Whimper.... George Perez drawing m'man! :)

[icon_uk]

It's been a long, stressful week at work (I use stressful, but that doesn't quite convey the sense of a seemingly endless series of nerve shredding, bowel tightening moments), so I decided to get myself a little treat this weekend. So when I happened past a copy of the new "New Teen Titans" hardback, "Games" I couldn't resist.

Now, "Games" has a long (and I mean LONG) genesis, it's being released 25 years after it was started (and ironically maybe a week after the entire history of the Teen Titans is up in air), Marv Wolfman and George Perez started it, then stopped, and just never got back around to it, until recently when they got back together to finish it.

Now they had to do a fair rewrite of it, incorporating the pages George had already drawn, and events which happen in it basically make this into an alt-universe story in and of itself.

The story is... to be honest... not particularly awesome, there are a lot of rather random villains introduced to make the plot work, and the final reveal isn't notably well done. Within the page limits, they're a fairly lacklustre group, though there are several of them who would be well worth a more detailed appearance. For those of you who've read it, I'd say I want to see Knight and Squire (no, not Cecil and Beryl) and Holox again.

There's also the death of a long standing member of the cast which is rather gratuitous and a sort of fridging (inasmuch as it's used to get an emotional reaction from the Titan they know) but it's handled fairly tastefully and has a nice payoff at the end, with everyone's LEAST favourite Titan having a couple of good moments too, and which might have saved that character if Titans Hunt hadn't come along.

But that's by the by, and I'll let someone else post pages from the actual story if they see fit, I just wanted to showcase this gorgeous page and a bit, which reminds me yet again, that there is NO ONE who draws Dick Grayson as perfectly as George Perez





The puffing isn't me, but it was a close run thing... ye gods but that's some pretty manflesh

Also, just for kicks, a page showing that Joey Wilson, owner of absurdly luxuriant locks and sideburns the likes of which comics have not seen before or since, has absolutely NO shame when it comes to headwear either.



And for those interested, a quick check of the ASL (American Sign Language) website, confirms that Joey is spelling out T-I-T-A-N-S there.

Comments

[shadowpsykie]

... who's Joey's girlfriend?

*sigh* i always like the idea that he was gay... but i understand Wolfman's decision not to...

also... mmmm acrobat booty all sweaty and....

*i'll be in my bunk*

[rdfox]

In the 1988 outline that they used to pitch the idea to management, which is reprinted in the book, they actually said that they wanted to imply that Joey had *several* girlfriends at the time.

Besides, we did have him having hit on Raven at one point in canon, so... bi at most, y'know?

[icon_uk]

they actually said that they wanted to imply that Joey had *several* girlfriends at the time.

That was stated categorically in both this story, and in the Titans run back in the day. There's one issue where we hear a recording of the messages that have been left for him whilst he's been away on a mission, and there are paintings for each of the several ladies in question in his studio.

[jlroberson]

Well, he's obviously a good listener, so...

[icon_uk]

No idea who this one is, but when, in a later scene, the Titans have to issue warnings to those closest to them (because a villain knows a LOT about their private lives) Vic warns his grandparents, Donna warns Terry and her co-workers etc), Nightwing is seen to leave messages on the ansaphones of at last seven women (and Adeline, Joey's mother).

I won't make any comment about double standards for male and female characters in this situation as I imagine a lot of people can already make those for themselves, but Joey has always been a very romantic flirt and was usually seeing several ladies at the same time.

[whitesycamore]

I won't make any comment about double standards for male and female characters in this situation as I imagine a lot of people can already make those for themselves, but Joey has always been a very romantic flirt and was usually seeing several ladies at the same time.

Then I won't either. *Bites tongue, very very hard.*

[icon_uk]

Hey, if bringing it up helps you, go for it, that's partly what we're here for.

[whitesycamore]

"blah blah blah when I wrote 'the beastly fornications of this rancid space-hooker' I didn't mean I had a problem with the *sex* - I was just talking about how I didn't like her characterisation in this book. Jeez, I don't know why on Earth you'd think *that* was slut-shaming language."

And so on.

[icon_uk]

I hope you don't mind that 'the beastly fornications of this rancid space-hooker' made me smile a little, though at the beautiful construction of the phrase rather than at any underlying implications.

[bariman]

Yes, implications aside, that's a wonderful phrase. I'm saving that in my ideas file for a space RPG setting I'm putting together.

[star_of_airdrie]

that's a whole new definition of 'wing' man...

[kamino_neko]

... Forget double standards, I'm just wondering where he finds the time.

[icon_uk]

Of course, there is one notion that might explain it... who says it's one at a time?