The New Teen Titans 1-5
“Terror of Trigon”
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| This is Trigon, he hates you. |
Raven's constantly struggled
against the power of her demon father Trigon. This sub-plot has
pointed out what I thought was obvious but have now proven: having an
all-powerful demon father is kind of a pain in the ass. Missing for a while, Raven is about to
return to the Titans and they are going to not be happy about this
reunion.
Five
issues makes for a giant story, especially considering how long this
particular sub-plot has been brewing, so it's slightly surprising
that not much happens in terms of actual plot points, although the
story is a strong one. Much of the current sub-plots in Titans,
Deathstroke hunting the Titans, Donna's impending marriage,
and Cyborg's longing to be human
have been wrapped up in satisfying bows. It's apt then that the start
of a brand new series (reboots of existing titles are not a new
comics fad!) should begin by wrapping up the lone hanging sub-plot
before spinning off into all new adventures for the DC Universe's
premier teen heroes. Because this review will be fairly positive,
I'll throw a pinch of negativity in right here: the series is never
as good after this story. Yeah, I said it. But that's for reviews and
articles that will be written in the years to come. For now, we bask
in the Titans greatest victory.
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| Raven is unhappy. |
Raven, missing for
months, now wanders the lost dimension of Azar, which now lies in
ruins (this sentence is interminably dorky). Her powers going haywire
and her increasingly incessant lust for blood all pointing to one
end: her father Trigon had escaped whatever prison had been built for
him. Luckily for Raven, she finds he mother, Arella, imprisoned at
the heart of the ruined dimension, but unluckily, Trigon finally
appears, in all his bad-ass multi-eyed, red-skinned, devil-looking
glory, and manages to possess his daughter. In case you haven't
figure it out by now, this is extremely bad news for the poor slobs
who call Earth home. Raven puts on her Trigon Jr. costume and sets
out to raise some hell. Classic hero-gone-bad trope, something that
superhero comics are no stranger to exploiting.
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| Raven is unhappy and evil now. |
Newly evil and
suddenly-the-greatest-daughter-on-the-planet, Raven accompanies her
father to Earth where they flat-out conquer New York City. Yup, they
win: New York City becomes a demon's playground, twisted to fit
Trigon's idea of paradise. The citizens are left to relive their
fears over and over again as demons run a muck raising all general
kinds of hell. Streets, buildings, everything is transformed to
broken stone resembling Trigon's home dimension. No different from
the citizens, the Titans are easily beaten and left to force their
own worst desires in the form of doppelgangers. Nightwing's fear of
forever being in the shadow of Batman manifests itself as does Wonder
Girl's fear of accidentally killing her new husband or outliving him
due to her immortality and Cyborg's fear of being trapped forever in
his metal chassis. The Titans are easily trounced by their own fears
leaving no one to stand in the way of Trigon's domination of the
planet. Sure there's always Superman or the Justice League, but
apparently There's a magical dome enacasing the city both maintaining
the demons' presence on our plane as well as keeping the rest of the
world out. The dome is expanding to cover the planet.
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| The gentrification of Brooklyn continues. |
As the Titans
fall, it's Lilith and Arella who save the day. Lilith, being a
psychic sensitive is able to channel the spirit of Azar, the creator
of the dimension that birthed Raven and which Trigon destroyed. Now,
before the Earth is consumed is when Azar's gambit plays off and
Raven is her weapon. Channeled by Lilith as her entry into our
dimension, Azar is able to cleanse Raven's soul of Trigon's influence
and in a bout of deus-ex-machina, end the evil of Trigon forever by
destroying his very essence. The only price in this transaction:
Raven's soul. When all is said and done, New York City and its
citizens are returned to normal, the Titans released from their
self-made prison and Trigon is destroyed forever. Raven is also
missing though; the victory of The Devil is not a clean one.
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| Titans in Hell. |
This is the end of
the golden age of the Teen Titans and they don't really go out with a
bang. I like this story, it's suitably epic and large-scale, but the
Titans play a small part in the events that comprise the tale. On the
good side, I do enjoy how the Titans are so out of their goddamn
element, messing around on this metaphysical plane of gods and demons
and then completely failing to save the day. Their fat is pulled out
of a fire by a god who literally comes out of nowhere. The Titans
don't really belong in the world of gods and this story is hammers
that point home.
In fact, the team
also fails to save their friend. Raven dies. She spent most of her
time with the team tortured by her role as Trigon's daughter,
constantly fighting his influence only to succumb in the end and pay
with her life. Superheroics aren't always fun and games and there are
real consequences to dressing up in a costume and trying to right the
wrongs of the world. With the death of Terra recently, this is a
lesson the Titans are learning far too often.
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| Bye, Trigon. |
