Teen Titans #8, titled One Brief, Shining Moment Part 2, begins with the Titans looking over a celebratory parade for their victory in stopping the Eraser from the previous issue. Red Robin continues to question Manchester Black about the worst weapon he alluded to earlier. Black avoids the question and reminds the team that they were victorious. Black refers to Red Robin as Tim which surprised me when Red Robin never told his teammates who he really is. And All Tim says is “call me Red Robin”.
The next morning Black and Josiah Power survey the crime scene where Brooks, the villain from last issue died after escaping from the prison guards. It is revealed that the 104 year old had some kind of drug in his system that gave him the energy to do “just about anything” then his heart gave out. Tying up any loose ends for Black.
The next several pages show what the Titans are up to at the moment. Beast Boy is hosting the show Comedy Tonight, the DC universes form of Saturday Night Live. Bunker is with Gar and we learn the producers of the show are not impressed with Gar’s jokes; he is not doing the opening monologue. During a skit of the show a man attacks one of the actors which prompt Beast Boy to attack the attacker as a snake causing him to pass out. The man is lead off the set by the police.
At the Bowery in Manhattan we see Raven with a punk band The Night Mistress preparing for their gig. They are watching Beast Boy take down the attacker from the previous scene. Raven is listening to the band and from the art looks like she is going into a trance of some kind. Suddenly the crowd charges the stage prompting Raven to use her powers to intervene and calm the crowd down. Raven wonders if her empathy powers led to this scene.
On the Upper East Side we see a burglar confronted by Cassie’s “groupies”. It is revealed that this scene is taking place in the building that Cassie lives in. The women start to beat the burglar just as Wonder Girl arrives. We see a close up of the burglar and see a red light on his glasses. It appears that Wonder Girl’s arrival empowers the burglar to shake the women off of him and he lunges as Cassie. As the man jumps Cassie she sees that there is a camera on his glasses. Cassie throws the man and takes the glasses with the belief that she stopped any of the footage from reaching the internet. Power Girl shows Cassie that the glasses are providing a live stream.
Back at the Comedy Tonight, Beast Boy sees the man who attacked the actress during her skit. He attacks by becoming a lion and learns that learns the man was an actor and the whole scene was staged so Beast Boy’s abilities could be showcased on television. The producers did not tell Gar because they learned he was not an actor and they felt the best way to put on the show was to rely on Gar’s instincts which “paid off beautifully”. The actor’s agent is talking to Bunker and end up signing Bunker to a reality show.
In the Governor’s Island facility of S.T.A.R Labs we see Red Robin snooping. Black shows up. Black shares with Red Robin what we have been seeing all issue with Beast Boy and Bunker at Comedy Tonight, Raven at the concert, and Wonder Girl’s viral video. Black wonders why Tim is here and not with any of them. Tim is searching for the other weapon that has been mentioned. Red Robin says that he is doing what the entire team should be doing and that “preventing disaster, saving lives, and fighting evil”. All the other stuff is a distraction. Black retorts by showing Red Robin a video of Superboy who Black says is killing a lot of people. To be continued in Teen Titans Annual #1.
This issue is what is commonly thought of as a decompression issue. Nothing pushes the story along until the final scene with Red Robin and Black in the destroyed S.T.A.R. Labs offices.
This issue was okay for character development. We see Raven with her friends in the band and get a glimpse of her empathic powers. There is no mention of her exhaustion that was constantly alluded to in the previous issue. We see Beast Boy and Bunker together looking for fame and fortune. We see Wonder Girl and Power Girl at Cassie’s apartment. I miss the interaction of the entire team like we saw in the previous issue.
My big question is who is Manchester Black and is he behind everything that has been happening especially in this issue with the attack on Cassie that was just a live stream to create a viral video. Is he behind the talent agent talking to Gar and Bunker and what is going on with Superboy? I am looking forward to the answers of these questions.
I generally believe that despite some of the good character scenes, this is a throw away issue.
[wp-review]
