17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Geoff Johns Continues His Strong Run, December 7, 2005
This review is from: Teen Titans Vol. 4: The Future is Now (Paperback)
This is the fourth volume reprinting Geoff Johns' version of Teen Titans, and it may very well be the strongest trade release to date.
Two outstanding stories are reprinted here, "Titans of Tomorrow" and "Lights Out". T-o-T (as its become affectionately known) sees the current Teen Titans winding up ten years into their future, a dark and grim one where they have nearly all turned evil. Not only is this a cracking good story, but it also lays a large number of hints as to both the Titans possible futures and the current mega-crossover event series, Infinite Crisis. So if you want to know where the DC universe is heading in the next few years, this story offers some very big clues.
The other major story, "Lights Out", will be a major eye opener for fans of the animated series. The main villain is perrenial favorite Dr. Light -- except, he's no longer a "moron" (Green Arrow's description in Identity Crisis), but a major league super villain who can quite easily take on even the best the superhero world can throw at him. It's an awesome story, as a number of current and former Titans band together to try to stop him, and quite nearly get their behinds handed to them by the villain they've all dismissed for so long.
If you've had your doubts about Geoff Johns' run, this is the volume that should erase them. Johns has truly brought the Titans into the 21st century with these stories. Barely a year old, both of these tales are already being hailed by long time Teen Titans fans as classics. Buy this collection. You won't regret it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Good, April 28, 2006
This review is from: Teen Titans Vol. 4: The Future is Now (Paperback)
This fourth volume of Geoff Johns' Teen Titans is easily the best to date. The writing, while not Mr. Johns' best, is quite good and the pencils are also rather good. This volume collects Teen Titans 15-23 and Teen Titans/Legion of Super-Heroes Special.
The plot has probably been explained well enough, so I'll just make a few comments about the book and be on my way. We start out with a story that involves Superboy being taken to the 31st century to aid the Legion of Super Heroes. This story is honestly not that great but it does serve as a lead in to the next story, The "Titans of Tomorrow."
This story is just an all around classic. It's excellently written and very well paced in the action. Basically, the Titans meet up with their future selves and the future my friends, ain't so bright. This story ranks up their with Mr. Johns' best work and, i dare say, is one of the best stories to come out of comic-dom in some time. I'm not saying that this is "The Watchmen" or "The Dark Knight Returns," but it's very good none the less. The ambiguity of the events surrounding why things turned out the way they did is enough to leave you salivating and definately serves the hype for "Infinite Crisis" quite well. In short, and I can't stress this enough, this story is pure gold.
The other highpoint of the TPB is the "Hiding" story. It's a heart-felt story dealing with the fall out from "Identity Crisis" and the ending gives us the feeling that despite the way things were in "Titans of Tomorrow," the kids may indeed turn out alright. For those who did read "Identity Crisis," we find out what exactly becomes of Luthor's armor.
"The Lights Out" arc spins straight from
"Identity Crisis," and while not required reading to enjoy this story, it certianly helps. It's not great, but it's not bad either.
All in all, this is a very solid collection and I highly recommend it
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Teen Titans: The Future Is Now, March 21, 2007
This review is from: Teen Titans Vol. 4: The Future is Now (Paperback)
This is such a terrific read! The stories are spectacular, the countless characters are all fascinating, the dialogue is totally believable, the fights are epic, the thought-balloons are gone, the pace is greased, the art is like a bag of your favourite Halloween candies spilled out on the carpet when you were seven--all magic colours and hidden treats, and Raven is still hot. Teen Titans: The Future Is Now is a must, a rare must.
I say "Raven is STILL hot" because this graphic novel represented my return to the Teen Titans, after many years, just to see what was going on in the new era. In fact, I hadn't been reading many comics at all. Even when I read comics regularly, I never really got to know the DC Universe as well as the Marvel Universe. One of my biggest blind-spots, for example, would be The Legion Of Superheroes. But that didn't stop me from enjoying the first part of this graphic novel, where said Legion yanks first Superboy, and then ultimately the rest of the Titans, into the 31st century to battle five hundred foes.
The battle is a grand and terrifying affair, with a big piece of Legion World exploding and plummeting towards Earth, where the main event is taking place: The entire Legion (I met a lot of Legionnaires really fast as they were busy trying not to be beheaded, fried, stomped, etc.), alongside the Teen Titans fighting The Fatal Five Hundred...formerly The Fatal Five, but the whole crux of their plan was to transport so many of their parallel selves from parallel universes that they became five hundred. I love time-travel stories with a dash of parallel-reality, and Superboy's dilemma over which team he owes more allegiance to--new Legion pals or the Titans--is gripping, especially when he may have to sacrifice one team to temporal non-existence so the other can get home.
Part two of this collection is the best part: on their way home from the far future, the Teen Titans take a wrong turn and end up ten years in their own future. They encounter their own future selves and don't like what they've become. Robin has become a heartless Batman with a gun, who leads a bitter, ruthless, militant group of Titans who use their power to control and dominate parts of the United States. But then the younger, timelost Titans learn about the Titans East, future Titans who didn't get corrupted by paranoia and anger, and who still fight for good. They also formulate a plan to return to their proper time, but don't know how to avoid the fate they've seen, even if they get home.
The rest of The Future Is Now is somewhat connected to the events of Identity Crisis. I hadn't read Identity Crisis when I first read this Teen Titans graphic novel, and I still enjoyed it immensely; now I've re-read Future Is Now after experiencing Identity Crisis (another fine product from the folks who brought you Arm Fall Off Boy), and it's that much better.
An enraged Doctor Light snatches the man he hates perhaps most of all--Green Arrow--and demands that the Teen Titans confront him, or bye bye Green Arrow. He especially wants to kill Green Arrow's "daughter" of sorts, Speedy, who has just joined the Titans. Once just about every hero who has ever been a member of the Titans shows up, it looks pretty grim for Doctor Light, except that he's a changed man since the events of Identity Crisis. Sometimes it seems like the Titans, now a small army, are fighting Darkseid, as they fall, and fall, and fall. Doctor Light really comes into his own here, looking unbeatable until one particular Titan decides enough's enough, and fights on despite being blasted full of holes.
So that's it. Except that I haven't done it justice. Oh, and there's an appearance by an old fave of mine the Electrocutioner. And a future Deathstroke the Terminator, missing an arm. And Speedy looks like a cool addition. While sometimes Wonder Girl takes my mind off Raven.
Masterfully conceived and executed, these stories fit nicely into one amazing graphic novel.
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