Jan 1983
Runaways Part 2
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Romeo Tanghal
The previous installment ended with the Titans returning to Vic’s apartment. There they found a teenage boy (Paul Taylor) near death. This issue picks up that scene with Raven healing Paul. He is the brother of Mike, the boy who accosted Adrian Chase and was then hit by a car and killed in the last issue. Healing Paul takes a toll on Raven. The affect is visible enough for the other Titans to notice, wonder, and then ask Raven about it. She doesn’t want to talk about it but it is pretty clear that it has something to do with Trigon, her father.
They take Paul to the shelter for runaways that Cyborg and Raven visited last issue. There they meet Adrian Chase, once again, and Roy Harper (aka Speedy). Chase tells them that there is a big drug shipment coming in very soon but the authorities don’t know where it is scheduled to land. Paul claims to know where the big drug shipment is coming in but he doesn’t want to share the information. Raven uses her powers to read his mind and extract the information they are looking for.
What exactly are Raven’s powers? She can teleport, read minds, heal, she’s an empath, she can separate her soul self from her body for brief periods of time. She has all these abilities or superpowers. Early in the run of this book they made a big deal over how her soul self couldn’t be separated from her physical body for more than 5 minutes. That was roughly 20 issues ago and I don’t think there’s been any mention of that limitation since then. Maybe her father’s influence has something to do with the wide range of powers she has been exhibiting over the course of the series or maybe they are all abilities learned and honed at the Temple of Azarath. These are the sorts of things I wonder about when I see some of things Raven does.
Throughout the book, at the beginning, middle and the end are interludes devoted to the runaways. They are shown leaving home and hooking up with various characters: pimps, drug dealers, and other runaways. Some survive the story others do not. Even those who do survive don’t all wind up in happy situations.
The Titans arrive at the pier where the big drug shipment is due to arrive. The mobsters are already there with a number of runaways in tow. Luis, who was introduced last issue, makes a mistake he isn’t likely to forget for long. He mouths off to one of the gangsters who then proceeds to beat the crap out of him. The tables turn when the Titans start fighting with the gangsters. Luis gets the upper hand and, in a moment that is devastatingly grim, he cuts the throat of the guy who had beat him pretty badly.
Sylvester, another one of the runaways gets caught in the crossfire and killed. It is a brutal moment that is laid out in such a way that helps to highlight the tragedy. The death of Sylvester or at least the moment immediately following it is similar to the scene on the cover although the visual language is slightly different. The good guys win in the end but unlike the heroes the runaways don’t all get to go home in the end. Luis is arrested for murder, Sylvester is dead, Lizzie gets a bus ride home only to find she isn’t welcome there.
I have to wonder if this story was originally supposed to run in an annual. It has that feel to it. The New Teen Titans Drug issue’s must have been inspired in part by this story.
This is the final issue in the 4th collection of New Teen Titans (1980). This is probably my favorite collected volume in this series so far. All three stories impressed me, each in their own way. Wolfman, Perez, and Tanghal are really impressing me with this series, especially when compared to most other comic books published in this era that I have read.
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