New Teen Titans Drug Awareness Special (1983)
"Problem Child"
Story - Marv Wolfman
Script - Joey Cavalieri
Pencils - Adrian Gonzales
Inks - Joe Giella & R. Villigran
Letters - Ben Oda
Colors - Adrienne Roy
Editor - Dave Manak
Special Thanks - Joyce Nalepka & Stephen Jacobs
Well, it's been a long time coming... but I finally came across the final New Teen Titans Andtidrug PSA comic. Last year we discussed the first (and I thought only) one, as well as the shocking second one! Let's get right down to rounding out this trilogy!
Just keep in mind, like I said last time, these aren't numbered. I'm listing this as "#3" just for my own sanity when it comes to cataloging. This one is courtesy of the IBM Corporation.
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We open with a Lois Lane-emceed assembly at an unnamed... high school... maybe junior high school... dunno, the kids look pretty young. Anyhoo, the assembly is to discuss the fight... against drugs. She introduces the Teen Titans... and the Protector. So, again... Pro is an associate of the team rather than a member... although, later on they will refer to him as "leader". It should come as no surprise that during this very event there are several youngsters outside the auditorium toking up... this ain't just weed tho... this crop's been dusted, ya feel me? Um, it's angel dust... that's what's in the pot.
Bad boy Jesse got the stash from his big brother Dave. Knowing that assembly is going to be... ya know, pretty lame... he inhales a few times, then heads in to the auditorium... where he almost immediately starts heckling the super-powered teen-agers on stage. Like a true hero he lays down a few "choice" one-liners, then when confronted his eyes well up and he charges out of the building.
The Titans give chase... which is to say, they abandon the assembly event. Okay, it's just Changeling that follows... anyhoo, Jesse runs all the way through town... through a field... and to the very edge of a cliff that overlooks the water. Just how long has be been running? Knowing he's got the kid cornered, Changeling, who up until now has taken the form of a bird... transforms into a rhino. Yeah, Gar... that's really the way to let a kid know you're not there to hurt him...
Back at the school, the Titans chat with Jesse's parents. They tell the teens that Jesse looks up to his older brother David... who "was always a bit of a rebel". These parents seem completely clueless on how to deal with their own kid(s)... lucky for us, the conversation is interrupted when Raven is overcome by her empathic powers. She begins to feel Jesse's emotions, and understands that she needs to be with him immediately.
Back at the cliffside, Gar is pleading with Jesse to let him be of service... keeping in mind that he is still currently in the form of a large horned beast. Jesse, who is hopped up on angel dust and fear at this point begins to stagger... and he falls off the cliff. Fortunately (?), Raven's soulself is close enough to rescue him from his plummet. She absorbs the boy into herself... causing him to settle his tea kettle just a bit, at which point we get to see him have a "chat" with his "brother".
Raven lets Jesse out, and he's a changed man... er, boy. At first he thinks the entire thing was a trick, but he quickly comes around. Inside the soulself, he saw the physical manifestation of what his brother was doing to himself... he saw the ugliness and loneliness of addiction. Jesse allows Raven to take away his feelings of pain and anxiety... and so she does. However... in so doing, she also (somehow) draws his drug-addled perceptions into herself as well. It is suddenly as though Raven herself... is stoned.
Raven teleports the trio back to the Titans, after which she just starts running amok due to her bad-trip. She is flying around like a lunatic... until Starfire is able to catch her in a sort of avian headlock. Raven slumps to the ground. Starfire picks her up and takes her to the hospital. At this point, Jesse embraces his parents and promises to be drug free from that point on. He then goes the extra step and decides he's going to try to get his friends to clean up their acts as well. C'mon pal... one step at a time.
At that very moment, his stoner friends are hanging out nearby... ya know, by the trees... where they're always hanging about. They overhear their "hook up" turning over a new leaf... and immediately write him off as a "narc". The scurry away like cockroaches before he can turn them all in.
