial of Flash' touches on most of the aspects Flash's life up until this point: his entire support cast, love interests, and almost every recurring villain to have plagued The Flash. We'll be able to examine his entire world as it crumbles around him. 

The Justice League are not helpful friends.

 

These issues are gold, and if you'll forgive the awful pun: the pacing is absolutely breakneck. It's interesting that the book that opened up the Silver Age, Flash, jettisons a lot of the sillier story trappings to tell a story very much ground in reality: that of a beloved celebrity hero making a huge mistake and being publicly scorned for such an act. Funny how modern some comics from 1983 can be.

Pre-Crisis Primer: Apocryphal Continuity

Justice League America #200
Part 2

“Apocryphal Continuity”

Felix Faust fingers the Justice League.

Warning, this is going to be minutia and continuity based. I figured it'd be interesting to give some insight in how I think of continuity and some of the criteria that went into how I arraigned the stories that make up this blog.

Justice League #200 was a fun issue. The story featured lots of colorful heroes up against lots of other garish villains, had classic hero-on-hero action in fights and team-ups, and had a stable of classic and up-and-coming artists help out in telling the tale.

The continuity of this issue, and of many old Justice League issues, tends to get tricky when held up against the new histories presented during the forthcoming Post-Crisis. Continuity issues aren't really a story issue because, as I explained in the previous post, the story elements regarding the JLA being brought together through an Appelaxian alien invasion was retold in Post-Crisis continuity almost exactly how it happened in the flashbacks in Justice League #200. The continuity problems arise with character appearances, notably Superman and Wonder Woman. Not exactly minor characters.

As may have been evident already at this early stage in the game, I've not reviewed any issues of Superman or Wonder Woman yet during the 'Pre-Crisis Primer.' In the shift to Post-Crisis, Superman and Wonder Woman both had their histories rewritten more than many other characters. These changes were for the better; though, I lament the loss of some of the sillier aspects of both characters such as multi-colored kryptonite and Krypto the Superdog from the Superman titles or The Invisible Plane and kung-fu super-spy skills from Wonder Woman. Eventually each of these aspects was re-introduced, but it would be many years after the beginning of Post-Crisis before this will happen.

Aside from the changes I mentioned above, the changes that concern the Justice League title is the Post-Crisis assertion that Superman and Wonder Woman were never members of the Justice League.

Wait? How does that work?

Pre-Crisis Superman pretty much did whatever he wanted on a lark.

With Superman it's not so bad. In taking Pre-Crisis Justice League stories and reconciling them with Post-Crisis Superman history, it's possible to have the assumed notion that Superman is not present as a member but just because he's Superman and, with the cosmic shit the JLA deal with on a daily basis, Superman would help out. He always helps out. Pretty believable and a decent enough reason as to why Superman shows up in the Justice League even though he's not a member.

Wonder Woman is a little more complicated. Not to give away too much of the Crisis, but Wonder Woman's Post-Crisis history was drastically re-writtensdo that Wonder Woman did not appear in public or on Earth until after the Crisis event. How could Wonder woman be a founding member of the Justice League when she wouldn't appear until almost eight in-continuity years later? She can't, so the in-continuity replacement was that Black Canary was now a founding member of the JLA and essentially took Wonder Woman's place. Since Wonder Woman is such a major character, this is a much messier assumption than the Superman solution.

She would last 20-odd issues. It was a good try.

The questions I asked myself when putting these Pre-Crisis stories together were: “What has continuity importance to future Post-Crisis stories?” and “What Pre-Crisis stories do not directly invalidate later Post-Crisis stories to a major degree?” The second question was a little tricky because technically I invalidate it by including the entirety of the 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' story, much of the beginning of which invalidates Post-Crisis continuity. Even the multiple Earths plot line from the Justice League of America 195-197 review directly invalidate Post-Crisis continuity because according to Post-Crisis, multiple Earths never existed. Without any experience with the concept of the multiple Earths, then the shift from Pre- to Post-Crisis is less drastic and more of 'much-ado about nothing.'

In the end, I decided to ignore the Post-Crisis assumptions regarding Superman and Wonder Woman and also to include the issues I did have that specifically address the multiple Earth issue. But in order to lessen a lot of the specific Superman and Wonder Woman continuity issues, not to read from their solo titles, just appearances from Justice League America. So what does this mean: it means when 'Crisis' finally happens, it will change aspects of stories that have already been read in this run and will impact the history of characters we've already met, but not to such a degree that stories being read in the 'Pre-Crisis Primer' are not completely invalidated aside from some character appearances.

