Teen Titans #24 (Pre-Rebirth)

The last issue of Tim's team before Damian joins the TT in Rebirth and this acts as a grieving issue. His teammates talk about their favorite memories of Tim Drake.

SPOILERS AHEAD


Bunker tells a story about Tim and him hanging out when he was helping Tim dress up for a school reunion. They happen upon a Pride parade and decide to just hang out.

Power Girl (Tanya) recalls when she was still new to the team and Tim told a really bad physics joke. He made her feel welcomed and appreciated. She also realized that like her Tim has a legacy to live up to.

Raven recalls Tim trying to comfort her and thinking he couldn't possible understand. She brought him to her old home thinking he couldn't handle it and he calmly told her to get it all out of her system because he was there for her. From there he tells her about Damian.

Beast Boy has no memory in particular about Tim and what he said honestly pissed me off.

Wonder Girl talks about an infamous night on the Yacht and she asks why he hasn't kissed her again. Tim says it's because of Superboy (Kon) and her then she asks why he kissed her. He says he thinks that was Trigon messing with their minds. They had to save lives so she never got her full answer but she knows now that Tim was dating Spoiler.

They decide to disband the TT since Tim is gone. Elsewhere Damian stares at Tim's new 52 costume hinting at his run as leader.




Overall: Was this a private funeral for the superhero community or one that everyone knew about? I ask because Damian's death wasn't public knowledge (though I think it was in Morrison's work) and Dick's fake death was before they made everyone forget. Jason's still considered legally dead which is just unfair at this point. He was supposed to be at the funeral but couldn't go. The whole fake death thing ticks me off since like the others it seems to be reusing the same idea for forced drama. I really liked this issue except for a few places.

I'm glad to see Bunker written well again. I think it was Pfeiffer but there was one writer who just didn't get the character. Just seeing the previews made me wince. Anyway Bunker was one of the gems to come out of New 52. He's back to himself here playfully jabbing Tim for being his go-to-fashion guy since he's gay but knowing that's not the reason. He's affection for Tim is sweet as is the acceptances Tim had for him.

I can't say much about Tanya beyond what I read here. I dropped Tim's group of TT right after DOTF. I liked the story with them and had no problems with it.

I really like that Tim explains Damian to Raven which explains why she was so forgiving of Damian triggering her bad memories. Tim isn't quite right as it seems he's suggesting it's Bruce as Batman that saw good in Damian when it was Dick. Of course Dick was Batman at the time but the phrasing bugs me a little.

The Beast Boy bit does seem like the rushed part since he has no memory to mention. Given the level of hate Jason got for being best friends with Roy (who wasn't Dick's best friend, Wally was) I do wonder if readers were mad that Tim is Gar's favorite Robin. I know Gar had trouble with Dick during his West Coast TT thing in old canon but I think that's it. So how does he know the previously Robins anyway?

Gar thinks Dick is okay but doesn't deem him as high as Tim because he seem  like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders? That's mind boggling to me since old canon had Tim acting obsessed and to the best of knowledge this Tim barely has a life outside his superhero persona. Most of the stuff with Tim I've seen has him either on the job or doing things with other heroes. It seems weird to judge Dick by this standard. I suppose it means Dick seems less easy going but that doesn't compute when comparing him to Tim. Three of these Robins get favorably compared to the others sometime time to ridiculously degrees.

The closest I can recall Jason getting was being called Roy's best friend but it was never said he was better than anyone. Still does Gar know Jason because he seems to be saying the standard crap. "Jason's pretty much broken, gee Batman must think about how poorly Jason turned out." That's basically what he says yet Gar is willing to give Damian a chance. Uh wouldn't Tim say good things about Jason too since he's stated to be Tim's favorite brother in this canon?!

Yet Gar dubs Tim the best without knowing one or two of them saying Tim kept his soul intact. Implying one or more of them didn't ? Then saying Tim would be the only one you'd want to be stuck with on a desert island. I'm not sure if that's a jab at RHATO or ignorance either way Roy and Kori didn't mind Jason. I know it's a funeral where you want to talk up the person who died but did we need this?

I dropped TT right before the infamous kiss thing. I've heard some think it was implied that they had sex and what that would mean with mind control. I think this just confirmed that they only kissed. But I kind of doubt they were all close if Tim never told anyone he was dating Spoiler.

I could have done without Gar comparing the Robins. That put me in a bad mood but I can't say I'm surprised. The writers still do this stuff and Gar always did annoy me anyway. A good Tim issue showing how much his friends love him though.





Say What?: Tim graduated High School "super early".

Raven's spell is the same one from the cartoon.