So our fourth issue opens with another of the weird flashbacks, this time with Disruptor. She was found in a bin, got in lots of murderous trouble as she grew up, she gets extremely jealous of men giving attention to people than her. She goes to prison. The end, moving on!
Moving on from that we get another scene of the Terror Titans training with more slagging before we go back to this tournament it advertises that has no point. Our champion, the Star-Spangled Kid (what a twist! Must have been that American Spirit).
We then get a short character development scene (little late isn't it?) between Persuader and Dreadbolt who have both lost their fathers through Clock King, they talk about their feelings and stuff, I don't really care and it is a little late to make me care. These are villains, don't give me a sob story, make me hate them!
We then get a 'moving, touching' scene as Tnteena has been nursed to health by Copperhead and they confess their love for each other...but and this is where the issue gets really really good. We learn that Copperhead is basically a sociopath. Clock King commends him for this (you know, that 'no love etc' speech?) and gives Copperhead a final mission.
We then learn the Clock King has a whole army of brainwashed b or lower list Titans. Turning them into martyrs. I'm guessing this was his gameplan, but the story is so convoluted, such a mess, if this is the big reveal, then what a massive anticlimax.
Now the next scene, the next scene is fantastic. It's about time the villains started to act like well, villains. Copperhead tricks Tnteena, since she loves him and thinks he cares for her too. He tells her he's gonna help her escape, they are gonna run away together. And then in this moving scene, suddenly he activates a button and blows her up! And he feels nothing... what an evil bastard! Major respect for this villain now, he is awesome.
However the next scene...I don't understand. Ravager threatens Clock King begging for answers as she has done through the whole series (as have I). Then there is this big flash and she seems to be waking up or something but still in the same place..? Going 'I'm not...I saw...I saw...' and Clock King acts like she's only just arrived. Sequential art, fuck it! Anyway Clock King reveals he's doing this all out of fun, which is saves the scene, since he is a badass. Whatever he's meant to have done however, I have no idea.
The issue ends with Persuader and Dreadbolt ganging up on Ravager and seemingly taking her down. And rather brutally at that. Finally, the characterisations are finally making sense.
This issue is a huge markup of quality from the last two issues. The villains are finally like proper villains, well not even that, they act like absolute bastards. It's awesome. This issue is deliciously brutal. Although that being said, the story is still non existent and the pacing is still off. But the fucked up, dark scenes padding out the comic sure are brilliant.
Our final issue opens with the brainwashed Titans terrorising Los Angeles (oh no, what a shame! - where is your American Spirit now Star-Spangled kid?!). Amidst all of this the Terror Titans are attacking Ravager. We then get a genuine twist reveal that all along Star-Spangled Kid was actually Miss Martian (who is way hotter than a green teenage girl should be). She frees all the Titans with her psychic powers and tries to take down the Clock King and his Terror Titans! From here, aside from slight bits of dialogue to further some characters it's pretty much just one long wrap up action sequence. It is pretty cool that Clock King full on kills Disruptor though.
After all the fighting is done we cut to two weeks later where Persuader is in a police van, being carted away to prison when there is an explosion and a flash of energy kills the policemen. Who is it? Copperhead and Dreadbolt of course, here to rescue her. They then vanish in the same green energy Clock King did to travel around saying 'time is on our side', I guess that has something to do with Clock King since we never see him die but I don't know what this is meant to mean. The End!
So do I recommend it? Hell no! This miniseries SUCKS. Well...to be fair it's never exactly bad. I mean sure, the only time any semblance of a story rears its head it's a garbled mess. But everything else is just so bland. And making a miniseries around villains and trying to make us sympathise with them seems pointless. Shouldn't the novelty be that we follow around villains doing villainy stuff? I mean sure Clock King is a real evil bastard in this, but he is pretty much the source of all the confusion with the story where he goes, 'I'll show you the truth...' and then the comic just moves on somewhere else. And I mean sure, the good moments in this miniseries, which have been mention through the review were REALLY good but honestly weren't good enough to warrant a recommendation. Plus, it doesn't exactly work as a criticism as such but it seems to expect you to have a level of Titans knowledge going into this, but it doesn't tell you this 'til mid way through the story when it starts making references to things or evens happen that have clearly happened or started elsewhere. I wouldn't even mind this but it never lets you know where this stuff happens. They missed out on an opportunity to sell more books.
Think About It!
-Locke.
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