Putting this whole run of 6000+ comics together was fun for me precisely because of continuity questions like this: what gets included in the 'story' or not? What matters and what contributes to a story and character and history that make sense?

I'm a continuity geek and I'm damn terminal.

Pre-Crisis Primer: Hawkman Is Such a Chump

Justice League of America #200

“A League Divided”

Part 1

Elongated Man doesn't even bother running with the team, he just throws his head forward.

Ah, the anniversary issue: A centennial-numbered issue that is usually double- or triple-sized and used to end or begin large story arcs or celebrate the history of the character or title. This issue celebrates the history of the Justice League by having one-half of the team kick the crap out of the other half of the team.

Like any good celebration, the plot line for this issue is born from the League's first case. I'll go into this a little bit later, but this issue is complicated as far as Post-Crisis continuity is concerned; the important plot lines, as well as the League's first case, were retained Post-Crisis and this factored in my ultimate decision to include this issue. That plus the fact that it's kicking rad.

Aquaman don't shiv.

 The Justice League's first appearance, and first case as a team, had them team up against Starro the Conqueror (a giant starfish that conquers things by birthing tinier versions of himself (itself) that can mentally control people and a character I CAN'T WAIT to feature on this site), but the first case that actually brought them together was their war against the giant elemental aliens of the Appelaxian race. I will pause right now and say I love 1960s DCU concepts. Writers and Editors literally did not give a shit about things making sense by any reality-based standard, they just threw concepts on the page and called it a day. Love it. If I have to criticize anything about the Post-Crisis push that will happen later, it would be the attempt to bury or hide the sillier parts of DCU history.

Tangents aside, the Appelaxians were seven aliens each seemingly constructed of a single element: one was wood, another was crystal, another stone, etc. In order to determine who would rule their planet, the seven aliens rode on meteorites (YES!) to use Earth as their battlefield. Obviously, since this war would have devastated the planet, the 'World's Greatest Heroes' worked separately to stop the aliens before teaming up to put the kibosh on the supposed war for succession. From this the Justice League became Green Lantern, Flash, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter (last survivor of the planet Mars, stranded on Earth.) and Wonder Woman (an apocryphal continuity error come Post-Crisis, but we'll discuss that at the time) with an assist from Batman and Superman.

If Batman can't mock you, it's not a real defeat.

The meteorites the aliens used as interstellar transport were composed of Kryptonite, so to protect Superman, the newly-formed JLA buried them all over the planet and went about their business. Years pass and more members join the Justice League: Green Arrow (trickshot archer), The Atom (shrinking physicist), Black Canary (sonic-screamed martial artist), Zatanna (insanely-powered sorceress), Hawkman (archeologist turned winged barbarian), Elongated Man (plastic detective), Red Tornado (android with wind powers), and Firestorm (hot-headed teenager with power over the elements).

He's got wings, he can fly.

The plot is thin, but this set-up leads us to seven separate chapters (each drawn by a different artist) of an original (OG!) member (having no memory of the past few years) trying to retrieve a meteorite and being confronted by a new member. Two of these encounters: Batman versus Black Canary and Green Arrow; and Superman versus Hawkman end pretty brutally in different ways. Batman effectively tells Green Arrow he's not worth a confrontation, simply leaving him tied up in a swamp. Superman fights Hawkman and ends up punching him into orbit and leaving him there, presumably to die. Hawkman is then rescued by Matt-favorite space-pulp hero Adam Strange (archeologist with a jet pack) and sent right back to the JLA and left floating outside their interstellar satellite because Strange can't stand Hawkman.. The rest of the JLA members than have to rescue the floundering and asphyxiating Hawkman before he dies in space. Poor Hawkman.

It turns out when the Appelaxians were first defeated they left a mental command in the minds of the OG JLAers to rescue the buried meteorites and bring them together after a set amount of time. This act would then resurrect the Appelaxians. Whatever. Much like the previous Justice League story we've reviewed, the plot doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense. Predictably all 15 (!) JLA members team up and defeat the Appelaxians again, sending their remains off-planet this time just in case of any other time-delayed mental suggestions.

If Strange knew it was Hawkman, he would've left him there.

At it's heart this issue is just a re-telling of the story that originally brought the Justice League together with the added benefit of 200 issues of history, characters, and classic artists to embellish the whole affair. Anniversary issues don't have to make sense, but they do have to be a lot of fun, and this issue succeeds on that front in spades. 

