Teen Titans #21
“Midtown in the Garden of Good & Evil”
Penciller: Miguel Mendonca
Inks: Diana Conesa
Colors: Tony Avina
Letters: Corey Breen
Cover: Mike McKone & Rod Reis
Assistant Editor: Brittany Holzherr
Editor: Alex Antone
Tony Bedard pens Teen Titans #21, a continuation of the story featuring the team facing off against Monsieur Mallah and The Brain.
The issue sees the Titans placed in an awkward situation, as part of a social experiment. The Brain uses his “cortical grapnel” – a device that connects to and controls the minds of others – to prove false the labels of “hero” and “villain.”
The Titans are forced to defend themselves without harming others under the influence of The Brain in the heavily populated Central Park Zoo. The setting of this issue provides interesting challenges for the team, much to the chagrin of Monsieur Mallah!
The Brain deployed multiple cortical grapnel devices throughout the zoo, attaching them to humans and animals alike. The Titans are forced to defend themselves while disarming the mind-control devices – without harming the hosts and causing further damage to the less-than-stellar public opinion of the Teen Titans.
The artistic renderings of several panels raised questions for me. Raven appears unmasked in multiple panels while guarding internet troll, Metatroll93. Would this be a wise decision? Is this typical of Raven? While I’m keenly aware many heroes in the DCU don’t don masks, the ones who do are often more protective of their identity. This threw me, as it’s the first time readers have seen Raven without her full costume for several issues – let alone in front of a potential threat.
Also, another panel depicted Red Robin sans mask:
Perhaps this was simply an oversight from the artists?
Inclusion of the animals in the zoo, and the intrigue of the Titans trying to defend themselves without further damaging their public image was interesting. As no fan of Monsieur Mallah and The Brain, the awkwardness of their dialogue was still a lackluster part of the issue for me.
However, their role served the purpose of moving the Titans story to its next, more important chapters. For me, the real strength of Teen Titans #21 was its culmination. The story concluded with the Titans realizing Red Robin was missing. Readers soon discover he wasn’t missing – but taken!
In an interesting twist, Red Robin is placed in a compromised position fraught with intrigue. What might this revelation mean for Tim? For the Teen Titans? Will his decision impact the DCU in significant ways? How might he function on a new “team?” I hope subsequent issues explore this in further detail.
Overall, I thought Teen Titans #21 was an improvement over the last few. The story had some distinctive moments that made sense as they moved the team toward a potential new plot twist and direction. The art was solid and the allowed readers to move swiftly through the panels and pages. It left me intrigued to see where Red Robin’s story will move next.
My score for Teen Titans #21:
