This is perhaps the worst week to be a Batman Family fan. Particularly if you are a fan of the Robins. Not only has Grant Morrison killed off Damian Wayne, the current Robin in the pages of Batman Inc this week which of course has sparked lots of debate, contention and massive media coverage, but other members of the Bat family haven’t fared very well either. And with the release of this week’s comics and the solicits for future Batman issues it, when looked at all at once, well it paints a very ugly picture. How ugly? To take a line from the film Houseboat which I reviewed last week; “I hate everybody. I hate everybody in the whole wide world.”
The Batman Family is in stitches in terms of likability post reboot, and with the death of Damian, for me personally nothing that was interesting, fun and engaging remains, and that is sad. Characters I liked are still there, but they are not the way they used to be characterization and personality-wise. The large communal family and personal army the Batfamily felt like preboot has all but been dismantled. And you would think that Damian dying would be the absolute worst thing to happen this week for the Bat Family, well you’re wrong. It’s just one of three particular traumas or ongoing narratives for the Bat Boys in the past few weeks that are absolutely awful.
In addition to Damian’s death, just a few weeks ago Jason Todd, the second Robin now known as the Red Hood (a former alias of The Joker) in Red Hood And The Outlaws #17 has had acid flung upon his face by one of his own helmets. The helmet was seemingly rigged by the Joker during the Death of a Family cross-over event and was left as a lingering surprise for Jason complete with a taunting recording. Ouch.
You may ask, “Hey Max, well yeah that sucks and Damian just died…really would could be worse than either of those?” Well…the third instance of awful leads us to this week’s Teen Titans # 17 which also came out this past Wednesday, the same as Batman Inc #8, and it is surprisingly the true cause of my personal ire this week, not Damian’s death. Why? Because of Tim Drake and the inexcusable things that are happening to him and the plot that is taking place. Tim Drake the “ Once a Robin, nope not a Robin only ever Red Robin” in the Nu52 canon is acting strangely erratic and is seemingly being influenced by something, essentially he is being mind controlled and looking like they are going for a “Red X” narrative if going by future issue covers. The real clincher? This week’s issue has him suddenly out of nowhere seducing Kiran, otherwise known as the criminally underused Solstice still caught in her smoke form which conveniently dissipates when being seduced. In doing so she is effectively cheating on Bart Allen, Kid Flash whom I believe she is dating, if you go by Kiran’s statement of “But Bart”, to which Tim responds with “Isn’t here”.
Yeah, no. Stop. Ugh.
This is bad in itself, disgusting porno-ish dialogue alone can make me cringe but the added actual sexual assault and the way Kiran is drawn as submitting so quickly and enthusiastically is just gross and paints her in a bad way which is unfair. Bad yeah? Okay, it gets worse when later in the same issue Tim seduces Cassie, otherwise known as Wonder Girl and it is insinuated that they then most likely have sex and it is perhaps not for the first time with Cassie saying “Red, are we really doing this, again?” Note, Tim still hasn’t shared his identity with his teammates yet which has always been a Tim thing that is actually never one of his nicer traits in any incarnation. Why has he kept that Batdickery habit out of all things to keep in this new version?
Bad art too, can this get worse? OH RIGHT IT DOES.
It then cuts to the new incarnation of Raven seemingly eavesdropping while holding a goblet of blood or red gunk that screams of mall-gothic broodiness which adds even more seedy tones to the entire thing.
Have you seen this new costume? How much of a pain is that to draw I ask you.
Tim is later fully revealed to be under full mind control by the end of the issue complete with glaring red energy eyes and a sadistic Joker smile.
Yeah, no…
This is not only disturbing because it means not only was Tim probably not in control, but the girls on the team don’t realize Tim isn’t himself either so effectively his advances were sexual assault for both the girls and for Tim himself and if Tim and Cassie actually had sex it constitutes as rape for both of them. If he was aware of what he was doing but couldn’t help it due to the mind control and couldn’t stop it? Well, then that’s really awful. Even worse is if he knew exactly what he was doing.
Is this Trigon’s doing? A Joker parting gift like Jason’s booby-trapped helmet? Raven?! A little bit of all three? You know who is really responsible? Scott Lobdell. The common denominator between Jason’s face getting doused in acid and Tim Drake being possessed or under Joker’s mind control is their writer. And he is the true villain of the week, not Talia or the Heretic, not Trigon, not The Joker. Scott Lobdell. Lobdell’s books while consistently selling rather well are openly criticized for being, well, not very well written. And skimming through these latest issues I must agree. He is awful. He has always been awful. Ever since the first issues.
Red Hood and the Outlaws makes very little sense as a book, replace Red Hood with Nightwing and you’d have a Titans book. Why is Jason running around with Dick’s friends again? Well, to be fair Jason was a Titan. Okay, so there is some validity for him running around with them – but it should be so much better. But no, Lobdell has erased the original Titans. Well sorta, it’s kind of really up in the air, Starfire at one point knew Dick as Robin but now she cannot fully remember things and Dick is cold towards her anyway and now Jason will protect her “every damn day of his life”. Whoops. Yeah that’s so much easier to remember.
It would be different if Jason’s book was about was a quest to find Donna Troy whom he had sparked a friendship with in the (sometimes for the better, ignored) Countdown to Final Crisis or something of that ilk and given her usual “multiverse anomaly” self might have been an interesting figure to feature in the post reboot world since she would remember the pre Pandora constructed reality. A Dick lead Titans book of the same plot would be fantastic as well but alas no Donna, she doesn’t exist at least that we know of. We’re not getting that. Teen Titans as shown above is also is pretty insipid and very slow narrative-wise, starring characters that deserve so much better and this new plot development just puts me over the edge. If Damian Wayne’s death is a tragedy then allowing Lobdell to write comic books and the fact he is moving onwards to Superman too is an absolute nightmare. What happened to the promise to foster new and engaging writers and artists DC? I am not seeing them here if you’re letting Scott Lobdell write them all.
His dialogue is generally terrible. His characters and new canons for them are equally lacking. Wonder Girl? Awful new origin story revolving around her boyfriend. Who needs that? Seriously? For Cassandra Sandsmark? Please. Pacing is horrible and everything drips of 90’s grim-dark drama clichés.Wasn’t this the reason for the reboot? Because the franchises had become so awful? Or does this hurt even more due to Teen Titans towards the end of the preboot run with the introduction of Solstice was slowly, sorta getting it’s groove back after a few years of disastrous arcs and roster shakeups? It feels like DC Comics isn’t learning anything and are doing the same pattern of lather, rinse, and repeat especially with Teen Titans and its patented brand of teenage slaughter and sexual misconduct that ultimately caused it to be rebooted in the first place. I cannot in my right mind seeing this getting any better. And with the coming of a new villainous Doctor Light in this book it seems the criminally undervalued heroic Doctor Light, Japanese scientist Kimiyo Hoshi, is probably also wiped away with the reboot too because having two Doctor Light’s like they had before, one villainous, one heroic, will be no doubt “too confusing” to readers. She’s also been characterized as being in her thirties so probably doesn’t have a chance. How fun for diversity. But really, the biggest thing of this is Tim Drake. Just poor Tim Drake. What Lobdell has done to the character as a whole is just atrocious and unforgivable. And now this. Possible rape. This is just the cherry on top of of this nastiness that has broken the camel’s back for me.
Tim Drake has been butchered by Lobdell since the donning of the so called “swan wings”. You could almost say Tim was under mind control long before this…actual case of mind control. His new Lobdell origin story is now extremely creepy with him being watched by Bruce in secret, essentially scouted. His real name might not even be Tim Drake. He was also given Olympic level athletic skills from the get-go which negates his original role as the Robin who wasn’t chosen or scouted out by Batman but was a normal, rather geeky kid from an upper middle class family with less than stellar athletic skills who nobly volunteered himself for the mantle despite physically probably not very suited for the role aside for his skills of deduction. Lobdell has thrown a wrench in that entire concept which for the most part was the reason why Tim was so popular and perhaps one of the most popular comic characters of the 90’s. I mean they paired him up with Jubilee in the 90’s DC/Marvel crossover, they were the company’s 90’s darlings! And he’s lost it. Tim has lost his role as the “relatable” brainy Robin that quickly came into his own despite some of his limitations and was the favorite of many, evident in that he held his title for over twenty years and his costume has become the base for redesigned and revisited Robin costumes everywhere ever since. He was the only Robin, I myself at age twenty-three today, knew of growing up and could identify with. I knew Dick was Robin and was now Nightwing, I knew Jason Todd died. I knew Tim was now Robin. And he was great at it. It felt like if he was Robin, I could be too.
Additionally while not Lobdell’s fault or doing but it is worth noting is that the removal of Stephanie Brown from the family has also hurt his character immensely. It truly hurts Tim Drake’s person considering Stephanie was featured in his solo title practically as co-star since her creation in 1993 all throughout the early 90’s and early 2000’s until she took the book herself briefly as Robin and then her return from the dead in its final span of issues leading up to R.I.P. And while things relationship wise sort of soured between the on and off again boyfriend and girlfriend particularly during R.I.P and Tim’s taking of the Red Robin mantle, they were pretty much each others match and a great team as Red Robin and Batgirl. At the least they were a pair and would have made a great trio book with Cassandra’s Black Bat. They should have made them the new Outsiders along with Misfit since Morrison wanted Tim to lead the Outsiders anyway. Well there’s a place you could have stuck your “spare” Batgirls and female Batfamily characters DC, look at that! Whelp, we didn’t get that now did we. Looking at this new Lobdell Tim, overall I can pretty much says that the Tim Drake we knew, along with Damian, is sadly dead.
Now, the issue with Lobdell and use of mind control causing this new Tim to seduce his teammates is well, it comes off as the most distasteful thing done probably so far in the reboot, and there have been many instances of distasteful material mostly coming from Lobdell too, but this, this includes rape. And it is inexcusable. Marvel comics already caught a lot of flak not too long ago with I believe Peter Parker seducing his roommate but then it was revealed it was not Peter but the Chameleon in disguise as Peter or something of that ilk. Essentially rape. DC not too long ago in the preboot canon itself had the rather naïve and sweet Miss Martian being occasionally possessed by an alternate evil future self stuck inside her own head and found herself at one point awaking in a bathroom stall supposedly about to be raped by two men; her evil self’s doing. Not Lobdell’s pen but just as bad. DC also had Trigon’s sons influencing the original Titans with different cardinal sins causing Starfire and Nightwing to hook up inexplicably on the spot despite being broken up. Nightwing was raped by Tarantula while he was in a state of shock. Tim was poised to be raped by the villainess he was battling against who had the goal for him to impregnate her towards the end of Red Robin run when he was saved by Cassandra Cain in her first solid appearance as the newly fashioned Black Bat. Bad plot set-up. Awesome Cassandra Cain.
Why so much rape guys? Why? Why continue with that? Can you not think of better ways to write?
Why is it that to show that Tim is being mind controlled the first thing he does is seduce the women on the team? And why would they so easily reciprocate Tim’s advances no matter how good looking and fit Tim is? Is this the same Cassie from earlier issues? That is so sick. Can writers please stop assaulting their characters this way? Sexual assault is not appropriate in all these stories. This is terrible writing and you should be ashamed for perpetuating this. It’s not fun. It’s not edgy. It’s tired. And it’s inappropriate.
Yeah this happened. In 2008. They haven’t learned at all.
Why would you go there Lobdell? Why would you even repeat this trope considering the amount of ire and flak people have gotten for similar plots like this in the past? Again weren’t awful plot lines like the above scene with Miss Martian the reason Teen Titans slipped down in sales and was a mess for years? It is sick. It is sicker still (as if it can get worse) when you take into account that preboot Tim was pretty unique among a lot of male teen heroes. Tim was written as a bit girl crazy, yes, and he had quite a number of girlfriends (and even cheated on them with other girls, he’s not a saint at all) and had tons of girls interested in him (in some cases literally fighting over him) over the years but Tim Drake was unique in that despite his love for girls and girl’s liking him, he was never shown or had ever been written as having had sex with anyone in canon, not even Stephanie his longtime girlfriend who was often shown as the more sexually aggressive and flirtatious party in their relationship anyway. And if he had, they never acknowledged it. That, for many readers was sort of different and refreshing and a big point as to why people liked him or found him endearing.
