Now that we’ve hit a new year, I did say that the Masked Medic would be expanding the horizons for the website and I wasn’t lying. I’ve now launched the TikTok page and will be providing quick recaps of novels on there. But I know you guys. The hardcore fans. You still want full reviews and I shall be happy to provide. Since I’ve made my way through 2 of the ‘Death of the Family’ novels, I thought why not another? And it had certainly been a while since I had seen the Teen Titans!
‘Death of the Family’ starts with a flashback issue. We get the backstory of Tim Drake in the New 52. The novel shows how Tim is a young man looking to become the new Robin and although his life isn’t marred with tragedy, a mistake he makes almost costs him the lives of his parents. We then cut to present day where the Teen Titans, bar Tim, have come to Gotham after finding out that he’s been kidnapped by the Joker. None of them has any experience with the city and so they call out to one of Tim’s emergency contacts, Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl. She organises the Titans and splits them up into smaller teams to get work done. Unbeknownst to all of them, The Joker knows what the Titans will do and when Kid Flash run across the city looking for Red Robin, he inadvertently spreads the ‘Joker Toxin’ to all the homeless people. Suddenly, the Titans are overwhelmed and help arrives in the form of ‘The Outlaws’, minus Jason Todd, who apparently has also been taken by the Joker. Roy Harper, aka, Arsenal, steps up to the plate coming up with a plan to neutralise the poison. Although tentative at first, both teams fall in line to save the day. Whilst all of this is going on, both Red Robin and Red Hood are locked in a room together by the Joker. He taunts them initially before pitting them against each other by claiming that he had their fathers hostage and he would only let one live. The two former Robins band together but their attempt proves futile and they’re both knocked out. They wake, eventually, along with the entire Bat-Family at Joker’s dinner where he has bandaged everyone’s faces, due to claiming he had cut their faces off like his own. Whilst Batman escapes and dukes it out with his old nemesis, the rest of the family are corrupted with the ‘Joker Toxin’. The final issue in the series sees the Teen Titans in the aftermath, finally settling into their new headquarters. But after Gotham, are they truly safe? And just what is going on with Red Robin?
You would think that out of all the comic book series that were linked to the ‘Death In The Family’ event, the Teen Titans novel would be most likely the most useless. That was certainly not the case, and I think I actually enjoyed seeing what was going on with the rest of Gotham whilst the Joker was messing with the Bat-Family. In terms of scope, the novel shows just how maniacal but also highly intelligent the Joker is, in that there’s evidently a ridiculous level of planning that has been undertaken. I also really liked that we got to see two relatively similar teams having the opportunity to work together, and I think I’d definitely want to see more of that going forward! The only thing that I didn’t particularly enjoy was the fact that it still feels like the series is Red Robin centred and I’d like to see that change a little bit!
The majority of the artwork was done by Brett Booth and I genuinely love his stuff so much. I think he’s one of the best! The covers were also done by him and just look at the vivid colours and the very sharp style. Overall, this was a good novel, and I don’t think I was expecting it to be. Bring on more Teen Titans!
Favourite Panel:
Is the Joker psychic? It would explain how the hell he keeps getting away and causing havoc!
Favourite Character:
It’s tough in a team book to decide who was my favourite. It’s even tougher considering Roy Harper had the best moments, and he’s not even part of the team! Aha!
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★★½
Character Development: ★★★½
Artwork: ★★★★½
Enjoyability: ★★★½
Re-readability: ★★★
Level: Intermediate