Later on... the assembly continues... whaaa? I gotta figure that these concerned parents and students have just been sitting in this auditorium while Lois Lane does her best stand-up act. Either that or they watched her paint her nails, or take notes. Anyhoo... we get to hear a bit from the peanut gallery. One man talks about injuring himself while he was in the service. He was given a drug to take away the pain... and he got hooked. We hear from an absolute dolt of a mother who just figures that all kids do drugs these days as a "rite of passage". Oh-ho... the Protector will now educate you... in fact, he will educate us ALL! Get a load of this panel... it would make Chris Claremont furrow his brow and say "that's a bit much".
Elsewhere, we finally meet up with dangerous Dave. He's trying to get an advance on his "junk" from some "big-time" pushers. He pleads with them that he's good for it... after all, he's gotten the entire junior high hooked on the crap. They call him a deadbeat, and tell him to hit the skids. When he hesitates, he gets socked in the mush and thrown through a table.
Back at the school, the parents are giving the Titans some guff... claiming it to be their responsibility to keep the drugs outta their kids' bodies. At this point, Lois pipes in... she's all... "Um, maybe you should act like parents". Hell yeah, Lois. Anyhoo, at this point, the Titans roll out... their destination, Dave's dilapidated digs... a shack by the cliff side. I should mention that here Starfire asks the "leader" where they are headed... and it's Kid Flash who responds before Protector... so maybe for this mission, Wally's leading the charge...
At Dave's dump, the kids... including a heavyset kid with curly red hair (hmm, might this be our stout pal from the first Titans PSA? Continuity, maaaaaan.), spill the beans about Jesse turning into a no good rat-fink. Dave's all "I got dis"... and he proceeds to, ya know... run away.
Unfortunately for him, this is when the Titans arrive. Donna lassos his car, which causes it to open like a can of tuna fish. Dave decides to hoof it... but does so directly into Vic. Starfire explodes a tree to let him know they mean business... and then they... let him go. Yeah, that'll learn 'im. Luckily, Vic had enough sense to slip a homing device on him before letting him slip.
Now... back at the schoolyard, Jesse is being held up against the tree by the tubby carrot-top... who looks a lot less tubby here. Maybe he had cut some Hydroxycut into his last joint. Anyhoo... he tells Jesse that if he wants to prove he's not a rat... he's gotta take a toke. I mean, seriously now... back in high school, the 'heads didn't let anybody in on their stash... and this fool is damn near pushing it down poor Jesse's throat. Jesse pushes the ginger away... gives a rousing speech about not having to do drugs to prove he's a "friend"... and then, and I'm not making this up... he gets a round of applause by his classmates. Yeah... back-slash, that happened. Oh, and of course, at this point... the red-haired boy decides he wants to get off the junk too.
Meanwhile... the Titans have tracked dungaree Dave to a warehouse. We know it's a warehouse... because the building says "Warehouse". Why, it's where the big-time druglords are hanging out... and dimebag Dave just led the Teen Titans right to their front door. So, yeah... battle time.
It's a fairly pedestrian fight... which ends with the Titans saving dirty Dave. Our titanic tale wraps up with Dave lying in a hospital bed... vowing to be clean. Lois Lane gives us the "go home", and we are out.
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Well... it seems as though our Teen Titans PSA's have fallen to the law of diminishing returns... this one wasn't so hot. When comparing that to what came before, that's really saying something. This entire issue feels like a slapped together "gotta fulfill the contract" affair... and the only thing that it offers that the previous two didn't was the younger sibling emulating the older one... though, we kinda had that in the first one with Anina's dead brother... but still...
It feels like this one wasn't taken as seriously as the other two... Marv Wolfman didn't do the scripting, and Gonzales, while talented, isn't a George Perez nor a Ross Andru. I think I might have a thing where if I see Joey Cavalieri's name in the credits, I think it's a book that DC doesn't care much about... or is limping into its cancellation. It seems like he did a lot of "final issues". Kind of like a Ben Raab for the 1980's. And of course, I mean no offense to either man... just my observations, with perhaps just a freckle of pith.
