Damian Wayne and Emiko Queen (Damiko)

Teen Titans #42 Discussion A New Writer Takes Over

Well a new issue of Teen Titans came out recently so I'm here to talk about it. The issue wasn't written by Adam Glass but Robbie Thompson. So there were some definite improvements. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done so that this book can possibly be salvaged. I don't know if it can be. The damage to it has been pretty big. Especially for all of the characters. I don't have faith. I know that this isn't all on the writer but DC editorial plays a factor into this. Still the writers could do a lot better. For the past 2 years since this new team was introduced it hasn't been that good. There's still not much of a good reason for them to even consider being on the same team seeing how bad they are together. But, let's see what the new writer has in store....

(I should also point out that the solicitation is completely wrong. The team has not confronted Batman and Robin is still on the team. This tells me that due to COVID DC has taken some time to re-evaluate and change a lot of their plans. So perhaps we could see some good things on the horizon for the characters).

Plot:
So this issue starts out with Damian reminiscing about his time with Alfred. He is clearly not in a good place. Feeling totally alone without any guidance. We know he feels responsible for Alfred's death and it has taken a toll on him. Even at the end of the issue we see that Bruce acknowledges that like Damian he is lost too. The 2 of them need to have a long talk with one another. Nothing violent. But, an actual talk. Bruce needs to step up and be a decent parent. He hasn't been written as one in so long. It's depressing. But anyways aside from Damian losing it. The rest of the "team" is kind of disbanded a bit crush is buddies with roundhouse I guess even though he caused them so many problems and didn't face any real repercussions for his actions for betraying the team. There's no Djinn in this issue so that's a plus. The team still has issues with Damian. Also, the ending of the last issue they all seemingly broke up and now are back together just like that. Makes the ending of the last issue seem kind of pointless. But oh well. So the team is trying to find out what happened to brother blood because he seemingly was murdered. They end up stopping some of his followers and at the end of the issue they kind of agree to go continue their investigation.

Shipping Moments:
Aside from crush whining to Damian about Djinn. The thing they're going to start heavily pushing is Emiko and Wallace.... Wallace just out of the blue is all sorts of into her now.

Even though that was never really shown in the previous issues since glass started writing them. So he was going to attempt to try and ask her out but roundhouse interrupts and other factors happen. We only saw Emi kind of have feelings for him out of the blue when they went to hell. Now Wallace is into her all of a sudden. Again right out of nowhere. It would have made more sense if the roles were reversed. Another issue I have is that is this just Wallace's role now? Since issue 1 when Percy was writing the book it seems like the only thing they try to do with him is have him in random relationships. First it was raven and now they're doing the same with emiko. I thought he would be the morale compass of the team. But he never does anything with it. Nothing has really happened with him and his character in this book. He's so forgettable in this run and i feel bad. I want to see some interesting storylines with him but we have yet to get anything. It's just kind of a bummer. As for Emiko I'm sorry Emi. You've lost your personality and there's yet to be a reason for why you've killed Deathstroke. The only thing that makes sense is if it was for Damian. But, we don't really know. I guess we never will know at this point sadly. Anyways, Damian, Emiko, and Wallace all got it really bad in this book. I just hope the new writer does something good with this them. They probably won't. But, one can hope right?

Final Thoughts:
Even though I have my gripes with the book. I think this issue was ok. I appreciate the writer for trying to acknowledge Damian's internal struggle since Alfred is now gone. It's really the first time that has played a factor in this book. But, I'm glad it's acknowledged. Djinn wasn't in this issue. So that's a plus. Now we don't have to listen to her hypocrisy anymore. I'm
Gonna wait a few more issues before I can fully get a grasp of Thompson's writing. There's a mess that needs to be cleaned up. So hopefully he does the job right and fixes things. But... we shall see...

Anyways that's it for this update. I had a lot to say about this issue. I hope things get better. But we're just going to have to wait.

Go ahead and post your comments below and let me know your thoughts. Thanks and have a wonderful day.