Every comic you've read in 2016

[Dread]

He-Man & Masters of the Universe Minicomics collection vol 1: This huge collection of the mini-comics that came with the tosy is pretty all over the place. The first 100 or so pages are text stories by Don Glut with full page art by Alfredo Alcala and they'e gorgeous. Then the next 100 pages is very early Mark Texeira. Alcala comes back later for sequentials too. There's a lot of terrible art too. Most of the stories are garbage. There are like fifteen mistakes in each issue (12-15 pages per issue). Beyond being footnotes that say "this character looks different form the regular character because this is done from the character designs and no the toy or cartoon. For every one of those there's "Here Ram-Man is drawn as if he can fly" (ie: the artist fucked up). So fucking weird. Definitely interesting. Weird to see that Teela started out looking like She-Ra. I liked the early stories where He-Man just walks out of a barbarian wasteland instead of douchy Adam. 

Comics: 133
Trades: 10

Graphic Novels: 6

Omnibuses: 2

[Missy]

Grayson #16: Completely ignoring the conclusion of Robin War (thank goodness), we see Dick and Agent 1 taking out a bunch of Spyral agents because...? Honestly, I don't care. This is so damn fun, what with Dick reminiscing about Batman's crazy driving, wanting so much to push the red button, and his singing. Oh. My. God! The singing! It's also a great tribute to all of the silliness that comes with spy movies of the 1960s, especially James Bond. If you can imagine Robin the Boy Wonder as a spy, that's what Tom King and Tim Seeley have done here. It would be very easy to write this as a dour book, but these two (at least in this issue) are having a blast. And, once again, Mikel Janin blows away everything else on the market. The car chase on the mountain alone prove just how cinematic his work is. This weekend I'm expecting the first two trades from DCBS. A Grayson binge might be in order. (Yes, I worded that with care.)

Comics: 32

[Donomark]

The New Teen Titans vol.2 #6-#15 (#68-#77)

This is the Baxter series where the book started with the Terror of Trigon arc. Vol.2 #6 is the immediate aftermath where Raven is missing, presumed dead and Titans Tower is destroyed.

I've own the Judas Contract and Terror of Trigon so I'm familiar with the classic Wolfman/Perez Titans era, but these issues really make clear for me why this was DC's #1 selling title in the 80s. The characterization is some of the tightest I've ever read in a team book. Every character and their subplots are engaging. It's very soap-opera-ish, but that's a good thing as I've read lots of early 80s DC and aside from maybe Legion of Superheroes (as I've not read it) there really wasn't anything else on the DC stands like it. This book is also stunningly mature, especially in the sex and nudity aspect. IIUC the Baxter series was exempt from the Comics Code, and while this never gets into any Vertigo territory it's still really frank for a mainstream DC book. It's really ahead of its time.

Also the artwork is amazing. Most of this spat of issues is done by Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, who's just one of the greatest DC artists to ever roam the planet. It hit me during these issues how similar Perez's style is to his. Eduardo Barreto picks it up and is a mix between Lopez and John Romita. Gives the series a highly consistent look.

[Donomark]

The New Teen Titans vol.2 #17-#39 (#69-#101)

What a roller coaster ride this book is when reading a bunch of issues at once. You've got Starfire on Tamaran with Dick and Jericho, forced into a political marriage and fighting her older sister Blackfire (she fucking HATES Blackfire, nothing like the cartoon). For over a dozen issues Dick is pissy as shit over this and needs to be told a hundred times that Kori's doing all of this for the sake of her planet. He and Jericho return to Earth where he balls out Donna Troy for Kole's death during Crisis on Infinite Earths. Meanwhile Cyborg and Changeling go after Steve Dayton/Mento who's lost his mind. With all of the NTT split up, Donna calls in Jason Todd, Wally West, Hank Hall, Roy Harper and Garth (Robin, Flash, Hawk, Speedy and Aqualad) to accept a mission from King Faraday which pits them against Cheshire, who hates Roy because he's her baby daddy!

And that's only a few issues.

What follows after that is a really long and built-up Brother Blood storyline that culminates in Raven returning to the Titans in her then-new white form. Dick and Kori move in together, but not before Raven falls in love with Dick. Starfire takes Raven on a very lesbianic vacation to sort out her feelings, and by the end of #39 everybody's happy and the Titans have fully recovered from the post-Trigon events.