His perpetual supposed virginity, chaste behavior and prudish streak were often gently mocked by Stephanie in comic (but she did not dump him over it ever either), as well as fans in fanart or fanfiction. It naturally also sparked persistent theories that he was either demi-sexual, romantic-asexual or simply a closeted homosexual or bisexual particularly after his meltdown following the murder of Superboy. I personally have no opinion on any of those theories even though I agree some things Tim has done could be viewed as evidence for all of above care for perhaps pure homosexuality which I will firmly say no to (sorry to those that think so, you are entitled to think that if you choose). Regardless it was an interesting and endearing character trait and as stated, uncommon for the depiction of teenage male superheroes, and further uncommon given that Tim was and had no problem with dating or attracting women especially as he got older.
While sex is fine, and it is okay for Tim to have sex, a fictional character can have sex, especially a teenage one, it is just incredibly awkward going by that history to see Tim Drake doing this kind of thing or being used as a pawn in this kind of plot. The two just don’t go together. And it’s even grosser considering after twenty three years the first time that we are seeing Tim Drake possibly having sex on canon paper, it’s under the circumstance of mind controlled rape and not just that but raping a teammate. Instead of something sweet or nice based on character development and his own choice we are shown something cheap that stinks of male power fantasies all for the sake of showing he is being influenced by evil or gone wrong. It demonizes sexuality and also victimizes Kiran and Cassie reducing them to accessories to show that Tim has gone bad, real bad. Regardless if this new version of Tim has had sex before or not this issue, it really doesn’t matter; this is the first time we’re seeing him doing anything like this in-comic and this is what we get. That’s not very respectable towards the character and the character’s history. At all.
It is one thing that he kissed Cassie preboot while they were consoling each other when in grief over Superboy’s death. While misguided such a reaction is plausible and human. This is not analogous to that. He was being raped and Cassie was being raped if they had sex. Pure (not pure) and simple. If they backpedal and claim they didn’t well then they shouldn’t have gone there in the first place. This trope is gross, the “corruption” of relatively “good boy” and “good girl” characters (poor Mary Marvel) purely for sake of scandal, or drama, or whatever this is it’s just, not good, it’s tired and cliché. And it needs to stop. People can’t get behind this. People should get angry because of this. This isn’t entertainment. This isn’t engaging. And I want it out of comics.
DC Comics, you need to shape up, because people aren’t going to stand for this much longer. It’s no wonder your ‘Young Justice’ line of books of which Teen Titans belongs to is failing aside from that title. And any company that are getting such scathing remarks from your supposed demographic, as in, oh ME, you should take notice, because you are not getting my money. The only money you’ll get from me is for Dustin Nguyen’s Lil’ Gotham digital book, the only book of your entire lineup that is actually fun and the only one where characters are actually…well sort of themselves. Oh and it’s for all ages too. I can read it, I can then show it to my six year-old cousin (who’s a girl does that make you shudder in fear DC?), my fifty-six year old father and my eighty-five year old grandfather all without hesitation and it would make all three laugh. Teen Titans; I wouldn’t show this garbage to anyone or recommend it even to the appropriate age group or older. No one.
Shame on you Lobdell, and shame on you DC Comics and the editor that allowed this plot line. There are better ways to show Tim is being manipulated than to subject characters to this particularly your female characters as those being deceived. You all should be fired immediately or at the least step back and take a good look at yourselves and your business of entertaining people. The Batman Family is just in an incredibly gross state right now and quite frankly I just can’t deal anymore even though I am all but checked out already. Lobdell, I hope you’re in for a lot of negative press, because boy, it’s coming. And I’ll light the torches if need be.
Dear readers, what are your opinions?
I’d love to hear them. Bring kerosene if you want.
