Titans Go!!

The Classic Titans meet the Rebirth team

The Classic Titans meet the Rebirth team

Well, Hosun (the real Hosun) hated it.

Overall, I was really happy with The Teen Titans Lazarus Contract Special #1. I thought Paul Pelletier did a fantastic job–most especially with Damian, who all but steals the episode– and I flat out loved inker Andrew Hennessey’s brush work. I thought it a kind of old school romp not unlike the classic Wolfman/Perez days. It was a real challenge with all of those capes and tights running around, but I think it plays well and finishes nicely, with great teasers for all three connected series.

And maybe that’s why self-assessing your own work can be a bad thing. I’m obviously way too close to the material to be objective about it. I found many problems with some of my work published over the past year that fans reacted well to. So here is the reverse. Hope that assessment is the exception and not the rule…

6 Comments

  1. circ says:

    Uh, who goes to 4chan for anything other than LCD (Lowest Common Denominator) fodder? 🙂

    • Coke says:

      In all honesty more real discussion can occur there than what you’d see on other major social sites and forums largely due to the fact that an identity is rarely attached to posts, meaning there’s less (operative word, LESS) tyranny of the majority (reddit upvotes), dogpiling over an unpopular opinion (tumblr, twitter), or exclusion/segregation of other opinions (facebook).

      Sure /pol/ is still gonna send it’s underaged frog posters to REEEEE and push ebin memes everywhere, but you just gotta ignore them so they’ll die from a lack of attention.

  2. Alex says:

    Eh. Too many pages wasted on the so called heroes bickering(such a boring and overused cliche in superhero comics), the emotional scenes really didn’t hit… maybe it was the composition of the scenes or the predictability… or most likely both. I don’t want to completely throw mud at this crossover because it wasn’t “the worst thing ever” or anything but I’ve said it and I’ll say it again, Deathstroke has been a masterpiece up until now(and I don’t throw that word around every chance I get), but this crossover has been a real dip in quality. Rebirth as a whole is very interested in recycling old plots and to top it all off, the Titans franchise has been lacking ever since Marv Wolfman and George Perez finished up their legendary run and a huge part of it is DC trying to relive past glory and reuse storylines, mainly Deathstroke and Trigon appearing in a Titans comic only brings out a yawn from me and low expectations. It certainly had it’s moments, “Take Three” for example was great but let’s just say I’m glad this thing is behind us and we can get back to our regularly scheduled dose of amazing writing on Deathstroke where you honor Wolfman and Perez’ creation while continuing to evolve him and develop his world, and hopefully DC doesn’t decide to regress Slade again… or at least not while you’re writing his ongoing.

    • Devon B says:

      Agreed. All three issues leading up seemed to be going into an emotional conclusion regarding Slade and his trip to the past. The special, well, Slade was hardly in it. And it’s ubderstandable considering it has Teen Titans smacked on the front, but it just felt like there was so much build up and so when we see Slade reaching for Grant the last time, there’s no weight to it. And when he’s suddenly pulled from the Speed Force, claiming he’s quitting, it just feels unexplained. Unfinished. The writing was great, and the art was good too, and sure there are definitely small pieces that were a joy to see (i.e. Jackson and Wally speaking with Wintergreen) but the ending feels rushed and unsolved. Something else as well, with Robin and Deathstroke making that deal, it seemed to play an important key to the story but now just seems like a wasted moment. Dick didn’t seem all too engaged in the effects of that deal, nor did Slade. He’s told it’s off in Titans, then Slade says it isn’t in Deathstroke. I was convinced that Slade would make it to the past, see the repercussions of trying to change it, and that /he/ would somehow be the one who told Dick that the deal was off so that he would ignite them trying to stop him. Alex is right, however. Deathstroke is a masterpiece with you at the pen. Even through the arc, you can tell when you’re writing or not. Even with Slade, it’s very blatant as to who is at the pen. I have faith that the next issues will tie everything up, and answer some questions left open at the end of Lazarus Contract. The conclusion needed more Slade. He was hardly in it, you know? Obviously that is not strictly under your control, but I find that to have been one of the biggest opportunities for the last issue.

  3. GoingBackto MD says:

    Mr. Priest I am not much of an Internet commenter but I will say that you are easily one of the best comic writers now (as well as just a legend in-general). You did a stellar job on the Lazarus Contract and your writing in Deathstroke #5 actually made me like Damien Wayne. i hope you don’t take internet comments seriously and I hope you keep writing good stories and not the whinny fanboys stories.

    I also like how you included a certain character from your tenure at of Steel, which i plan to read through Comixology.

    • Priest Priest says:

      Well, thanks so much. But I do take all fans seriously, they pay the bills. That doesn’t mean we’ll always please them, but listening is the least thing we should do. Have a great weekend.

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