Next article will be slightly different: I'm going to talk about some continuity errors we'll have from this issue concerning later Post-Crisis issues. I'm such a continuity freak, but it's OK, it's the whole reason I'm doing this thing.

Pre-Crisis Primer: Never Trust 16-Year-Old Girls

Teen Titans #34, Annual #2

“Endings...And Beginnings”

Here's where Teen Titans really starts to screw with the readers.

Even the lighting knows Terra is up to no good.

 Picking up from Bruce having fired him and dissolved their partnership as well as his own growing rift with the Teen Titans, Dick Grayson, as Robin, has gone AWOL and is working with District Attorney Adrian Chase to put away Anthony Scarapelli, the crime boss responsible for taking children and forcing them to mule drugs for him in the “Runaways” story from Teen Titans #26-27. At the end of that story, Scarapelli was released on account of evidence of any wrong doing being sparse.

Another personnel problem within the team concerns Terra, who, despite the Titans making an attempt to celebrate her 16^th birthday, feels she isn't part of the team because they haven't shared any aspects of their personal lives with her including their secret identities. Kid Flash and Cyborg express concerns over what Terra has told them about herself, citing inconsistencies in her story and questions they have that she can't, pr refuses to, answer.

Nobody draws piles of rocks like George Perez

Any and all teenage drama is interrupted by a challenge from Deathstroke the Terminator, a master assassin who was contracted to kill the Titans by the criminal society H.I.V.E, but so far has failed to do so (obviously). Deathstroke's challenge: face him in combat or people die. The Titans wouldn't be good heroes if they let people die so we get ourselves a fight scene to break up the angst! With a last-minute save by Terra, Deathstroke is defeated, but escapes to terminate another day. Meanwhile, Robin's personal war against Scarapelli claims a victim: DA Adrian Chase's apartment is bombed. Results: Chase and his family are incinerated.

Enraged, Robin steps up his game against Scarapelli and soon finds he has a new ally: someone who's not afraid to use lethal force and has begun assassinating members of Scarapelli's gang. As Robin becomes more and more frustrated at what's happening around him and his inability to bring Scarapelli down, not only for what he's done in the past but also the murder of DA Chase, he's intercepted by the Titans who manage to convince him to accept their help and to stop isolating himself. Robin has friends!

On the flip-side, Scarapelli also has friends of his own, namely a super-criminal group hired through someone we meet for the first time: The Monitor. In the books I've assembled, this is the first appearance of The Monitor, a man who trades in super-villain services and armament. He'll be a very important character in the upcoming 'Crisis on Infinite Earths' and his appearance here are the first seeds of this story.

I love floppy pirate boots.

 Digression aside, back on Earth, the newly-hired criminal group engages the Titans in battle while Robin takes the fight right to Scarapelli. Because it's a comic-book plot line, the criminal has now made it easy for the heroes to crack down on him what with the hired assassins and all. If Scarapelli just laid low, he'd have been fine as lack of evidence of wrong-doing kept him snug and safe. During this final-conflict-of-epic-proportions, it's revealed that Robin's gun-happy ally is none other than Adrian Chase, obviously not dead, obviously angry about his dead family, and now sporting a snazzy costume and the creative moniker of Vigilante.

In the end, Robin is unable to convince Chase that justice should prevail in this case and he murders Scarapelli before escaping into the night. We'll probably be seeing more of Vigilante in the future.

But what of Deathstroke? After escaping from the Titans, The Terminator has a rendezvous with a date: Terra. Indeed, Terra has been spying on the Titans for Deathstroke to gain as much info as she can so he can destroy them from the inside out. The underage new recruit is a spy. Shit just got real.

The plot is out of control in these issues, hence the incredibly long synopsis. A lot of elements are important for both story threads going on in other titles at the time as well as threads for the future in both Teen Titans and the upcoming Crisis story. Sadly, for as much actually happens, and as thrilling as the revelations are for future stories, the actual story contained in these two issues is the weakest of the Titans stuff so far. The central conflict regarding bringing down a criminal lawfully when there is no real evidence of wrong-doing is tossed aside for a standard super fight. Chase's transformation into the murderous Vigilante is also glossed over with no real motivation besides the cliché 'he-killed-my-family.' Plus where does a guy who was just blown up with his afmily find the time to put together a snazzy outfit and become a killer?

Every aspect of this story that is so promising in the first chapter falls apart in the second chapter. Entertaining comics for sure, but just not very stimulating beyond by-the-numbers fare.