Max Eber
Staff Writer/The Doctor
max@ihogeek.com
Twitter: @maxlikescomics
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Yeah. I’m not a fan of Lobdell and I refuse to buy any of his books. It’s been a harrowing few months for me because his connection to Superman is indirectly influencing Supergirl (one of the few titles I think actually improved after the New 52 reboot) and Lobdell has said he wants to bring Supergirl into the Teen Titans… despite it not making a damn bit of sense.
I read your article about Tim and DC comics as a whole. I loved it. With the reboot I read maybe half the first issue of Teen Titans before I just couldn’t read it anymore. i only got into comics right before the reboot, and the series that got me reading them was Young Justice. So this reboot, it hit me hard because the characters I have grown to love and that showed me this amazing place were taken from me and i was left with, I don’t even know what. I haven’t kept up with anything really, but then I heard about Damian’s death and then that lead to me learning about Tim and Cassie. I am so upset to hear all this and it really rips at my soul. The only way all of this can get worse for me, who doesn’t even read the comics right now, is if I hear about something truly horrific happening to Bart because he is the one I connect with the most. Even if what little I read of him seems completely different than him in preboot. I guess it is too much to ask DC to sweep these past couple years under the rug?
I didn’t realize consensual rape was a thing. I’ll be buying this issue based on your review, and I look forward to adding it to my pile every month.
It’s not consensual if Tim Drake is not himself. And the fact that it’s not himself even if the girl’s are consenting to his advances are thus rape because it is fallacious . It is also skeevy on the part of the writer to write the girls as being so willing to submit to his advances, it reads as somewhat of a male power fantasy.
I think you’ve just hit the nail on the head. Isn’t that what all superhero books are, at their base? I can’t believe I got 26 down votes…. It’s fiction, people.
You’re an asshole. Fuck you.
I know, and if you’re female, I accept.
Consensual rape *isn’t* a thing. Rape is sex without consent. If you’re being mind-controlled, you can’t consent to sex, so any mind-controlled sex is by definition rape. It’s one thing to portray rape in fiction, but it’s another thing to do it in awful ways. Rape is not sexy. Having sex against your will does not make you “dirty,” nor, if you’re a guy, does it make you “manly.” It is not a desirable thing. And the perpetuation of the awful narratives about rape- that women who are raped are “asking for it,” that men who are raped should be grateful for the experience, and so on- is an awful thing. Scott Lobdell should be ashamed of himself, for both this and for a very long list of terrible things.
Perfect review. Everything that bothered me about the issue were covered here. Lobdell just does not know how to write Tim Drake. Period. Maybe he should step down and let someone else handle this character.
I need everyone to leave the Robins alone (ALL OF THEM, even the ones that don’t exist anymore).
Remember, Two Face has called him Robin, The Boy Target on more than one occasion, IIRC.
I don’t get what part of “rape is not character development” is so hard for certain creators to grasp. Ugh.
Everything that’s been done to Tim post-reboot character-wise has been horrendous and this is just the bottom of the barrel as far as using his character in any meaningful way. Lobdell, DC, why must you do this to the Robins? Tim Drake’s whole character has basically been destroyed with all the backstory changes so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but this took me off-guard.
Excellent essay. Only thing I would say is that the dialogue for #17 was by . Lobdell did the plot though. Also I daresay Dick Grayson’s life has been even more destroyed as of #17, certainly more than Jason (art wise, it just looks like a sunburn!) though not Tim.
I will check who actually did the dialogue, thank you. They could be at fault but honestly Lobdell doing plot though is really all that matters is because he suggests or shaped these scenes and I don’t think anyone doing dialogue could fix or make these scenes and plot palatable or acceptable. Dick is a whole other awful branch to the ugly.
We’ll see in future issues what Jason’s face ends up like, I’m curious to see what route they’re going to take.
I just hope they’re not going to try and turn Jason into some sort of copy-cat Two Face.
I agree 100% with everything you said. Tim Drake has been completely ruined.
