Teen Titans #1

Teen Titans #1The new era of the Teen Titans begins here with Damian celebrating his 13th birthday by celebrating his individual victories over Beast Boy, Starfire, Raven, and Kid Flash (all of whom he’s keeping locked up in the Batcave). Gloating over his prisoners, Damian’s plan to forge the group into a new team is revealed when the young heroes begin to work together to free themselves.

The attempt to relaunch the Teen Titans during the New 52 was pretty damn awful so the bar has been set relatively low for this series to be a success. Teen Titans #1 gets off to a solid start, although there will still be a lot of team building in the issues to come.

Kidnapping is certainly a Damian way to put together a team. Although Damian gives the team one reason he has assembled them together as the new Teen Titans, the issue ends with a far more personal reason. It seems Ra’s al Ghul has grown tired of waiting for his grandson to tire of his Gotham City adventures and return to the League of Assassins. Offer Damian an ultimatum the boy has no intention of bowing down to, it falls on Robin to gather a group strong enough to fight what he knows is coming. Worth a look.

[DC, $2.99]