So, this entire issue is framed by an event being emceed by Lois Lane... which, is all well and good... but, it just seems as though these assemblies are just taking place constantly in whatever town this story takes place in. What's worse... the parents are portrayed as absolute boobs. "Well, duhhhh... we thought dat all da kids did da drugs!" It isn't until Protector "educates" them that they realize that they can positively affect the lives of their children. Well, gee thanks Pro! It feels like this story is trying to have it both ways... we're seeing that parents should talk to their kids... a staple of early Teen Titans tales... while at the same time promoting that there is a need for a team of superheroes to impart such wisdom on the parents!
We get that witty for all the wrong reasons scene where Jesse tells off the drug pushers at the school yard, and is then regaled with actual applause from his classmates! I mean, there are whole subreddits dedicated to mocking "totally $100% true" stories which "totally happened" that end just like that. It's a missed opportunity in my opinion... it could have been handled with a measure of subtlety that would have made it seem more realistic. I mean, let's face it... as neat as it would be for a kid to get a round of applause for "just saying no", that's not likely to happen in the real world.
Otherwise... it was just a sub-par issue of New Teen Titans. Thankfully that makes it still quite a bit better than it could have been. Like I said in the past two PSA reviews... could've been better... but, damn sure could've been a ton worse as well! The story flows... decently... I mean, there's a purpose... and a resolution. The dialogue is... clearly not Marv... and the art is serviceable. Not Perez, not Andru... not other Titan legends Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (praise be his yadda yadda), nor Eduardo Barreto either... but, serviceable.
Despite my misgivings, and opinion that this was mostly a missed opportunity... I would still recommend nabbing it if you come across it at a decent price. I was able to procure it for a shiny quarter... though probably would've paid up to a few bucks just for the novelty of the thing. For fans of the New Teen Titans of this era, just think of it as a "missing chapter" that occurs while Robin is away working with Batman. Give it a shot.
Well, we're three DC in the 80's PSA comics down... only one left to find! One'a these trips I'm bound to find that issue where Supergirl teaches us how to drive safely!
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Detective Comics #518 (September, 1982)
"The Millionaire Contract"
"He With Secrets Fears the Sound"
Writers - Gerry Conway, Paul Levitz & Barbara J. Randall
Pencillers - Don Newton & Trevor Von Eeden
Inker - Bruce Patterson
Letterers - Ben Oda & Milt Snapinn
Colorists - Adrienne Roy & Jerry Serpe
Editor - Dick Giordano
Cover Price: $0.60
During this October's #boohauntedblog, we discussed a three-part Batman story in which he was infected with vampirism... or vampiri-ism. It ended kinda outta nowhere, bada-bing Batman's cured... at which point I was like "Okay...". Little did I know that I actually had the next issue in my collection the whole time! Let's pick up where we left off back 'round Halloween-time.
If you wanna check out the earlier chapters, you can do so here, here, and here.
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We open pretty much where we left off last time... Batman is hooked up to an antidote-laden IV. Things appears to be going well... why, his fangs have already receded and everything! Our priestly friend Father Green tells Robin that Batman insisted that he be cured first... and they load the Vampiri DuBois's's's into what appears to be a hearse, and then takes them away. He seems almost eerily pleased to be taking them with him... makes me wonder just what he's got planned for them...
With them gone, Robin turns to Alfred and discusses his plans to apologize to Vicki Vale for his creepy advances toward her earlier. Alfred informs him that he's in luck... for Ms. Vale is upstairs at the present. Dick heads up and is shocked to see Vale alongside... Bruce Wayne?
"Bruce" and Vicki have a date at the Crystal Ballroom, and so they head out. Dick is unsure what to make of this... but Alfred clears things up by telling him that the stand-in is actually Christopher Chance, the Human Target. There has been a story thread going on at this point in which Ms. Vale was getting... uncomfortably close to figuring out that Batman and Bruce Wayne are one in the same. Alfred considers use of the Human Target may throw her off the scent. Dick thinks this is a rather stupid plan... and it kind of is... because in order for it to work, Vicki will have to see Batman and "Bruce" in the same place at the same time.
