1984
Finale!
By Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Dick Giordano, Mike DeCarlo, Todd Klein, Adrienne Roy
Nightwing and Jericho fly to Colorado and infiltrate HIVE HQ where the other Teen Titans (Cyborg, Raven, Starfire, Changeling, and Raven) are being held captive. Deathstroke collects his bounty for completing the contract that his son originally made with HIVE.
Deathstroke checks in with Wintergreen as he makes ready to leave. Wintergreen acts as though everything is normal but he is Adeline Wilson’s prisoner. He tells her about his memories of serving with Slade Wilson in Vietnam and other wars. He explains why he is so loyal to Deathstroke and how he saved his life in Vietnam.
Deathstroke is ready to leave when Nightwing and Jericho encounter Terra. The two heroes do their best but she is a little too powerful for them. They are captured and locked up.
Deathstroke is stunned to see his son. He makes the mistake of looking Jericho in the eyes and finds his body possessed by his son. Jericho uses his father’s body and his arsenal of weapons to free his new friends.
Starfire, Wonder Girl, Changeling, Raven, and Cyborg take on Terra and HIVE security while Jericho continues to wreck havoc with his father’s body. Changeling tries to talk Terra down but she is in no mood to play nice. She wants to see the Titans dead. She goes beserk and winds up crushing herself in a storm of rocks.
Changeling remains unconvinced that Terra turned bad or was evil all along. The others see the situation for what it is.
Batman and the Outsiders join the Teen Titans for Terra’s funeral. Nightwing and the others don’t press the issue. They allow the other team plus Changeling to go on believing that Terra died a hero, a victim of Deathstroke’s manipulation.
Thoughts
According to the indicia the title of this book is Teen Titans Annual 3.
There is a passing reference to Operation Waterworks. I’m pretty sure this must have something to do with the upcoming story that features Aqualad.
I was pleased to see that Terra’s cigarette was not edited out of this issue. Her relationship with Slade Wilson has not been toned down either. It is pretty clear that she fell for him hard but he doesn’t feel the the same about her.
Wintergreen’s story felt very much like it was the missing chapter from the previous issue: Deathstroke’s first mission.
If there’s one thing that I had trouble buying it was Terra’s motivation. I can accept that she had a bad time growing up but the way it is depicted she seems driven by an irrational desire to destroy.
There was a method to Terra's madness, according to Comic Geek Speak. Marv Wolfman was tired of readers saying that the New Teen Titans were just an imitation of the X-Men. He created Terra to be like Kitty Pryde but evil or at least that's what I recall from the CGS Book of the Month episode on the Judas Contract.
This is a great story. It can stand by itself but it helps to have read most of the issues preceding it starting with New Teen Titans (1980) 26, which introduced Terra. The layouts by Perez are fantastic. This is the high point of the series for me and close to the end of what I have read before.
Titans Tower
Marv Wolfman previews what to expect from New Teen Titans as it expands to fill two books, Tales of the Teen Titans and the New Teen Titans (1984): Aqualad and Aquagirl, Donna Troy gets married, Lilith, Mento, Trigon, outer space adventures as Starfire voyages back to her homeworld of Tamaran, the Omega Men, more
Meanwhile...
Dick Giordano previews all the other annuals and specials published by DC in 1984
- Firestorm Annual 2
- All-Star Squadron Annual 3 *
- Arak Annual 1
- Sgt Rock Annual 4
- Warlord Annual 3
- Teen Titans Annual 3 *
- Omega Men Annual 1
- Amethyst Annual 1
- JLA Annual 2
- Legion of Super-Heroes Annual 3
- Batman Annual 9
- Superman Annual 10
- Supergirl Movie Special
- DC Comics Presents Annual 3 *
- Star Trek Movie Special
- Sword of the Atom Special *
* Annuals that I own
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