Blackest Night: Titans #3 (2009)

Blackest Night: Titans #3 (December, 2009)

"When Doves Cry"

Writer - J.T. Krul

Artist - Ed Benes

Colors - Hi-Fi Design

Letterer - Rob Clark Jr.

Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle

Associate Editor - Adam Schlagman

Editors - Brian Cunningham & Eddie Berganza

Cover Price: $2.99

Arright, let's wrap this Titan's tale up...

--

We open in flashback mode.  Donna and Terry Long are having a picnic under a tree with their son, Robert laying between them.  This probably falls somewhere around when Team Titans was a thing... as I believe that was post-pregnancy, but before the divorce.  I may be off by a couple of years though.  Anyhoo, Donna and Terry take turns playing with the baby, when suddenly it sinks its teeth into T-Long's neck.  Terry and Robert take their Black Lantern forms and Donna is shaken from her late-night day dream.

The next several pages consist of a great big fight scene.  We see various Titans trading blows with their fallen teammates.  I'm still a bit annoyed that Pantha's head is connected to her body... but whattayagonnado?  We observe Gar and Terra having their back and forth.  We settle on Donna fighting Terry Long... when she does what I was hoping she'd have done 30 years ago... punches him straight through the chest!

The next page is a toughie... like seriously.  Donna picks up her baby, Robert... and grips him around the head.  With tears in her eyes, she repeatedly reassures herself that this creature is not really her son.  She cries... and apologizes... before snapping the child's... her child's neck... as it continually gurgles "Mommy".  Damn.

Back with Terra and Gar, things are coming to a head.  At this point, our buddy Beast Boy is just exhausted... physically, emotionally, spiritually... you name it.  He takes the form of several large cats and begins tearing into Terra's rotting flesh.  She pleads with him... the jokes are over... she is really Tara, the girl he loved... loves, even.  Gar ain't hearing it.  Standing over her shredded body, he transforms into a bear.  Terra knows what he's about to do, and reminds him that he will always love her.  Gar agrees... and proceeds to tear her body in half.

We shift to Wonder Girl being pulled between Black Lantern Pantha and Black Lantern Baby Wildebeest.  Through Omen's machinations, she sees them as Superboy and Robin having a tug of war over her affections.  Donna creeps up on Lilith and goes to snap her neck... when Terry and Robert resurface and mock her.

Hawk and Dove fight their way into the scene.  Dawn is knocked to the ground, and Holly proceeds to attempt to tear her sister's heart out.  When she makes contact, her connection to the Black Lantern energy is severed.  The Titans look on in awe... the Black Lantern Titans, seeing Dove as the truest threat present begin to swarm.

Dove lays prone, inviting the Black Lanterns to give it their best shot.

This causes the Black Lantern Titans' connections to be severed.  Suddenly, Dove is bathed in light... standing behind her is Don Hall, her Dovey predecessor.  He asks that she not give up on his brother.

When the dust settles, Dove wakes up.  Only the living Titans remain.  Kid Flash takes a quick trip around the world to find that this zombie epidemic is not Titans exclusive... the entire superhero world is being visited by "ghosts of Christmas past".  Donna decides the heroes of the world need the Titans on the front line... and so, they head out.  She decides to keep Dove close by, for in the event she goes full "Black Lantern", she'll need her to "take her out".  This ain't the end of the story... but it's the end of this series.

--

Yeah, this was pretty good.  I guess it was a bit of a let-down that this entire series was simply to show how the Titans joined up in the Blackest Night schmazz... but, in a vacuum, this was a neat story.  Looking back on it now, it even drops a hint or two about Brightest Day, as it pertains to Dove.

This was mostly a fight scene, but character elements and personal moments found their way in.  Seeing both Wonder Girls having to deal with some of their personal baggage... both literal and figurative, was intriguing.  Cassie feeling pulled between Superboy and Robin was cool... and Donna having to, er, dispose of her former family was quite the scene as well.  Heartbreaking too... regardless as to whether or not "Terry" and "Robert" were in those skin-husks... imagine having to snap the neck of... shoot, any baby... much less one in the body of your own.  It's maddening.