Elsewhere... Deadshot is loading cartridges into his "gun-arm blasters". He is in a darkened office along with Boss Thorne and the new Commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, Hamilton. They came into possession of Vicki Vale's secret Batman-is-Bruce-Wayne files, and intend to put a bullet in both of 'em. The Commish is having second thoughts, but the ball is already in motion. Deadshot takes his leave.
Thorne then boots everyone from his office... after they split, he is somehow compelled to the window. When he looks outside, he sees the reflection of Dr. Hugo Strange... at least I think that's who it is...
A phone rings in the Batcave... and a groggy-as-heck Batman stirs long enough to answer it. It's the Warden of the... er, Gotham Jail? I don't think it's Belle Reve yet... or maybe it is... dunno. Either way, he is calling to inform Batman that Deadshot has escaped. Next thing we know he'll be telling Batman yesterday's weather. Batman decides to head out, even in his foggy, groggy state... to find one Augustino Coppola, Deadshot's weapons manufacturer. Dunno how I feel about a half-awake Batman careening down the streets of Gotham, but whattaya gonna do?
We shift scenes to former-Commissioner Gordon and his new P.I. partner Jason Bard. They are just minding their own business when some crooked GCPD officers corner them... start with the tough talk... then rough the fellas up but good. Well, that's not cool.
We rejoin Batman as he approaches Coppola. Ol' Augie tries to get fresh and pulls a gun... but clearly, he don't know Batman very well... that ain't gonna get him too far with him. Batman lifts the fella up by his collar, and it isn't long before he's singin' like a canary. Deadshot apparently ordered a new set of blasters because he had a hit at some sort of ball... Batman, armed with all the information he needs, vanishes.
We now join the Human Target and Vicki Vale on their date. It's important to mention that Chase is not aware that Batman is Bruce Wayne... all he knows is that Wayne himself is in some sort of danger. Outside, hanging from a line, is Deadshot. He sees "Bruce" and takes aim... dead center.
Before he can take that shot... and much to his surprise... Batman appears on the scene! In the distraction, Deadshot squeezes off a single shot... but it is far off target. Instead of hitting... the Human Target... it hits a chandelier. Chance pulls Vale away from the falling mass o' glass.
Batman and Deadshot tangle in the sky, until Floyd's able to shake the Bat loose. Batman plummets to the ground, but is able to finagle a flip to finesse the fall... say that three... hell, say that once! Deadshot fires a shot at Batman... but misses. For a cover copy that reads "--and Deadshot™ Never Misses!!", dude sure... ya know... misses a lot. Anyhoo... he decides to get a closer look at his target, and enters the gala through the large glass window. Batman quickly follows... and it is here that Vicki Vale sees both Bruce Wayne and Batman!
Deadshot is just as confused as Vale... and decides he'll just kill both fellas just to be sure. Let's not get ahead of ourselves there, Floyd. He takes aim point blank at Batman... but "Bruce" throws a sort of shiv into the barrel of his arm-blaster... which causes it to backfire!
From here, it's academic. Batman takes Deadshot into custody... and tells "Bruce" that they're going to have a long talk in the near future. He also casually drops the word "Chance" into the chatter, so maybe he knows who's wearing his face. Elsewhere, Boss Thorne figures he'd just gotten some bad intel, and destroys the evidence of Bruce being Batman.
Our back-up story begins with a man named Ward Gilbert being held up by a criminal called the Velvet Tiger. She intends to steal his briefcase.
In the very same building, Barbara Gordon is wrapping up a long day of researching and developing. She hears a crash coming from another floor and decides to don her Batgirl duds to check it out. She arrives just in time to see the whole thing go down.
A tussle ensues, and she is able to take two of the Velvet Tiger's flunkies down. Unfortunately, the Tigress herself is able to slip away amid the confusion and skull-cracking. Batgirl approaches Gilbert, and we learn that the Velvet Tiger is actually his sister Lani. Together they run the computer firm Gilcom, and in the briefcase is a computer system capable of hacking any computer with Gilcom components. He knows this because... dun dun dunnnn, he invented the system!