I was hoping to read something and sufficiently objective an opinion as yours, I totally agree with what you say. for me, Tim was an example of a teenager. and chastity was something that characterized him. I do not mind the fact that the loss, but the loss of a grotesque way, superficial and silly. definitely have destroyed the character, reducing any teen character, where they believe that they are all lustful by hormones.
was a great shock to me to see this
I agree with you completely! I’m utterly disgusted by this tripe that Lobdell is trying to stuff down DC fans throats. It’s disgusting and utterly perverted in the darkest way. Tim was never ‘sweet’ but he had many sweet characteristics that made him beloved for so many years. He’s my Robin too and I’ve always adored his quirky nature and closet timidity in relationships.
DC will not be getting any of my money until Lobdell sods off because he’s completely sullying these characters and using something as shocking as Rape as a plot device! It’s like he couldn’t come up with his own storyline so mashed together a bunch of the worst fanfictions he could find and put the congealed remains together with art.
Just to make it more infuriating – which is a talent by this stage! – he’s reduced the female characters to easily seduced idiots that will happily and willingly cheat on their partners because… I don’t even know why! Tim’s so pretty?! It’s like a 60’s black and white film where the leading lady will swoon in the arms of any man grabbing at her. “Oh you big strong man! You kissed me so I shall now swoon in your arms and let you have your wicked male way with me because I am overpowered by your exuding alpha pheromones.” I’d love to say that this whole thing is beneath DC but they do love circling back around to this kind of fucktardary on a regular basis.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us, I just cannot agree with you more!
I agree so hard with this article. What the reboot did to the Robins, my favourite part of the DC universe just breaks my heart. Especially everything about Tim Drake, who is/was my absolute favourite… Even the brotherly relationship he had with Dick, which I really loved and saw as something that shaped his character is apparently non-existent now (Jason is the clothest thing to a brother for him in the new comics… wtf?).
I’m new to comics and only became a fan recently, but this comic seriously annoyed me. And it wasn’t just the fact of rape and the odd storyline, but of the fact that the artist changed. I liked the old artist. Although Scott Lobdell should leave Tim Drake alone, his work on the Red Hood and the Outlaws surprised me at how good it is (though that might just be my bias to Jason Todd).
I think this is the best review of the series. I was a huge Teen Titans fan. Right before the New 52 I had stopped picking up a lot of issues but don’t get me wrong the series was still alright. But I was so excited when I saw that they were rebooting it in the New 52, I remember my anticipation of getting that book and reading it! Unfortunately I was treated to utter garbage! That book is awful and I had to stop reading it after about 10 issues and not I am glad that I did! Wow, I have NEVER read a book with so many terribly conceived ideas. This book is awful. For instance: why did they not just use characters that they know fans will love? Stephanie Brown? A rebooted Beast Boy? Terra? No. What does DC do. They try too hard to be “diverse” so we get one of the worst characters that I have ever had the displeasure of reading: Bunker. I absolutely HATE this character, he is INCREDIBLE annoying. I feel like they all sat around a table and thought “hmmmmm what is diverse? I KNOW! We will make a gay character that is Latin American and kill two birds with one stone! Oh, and whenever he talks we will make him say a quirky line in Spanish to highlight our diversity!” What a terrible character and a terrible idea, not to mention NO ONE ELSE ON THE TEAM SPEAKS SPANISH SO NO ONE KNOWS WHAT HE IS SAYING. That just makes it feel so much more forced then it already is. They did this book all wrong. Awful Awful Awful and it makes my blood boil thinking about it. Like you, I grew up with Tim as my Robin and I absolutely love the character but he was used and abused in the New 52
Thank you for the response! Tim still hasn’t gotten any better!
This is a really great article, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the series! I’ve been reading Teen Titans since Volume 2 started up in 2003, and it was with a pretty heavy heart that I finally had it removed from my pull list. I feel like I stuck it out through some pretty rough patches there, but yeah…I finally had to drop it due to the brutal writing. When a writer can’t make me care about characters I’ve been following for 8 years, that’s a pretty solid sign that said writer isn’t very good.
Again, thanks for the article, very insightful!
You’re very welcome! Sorry I didn’t get to this. Lobdell’s complete lack of understanding of Tim Drake is only the tip of the iceberg. What’s sad is that Teen Titans as a title in it’s final arc preboot was more or less fixing itself; solid cast, solid artist. That final team was perfect!