It's a really interesting series of issues. The Donny Troy led Titans which bring back the Nick Cardy team plus Jason and Hawk was especially cool. Jason's written to be a kid out of his depth and gels really well with Donna and the others. Wally, Garth and Hank are all reeling from the events of the Crisis as Tula, Dove and Barry died. Roy interacts with Cheshire in a way which is spiritually reminiscent of the Young Justice animated series, although she's way more pissed at him in this first version.

Most of the art is done by Eduardo Barreto, who should've earned more fame for his work, after Perez and Tom Grummett. Like I said before he recalls John Romita, but is an excellent fit for the series and puts in consistent greatness for over two solid years worth of issues.

[Dan]

Who's Who: The Definitive Guide to the DC Universe, #1-10 (1985): Overheard in the DC editorial offices: "Boy, The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe is really something else. We should do something like that, only completely half-assed and nowhere near as informative or well-written."

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1-4 (2007): I was unfamiliar with this title and bought the issues when I saw it was written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Mike Wieringo. Cute, but not as entertaining as it should have been given the creative team. I'm actually struggling to remember the story, and I just read it this afternoon.

Howard the Duck #1-5 (2015): I enjoyed this a lot. It takes a couple of issues to find its rhythm, but Chip Zdarsky eventually manages to capture that Steve Gerber-y weirdness (even if he doesn't have the same bottomless well of rage against the entire world that Gerber had). Joe Quinones handles the art duties well, and if he doesn't have the same "ultra-moody and realistic world with a goofy cartoon duck in it" that the original series had, well, you can't fault a guy for not being Gene Colan. I legitimately laughed out loud more than once, and I don't do that.

Not Brand Echh #1-10 (1967): Marvel's attempt to be its own Mad Magazine. Its success rate is somewhat spotty, but when it's on, it's on. It starts off with work from Stan and Jack, but the bulk is written by Roy Thomas and (to a lesser extent) Gary Friedrich, who can be funny but rarely inspired. The real gems here lie in the artwork; it's really fun to see Kirby and Gene Colan go for a more humorous style, but Marie Severin absolutely turns everything she touches into pure gold.

The Brave and the Bold #61-62 (1965): The return of Starman and the Black Canary to the Silver Age. They team up and fight the Mist in one and the husband and wife team of the Sportsmaster and the Huntress in the other. Fairly generic Gardner Fox stuff, but Murphy Anderson's artwork is really pretty.

[Dread]

Who's Who: The Definitive Guide to the DC Universe, #1-10 (1985): Overheard in the DC editorial offices: "Boy, The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe is really something else. We should do something like that, only completely half-assed and nowhere near as informative or well-written."

Perfectly on point. Though, Who's Who looked better.

[Venneh]

Cry Havoc 1: Hell. Yes. Pitch is "It's Not About Lesbians Werewolves Go To War – Except It Is". The more accurate pitch is "Pulp Fiction, except with lesbian werewolves and war". We get three distinct periods of time in this - the initial bite, the war zone, and the end result of the war zone, and to say too much more than that is spoilers. You get the same artist (Ryan Kelly, always great), but three different colorists on each period, which does amazing things. @Dread, I'd be interested to hear your opinions on this.

The Spire 6: And now, the endgame starts. The mystery is deepening, and I think my hunch about the Marquess is right the more I do. Again, beautiful art and colors, and I hope we get more out of this than just the mini. 

Monstress 3: Getting a sense of the smaller scale plot, don't have any clue what's going on on the larger front, but godfuckingdamn this is gorgeous. 

I Hate Fairyland 4: Honestly, half the reason to read this series is to read Young's preview for the next issue, which is basically him slowly letting out every bit of venom that working for Marvel seems to have instilled in him over the last few years. And plus, you can absolutely tell that he's having utter fun with just getting to let loose. Always gives me a guaranteed few laugh out louds each issue. 

Angela Queen of Hel 4: Just gonna get this out of the way: FIRE THE FUCKING MAIN ARTIST, THEY'RE KIND OF SHIT. Seriously. Stay on goddamn model, it's not that hard, and quit drawing Sera as some thin ass waif, she's a thick transwoman. Hans continues to be the highlight of this art wise, and I wish we could get her to commit to a whole series with her as the main artist, but that's probably not gonna happen. As for the story, continue to love it, especially when Marguerite brings back elements of Journey Into Mystery I thought everyone else had forgotten about (Thori the hellpup shall rend eternal on the furry road!), and getting to see some of her salt with how she's treated in the larger comic community exorcised (see: Bor). If they can just get a better main artist, it's going to help, a lot. 