When it comes to Terra-removal... it rightly comes down to Gar having to "pull the trigger"... in this case, brutally rending her to shreds before tearing her in half... this is, of course Didio's DC, after all.

The Dove ex machina was a clever way to close this one out.  I suppose it makes a measure of sense for an agent of peace to be the one to counteract an army of raging zombies.  Donna's giving her the authorization to "take her out" should she go full Black Lantern was a pretty powerful bit as well.

Overall... this was a fine miniseries.  Of course, there isn't really a whole lot of closure given that this is a prelude to the mega-event it's tied into... but, taken on its own, there is plenty to enjoy, and enough to leave a Titans fan satisfied.  Art is still really good, though, perhaps a half-step behind what was offered in the first two chapters.  Recommended.

--

Interesting Ads:

Blackest Night: Titans #2 (2009)

Blackest Night: Titans #2 (November, 2009)

"Bite the Hand that Feeds"

Writer - J.T. Krul

Penciller - Ed Benes

Inkers - Scott Williams & Ed Benes

Colors - Hi-Fi Design

Letterer - Rob Clark Jr.

Associate Editor - Adam Schlagman

Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle

Editors - Eddie Berganza & Brian Cunningham

Cover Price: $2.99

Okay... here we go... possibly the most terrifying installment of Boo, Haunted Blog... the introduction of Black Lantern... ugh... Terry Long!

--

We pick up where we left off with Donna Troy last chapter.  There is a baby carriage in her bedroom, which she approaches.  She finds that it is empty... or at least without baby.  Instead, she finds a rattle with the Black Lantern symbol etched on it.  Well, here's where it all goes down... ladies and gentlemen, Black Lantern Terry Long.  He's clad in a hilariously awful ruffly tuxedo... which, wait a second... well I'll be damned... it's the tuxedo he wore in Tales of the Teen Titans #50 from 1985, when he and Donna got married.  That is amazing detail!  Love it!

Donna's is so taken aback, that she doesn't immediately seem creeped out that her ex-husband is very much undead... and her baby son, Robert has floated into her arms.  She holds the baby tight in her arms, thinking this has to be a dream.  Ya know that thing, where you ask somebody to pinch you to make sure you're not dreaming?  Well, poor Donna got a big chunk of her neck and shoulder bitten by the demonic child... who, despite last issue's revelation, definitely has more than two teeth in his head.

Outside, the battle rages on between Gar, Kory and Vic and the Black Lanterns Terra and Omen.  Starfire has some reservations over hurting their former friends and teammates, but Cyborg assures her that these are just their bodies... because, as he puts it... he don't believe in no ghosts.  Boy do I have an issue for you to read, pal.  While we're here though, I'm always tickled as to what a comic book character considers their bridge too far.  I mean, Vic lives in the DC Universe... where Gods have walked the Earth and whatnot... and he doesn't believe in Ghosts?  I don't feel like diggin', but I gotta figure he's shared a panel or two with a ghost over his three-decades.

Terra gains an advantage over Gar, and pins him down.  She places her left hand into his chest... perhaps to tear out his heart, like we saw Hawk do to... Hawk, last issue.  Luckily, Starfire is nearby, and nails Terra with a starbolt.  Of particular interest, Beast Boy's first instinct is to worry about Terra's safety.  Once he gathers his druthers, he admits that Kory did the right thing.

We shift scenes to Georgetown, and see Black Lantern Hawk pluck the heart outta the newly dead Hawk.  Well, as you might imagine, this ticks Dove off a smidge.  She pounces into action and starts beating on her former partner.  Just when it seems that she might have the upper hand... the Black Lantern voice of doom calls for Holly "Hawk" Granger to RISE... and boy does she...

Back inside Titan's Tower, Donna tries to wrap her head around the goings on.  She has a very visible... and bloody mark on her neck from the li'l one's love-bite.  Terry and Robert approach her, with deadly intentions in mind.  Luckily, Kid Flash is in the house, and runs her to safety.  As Donna, Bart, and Cassie reconnoiter, we can see that Donna's wound has turned black...

