Teen Titans Full Throttle

I decided to catch up on some issues that I missed by starting with the first TPB.

SPOILERS AHEAD
...I really don't like most of the leads for a good portion of this trade. The special with Robin, Red Arrow and Kid Flash had some problems but let's start with the positives. I liked Damian not feeling the same connection Bruce does with Gotham but still being able to find a means to feel close to his mothers' culture. Although Damian is supposed to be a vegetarian which means the ox blood soup isn't something he'd have. Still it's nice that he'd have other people in Gotham he'd care for and feels close to the family. I was expecting them all to die so it was actually a surprise that the mother and children survived.

I don't know enough about Emiko or Shado to tell how spot on they are. As sad as it was to see Shado nearly kill her daughter I'm mostly confused at how Emiko cured herself of poisoning by sticking an arrowhead into an outlet.

The Wallace section pissed me off the most for several reasons. Yes, some of it is because I know what's going to happen to his cousin Wally and Harley Quinn after this. But Harley is very, very, very annoying and it boggles the mind that she will be treated in a more heroic light later on. So you mean to tell me Wally just takes something Harley shows him as fact without checking it out himself, allows her to grope him without comment (WTF was the point of that?) and just shrugs it all off?

Look, I agree that Wallace came off pretty bratty. He annoyed me quite a bit during his talk with Wally even if he does raise some good points. But Wally not even coming off the least bit distrustful of the Squad feels off. Also, Harley is extremely sloppy for a killer, Waller too for that matter. Somehow she found the tracker, decided not to destroy it, she left it at the scene of the crime, and then left the body with a signed note! WHO DOES THAT?! Kid Flash could have taken pictures or the evidence! Sure Waller would shrug it off as Harley doing it on her own but Wally knows she was on SS business. People witness them taking the woman into their custody!

All three stories show how the leads failed to save a life and believe the way the older heroes do things is wrong. This leads to Damian locking villains away in their prison. From there we'll lead into the series proper and the three new characters that Damian gets to join his team. I've heard that many think Roundhouse is annoying but honestly I don't find any of the rookies bothersome. I like the fact he's a star online yet (so far?) doesn't seem to have an ego. He just wants to help out, although I do think it feels kind of random for Kid Flash to insist on bringing him onto their team. If Billy was the traitor that wouldn't make sense.

Crush feels like the most open of characters, she says what she thinks (for the most part but that comes later) and doesn't come off whiny when she has a complaint. She deals with the team without demanding that Damian finally make good on his promise to help her find her foster parents killer. The friendship that's being built up with Billy is oddly sweet. You see her wondering if he's homophobic which will eventually (not in this trade) lead to the two having a conversation about Crush herself. While I like the design for Djinn I do find the age bit to be extremely creepy as well as the sudden attraction between Damian and her coming about after he briefly becomes her master.

You know when I read the series at a later point I thought Kid Flash would probably be a good choice for leader but I can see why he wouldn't be here. Sure he has a better moral center than Damian or Emiko but he is too impulsive. I don't know much about Emiko outside of this series but isn't she supposed to be Damian's age? She looks older and acts more like a leader than he does for half of the trade. I said this back with the last group of TT Damian lead but I really don't think he's a good leader. Emiko is the one that takes the other team members to get trained, she calls out all of his mistakes and when she makes orders he backs them up anyway. Is she the real leader?

I'm actually kind of amazed at how badly Damian is handling things in general. Not only is his leadership questionable, his morals and abilities are all over the place. Emiko and him causally discuss letting Gizmo die. He thinks Crush should throw Gizmo into the sun (which Emiko points out the flaws in.) In prison he treats the prisoners horribly including one woman that basically became a criminal out of desperation. I thought Damian tortured the prisoners but I'm not sure. A lot isn't clear.

The Other is talked about a great deal and I'm not sure what proof Damian has for he/she/it/whatever existing. If not for Jason helping him and the unknown person watching them in the Annual I'd think it was fake. Is the Other involved in everything we've seen? I still don't know why Emiko cares or knows about them. All we hear about them comes from rumors Black Mask heard.

The pacing is horrible in places especially the "mentorship" with Red Hood. While the Annual isn't in this trade I still count the main flaw as a fault of these issues since the partnership mostly happened off panel. Jason gives Damian intel, it goes wrong and without much build up Damian is preparing to imprison him. I liked later issues better, at this point I'm not sure who should lead but someone has to step up.



Say What?: Harley calling Kid Flash the poltically correct Flash...what? Sure people gave him crap in real life but why would she call him that in universe?

Just in case this gets retconned later Djinn says she does not have the power to bring people back from the dead.