Single Issues: 26
TPBs/Collections: 6
Digital First Issues: 10

Edited January 31, 2016 by Venneh

[Dread]

Cry Havoc 1: Hell. Yes. Pitch is "It's Not About Lesbians Werewolves Go To War – Except It Is". The more accurate pitch is "Pulp Fiction, except with lesbian werewolves and war". We get three distinct periods of time in this - the initial bite, the war zone, and the end result of the war zone, and to say too much more than that is spoilers. You get the same artist (Ryan Kelly, always great), but three different colorists on each period, which does amazing things. @Dread, I'd be interested to hear your opinions on this.

It's in the queue.

MAD's Original Idiots-Jack Davis: These stories are funnier and the art style is far more conducive to comedy comics than Wood's. There's a lot of comparing stories here (what you see in novels versus movies) and there's an amazing 7 or 8 page story that breaks down slow motion sports stuff that is fucking hilarious. Davis could draw some smokin' ladies too.

He-Man & The Masters of the Universe Minicomic Collection vol 2: there's about 50 pages of very early Bruce Timm art in this collection. Then there's a couple hundred pages of godawful She-Ra comics and a nightmarishly bad space He-Man thing which is something they must have done after I gave the toys up. Terrible, those are. Some fun stories here. I want to read the new comics now.

 

Comics: 133
Trades: 11

Graphic Novels: 6

Omnibuses: 3

[Missy]

The New Adventures of He-Man was different, we'll say.

[Koete]

I Hate Fairyland 4: Honestly, half the reason to read this series is to read Young's preview for the next issue, which is basically him slowly letting out every bit of venom that working for Marvel seems to have instilled in him over the last few years.

Knowing he did those baby covers full of self-loathing makes them better. 

[Dread]

The New Adventures of He-Man was different, we'll say.

Pure fucking garbage.

[Dan]

Who's Who: The Definitive Guide to the DC Universe, #1-10 (1985): Overheard in the DC editorial offices: "Boy, The Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe is really something else. We should do something like that, only completely half-assed and nowhere near as informative or well-written."

Perfectly on point. Though, Who's Who looked better.

I thought a lot of the art was mediocre at best, but I do like that they went for action pin-ups rather than static mug shots. However, the fact that it was coming out at the same time as the OHOTMU Deluxe Edition while it was aping the original, less exhaustive version wasn't doing it any favors.

[Donomark]

New Teen Titans vol.2 #40-#64 (#70-#130)

This run sees the introduction of everyone's favorite least favorite Titan Danny Chase (New Teen Titans Annual #3) and a really fun two-parter involving characters from "Dial H for Hero!", which is really cool. I've heard of that but never knew anything about it, and I like it when-despite this now being Post-Crisis, DC was still holding onto concepts from Pre-Crisis when they clearly hadn't figured everything out.

CASE IN POINT...

"Who Is Wonder Girl?" is a five-part saga that retcons Donna Troy's origins due to the brain-dead decision that Wonder Woman should be a new character at the then-current continuity. There's a point in a previous Annual where Donna says she's never met Wonder Woman. Her history with the Amazons is completely erased, and she's now an adopted daughter of New-Chronos. The Titans fight this massive war in space that is pretty epic. The Aftermath in New Titans #55 (the title changed at #50) is great, and includes Dick learning of Jason Todd's death which leads to a nasty confrontation with Bruce in the Bat-Cave. Donna becomes Troia and Gar is benched from the Titans due to bad grades...which is really weird considering all the shit he's been through. Dick also kicks Danny off the team due to Jason's death.

There's a really solid Wildebeest two-parter before leading into "A Lonely Place of Dying" which introduces Tim Drake and weaves between New Titans and Batman. I've owned this story for years but reading it in the context of dozens and dozens of Titans issues is interesting. It really points out how different of a character Dick Grayson is when he's in Gotham and when he's in New York leading the team. He's honestly an almost humorless character throughout Titans, reminding me a lot of Cyclops. He really wasn't the swashbuckling Chuck Dixon lady-killer that everyone sees/writes him as now. But when put up against Batman, he naturally lightens up (partly to differentiate the two). The story's also a terrific introduction to Tim Drake, who really wasn't telegraphed to be the third Robin from the get-go. He's an earnest, well-intentioned kid who's very smart but still has a lot to learn. He arrives at an interesting time as Bruce, Dick and even Alfred kind of bite his head off when he first shows up. Tim's clearly a fanboy expy, but his love of Batman and Robin makes him that more of an interesting character since Wolfman writes him as someone who doesn't want the job, he just wants to help.