Outside, Lilith is screwing with the Titans... making them see their happiest dream.  Cyborg is whole again, and Starfire is marrying Dick Grayson... hopefully without a visit from Victoria's Secret model Raven like in New Titans #100.  This gives Terra the time she needed to pull herself together after suffering the starbolt blast... and now, boy is she mad.  She uses her powers to cause Titan's Tower to crumble to the ground!

Bart, Cassie and Donna were able to escape before the walls came tumblin' down... however, all is not well.  Donna appears to go catatonic... and in her eyes, we can see the Black Lantern symbol.

Gar Logan attempts to stir his teammates from Lilith's sweet illusions while Terra celebrates the fact that after such a long wait... she's finally going to get to kill the Titans.  Bad goes to worse when several more fallen Titans appear on the scene... and we are [to be concluded...]

--

Another solid, if not grim, offering from this Blackest Night flavored miniseries.  We've seen the Titans get beaten down by supervillains, regular foes, and even by trusted teammates... but, this threat is almost downright cruel.  The Titans are being haunted by their fallen friends... and even family, in the case of Donna.  This really is comics as horror movie... and it's a lot of fun.

I gotta admit, I chuckled when I saw ol' curly-headed Terry.  I was half-kidding when I first suggested he'd show his face here.  Now that he has, I'm glad he did.  Though I may consider him the worst kind of evil... for reasons I can't seem to articulate, I kinda get that he's a necessary evil... at least for me.  He brings me back to a great time in Titans history... and the fact that they (literally) dug him up for a story well over a decade after his death, is something I can't help but to like.

Donna's not the only Titan being put through the wringer... we've still got Gar's unresolved feelings toward Terra.  I really liked how he seemed to be collecting his thoughts on the fly... trying to reconcile head with heart.  Here he is nearly being "killed to death" by Terra... and when Starfire blasts her real good... his immediate reaction is to worry about Terra's well-being.  Such a broken, human way to be... and I really dug it!

The Hawks and Dove scenes are... well, not bad... but I never really associate them with the Titans.  I often have to remind myself that they were part of the team for a cuppa.  For what it's worth... while I don't have any kind of emotional attachment to them, I still thought it was pretty cool when the newly-dead Hawk almost instantaneously accepted her Black Lantern ring.  Things going from bad to worse for Dove was an awesome way to leave them.

My only misgiving about this issue, and lemme tell ya... it's a hyoooge deal (not really).  On the last page... Pantha's head is still attached to her body.  Now, c'mon... we saw Superboy-Prime punch her head clean off her body during Infinite Crisis.  I would have loved it if she was there holding her head... or if Baby Wildebeest was wearing it around his neck or something.  Okay, okay... that's not that big a deal.  Still digging this story, still recommended.

Oh, and I neglected to mention it last issue... but the Ed Benes art in this miniseries is absolutely amazing!  The scans don't do it the proper justice.  Just awesome stuff.

--

Interesting Ads:

Blackest Night: Titans #1 (2009)

Blackest Night: Titans #1 (October, 2009)

"When Death Comics Knocking"

Writer - J.T. Krul

Penciller - Ed Benes
Inkers - Rob Hunter, Jon Sibal & JP Mayer
Colors - Hi-Fi Design
Letterer - Rob Clark Jr.
Associate Editor - Adam Schlagman
Assistant Editor - Rex Ogle

Editors - Eddie Berganza & Brian Cunningham

Cover Price: $2.99

Heyyy... welcome to the next chapter of The Life... er, The Death and Times of Tara Markov!  Nah, this is just the next part of Boo, Haunted Blog... which for the next few days will be taking a look into the 2009-2010 mega-event Blackest Night.  Zombie superheroes are scary, right?

--

It's Heroes Day at Titans Tower, the day in which the Titans past and present gather to honor those who have fallen.  There is a hall in the Tower with statues commemorating the dead.  This year in particular necessitated the removal of two statues... for Kid Flash and Superboy returned from the dead!  Bart Allen is standing uncomfortably in the hall, muttering about how his statue didn't even look like him.  Wonder Girl and Donna Troy are nearby, and Donna mentions how all Titan-family losses didn't come via supervillain shenanigans... her ex-husband Terry Long and their son Robert died in a car wreck.

