May 1985
Angel Devil on the Wing!
by Marv Wolfman, Rich Buckler, Mike DeCarlo, Phil Felix, Adrienne Roy, George Perez
Donna Troy and Terry Long play Dick Grayson and Kory in tennis. Lilith get attacked by someone who looks like Deathstroke. Slade Wilson is behind bars awaiting trial on a number of charges. Garfield Logan is there with Jillian for some of the preliminary hearings in the trial.
Lilith, Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, and Starfire visit S.T.A.R. Labs in New York City. They check up on the status of the mysterious winged man whom they encountered there in the previous issue. Lilith insists on getting close to him. The winged man breaks free. Lilith tries to defend him by using a superpower that she wasn’t known to have.
The fight moves outside. Starfire catches up to him and tries to learn his language by touching him but gets nothing. The Titans come close to capturing the winged guy but he escapes. Lilith leaves S.T.A.R. labs while the others are off changing the alien.
The trial of The Terminator begins. Adrian Chase is the judge in the case. Nightwing, Wonder Girl, Cyborg, and Starfire join Changeling and Jillian in the courtroom. Wonder Girl provides testimony.
Marko, Slade Wilson’s lawyer, works to establish that it is impossible to prove Wilson and Deathstroke are the same person. He references the attack on Lilith earlier that day when Wilson was in custody. Things aren’t looking good for the case against Slade Wilson.
I’m curious to see what part Adrian Chase will play in the story. I doubt that he will show up as Vigilante. An editor’s note explains that he was recently appointed as a judge, in Vigilante 20.
How did Marko know about the attack on Lilith? Where’s the evidence for that? Did the Titans or the district attorney introduce that piece of evidence. Clearly it must have been someone other than Slade Wilson behind the mask in that instance. My guess is that it was Wintergreen.
The winged guy is Azrael. I know that from reading Who’s Who but they have yet to mention his name in this comic. There is an editor’s note that refers to events that happened In New Teen Titans (1984) 7-10 but I have yet to read those issues. I think they are in the next collected edition. Maybe this part of the issue would make more sense if I had read those issues. It isn’t clear from the editor’s note if the events in those issues precede the ones in this issue but I’m guessing not.
Azrael and Lilith both seem to be attracted to one another. I’m not sure what that’s about but I don’t think it is very well handled. I interpret it as best as infatuation regardless of what Lilith and Azrael seem to think it is.
Kory used her ability to learn languages by touching people on Robin way back in New Teen Titans (1980) 2. That’s how she learned English.
The Titans are able to testify in uniform, with their masks on, due to a precedent established in Batman vs. Joker in 1979. I think this might be the first mention ever of this court case. I looked but could not find any prior or subsequent mention of this court case.
I miss the panel layouts of George Perez. I’m sure the fight scene would have been that much better with them. Rich Buckler does a decent job but he’s no George Perez.
This is part one of a three part story. It is an okay issue. It didn’t wow me but I want to see how this story plays out.
Titans Tower
- New Teen Titans won another Eagle Award, this one is for Best Group Comic
- Marv and George received a death threat because they killed off Terra
- The second X-Men / New Teen Titans crossover has been canceled, readers are referred to the Meanwhile column for more information
- All the letters printed are positive responses to Tales of the Teen Titans 48 which featured the very short-lived RECOMbatants
- Azrael is finally mentioned by name in Marv Wolfman’s comments
I didn’t realize it but apparently Tales of the Teen Titans 48 was an unofficial crossover with DNAgents 14.
Meanwhile…
Dick Giordano mentions a couple projects he was inking at the time (Jonni A.K.A. Thunderbolt, Crisis on Infinite Earths) but he spends most of the words in this column on two adaptations from TV and film (V, Star Trek) that DC was publishing at the time. There is no mention of the cancellation of the second X-Men / New Teen Titans crossover event.
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