After this is a three-parter with Deathstroke the Terminator, and by this time Tom Grummett has taken over art duties. Grummett's one of the best DC artists ever, especially throughout the 90s. His work is a mix of Eduardo Barreto, George Perez and John Byrne, with a dash of cartoonish exuberance that really makes the artwork pop.

[Venneh]

Table Titans vol 1: tabletop webcomic. It's cute, it's funny, it's worth a quick page through.

Descender vol 1: Lemire and Nguyen do space, persecuted robots, and the remnants of humanity, with water colors that are gorgeous. Would be interested in paging through vol 2, seeing what happens. It's an intriguing set up.

Shirahime Syo: CLAMP does a quick, rushed anthology about snow tragedies. It's pretty, but you can tell they were pressed for time.

Single Issues: 26
TPBs/Collections: 9
Digital First Issues: 10

[Dread]

Before Watchmen: Nite Owl-Dr. Manhattan: This covers JMS's contribution to the mythos, which begins with a really solid story telling the backstory of Nite-Owl and Rorschach and their differences. I liked it. Stunning work from Andy Kubert (helps he was inked by his dad) and a really relevant story to the Watchmen world. Dr. Manhattan story is good for the first three issues as he struggles with omnipotence. The fourth issue is pure fucking garbage. Also, not sure I needed Adam Hughes' more detailed cheesecake version of Manhattan's giant blue dong. The real standout is the two part origin for Moloch drawn by Risso. Fucking stellar.

Comics: 133
Trades: 12

Graphic Novels: 6

Omnibuses: 3

[Donomark]

The New Titans #65-#89

Tim Drake is sent by Batman to receive sidekick training from Dick Grayson. They spend the day working over memorization training and going through to motions of drug busting before Titans business derails the session. Throughout the entire time Dick's pretty strict and the brother-like relationship of the two is nowhere near what it will be in this issue, which is good considering that was mainly done by Chuck Dixon and Dick's still in full-on Leader mode.

Issue #71 starts "Titans Hunt", which last for a long time until #84. This is a major turning point in the team where the stakes are high and many characters are either killed, crippled or irrevocably changed in ways which they don't get back from. The Wildebeest Society, one of the Titans deadliest foes who beat the crap out of them previously, returns on the team's anniversary (ten years of the Wolfman/Perez era), brutally beats and captures most of them and goes after people even remotely involved with the Titans like Raven's mother Arella, and Aqualad, who is put in a coma and fights for his life with a team of scientists who don't have clue one on how to treat an Atlantean's biology. (After far too long they eventually reach the obvious idea of contacting Aquaman for help). This has similar beats to the Judas Contract in that Nightwing manages to evade capture and investigates and that the big bad is revealed to be a traitor to the team. The villain is shockingly revealed to be Jericho, Slade's mute mutant son, who's become one of my favorite members of the Titans up to this point. Apparently during the Trigon saga when he went into Raven's body, the evil of Azarath went back into him and eventually became powerful enough to completely corrupt him. Now Azarath needs the bodies of the Titans to sustain itself. During the story Cyborg comes extremely close to dying and is saved by Red Star and his team of Russian scientists, although Vic is essentially rendered brain-dead. Danny Chase comes back, is presumed dead, reveals to be alive and was posing as a new hero "Phantasm", then sacrifices himself along with Arella to use the power of Azar to overpower Azarath which has possessed Raven AGAIN, and all three seemingly die. In the end Slade is forced to kill a possessed Jericho to free him and everyone else from Azarath's power. It's a slightly convoluted story, but I would argue that it trumps the Judas Contract because unlike Terra, Joey was a character who'd been around for years and years and years and was one of the most trusting members of the squad. I like that he wasn't just evulz te entire time, otherwise the reveal would have been crap.

By this point the team has shifted to its early 90s phase. Dick's in his second Nightwing costume, Changeling has a horrible mullet, Red Star and Pantha have unofficially joined the team, Titans Tower is destroyed AGAIN, and while Grummett still does the general artwork, Curt Swan (way past his prime) and other fill-in artists are marking the beginning of the end for this book. Wolfman famously becomes stricken with writer's block around this time, and by his and everyone's accounts the 90s era of New Titans is epicly bad. I can't wait.