We move down the hall and join Beast Boy, Starfire and Cyborg as they stand in front of the statue of one Terra.  We see Brion Markov Geo-Force walking away as they approach.  Kory thinks it's improper for Terra to even have a statue... Gar disagrees, and reminds her that Terra was a Titan, and if she'd been given the chance would have been a great Titan!  Vic agrees, but in like a "whatever you say" kinda way.

We move a bit further down the hall, in front of the Hawk and Dove statues, stand... Hawk and Dove.  The new Hawk, Holly Granger is talking about what a jerk the Hank Hall version was.  Dawn "Dove" Granger is a bit defensive, and gives the whole "you didn't know him like I did" type of reply as she looks at her predecessor's statue.

Suddenly, the Black Lantern voice of doom calls for Don (Dove) Hall to RISE... but, and this is a really cool moment... he, being the living embodiment of peace... is resting in peace.  He chooses not to rise and join the Black Lantern Army.  The "camera" zooms back from Don's grave-site... revealing his brother Hank's... which has been dug out!

We shift to later that night where the Granger sisters are leaving a nightclub outside Georgetown University.  Holly's being... difficult, as she's wont to do, and complaining about having had to hang out at a "College Hangout".  As the ladies walk off, they come across a pair of dead birds on the ground... any guesses as to the types of birds?

The gals Hawk and Dove up, and follow the trail of dead birds... all the way to one of the University's buildings.  They are fully aware they are likely walking into a trap, but that doesn't deter them.  This new Hawk is as hard-headed as her predecessor.  Speaking of which, we learn the trail of birds was left by... Black Lantern, Hank Hall!

Back at the Tower, Bart and Cassie finally leave the hall... Donna is gazing into a family photo... and Starfire and Cyborg are on monitor duty, where they happen to see Gar (who they were just chatting about) somberly walking the grounds... until...

Gar and Tara pick up where they left off... if the Judas Contract never happened, that is.  She claims that she cheated death, however remained "dead" because she was ashamed of what she'd done.  The two get all huggy and ultimately kissy... which is gross for reasons that will soon become apparent.  Cyborg and Starfire spring into action, revealing that this alive and well version of Terra is the result of mind-manipulation by Black Lantern, Lilith Clay!  Now that the gig is up, we meet Black Lantern, Tara Markov.  Hey Gar, need a toothbrush?

Meanwhile, Donna Troy is awakened by the sound of a baby calling for her.  She sits up and sees a baby stroller at the edge of her bed.  Uh oh, I fear that where there's baby... there's Terry.  We'll have to stay tuned for, ugh... Black Lantern, Terry Long!

Back with Hawk, Hawk, and Dove a battle rages.  Hank is ruthlessly taking the new crew apart... relentlessly beating them down.  His attack seems to be particularly focused on the new Hawk, and he just wrecks her... it looks like he breaks her back, then he lifts her by the throat... and, well... tears her heart out.  Obviously, we are... [to be continued...]

--

Not bad, not bad at all.  This was one of those miniseries events that I kinda kept buying, but just set aside for "future reading".  2009 was a rather awful time for the Titans (Teen and otherwise)... seemed like not an issue would go by without (at least) one team member being brutally and horrifically killed.  Sad to say, but looking back, even those issues were so much better than anything the New-52 gave us, Titans-wise.

The late-2000's Titans book, that is... not the Teen Titans book, was... interesting for fans of the Wolfman/Perez era.  Here we were reading about, for lack of a better way to explain it... grown-up Titans.  They are at a different stage in their lives, however, still have ties that bind them.  This was around the time where some of them were being "promoted" into the Justice League.  The tail-end of the pre-Flashpoint JLA was like a who's who of the New Teen Titans.  Donna Troy, Cyborg, Starfire, and Dick Grayson as Batman loomed large in the League.  I loved that there was a feeling of progression... and not just "Let's throw Cyborg into the League because... well, ya know..."  Back in 2009, Cyborg earned his way onto the team... he graduated from the varsity team into the majors.

I suppose I said all of that, so that I could say this... this is a more mature version of the Titans.  Mature as in "showing maturity"... These characters have such a rich history by this point, and the Blackest Night storyline was a great way to showcase that.  The very existence of "Heroes Day" is a testament to that.  The Titans, past and present, gather once a year to commemorate their fallen.  This allows us, the readers, to observe their thoughts on past members... like Terra... like Hawk... like Wendy and Marvin, even.