I don’t think it is rape or other similar evil actions to occur in a story that is the true problem in itself. Rape like murder is part of villain behavior and can be used to powerful effect, if done with skill and tact by a great writer. If done right it can give further insight into the villains pathology and give the victim trauma to over come. The problem is when it:
1. Makes no sense to the plot. Lobdel’s for instance, WTF is the motive here? Of any party involved? They don’t even make joker kind of sense because it’s too involved and not random ENOUGH.
2. This is CRUCIAL.. If rape is going to occur in a plot the implications and after effects must be addressed. Just like after a murder, death, or serious injury the after effects, especially on the victim must be shown. Otherwise the crime is trivialized and enabled.
3. Like anything else should be used sparingly or at least to a degree that fits the context of the story.
I do think Rape is actually a important issue and that sweeping it under the rug and pretending it doesn’t happen is not a good thing either.
I agree! This is a very valid point and breakdown. I just find it repeative in comics. I feel writers often go there when they want to be “scandalous” and or edgy and because of that it’s use has become so blase and negative it’s just not very potent and as you say there are no repercussions other than to be controversial and or show a good character has gone “way bad”.
I am not really wanting it to sweep it under the rug but more or less dismayed that DC does not try to take a more general or kid-friendly approach to the Teen Titans title or really any of their titles considering the success of the TV show and it’s current spin-off revival as a comedy widgit series. Kids like what they see on those shows and might go to check out the comics and you’ve got Miss Martian being nearly assaulted in a bathroom stall, or Tim Drake a traditionally charismatic but ultimately chaste character suddenly seducing people for no reason is not cool. It’s very clear DC markets to men 18-55 but they still push superhero merchandise onto children. I find the disparity there rather awful when kids can’t even read stories about their favorite superheroes in their titular comics. This isn’t to say make everything safe for kids, it’s more about doing engaging storylines that both kids and older readers can both watch or read without pandering or jumping to those gritty cliches. Batman the Animated series and the Justice League cartoons accomplished this with smart writing that found a good balance of material and both kids and adults loved them and for many consider those depictions of the heroes in the Bruce Timm universe to be the definitive versions. I am seeking smarter writing.
But yes. I do agree, it’s used very trivially and I do not like that. It needs to actually carry weight. Since writing this the entire thing was shrugged off by Raven saying “Yeah you hooking up with Cassie was Trigon’s doing he was just playing around testing you” in the most casual of manners. It’s not a good way to approach the topic and act.
THIS THIS !
Your review presents most of the major points as to why I despise Lobdell’s writing (I actually despise N52 in general despite some good ideas they had….But that’s probably because I was excited about the reboot in the first place).
I mean Lobdell has other faults (I find his writing in general to be fairly bad : no continuity whether in rhythm, character characterization & interactions, or simply in the plot) but your review hit the nail on what caused me trouble in the n52 Teen Titans (that I read, after this issue I honestly couldn’t read anything anymore from N52…It took announcing DC Rebirth to get me somewhat interested again).
As for the Rape ‘plot’. I honestly don’t know why they use it like that. Truthfully if they want to use rape in a story it shouldn’t be as an excuse to try and get more readers and they SHOULD talk about it afterwards and treat it like the problem it is (which was actually done -and pretty well at that- in the original Robin run with Ariana and Steph).
As a major Tim Drake fan (I swear most of his behavior and personality reminds me of myself which is a little scary sometimes even with the different writers XD) the whole N52 universe and especially Lobdell’s take on him made me want to throw up (and I include B&R Eternal which was better than most of those runs but still wasn’t especially good).
Also to be fair to him in pre-boot most of the time he ‘cheated’ on his girlfriends were because the issues were crossovers and the authors didn’t check whether or not he was free or not (so I blame the authors :p).
Tbh honest I chose to simply accept that this isn’t actually Tim Drake (Apparently it’s his witness protection program new name or something ? It’s utterly ridiculous but in order to preserve my image of the characte I’ve decided to pretend I believe it).