[Dread]

Before Watchmen - Comedian/Rorschach: This is the Azzarello written stuff. The Comedian is interesting because of its main involvement in diving into the relationship between Comedian and the Kennedys. Hint: it's not exactly like the opening of the movie suggests. It's certainly aware of that, though. Interesting peek at how he and Moloch connected too. The Rorschach story is gorgeous (Bermejo) but is pretty run of the mill. I thought the Nite Owl story was a better Rorschach story than this one. One pretty great, one ho hum. 

Comics: 133
Trades: 13

Graphic Novels: 6

Omnibuses: 3

[Missy]

Spider-Man #1: This is the new Miles Morales comic, and it was okay. While I love seeing Miles in the Marvel Universe alongside The Avengers, something about the main characters seemed lacking. I can't quite put my finger on it. (Though, the way Mr. Morales puts Miles in his place, much to the frustration of Mrs. Morales, felt genuine.) What stood out the most was Sara Pichelli's art. Not only can she draw one hell of a freaky Blackheart (seriously, Marvel needs to put her on Blade, Ghost Rider, or any horror comic), her Miles has clearly aged since his first appearance in the Ultimate Universe. He's taller and has filled out some, but he's still an awkward teen. It's so vary rare to see someone draw kids and teens as anything other than little adults, but she nails it.

Comics: 33

[Missy]

Captain Marvel #2: While Puck has a few good lines, overall this is not for me. The investigation of the derelict ship goes exactly as you'd expect (with Carol even reminding us that this is very much akin to Alien), not a single character is developed, action happens because it's supposed to, and then it ends with Agent Brand looking like a big meanie. And the art, well, again, not for me.

Comics: 34

[Venneh]

Cardcaptor Sakura vol 1 omnibus: I haven't read these since middle school. It's neat to come back to them. It's still super pretty, even if CLAMP has some at best questionable anatomy at times. Also, super earnest. Also, WAY gayer than I remembered.

Single Issues: 26
TPBs/Collections: 10
Digital First Issues: 10

Edited February 4, 2016 by Venneh

[Donomark]

Spider-Man #1: This is the new Miles Morales comic, and it was okay. While I love seeing Miles in the Marvel Universe alongside The Avengers, something about the main characters seemed lacking. I can't quite put my finger on it. (Though, the way Mr. Morales puts Miles in his place, much to the frustration of Mrs. Morales, felt genuine.) What stood out the most was Sara Pichelli's art. Not only can she draw one hell of a freaky Blackheart (seriously, Marvel needs to put her on Blade, Ghost Rider, or any horror comic), her Miles has clearly aged since his first appearance in the Ultimate Universe. He's taller and has filled out some, but he's still an awkward teen. It's so vary rare to see someone draw kids and teens as anything other than little adults, but she nails it.

Comics: 33

I'm with you, it wasn't bad. Bendis still very much has a handle on Miles, but it didn't stand out very much either. My concern is that there's too many safe books out right now doing a Spider-Man-esque formula with the whole secret identity thing. Ms. Marvel, Hellcat (which makes no sense but whateves) and now Miles. Also, Miles' story is fundamentally different in that he had to deal with being the one replacement of Spider-Man. Now he's simply one of a dozen in the same universe.

I liked the last page where Spider-Man (Peter) was positioned as an authority figure. I'm hoping Bendis will make this book more interesting than this first issue previewed.

[Missy]

Miles' story is fundamentally different in that he had to deal with being the one replacement of Spider-Man. Now he's simply one of a dozen in the same universe.

That's a great point, especially when you consider the Web-Warriors. Now that he's in the MU, Miles has a safety net (or web, if you will) of other Spider-characters to support him as he learns and grows. Additionally, he no longer has to carry the legacy of a fallen Spider-Man, so a lot has changed for him, his cast, and us the readers.

[Donomark]

Batgirl #48: The best issue in the current story thus far. Babs Tarr mercifully returns to the artwork, and the ending is a good cliffhanger. I'm really getting worn out by all the Millennial-era tech-porn tho. Every single character introduced is a hacker and computer wiz-kid. It's really annoying.

[Venneh]

Survivor's Club 5: This could've done without the fill-in last issue; it feels like we're really getting going on the plot. Kelly does some pretty neat stuff on the art. 

Vision 4: Welp, things get pretty fucked, more so than the normal, here. Real pretty, and love how much more overt the creeping dread becomes heres.

