[Editor’s note: This review may contain spoilers.]
Writers: P.C. Morrissey & Heather Nuhfer, Sholly Fisch
Artist: Jeremy Lawson, Marcelo Dichiara
Reviewed By: Derek McNeil
Summary
In the first story, Robin is looking for a place to write love poetry for Starfire, who has a crush on. He finally settles on the Titans Tower bathroom. Unfortunately, Beast Boy badly needs to use the bathroom, and interrupts Robin’s attempts at writing.
Beast Boy quickly realizes Robin’s poetry is awful and convinces Robin that it would be horribly embarrassing if Starfire ever read it. So, Robin attempts to flush the poetry away, but instead clogs the toilet, flooding the tower.
Although Robin attempts to convince the other Titans that he and Beast Boy have the situation in hand, Cyborg concocts a plan to for the Titans to clear the clog. He uses shrink ray he has invented to shrink the rest of the Titans, and converts himself into a submarine. Thus, the Teen Titans set out on a less than Fantastic Voyage into the toilet drain pipe.
During their voyage, they destroy a number of “white boulders” which are really wads of crumpled paper containing Robin’s poetry.
Eventually, Raven figures out what the boulder’s are, but doesn’t let Starfire know. When they finally clear the blockage, coming out of a fire hydrant downtown, bystanders find bits of the paper and read it aloud. Upon hearing it, Starfire loves it and expresses the wish that someone will someday write such poetry for her.
And poor Beast Boy still has to go to the bathroom.
The second story begins with the Teen Titans battling the Brotherhood of Evil, when Robin’s watch alarm goes off signifying the start of Spring Break.
The Titans then proceed to break off the fight, telling the confused Brotherhood that they will be back in a week to finish the fight.
Next we see the Titans at the beach, enjoying their break, until they spot the H.I.V.E. Five. They immediately go on the offensive, assuming that the Five are there to victimize the vacationing teens at the beach. However, it turns out that the Five are just there to enjoy Spring Break as well.
Both groups decide to party together instead of fighting, engaging in such activities as volleyball and Marco Polo. This lasts until a random girl on the beach reminds them that superheroes and villains don’t get Spring Break.
So, the Titans and the H.I.V.E. Five set to fighting again. Also, the Brotherhood of Evil, arriving to start their own vacation, join in the fight, as well as other villains that also happen to be at the beach, including Trigon.
Eventually, the Titans triumph and Robin starts positing about Justice never taking a vacation, when he finds a cellphone showing a selfie of the two groups enjoying their vacation together. This causes a moment of regret that is broken by Gizmo asking “Same time next year?”, clearly having enjoyed the fight.
Positives
Although the humour is aimed at children, there are references that older audiences might find amusing, such as the reference to Asimov’s Fantastic Voyage.
Negatives
The stories aren’t terribly deep or plausible, but considering the book is primarily targeted at a children’s market, they don’t have to be believable.
Also, in the first story, it seems that Robin is the butt of most of the jokes again. It does seem that Robin ends up being the whipping boy for the writers in this series.
Verdict
This book seems a perfect way to introduce young children to comics, giving a lighter interpretation to some DC’s more recognizable characters. Also, adults can enjoy it as a diversion from the more intense comics put out by DC.
