I’ve had it! I’m done! I’ve been putting too much of my hard earned cash in two books that have ceased to have good story, characterization, or even basic dialog. Not that I’m a person that can’t appreciate the cheesy stuff. I love the cult classics of the Evil Dead series, or even the Troma films. But when I’m pouring $2.99 + tax or more into books that are not good, then it’s time to reevaluate.

The first book was an easy drop. It’s only on issue #8 and I was on my way out the door at #7. I don’t get it! You’ve got one of the most interesting characters in the Marvel Universe who was fresh off a HUGE summer event (WWH) and there was plenty of story potential. Marvel teams two of comic books industry golden boys (Loeb and McGuinness) for the follow up to yet another climatic Marvel crossover with a LAME ending. But we still left WWH with an imprisoned Bruce Banner who, I’m sure, was feeling a bit strained at the destruction of Manhattan Island. Do we explore Banners feelings? Do we see the inner torment of a man who cannot come to terms with his own emotional spectrum? No! We get six issues (now eight issues) of piss poor writing and balloon art. The real Hulk is stupid again, with no explanation, and then in issue #7 we get Joe Fixit. Are we back to the Hulk of many personalities? When did that happen? Oh wait, I forgot that Loeb doesn’t have to explain his story decisions because his name is Jeph Loeb. I’m guessing that’s why Rulk is not explained either.  If my name was Joe Quesada, then I would recognize that a polished turd is still a turd.

And now on to the other dropped comic. This was a hard one for me. I’ve been getting Teen Titans since before they were the Teen Titans. Yep, I own the entire run of Young Justice. Including all the mini-series and crossover events. I’ve been a fan of the adventures of Robin, Superboy, Wonder Girl, Impulse, Secret, and Arrowette since their late middle school / early high school days. I stuck with the team through many roster changes (notice that Robin and Wonder Girl are the only original members left) cataclysmic events, and the heavy handed political messages of Peter David. The last thing was not an easy thing to stick through either.

After their turn in the kiddie pool, Geoff Johns and Mike McKone re-booted Young Justice as a new set of Teen Titans…and things were good. Nay! Things were great! Our heroes had done some growing up and with that came a new set of personal and professional problems to face. Every issue was bliss to me. That made this downfall all the harder to watch/read.

Big DC events came and went. Finally we are at Infinite Crisis and Teen Titans witness the beginning of their end. The death of Superboy. To me the book has never recovered since losing Conner Kent. His character, in conjunction with Robin, brought the story telling to a different level. One I enjoyed immensely.

Fast forward to One Year Later and the roster has been shaken up. No longer at the top of my reading pile the weeks it came out, I found my self looking for a glimmer of hope. I was about to drop the book at issue #50 when I found that I was liking the writing style of Sean McKeever. I felt as if the series was saved, as evident by my commentary found here. I was flying high again! Looking through Previews I could see what was coming and I liked it. I was pumped to see how the story arc about the future versions of the Teen Titans was going to play out. That story arc came and went. Then I was left with the somewhat interesting arc of the Terror Titans ( issues #56-#59), but that mostly dealt with characters I hated. ( Kid Devil / Ravager ). Honestly, I couldn’t care who lived and died in that book. I knew DC wasn’t going to kill Robin or Wonder Girl, so I just didn’t care who was offed. Kill the lot of them, I don’t care. This is where I knew that the end was near.

I stuck on for a few more issues of mediocrity. But I couldn’t give to rat’s buttocks if Marvin and Wendy were gutted by a hell hound. Kid Devil changed his name to Red Devil…so? Ravager left the team because she couldn’t kill anyone, big deal..she was slut anyway. As you can see, my feelings on this matter are about as blase as you can get. Looking ahead, again in Previews, I saw that there wasn’t much in store for me, but I kept the hope alive.

Now we have a story arc where Wonder Girl is losing her powers because she made a deal with Ares. Ooooh, this could be good! Excitement was building again. What good is a teenage Wonder Girl with no powers? I stayed on to see what was going to happen. Then….issue #65 came out. The big reveal? Wonder Girl gets her powers back…and a new shirt! WELL F*** YOU TEEN TITANS!! I’M OUTTA HERE!

That’s it? A new shirt?!? You had a chance to do something cool! You had a chance to win me back. Instead you did a wardrobe change. And not even a full wardrobe change, she’s still wearing jeans! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the straw that broke the fanboys back. I’ve been a fan of this team for about 11 – years (including Young Justice) and have seen them through good times and bad. But my need for good storytelling and demands of my pocketbook to not buy tripe must be heeded. So I say thee nay, Teen Titans. Peddle your mediocrity somewhere else.

One final note: I only in part blame the creators of these books. Jeph Loeb and Sean McKeever have put out excellent stories in their time. I wholey blame the editors. They should have seen the crap that was happening and put a stop to it. They should have demanded more from their creators. And they should have had more respect for the material they are working with. Shame on them for ruining these stories. Shame on them.