A review by the_rox13
Titans: The Lazarus Contract by Benjamin Percy, Norm Rapmund, Minkyu Jung, Larry Hama, V. Kenneth Marion, Dan Abnett, Christopher J. Priest, Paul Pelletier, Carlo Pagulayan, Phil Hester, Khoi Pham, Kenneth Rocafort, Brett Booth
2.0
Synopsis: We open on the moment Slade Wilson's son Grant died back when the Titans were still the Teen Titans. In present day, the Titans are fighting some guys that were hired by a contact known as Lazarus to distract the Titans. Nightwing recognizes the name but lies and says he doesn't. Then the Titans notice that Wally is missing, while at the same time the Teen Titans are noticing that their Wally is also missing.
The two teams meet to discuss the missing Flashes. Meanwhile, the Flashes have been captured by Slade because he wants to use their powers to travel back in time and save his son Grant. The older Wally refuses but the younger Wally takes the bait and gets his speed stolen. Slade proceeds to try and save Grant to no avail since Grant hates him and will not believe anything he says. Sidenote: apparently Nightwing made some kind of deal with Slade when Grant died, but honestly couldn't tell you what exactly it was.
The Titans and Teen Titans meet up with Slade's hero son Jericho. Jericho and Wally decide to go into the timestream to find Slade and in the process, cause a time vortex. The younger versions of the Titans appear, but before Nightwing can explain, Damien punches the younger Wally in the chest, causing him to die for a couple of minutes. This "death" in the past disrupts Deathstroke's stolen speed powers and he appears in the present.
Blah, blah, blah, Kid Flash gets his speed powers back and Wally is alive. Slade claims he's done being Deathstroke, but we see him starting a new team at the end of the volume. Meanwhile, Damien has given Wally a heart condition due to the fact that he punched his chest and killed him for a bit. As a result, the doctor advises Wally to not be the Flash anymore. Oh, yeah, and Damien kicks Kid Flash out of the Teen Titans.
Review: DC really should either stop doing this half assed mini crossovers or tighten up the story-telling. Plot details tend to get lost or not elaborated on to the point of confusion. It also doesn't seem to have much of a point to it? I suppose the ending could lead into stuff they're going to be doing in the Deathstroke title, but as someone that doesn't read that title, it means nothing to me and it wasn't a great story to boot.
Another issue is why is Deathstroke just now deciding he wants to use the Speed Force to save his son? I'm not up on my Titans history, but Grant Wilson has probably been dead for awhile, so again, why now? Even if the timing doesn't make sense, they still could have pulled off a better story.
I hate Damien Wayne. I mean sincerely. Maybe he’s different when the book is focused on him, but he just comes off as such a little asshole all the time. The shit he pulled with Wally's younger self was not fucking okay. I'm so tired of Damien running around and doing whatever he wants without repercussions just because he's Batman's kid. Damien constantly hurts other heroes, but when a hero like Kid Flash fucks up? He gets kicked off his superhero team.
I don't know that Damien Wayne as a character has grown at all since his introduction. Other than, not killing people every step of the way, not to say he doesn't still kill. He's still an asshole and as long as he is leading the Teen Titans, I would never even consider picking that title up. Sorry, I realize that sounds harsh, but I get sick of DC allowing Damien to do whatever he wants to other (better, more loved) characters and no consequences.
Well, I did give this two stars, so what did I like? I liked the art - Titans generally I would say has pretty good artists that cycle through. The story was not AS hard to follow as some of the other mini crossovers I've read. Even if the Lazarus Contract wasn't a great story, I suppose it does have some important plot points for future books, mainly for the Flashes. I can't say I would recommend this to anyone unless you're invested in reading this run of Titans.
The two teams meet to discuss the missing Flashes. Meanwhile, the Flashes have been captured by Slade because he wants to use their powers to travel back in time and save his son Grant. The older Wally refuses but the younger Wally takes the bait and gets his speed stolen. Slade proceeds to try and save Grant to no avail since Grant hates him and will not believe anything he says. Sidenote: apparently Nightwing made some kind of deal with Slade when Grant died, but honestly couldn't tell you what exactly it was.
The Titans and Teen Titans meet up with Slade's hero son Jericho. Jericho and Wally decide to go into the timestream to find Slade and in the process, cause a time vortex. The younger versions of the Titans appear, but before Nightwing can explain, Damien punches the younger Wally in the chest, causing him to die for a couple of minutes. This "death" in the past disrupts Deathstroke's stolen speed powers and he appears in the present.
Blah, blah, blah, Kid Flash gets his speed powers back and Wally is alive. Slade claims he's done being Deathstroke, but we see him starting a new team at the end of the volume. Meanwhile, Damien has given Wally a heart condition due to the fact that he punched his chest and killed him for a bit. As a result, the doctor advises Wally to not be the Flash anymore. Oh, yeah, and Damien kicks Kid Flash out of the Teen Titans.
Review: DC really should either stop doing this half assed mini crossovers or tighten up the story-telling. Plot details tend to get lost or not elaborated on to the point of confusion. It also doesn't seem to have much of a point to it? I suppose the ending could lead into stuff they're going to be doing in the Deathstroke title, but as someone that doesn't read that title, it means nothing to me and it wasn't a great story to boot.
Another issue is why is Deathstroke just now deciding he wants to use the Speed Force to save his son? I'm not up on my Titans history, but Grant Wilson has probably been dead for awhile, so again, why now? Even if the timing doesn't make sense, they still could have pulled off a better story.
I hate Damien Wayne. I mean sincerely. Maybe he’s different when the book is focused on him, but he just comes off as such a little asshole all the time. The shit he pulled with Wally's younger self was not fucking okay. I'm so tired of Damien running around and doing whatever he wants without repercussions just because he's Batman's kid. Damien constantly hurts other heroes, but when a hero like Kid Flash fucks up? He gets kicked off his superhero team.
I don't know that Damien Wayne as a character has grown at all since his introduction. Other than, not killing people every step of the way, not to say he doesn't still kill. He's still an asshole and as long as he is leading the Teen Titans, I would never even consider picking that title up. Sorry, I realize that sounds harsh, but I get sick of DC allowing Damien to do whatever he wants to other (better, more loved) characters and no consequences.
Well, I did give this two stars, so what did I like? I liked the art - Titans generally I would say has pretty good artists that cycle through. The story was not AS hard to follow as some of the other mini crossovers I've read. Even if the Lazarus Contract wasn't a great story, I suppose it does have some important plot points for future books, mainly for the Flashes. I can't say I would recommend this to anyone unless you're invested in reading this run of Titans.