Publisher’s Summary:
“There’s a new hero in town, and while Damian might not want to join you, he’s more than happy to lead you! There should always be a Robin on the team, but if Damian is their only available option, maybe they’ll pass on having a Boy Wonder. Robin and Ravager stand alone against the Feral Boys as Raven makes one last, desperate attempt to rescue Headcase.”
Shuffling through a dozen open tabs as I try to navigate the world of superhero graphic novels, I can’t help but think that I need a theme song, something that will summarize my efforts, and I’ve got just the one in mind: You spin me right round. Right round, baby. After a while, I always seem to end up dizzy and facing the wrong way, the middle of an established story staring me in the face. And believe you me, some of those Teen Titans have beady eyes.
This is going to take both hands for explanatory purposes. So, on one hand, Team Building throws you into the pit, and either you know what you’re doing – and who you’re surrounded by – or you had best catch on fast. There’s no time to explain; I repeat, exposition is out of the question. In fact, the only bone you have to wield like a clue stick is a small panel at the bottom of one page that has the face of each Titan underneath his or her superhero name. Relationships, friendships and partnerships have already been decided or discarded, and, apparently, it’s not for you to know why or how. Not here. Not now.
Basically, this was me: ‘Okaaay. So that’s who now? And he was once a member of the team, but he wasn’t so-and-so then, he was guy-x? *pause* Good Lord, who is THAT?’ And: ‘Wait just a minute! The bad guy’s name is Calculator? *snort* And…Hold up! A robot? But. …?’
I wasn’t…confused. (Maybe a little.) It’s just that there was a lot of water under the Titan’s bridge and it took me too long to find a gondola.
Now, on the other hand, I actually quite enjoyed Team Building. The characters – especially Rose/Ravager, Raven, and Bart/Kid Flash – were engaging, and the hints of Rose’s and Raven’s backstories were intriguing pieces of the puzzle. The banter was great. I liked that the graphic novel was comprised of vignettes tied together by various threads. And there was plenty of action to go around. If not for the fact that I kept wondering why there were, like, three Batmans, a half a dozen Robins, and who cloned Superman, it would have been an even better experience. That said, before I can read new volumes I’m going to have to go back, try to find some semblance of a beginning, and start paddling to catch up.
Have a life preserver ready. Or floaties; these‘ll do.
You know that does sound a bit confusing ;o I’m amazed how differently it’s drawn than the animated series too.TY ;D
It was very different. I had seen a couple of episodes of the animated series, and the only one that bore a passing resemblance was Raven. Oh, and having seen those few episodes helped not at all.