The story is kind of split up between Hawk and Dove's night out and Garfield Logan's unrequited feelings for his first major crush.  Both storylines are handled quite well.  Gar has never really let go of Tara.  Even to her dying breath, he believed there would still be a way to reform her... to make her see the light.  It's heartbreaking that, although he is several years older, he is still very much in the same place.

The Hawk v Hawk scene was something that actually surprised me.  Not for the result, that was telegraphed from the start... but for just how gory the scene was.  Then I remembered how ultra-violent and "bloody" DC Comics had gotten in the years since Dan Didio took over.  This is a totally different world... and 2008-2010 was perhaps, if I'm not conveniently forgetting anything, the peak of DC's uber-violent streak.  I feel that nowadays it's been toned down a fair bit from 5-10 years back.  Though, I must admit... I'm about 50 issues behind on my Rebirth reading... there can be some heinous gore somewhere in there for all I know!

I'd be remiss not to mention the other story that was running throughout this issue... though not really the centerpiece that was Gar's or Hawk and Dove's... Donna Troy was awakened by the sound of a baby crying.  Earlier in the issue, she was lamenting the loss of her son, Robert... and... her ex-husband... ugh, Terry Long.  I've a sneaking suspicion we're about to meet the most terrifying Black Lantern of all... T-Long of Sector 666!

Overall, really enjoyed this issue.  This looks like it's going to be a great little miniseries, and in reading Krul's take on the Titans here, it's no surprise how he got the (criminally short-lived) gig on the pre-Flashpoint Teen Titans title.

--

Interesting Ads:

Ghosts #100 (1981)

Ghosts #100 (May, 1981)
"The Ghost Gladiator: The Blackmailed Spirit"
"The Ghost Gladiator: Spectral Dream"
"The Ghost Gladiator: The Phantom's Final Debt"
"Hands from the Grave"
Writer - George Kashdan
Pencillers - Fred Carrillo & M.D. Bright
Inkers - Fred Carrillo & Vince Colletta
Letterers - Esphidym Mahilum & Shelly Leferman
Colorists - Jerry Serpe & Bob LeRose
Editor - Jack C. Harris
Cover Price: $0.50

Welcome to day three of the big October special.  I've taken to referring to it as "Boo, Haunted Blog!"... which, yeah... it's lame, but I kinda dig it.  Plus, it gives me a way to catalog all these scaaaary stories.  So, like... the next time you're huddled around a campfire, just pull out your tablet and click the #boohauntedblog tag.  Your friends will be sure to thank you... for the sleep-aid, if nothing else...

Anyhoo... onward and upward to our Ghostly tales...

--

Heyyy... it's the one-hundredth issue of Ghosts... let's celebrate by checking out the covers of past landmark issues... and ask ourselves if we still believe.

Our first chapter this issue opens at an archaeological dig site.  Old coot and digmaster supreme, Sir Alex Quayle confides in his (relatively) young aide, Ernest Langford that he has been seeing ghosts.  Just then, he gets the bejeezus scared out of him by an apparition while Ernie can't seem to see it.  Sir Alex has himself a bit of an episode, and passes out.

Later that night, Alex wakes up.  He thinks to himself that what he saw couldn't have been a hallucination... and begins wandering around the site.  That's smart, right?  Anyhoo... he walks past Ernie's tent to hear him in the midst of an argument.  Alex throws open the flap, and finds that Ernie was arguing with the g-g-ghost... for, ya see... he wanted the ghost to scare poor Sir Alex into retirement so that he may take over the dig!  Good plan!

Sir Alex asks how Ernie was able to pull it off... rather than tell him, Langford pulls a gun on the oldster!  He takes him, by gunpoint to a building in a remote corner of the site, where through a window they find an ancient Pompeiian gladiator laying in perfect condition... preserved, and alive!  But how?  You may be asking... well, ya see when Vesuvius erupted, the lava coated this building and hardened... leaving it airtight!