Batgirl heads out to try and chase the Tiger... and Gilbert, hoping to find her first, brandishes a gun. Barbara quickly finds Lani at the Gilcom offices... which, ya know... is a pretty lousy place to hide out, right? We wrap up this minisode with James Gordon gazing out the window praying for his daughter's safety... and yeah, I guess at this point he knows she is Batgirl.
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What a fun issue of 'Tec. I complained during my review of Batman #351 that the ending of our Vampiri-Bat story was a bit anticlimactic... and, while it still kinda is... I'm glad to see that it is at least followed up on here. Not quite sure what Father Green has in mind for the Monk... but, it sure seems... weird. Dude was almost frothing at the mouth to have him in his clutches.
Alfred deferring to the Human Target to act as a stand-in for "Master Bruce" is... I dunno... like, it seems like it could be a good idea on the surface... but at the same time, do you really want a dude like Christopher Chase sniffing around the Manor... so close to the Batcave? And, c'mon Dick... you almost let it slip that "Bruce" should be in the Batcave hooked up to Bat-IVs... was he really gonna finish his sentence with that with faux-Bru and an already suspicious Vicki Vale right there? Hell, you'd think Alfred might've prepared him a bit better.
Deadshot is one of those characters that I have very little experience with... as a full-blown villain. I've read plenty of him in Suicide Squad and Secret Six... and while he's not really a hero there, he is a protagonist. I gotta say, I was pretty surprised to see just how... sloppy he was. I was expecting a much more professional approach... kinda like a Deathstroke... instead, he missed every shot he took (so much for the cover copy, eh?) and bungled the gig!
Another fella I don't have a whole lot of experience with is... Don Newton... damn, he does him some nice Batman. I really enjoyed the art here, much more than I thought I would. The juxtaposition between his pencils and Gene Colan's on Batman are surprisingly complimentary. Really such a great time for the Bat-books!
The back-up story... well, it was there. I will never slight a comic for having a less than stellar back-up. If the back-up is great, I might remember the overall package a bit more fondly... but I can't hold a lackluster back-up against a whole issue. After all, the back up is just gravy. It's just that it's that tasteless diner gravy that only exists to give flavor to three-day old mashed potatoes. I am a fan of Trevor Von Eeden, so I was definitely glad to see some of his art... the story though... ehhhh...
Overall, definitely worth snagging. I can't seem to locate it digitally, otherwise I would definitely drop a link here. I do not think it has been collected either... so this one be a like an online dating site... singles only... Har har har. Anyhoo... I think it's probably just a good rule of thumb that if you come across any Batman/Detective Comics from the early 1980's at a good price, you might just wanna grab it!
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Letters Page:
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The New 52: Futures End #0 FCBD Special Edition (June, 2014)
Writers - Brian Azzarello, Jeff Lemire, Dan Jurgens & Keith Giffen
Pencillers - Ethan Van Sciver, Patrick Zircher, Aaron Lopresti, Jurgens & Jesus Merino
Inkers - Art Thibert, Mark Irwin & Dan Green
Art Consultant - Keith Giffen
Colors - Hi-Fi
Letters - Carlos Mangual
Assistant Editor - Kyle Andrukiewicz
Editor - Joey Cavalieri
Group Editor - Matt Idelson
Cover Price: FREE
As I rapidly approach one solid year of daily blogging, I figured I may as well discuss one of the books that brought me back into the "Greater DC Universe" fold. When this book was announced, it was rumored that it would ultimately lead to a return to the old (er, real) DCU. I was down to my last few titles and was planning on dropping DC altogether, but I'll go into further depth after the usual spoilery synopsis.
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We open in Central City, 35 years from whenever you read this. An aged Flash is working alongside some of his Rogues... and he enters their compound with his quickness. It is revealed that he is running from... Wonder Woman... at least it's something that resembles Wonder Woman. It is made (relatively) clear that she has been assimilated by Brother Eye... and is looking to "spread the love". She chops off Captain Cold's hands, and the Flash proceeds to pound her into the ground.