Pretty Deadly 8: Fuck if I know what's going on here story wise, all I need to know is that it's real purdy. 

Single Issues: 29
TPBs/Collections: 10
Digital First Issues: 10

Edited February 5, 2016 by Venneh

[Donomark]

The New Titans #90-#100

JESUS GOD WHERE DO I BEGIN

So there's a crossover called "Total Chaos" which dips in and out of New Titans and a new book called "Teen Titans" which include alternate future versions of Nightwing and Terra who've traveled across time and dimension to kill Donna Troy for her impending baby will grow up to become Lord Chaos and destroy the world. At one point Donna grows 50 feet tall and believes herself to actually be one of the Titans of legend. Stuff happens, she loses her powers and retires with her husband Terry Long and their baby.

One of the Teen Titans, Mirage, has a thing from her timeline with Nightwing (who eventually goes by the moniker Deathwing, ugh), so she shapeshifts into Starfire during a spat between Dick and Kory and sleeps with Dick without him knowing her true identity.

So Nightwing is raped. For the first time.

And for several issues it's treat like an absolute joke. Both Kory's utter fury and gall at Mirage and Dick's befuddlement are written for grins. At the same time, and this is weird, the Titans sign some sort of licensing contract which leads to there being a cartoon called "Teeny Titans" and a total multi-media franchise.

So there's a Titans cartoon and toys made of them for children. Hmmm.

Mirage continues to pose as Starfire out in public and has nude photos of her printed behind Kory's back. To get even with her (?) Dick Grayson publicly comes out to the public on dating Starfire with Mirage posing as Nightwing, insinuating a paparazzi goldmine of scandal and gossip. They even have a public fight, "Nightwing" vs. Dick Grayson. Eventually Kory decides that she didn't like the idea that Dick was so easily fooled by someone posing as her and abruptly breaks up with him. Compounding on the Titans' troubles is Roy Harper, now working for Checkmate and having finally become Arsenal, pressuring the team to answer the demands and inquiries of the government. Changeling goes rogue in order to help restore Cyborg's mind, and end up getting assaulted by the Brotherhood of Evil, including what appears to be his long thought dead mother Elasti-Girl now back from the dead and inexplicably evil. Steve Dayton (formerly Mento and Gar's foster father) demands that Nightwing leads the team to help Changeling, and Dick essentially tells him to fuck off, his relationship problems come first. Dick tracks down Kory twice in one evening and proposes marriage.

Which leads to New Titans #100, one of the worst comic books ever blighted onto human conscience by man.

Dick's gone off the deep end and is obsessed with marrying Kory, despite the Titans returning from the battle having their butts kicked and Aqualad showing up with a badly beaten Changeling. He threatens a guy denying Starfire a marriage license, and is at first outraged that Bruce can't come to his wedding (before being made aware that his back was snapped by Bane). Everyone is plainly aware that Dick and Kory are in no shape to get married, but they all go along. At the wedding, just before the priest tells Dick to kiss the bride, he explodes and Raven appears, back from the dead (AGAIN) with a Trigon tan and black electric tape for a costume.

 

Tim Drake, Wally West and the then-current Titans jump into action and easily beat up Raven's men. Raven then inexplicably subdues Starfire and preaches about how she was the product of rape between Trigon and Arella and how she must continue the consummation and insemination process if Azarath is to survive. She then taunts Starfire about how much she simultaneously hates her and loves her before ripping her dress off, shoving her tongue down her mouth and relishing over how of all she's "taken" thus far, Kory was the one who "pleasured" her the most.

So yeah, Raven rapes Starfire at her wedding, with Nightwing watching.

She then fucks off and Starfire's taken away in an ambulance with Robin, Flash and the Titans all looking like they did not just see one of their friends randomly violate another. The issue ends with Checkmate demanding that Arsenal replace Nightwing as leader of the Titans. For some reason.

The New Titans #100 is one of the most heinous things ever made. Beyond the ridiculous and objectionable scenes with Raven, the artwork goes from glorious Tom Grummett to hideous Bill Jaska, who has no business being on this title. When you go from having legendary DC artists like George Perez and Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, and underrated stalwarts like Eduardo Barreto and Tom Grummett to the guy who replaced Denys Cowan on Denny O'Neil's the Question book, you've got a problem. And beyond the breaking of the decade's long consistent visual metric for the book, what happens at the end is just horrible.