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redherringgemini's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
walter_the_wombat's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
ginameix's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
tidestriders's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
my favorite vol so far- with iconic villains, like brother blood and komand'r, and amazing art. my girls looked so pretty!! and ROY MY LOVE
woodenpersonality's review
adventurous
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Trafficking and Violence
ekansthepokemon's review
5.0
The issues collected here are probably my favorite so far. The writers really hit their stride with these ones.
captwinghead's review
3.0
Oof, Reagan era comics are rough. I've been reading Batman, Detective Comics and now Teen Titans for the past week or so and the "Say No to Drugs" message is just hilariously out of control. Drug addiction is a serious issue and I wish those suffering from it well as they go through recovery. That being said, there's something about DC's writing during this era that just made it seem as if people thought crack could become corporeal, break into your house and steal your lilywhite children. I'll explain what I mean by that in a bit.
I had similar issues with this volume as I did with the others. I still don't understand Raven as a character. Her "plight" just doesn't interest me at all. I still don't understand why anyone loves Wally West - he's the least interesting character in these stories. Garfield consistently hitting on every woman in sight is still relentlessly annoying.
I appreciate that this volume actually showed the Titans caring about Victor. In past volumes, he was excluded from things quite a bit and this was the first time I felt like they actually supported him when he was grieving. I loved seeing Donna's relationship with Koriand'r. I still really like Cyborg and Changeling's friendship. I liked seeing more of Dick and Kory's romance in this volume.
The cult storyline was rough. Especially the "fake news" part of it (reminds me of current events...). A lot of this felt a lot like Scientology with the church having members in media and the power to shut down stories revealing them to be frauds. I wasn't sure which cult this storyline was meant to reflect. Seeing Dick get tortured was hard to read and Brother Blood was a formidable villain.
I enjoyed a lot of the Blackfire v. Starfire plot. Especially Dick and Donna worrying over her. That really worked for me. However, I definitely think this story was WAY too long and it dragged when it was focused on the Omega Men. I would've enjoyed it a lot more had it been trimmed down.
The last storyline was my least favorite - hence the intro about Reagan era comics. At this point I have read WAY too many DC storylines set in this time about drugs. What's stranger is that I've read Marvel books set during this time and Captain America wasn't dealing with drug addicts - whether that's because it was too dark a topic for Marvel, I don't know. But in the several Batman, Green Arrow, Detective Comics and now Teen Titans stories I've read, NONE of them have handled this topic well.
Firstly, the only addicts treated with sympathy are the white kids. They're the ones that are shown turning to drugs because their family rejects them, they're on the streets or they don't feel loved. Whenever a hero is expressing sympathy for these kids getting lost in drugs, it's always the white kids. The black and latino kids are never shown any sympathy and are never seen getting help at the end of the story. It's never viewed as a tragedy when these kids fall down the wrong path.
Even worse, this story also tried to tackle sex workers in a really, really patronizing way. There's a social worker or something explaining the heroes that "these girls don't feel pretty or loved and the pimp gives them that validation". This all reads like the worst high school pamphlet.
"Don't let low self esteem turn you into a sex worker."
(Also... all of the pimps shown are men of color so, there's that.)
I know the year these books were made, but I refuse to say they couldn't have done better when writing people of color. I know they could have because I've seen it in other books from this time period. So, once again, I appreciate that Wolfman created Cyborg but I can't unsee how poorly literally EVERY OTHER person of color is presented in these books.
I had similar issues with this volume as I did with the others. I still don't understand Raven as a character. Her "plight" just doesn't interest me at all. I still don't understand why anyone loves Wally West - he's the least interesting character in these stories. Garfield consistently hitting on every woman in sight is still relentlessly annoying.
I appreciate that this volume actually showed the Titans caring about Victor. In past volumes, he was excluded from things quite a bit and this was the first time I felt like they actually supported him when he was grieving. I loved seeing Donna's relationship with Koriand'r. I still really like Cyborg and Changeling's friendship. I liked seeing more of Dick and Kory's romance in this volume.
The cult storyline was rough. Especially the "fake news" part of it (reminds me of current events...). A lot of this felt a lot like Scientology with the church having members in media and the power to shut down stories revealing them to be frauds. I wasn't sure which cult this storyline was meant to reflect. Seeing Dick get tortured was hard to read and Brother Blood was a formidable villain.
I enjoyed a lot of the Blackfire v. Starfire plot. Especially Dick and Donna worrying over her. That really worked for me. However, I definitely think this story was WAY too long and it dragged when it was focused on the Omega Men. I would've enjoyed it a lot more had it been trimmed down.
The last storyline was my least favorite - hence the intro about Reagan era comics. At this point I have read WAY too many DC storylines set in this time about drugs. What's stranger is that I've read Marvel books set during this time and Captain America wasn't dealing with drug addicts - whether that's because it was too dark a topic for Marvel, I don't know. But in the several Batman, Green Arrow, Detective Comics and now Teen Titans stories I've read, NONE of them have handled this topic well.
Firstly, the only addicts treated with sympathy are the white kids. They're the ones that are shown turning to drugs because their family rejects them, they're on the streets or they don't feel loved. Whenever a hero is expressing sympathy for these kids getting lost in drugs, it's always the white kids. The black and latino kids are never shown any sympathy and are never seen getting help at the end of the story. It's never viewed as a tragedy when these kids fall down the wrong path.
Even worse, this story also tried to tackle sex workers in a really, really patronizing way. There's a social worker or something explaining the heroes that "these girls don't feel pretty or loved and the pimp gives them that validation". This all reads like the worst high school pamphlet.
"Don't let low self esteem turn you into a sex worker."
(Also... all of the pimps shown are men of color so, there's that.)
I know the year these books were made, but I refuse to say they couldn't have done better when writing people of color. I know they could have because I've seen it in other books from this time period. So, once again, I appreciate that Wolfman created Cyborg but I can't unsee how poorly literally EVERY OTHER person of color is presented in these books.
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