The Teen Titans Go! team mix it up a bit...

[icon_uk]

..but probably not the way they normally mean it. From issue #24 of the "Teen Titans Go!" comic.


The Titans are fighting a villainous martial artist called Katarou, a villain who Robin has faced before (in the episode called "The Quest"), but who is now using a magic crystal (also seen before in the series, being used by the power-thief the Master of Games) to absorb and mimic the skills of any number of martial arts masters. He also gains their combined strength, making him VERY dangerous.

Starfires blast damages the crystal, releasing the captive martial artists, but also causing it to explode, despite Raven's efforts to contain it. A suitably magical explosion appears, and emerging from the clouds of smoke and trying to work out why his white-sound blaster isn't working properly is Cyborg, who finds himself... strangely changed... (The Deadman lookalike is Katarou, for those who didn't click on the link)



But that's not the only change (of course)



I have to say I DO like how the costumes are altered. Yes, Raven in bare legs when this Robin never is is odd, and Robin's new costume seems very restrained next to Starfire take on it, but what the heck.

The crystal is now in three pieces, and Katarou has snagged one and made a break for it whilst the Titans were too busy trying to work out what the heck had just happened to them.

Inside the Tower, Raven is researching how to repair the crystal and reverse the spell. BEast Boy is trying to help, but is feeling distinctly out of sorts because of Raven's powers, which are twisting his guts into knots, and he compares it to the way he felt after a pizza eating contest, and chanting her mantra isn't helping.



Believe it or not, that helps, so mercifully, the bucket isn't needed. Starfire is staring out the window, not wanting to go outside and be seen by... someone who actually seems to be enjoying the switcharound.



Realising who she is talking too, she quickly apologises, and Cyborg tells her that it's all right, he understands her feelings all too well.



He does appear to be slightly... jazzed, I think is the best term.

Raven reports they NEED the third part of the gem, or the spell can never be reversed. Beast Boy in particular is desperate to get his old powers back.


The team, apart from Raven, head out on the hunt for Katarou, they don't take the T-Car because Cyborg want's to enjoy flying under his own power just this once, and they humour him. :)

And Robin is finally able to return the favour for Starfire after all those times he had to be carried in her arms (Though I doubt he ever objected THAT much)



It's only when they get ashore they realise they have to think like Katarou, and as soon as they do it's obvious what they have to do, because there's only one place he'd be.

And indeed, back at the Tower, Raven finds an intruder, and she is NOT impressed. What a coward Katarou is, as soon as he loses his stolen powers he flees, only returning to get the rest of the gem when he thought everyone else had left...



It kills me to cut the page of their fight, as each recognises that the other is a real master. Katarou finally asks who she could have learned all these moves from... He's interrupted by a starbolt.



And indeed Raven has no problem finishing Katarou off with a well thrown batarang.

After he's been taken away, she recites the reversal spell, though the gem is still fractured, it's now back in one piece, so that should sort it out, no?



Oops! And there we leave our heroes as they try to convince Raven, as politely as possible (yeah right) that she needs to fix this NOW!

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

hmmm so that would mean that raven is Beast Boy now....

funny how Starfire looksl ike Bette Kane :D

Why is Robin Dark Raven?

[icon_uk]

Yes.

She does ponder changing her name to Firebird, or Flamebird perhaps.

The spell screwed up.

[shadowpsykie]

heehee Flamebird.... teehee

[shanejayell]

That's actually pretty cute. :)

I LOVE THIS!

[blue_bolt]

Okay, this is true comics. This is why I'm a proud 5-drink bisexual member of scans daily.

Where can I buy this issue? Seriously, I never really liked the Teen Titans Go! show but this comic is AWESOME!

I just love the way Raven turns her headand sort-of-kind-of-blushes when she says, "that was Robin talking."

Also I never realized that Raven's powers made her uncomfortable, I though they just made things explode if she wasn't calm and that was why she decided to be stoic all the time on the show. In the Titans 1980-2000 runs she displays a fair amount of emotion - but she does go evil (Trigorn possession) about three times a decade (it's not a leap year, its a Raven's-possessed-by-her-insane-demonic-father-who-is-the-sum-total-evil-of-an-entire-race.

Re: I LOVE THIS!

[icon_uk]

Indeed, I like the fact it's not just the powers, but the mindsets associated with them that switch around. Robin is jazzed, Starfire is withdrawn, Cyborg is loving his new powers, Beast Boy is creeped out by his, and Raven is still reserved (as Robin is), but more confident.

Re: I LOVE THIS!

[star_of_airdrie]

There are two up on eBay right now and these were collected in TPB/digests. They are HTF and run a bit high for comics on eBay.

[espanolbot]

Not gonna lie, RavenRobin is all kinds of awesome.

As she was in the scene from the show where they all dressed like him,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF_TC9T0Qo8

[biod]

The mask makes us ALL feel cool.

[crinos]

I must admit, I think Starcyborg is kinda cute.

[icon_uk]

At some point I'm going to do a post on another character you might like then... Circuit Breaker

[shadowpsykie]

ack 80's art! is that Liefield?!?!

[icon_uk]

Nope, this predates him by quite some time.

[biod]

Ah Teen Titans, you never cease to make me feel better. I needed you after Supreme Power.
It's not bad that I read every line in the proper voice is it?

[icon_uk]

It's usually a sign of good writing if you can (cg Joker and Hamill, Batman and Conroy (or Bader depending on mood)

[biod]

I'll admit I had a little touble with Cyborg because of the flagrant lack of "Booyah!"'s.

[icon_uk]

I was waiting for Starfire to try it, or say something like "I understand the "Yah", but I confess the purpose of the "Boo" escapes me, friend Cyborg."

[rdfox]

This makes me wish I had a scanner, so I could post the page from #12 where Larry accidentally changes them up, too--in ways that are all directly related to their main-DCU selves.

(The story ain't bad, either; it involves the chibi-Titans from the margin gags breaking loose and taking over the comic.)

[icon_uk]

I think you mean #18, and I know that because of this :)

[rdfox]

...now I'm embarassed, because I was looking at the cover of my copy when I wrote that, and apparently misread the issue number due to the funky font used...

[q99]

TTG was a good comic :)

[long_silence]

Raven's powers didn't seem to make Starfire that uneasy when they switched bodies.

[icon_uk]

Different methods. One was a techno-mind switch, so Starfire mind was actually in Raven's physical body, which would possibly be innured to the effects of her powers a lot more than would be Beast Boy after a random spellcast lands Ravens powers into his own body.

[long_silence]

What about that time Raven gave the whole team a piece of her powers?

It was a lot less, but no one seemed uncomfortable.

[icon_uk]

Again, it was a different method involved so the same rules don't have to apply.

And/or either A) Splitting the power lessened the "critical mass" that it all being in one body would cause (especially when the one body is Beast Boy, whose outlook on life is diamterically opposed to Raven's, she's about emotional self-denial and control, whereas he's about random fun and gratification) or B) She kept the pain to herself so as not to inflict it on her friends.

[long_silence]

But the random fun and gratification applies to Starfire too and the only effect that led to was the uncontrollableness of Raven's powers. I haven't read this issue but it looks like Beast Boy can barely even fly with Raven's powers and that was one of the things Starfire was able to do easily. Did Beast Boy cause random bursts of telekinesis like Starfire did?

[icon_uk]

I'm not quite sure what the crux of your argument is. ANY discrepancies can be explained by the simple "One was a technological mind switch, one was a magical power and body swap". Different cause, different effect, that's all they need.

However, if you REALLY want to go down this road; In this case more than powers are involved in this switch, partial mindsets were switched too (hence Raven having Robin's confidence, and Robin having Starfires exuberance). Beast Boy does get the hang of meditation and uses it, as shown, but it's still not natural to him.

Starfire is more used to a body being capable of unassisted flight so, her being able to fly isn't really a surprise. Beast Boy can only fly in a shape OTHER than his own.

Also Starfire is less "random" and more "passionate", if she feels an emotion, she feels it 100%. In the Puppet Master story, once she got the hang of the emotional mindset required, she was able to make the powers work for her. Beast Boys problem is that he DOESN'T focus on anything for any length of time, that's a problem where Raven's powers are involved.

[proteus_lives]

So cute I just went into shock.

[pyrotwilight]

The only thing really off I can think of is having Gar stay green throughout given that's a sign of his powers. He wasn't always green!

But I suppose it might seem weird to color Beast Boy differently.

Martial arts is not a superpower... eureka!

[blue_bolt]

I've got a theory, it could be bunnies! Or maybe witches...

naah, I'm kidding! I just started out saying "I've got a theory..." and had to give a shout out to Once More With Feeling.

My theory's this: Robin's martial arts abilities clearly are not a superpower. I have martial art skills as well - to my fellow Canucks nothing gets you fitter faster that CAF training - and I don't have any superpowers.

Since martial arts is mental to high degree, the Robin --> Raven transfer of martial arts proficiency indicates that there is a significant measure of mental characteristics involved in the transfer process.

Does anyone disagree?

Re: Martial arts is not a superpower... eureka!

[espanolbot]

I thought that it was because they're both named after birds.

[eyz]

I liked it^^
And I love the way that Robin!Raven looked like :03

[silverzeo]

Is Robin-Fire wearing Betty's Batgirl outfit? Also, Robin is Raven, BB is Cy, Cy is Star, Star is Rob, and Raven is... BB?

[liara_shadowsong]

This is very cute. I particularly like the panel where Robin is flying to the scene carrying Starfire; he could have carried her another way, but picked one that she seems to be pleased about (it might just be the page arrangement, but on the heels of the "I feel freakish" scene, it feels like he's sort of non-vocally saying "well, I like you no matter what"). Although I feel like Raven's altered suit should show less leg and Robin's should show more, it seems more like the altered suits cover a similar amount of skin, where applicable, as their originals, with the notable exception of Beast Boy (he's wearing shorts that don't have full-length tights underneath that he usually also has, but then again he doesn't usually wear a cloak... hm...)