Titans/Young Justice Graduation Day + Teen Titans (2003) #1-7 Review

 

Graduation Day

• Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #1 - "Invocation" = Judd Winick's writing took a little to get used to. His Nightwing is a little off, much more like Batman in his aggressiveness. The concept of a mega-corporation trying to hire YJ and the Titans for tax write offs is hilarious, and I wonder if they have any link to this mysterious blue girl who's trying to repair herself using cybernetic individuals in the DCU. This group of Titans is interesting: I remember Argent from Rock of Ages (even though that was a future version), and I have no idea why Roy is using a gun? The Donna Troy dream sequence was interesting too, and Cyborg states Indigo is apparently benevolent, setting up a couple plot points for the rest of the mini. Not too crazy about the art, but at least I won't have to deal with it for very long.
• Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #2 - "Commencement" = This one was a bit of a step up. I am not a fan of Winick's characterization of Dick, he makes him so damn angsty which doesn't seem to fit in with his personality whatsoever. Tim was also on edge, and that makes me wonder if this is somehow related to the Batman line stuff with Hush and Murderer/Fugitive keeping the whole bat-family on edge. If not, then this gets really messy. The Donna moments are great, and Vic is always fun. Besides that, not much happens until the shock value final sequence. Omen is merc'd by a Superman robot that STAR apparently has? I have no care for Indigo, and I'm just excited to be done with this so I can move on into the Johns Titans series.
• Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3 - "Recessional" = An excuse for a soft reboot. This was mediocre at best. The art is bleh. Winick's characterization of Nightwing sucks. RIP Donna, but I'm more excited for the Jimenez min than this. I think I had way too high expectations for Winick, and I'm praying that I enjoy his stuff in the lead-up to Infinite Crisis.
• Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files & Origins 2003 - "A Day After" = Phil Jimenez section carried the hell out of this. His writing and art work in tandem so well, a fusion that shows how much Jimenez really cares about the Wonder Woman mythos. Very hyped to read his Donna Troy mini-series leading up to IC. The Johns/Winick stuff was fine, but I really don't care for the grumpy Nightwing. The prelude to both Teen Titans and Outsiders was serviceable, but forgettable.

A Kid's Game [#1-7 + 1/2]

• Teen Titans #1 - "Teen Titans" = Interesting opener. Fun that it's the JLA getting the proteges together for a new Teen Titans post events of Graduation Day. I think them making that effort displays an extremely healthy relationship between both generations that I wish was more present in current continuity. There are some interactions that came off as jarring: Wally being cynical about Bart, the Cassie teen angst stuff, Conner and Tim. I guess everyone is super on edge after the death of Donna and Lilith, so it makes sense (I sleepwalked through that mini-series, and I know Donna comes back so I didn't care much). The final twist was cool, I know Johns has had this in his fanfic for quite some time, so it's fun to see it implemented for the first time.
• Teen Titans #2 - "Child's Play" = Gah damn that last page. Still getting some weird vibes off of the dynamic; the novelty of the teen angst has worn off. Tim is the most jarring, but maybe that has to do with Johns' characterization of Batman. Conner is the standout, but everyone else is just annoying. I know for a fact that Johns can write good teen characters, I mean just look at Stargirl, but he's 100% doing this intentionally. I already know the Deathstroke twist, but the disposal of Wintergreen sucks since he ends up being so good in the Priest-Stroke run.
• Teen Titans #3 - "Too Young To Die!" = All I felt reading this was how similar the interactions were to Johns writing the League in the New 52. Teen angst is not for me, but I will certainly power through it while reading this run. The mausoleum sequence was cool, and the foreshadowing leading up to the final page reveal worked out really well. The McKone art is growing on me, but I hope the plot accelerates soon, because the writing is certainly not carrying the book. Also, I'm assuming the girl in the church of blood sequence is Raven.
• Teen Titans #4 - "Breaking the Rules" = Great last page. Seeds are being sown with Cassie, Raven, and Conner; everything else seems meandering. Starfire, Beast Boy, and Cyborg are the weak links while Jericho possessing Slade maintains sufficient tension as an introductory villain in classic Johns "sins of your past have come to haunt you" type fashion. McKone's art is great, the fight scenes are dynamic and brutal as hell. The Bart stuff was the stand out, makes sense too since Johns is a Flash-fanatic.
• Teen Titans #5 - "Clash of the Teen Titans" = I think I'm past the transition point and have finally got used to the characters. Johns obviously seems to have an affinity for the YJ remnants over the Wolfman titans, but I wonder if that'll change over the course of this run. A pretty unsatisfying anti-climax to this whole arc, and Deus Ex Raven showing up out of nowhere to yoink Jericho didn't make it any better. Bart becoming Kid Flash was dope, and Diana yeeting Conner on that last page was hilarious. 
• Teen Titans #6 - "War & Peace" = Titans vs JLA! Heroes vs Heroes over an understanding, one of the stupidest tropes to ever exist in comics. The only justification to make it work in this context is the fact that these are goddamn hormonal super-teens, of course they're going to let the angst turn to punches and kicks (the older titans should be in their 20's, so that's pretty inexcusable). Mike McKone continues to deliver wonderfully choreographed art, very much cemented in the 2000's era ambience. Nightwing coming in was hilarious, and the evolution of the Tim/Conner brotherhood is still great. One thing that has bugged me is the fact that all the YJ leftovers seem so distant even though they were on a team together for multiple years; they act like they first met each other recently! Conner and Tim have been friends since the dang 90's, where is all this disconnect coming from, because if it's really a result of Graduation Day, than I don't know what to tell you.
• Teen Titans #7 - "Wednesday" = The best issue yet? Drop-ins for every member of the Titans (sans Vic sadly) with little old Slade as our bookends. Conner and Bart had the best internal reflections (makes sense given it's Johns) while Tim and Kori were some great runner ups. Still adjusting to pre-flashpoint Deathstroke since I'm so used to his characterization during Priest's run. 
• Teen Titans #1/2 - "The Ravager" = I think this was fine, nothing too crazy. The use of Wade LeFarge was cool, but I'm not sure how I feel about this characterization of Rose. Like I mentioned in the last entry, the Rose I'm used to is from Priest's Deathstroke, so John's half-baked/newborn personalities are not doing it for me. The Ivan Reis art was fun, and I'm sure the flashback panels were great for fans of Wolfman's Deathstroke run in the 90's, but the Titans were pretty useless in this.