The g-g-ghost is the Pompeiian gladiator, who only agreed to help Ernest if he would break the window and allow his body to die.  Now, however, Ernie has raised the stakes.  He will free the ghostiator only if it kills Sir Alex!  The ghost is all "screw that" and refuses.  Amid the quarrel, Alex picks up a stone and throws it right through the airtight window.  The apparition reenters his body... and finally dies.

Our second chapter opens during World War II in... you guessed it, Pompeii.  German Captain Lothar  Von Koenig notices that the Italian soldiers are surrendering in large number.  He decides to wait until the Americans arrive in Pompeii... and then blow the entire city up.  Dang... that's hardcore.

I guess I'm not the only one that thinks so, as a German soldier crosses enemy lines to tip off an American fleet to the boom-boom in Pom-Pom.  The Colonel ain't buying what ol' Himmel is selling, and decides that they'll proceed into Pompeii anyway.

Corporal Haskell pleads with the Colonel to heed the German's warning.  He states that he is, by profession, an archaeologist, and would hate to see so much history destroyed.  The Colonel gives Haskell one night to reconnoiter the terrain and report back.

Our man Haskell... ehh, he ain't no Solid Snake.  Just moments after entering Pompeii he is spotted by the German's.  They chase him into a house, and fire off a few shots... with one grazing his head.  He lay unconscious for a time, before waking up when a spear hits the wall by his head.  He finds himself in ancient Pompeii!  A Gladiator stands before him... like the one in Sir Alex Quayle's diary... hey, we know him!  The Gladiator shows him the secret passageway out.  In time, he really wakes up... and uses the passageway he learned about while out-cold.

Haskell reports back to camp, and tells the Colonel that he found underground passages they could use to get a jump on the Nazis.  The G.I.'s claim Pompeii, and everything's cool!  We close with Haskell showing the Colonel where he had his dream... and he finds that spear he dreamed about embedded in the wall... Whoa...

In our third chapter, we join a museum reenactment of Mount Vesuvius doin' it's thing all over Pompeii.  The attendees all comment on how realistic the exhibit looked.

We meet Walter B. Fraser, the man behind the exhibit.  He reveals that the entire works was done via holographic hooziwhatsits.  Later, he is met by his girlfriend Alexandra.  She is upset that he didn't mention that she helped him with much of the exhibit... and so she shoots him.  No wait a minute... somebody else shoots him... right in the back.  He collapses to the ground.

The man with the gun shows himself and demands Alexandra give him the key to a silverworks display.  Before she can act... the ghost of a gladiator appears!  He chases the gunmen, and he flees... up the phony Vesuvius?  Yeah, that's not smart.  Guess what... he falls in... and dies.  The woman?  Alexandra-- Quayle!  The Gladiator Ghost just payin' it forward.  The End.

Wait... there's another story in here?  It's a shorty... here goes... A man has his hands chopped off after slapping a Middle-Eastern Sheik.  He would then be executed... handless!

From that point on, the Sheik is haunted by terrifying nightmares consisting of... haunted hands... He imagines them choking him.  He struggles to remove them from around his throat... but to those around him, it just looks like he's choking himself... to death!  Now, that's impressive stamina!

We close out on the executed fellow in his casket... with both hands and a broad smile on his face.

--

This wasn't nearly as bad as I feared it might be.  I was fully prepared to groan my way through this review portion... but, it was a pretty decent book.  The art was very nice all throughout, and the story/stories were pretty neat.  While I was reading through this, I wasn't paying attention to the story titles... I figure, this is an anthology book... and totally glossed over the fact that the first three stories were part of the same series.  When the Gladiator appeared to the American Soldier in Pompei, I was actually a bit surprised.  It totally enhanced the story for me... and had I been more vigilant in my "title reading" I don't think it would have had the same effect.

I will say... this issue did drag on a bit.  Once I finished with the Gladiator story, I was ready to put the book down... only to find that the Haunted Hand story was there.  I know it's ridiculous to complain about extra content... especially in the comics era we now live in, where certain companies have tried selling us 16 pages of story for upwards of four and five bucks, but I did find myself feeling a bit of morality-play-disguised-as-horror-story fatigue by then.

--

Letters Page:

--

Interesting Ads: