Teen Titans #9 Review – Why is Beast Boy Being the Jerk Now?
I’ve been chomping at the bit to see what happens next in Teen Titans. Damian has fired Kid Flash for making one mistake and making another what Damian thinks is a mistake. There is no way the rest of the team can be happy with this, especially Jackson Hyde. Is the team going to confront him? Are they going to up and quit?
None of that happens this time, but who’s to say it won’t happen and won’t happen soon. Right now the team is regrouping and deciding what to do next, and Jackson suddenly has his own problems. Nothing is really what it seems, especially in Jackson’s life. However, those who have seen Young Justice in its entirety won’t be surprised by the big reveal at the very end.
Damian appears to have some regrets with his actions against Kid Flash, if that’s even possible. He’s working Jackson to the bone almost as a way to make up for always forgetting about him. He also gives him two sword hilts he can use to manipulate water into any form he wants. The gift also seems to be a way to make amends for his rash actions against Kid Flash. The Tower has certainly picked up on Damian’s sudden devotion to Jackson, and no one seems too happy about it.
Raven appeals to Kid Flash to try to reason with Damian. Wally instead tells Raven that he’s been offered to join Deathstroke’s Dark Defiance team, and Raven can’t support his decision to accept it. Apparently the two had something or almost had something, and I missed that overtone completely. I’m not sure how to even process it other than saying, “Okay.”
Starfire definitely wants to talk to Robin about his tyranny, and Beast Boy is in agreement. However, he can’t seem to stop himself from being downright mean to Jackson. He says he’s joking, as he is wont to do, but his comments are more harsh than usual. Sarcasm is my native language, and even I felt BB went a bit too far, especially since Jackson had a huge bomb dropped on him.
If you will recall, Jackson ran away from home because his mother wanted him to suppress his powers and try to fit in normally. He wanted to become a hero join the Teen Titans. Thanks to saving that reporter from shark people, Jackson was on TV. Of course his mother saw him. And of course she was on the next flight out to San Francisco to talk to him. Jackson believed that she kept the truth of his father from him because he had similar powers. To be honest, even with my knowledge of Young Justice, I thought a bit of the same. I was shocked to learn that it’s his mother who is Atlantean. His father is exactly who he was in YJ. She wanted to inhibit Jackson’s powers so that he wouldn’t alert his father of their whereabouts. She is afraid of his father, and she has a pretty good reason to do so.
Obviously this next arc will focus on Jackson and learning about his heritage. That’s certainly not a bad thing, but I don’t want Robin to get off the hook either. They still don’t know that his actions have handicapped OG Wally permanently, so if they let the firing of Kid Flash go (which they shouldn’t) then they better not let this particular action go.
Our Rating: Yep
Author: Benjamin Percy
Artists: Khoi Pham, Phil Hester, Trevor Scott, and Jim Charalampidis
Publisher: DC Comics
Publish Date: 06/30/2017
Acquired via Purchase
