When we last left our Titans, lets see…

  • One of their allies, Adrian Chase and his family was a victim of a fire bombing, presumably set by the Mobster Scarapelli in retaliation for his arrest at the end of the Runaways saga.
  • Raven’s self-doubts continue to plague her after her father gains a solid foothold into her soul.
  • Newly inducted Titan, Terra, makes herself useful by fending off the attack of Deathstroke the Terminator.  Unbeknownst to the Titans, this is merely a ruse as Terra works for the Terminator as they plot the Titans’ demise.
  • Kid Flash begins to experience some issues with his powers causing him pain when he uses them.
  • Wonder Girl got engaged to her beau Terry Long.
  • The Titans vowed to help a pair of brothers, Thunder and Lightning find their missing father.

There, I think that sums it up.  Onward!

Enraged at the brazen nature of this attack, Robin takes it upon himself to go after Scarapelli.  Scarapelli is also under a great deal of pressure from the head of the organized crime family for bringing too much attention to them.  Like a wounded animal, Scarapelli panics and calls for help, and in doing so, introduces us to a major figure in the DC Universe and one we will be talking about for many days to come.

The Monitor.

Nothing is known of The Monitor at this point in the game, except that he appears to be a broker of personnel, a go-between guy, to pit heroes and villains against each other.  Scarapelli is hoping a fire fight between the Titans and his mob overseers will clean out house and give him the upper hand.  He almost succeeds.

The Monitor sends six agents,

  • Bazooka, a white man who chews gum, an obvious reference to Bazooka Joe, who carries a Bazooka.
  • Slasher, an African-American female whose specialty is blades.
  • Tanker, a man of unknown origin sealed inside a tank exoskeleton.
  • Scorcher, a man with a flame thrower.
  • Spear, an African-American man who specialized in throwing weapons.
  • Cheshire, an Asian woman whose poisoned claws make her a deadly enemy.

After the confrontation with the Titans, in which a man holding a gun dispatches most of the assassins, only Cheshire escapes unharmed and not under arrest, but do not worry, she comes back against the Titans later in a big way.

The man holding the gun goes to confront Scarapelli and reveals himself to be Adrian Chase, the new Vigilante.  Scarapelli shoots both the Vigilante and Robin, but Vigilante returned fire and killed Scarapelli.  Leading a new life on the lamb, alone and without family, the Vigilante continues his quest for justice.

Once things had settled down for the Titans a little bit, a friend of Cyborg’s, Sarah Simms, found herself at the mercy of an ex-coworker, Mark, who had become unhinged and was attempting to force Sarah to fall in love with him.  Mark dragged Sarah into a store and a stand off ensued.

It took Cyborg, Changeling, and Raven to calm Mark down and luckily no one was seriously injured in the event and while it did draw Cyborg and Sarah together for a time, they never really became a steady couple.  Sarah’s work with disabled kids enabled Cyborg to overcome a lot of his anger. Cyborg frequently spends down time assisting other kids who are special, like he is.

Then, it was time to deal with a promise made a few issues back.

Just what IS the secret of Thunder and Lightning?  Well, all the detective work paid off.  Their dad never was a member of the military, at least not really.  Their father was an alien being who had assumed the appearance of a military man.  Thunder and Lightning agreed to stay at S.T.A.R. Labs to help with security and to repay for the damage they had done earlier and at the same time learn to master their powers.

And just a reminder, so you don’t forget.. that cover up there.  The second Titan on the left.. not really a Titan.. a Traitor!

Next Up:  We need to go “outside” a bit and we’ll catch up on Batman and the Outsiders in preparation for the day when we need to do The Outsiders vs. The Titans and even more earth-shattering……Batman vs. Robin!!!