Terror Titans #4 (of 6)

With this comic, I definitely walked in on the middle of the movie.

Since I haven't read any of the previous issues of Terror Titans, I know nothing about the group. I picked up this issue because it features the return of Static, my favorite of the Milestone characters. I also picked it up because the team roster includes Terra, whose recent mini-series I've raved about before.

So I'm reading this issue, and it's quickly clear that writer Sean McKeever has never heard of the concept that every comic is potentially someone's first issue. Which is to say, there's no attempt to bring a new reader up to speed - we're just dropped into the middle of the action and left to figure it out on our own.

I've been reading DC's comics for a while now (about 47 years, give or take a few months), so you'd think I'd have no trouble catching up, wouldn't you? Not a chance.

As I understand it, Static is being forced (brainwashed?) into taking part in some kind of fighting tournament between super-powered heroes. He's fighting Ravager, a female version of one of the Teen Titans' old villains (and presumably a member of the Terror team). Other heroes fight their own matches. Several characters (none of whom I know) are plotting against other characters or recovering from their own battles. The Clock King is behind it all, and somehow he has limited control over time. Some guy in a star-spangled costume is being brainwashed. He's not the Star-Spangled Kid, who apparently isn't dead anymore, because he fights in the contest. Same for Aquagirl.

Hope I didn't give away the story for you with that recap, but since it makes no sense to me, I have no idea where the spoilers are.

The art is quite good, as Joe Bennett and Jack Jadson provide some high-octane action scenes, and some nice quiet moments, too. But their good work can't overcome a story that just wanders around and never moves forward.

Yes, it's my fault for walking in on the middle - but surely they could have squeezed a paragraph in there somewhere to help me out. Or explained who some of the non-costumed characters are. Is that too much to ask for my three bucks?

Grade: D