After regaining his bearings, the Flash finds himself stood before... Frankenstein. He gives Flash the choice of joining Brother Eye, or... ya know, dying. Flash tells Frank to eff-off, which leads to the big guy opening his vest... revealing Black Canary's head grafted to his chest. Her sonic scream turns Barry (I think it's Barry) to dust.
We next get a look at many DC Universe locales in this sorta-kinda far-flung future... Brother-Eyed folks have, for most intents and purposes, taken over the Earth. In Metropolis, we join Green Lantern John Stewart and Blue Beetle Jaime Reyes running through the sewers. Outside we see several assimilated heroes, including Booster Gold. Jaime is the first to fall.
John looks like he might be able to hold his own... but then, Superman shows up. It's pretty much academic from there.
Next up, we join the oddball team of Grifter and Amethyst. They have been tasked by Bruce Wayne to infiltrate the Brother Eye... Compound (?) and disconnect Firestorm, which would sever its link to the assimilated heroes via satellite uplink... or something. They run afoul of Superman and the newly cybery-John Stewart... and get atomized pretty quick.
We shift to the man who gave them the task... Bruce Wayne, at Wayne Manor. He is alongside Terry McGinnis, ya know... that other Batman... from the cartoon. Anyhoo, Bruce is planning on going back in time to stop this dark future from happening.
Before he can, however, the Assimilated Batmen of All Nations infiltrate the Manor... and before we know it, it's a pretty bad time. The Knight slices off Bruce's right arm before he can hop into the time-travel portal device.
Terry is able to better the Batmechs, and heads over to tend to Bruce. He is given the time-travel watch thingie, and instructed to stop this Brother Eye present, by heading to the past... and so he does. Next thing we know, Batman Beyond is standing in Times Square, five years from now!
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Well... this was, interesting... right? I remember really not knowing what to make of it... but felt as though it wasn't so ingrained in "New 52ness" that I could still get something out of it. Like I mentioned in the preamble, in early 2014 I was down to about 4-5 DC books a month... and I was only really enjoying Justice League. Batman was kind of hit or miss for me... though, definitely more hit than miss... but I still could've dropped it without losing much sleep over it.
With Futures End, there was that rumor... as slight as it might've been, that the weekly series was going to end with either the return of the Multiverse... or simply a return to the pre-Flashpoint DCU. Well, that was enough for me. Suddenly I was sorta-kinda back with DC... even picking up other titles I didn't normally read if I felt there was the slightest possibility that there'd be some "old" DC hinted at... which kinda paid off during that Superman: Doomed storyline...
Overall, this issue wasn't half bad. Like I said... there wasn't that "New 52" feeling to it, title notwithstanding... it could have easily taken place in ANY DC Universe... hell, the "Brother-Eyed" Superman is cut off at the waist... for all I know, he could've been wearing the red trunks before he got assimilated... right? I guess he's still got that horrendous collar though... ehh...
The art here is almost scarily consistent... I actually had to take a second look at the list of creators at the end... I thought there might have been two pencillers... but didn't expect for this to have been a jam-issue at all.
We get ourselves a great opening mystery... in both the sorta-far flung and the near futures... with ramifications promising to change the outcome of one to affect the other... all told, not too shabby. Perhaps a bit too dismembery for my tastes... but, whattayagonna do. For a Free Comic Book Day issue, this was a great one. Sure beats the hell out of the outdated reprints we're accustomed to from DC...
Of course, hindsight... that horrible thing... tells us how all of this works out... but, let's not worry about that for now. I was hoping to be able to direct folks to grab the digital version of this issue... and I was sure DC would have it available seeing as though it was a FCBD book... but, damned if I can find it on readdcentertainment.com! Not sure I can recommend actually paying for this issue... though the Futures End series, ending and (lack of?) fallout notwithstanding is some pretty decent comics.
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