Teen Titans

Nothing tears apart the bond of friendship like a squabble over who is to blame. For most of us, these squabbles are either worked out over time or they continue to drive a wedge between the two parties involved, but they usually never result in a prison break unleashing a supervillian named Plasmus free to wreak havoc on society. That is, unless the two people bickering are Robin and Cyborg.

In the first three episodes, Murakami and company have succeeded in creating a world that mirrors the classic Marv Wolfman and Glen Perez run of the Titans in the comics while merging that world into an animated series environment.

Fans have complained about some of these changes, as is to be expected. However there must be some compromise in order to bring a series such as this to television. Some things cannot be done on a television show of this nature, but the creative team behind the series has found ways to work around these touchy issues.

In Episode Two, rather than dropping an entire plot thread at the mention of "slavery," the series creators successfully found a way to rework Starfire and Blackfire's history that still captures, in essence, the spirit of their rivalry while making it more accessible to youthful audiences and television.

In return, fans are still graced with a continuity that includes Blackfire rather than ignores her, and in the case of this episode some worthwhile reworking has allowed Plasmus to join the ranks of the Titans' Rogues Gallery.

In the comics, Plasmus was a creature that was born when a mineworker named Otto Von Furth nearly died from radium poisoning. He was captured and experimented on by General Zahl, the Nazi madman responsible for the destruction of the Doom Patrol. This tinkering turned him into Plasmus, a radioactive creature full of hate that could cause death with a mere touch.

"I don't remember eating flubber"

Obviously we can't have Titan's dying on screen, and we certainly could never substantiate the claims of Plasmus' powers by showing innocents smoldering in flame after suffering his touch, so the whole "touch of death thing" had to be scrapped for the animated series. Arguably this is not as drastic a reworking as Blackfire in Episode Two, but you see what I am getting at here.

To introduce Plasmus to the series, we are first treated with the introduction of an entirely new villain to the Titan's canon altogether, Cinderblock, a hulking giant of cinder with a block-like head that reminds me of Transformers for some reason.

The mysterious Slade charges Cinderblock with the chore of rescuing Plasmus from captivity. There isn't much to the stoic Cinderblock other than his super strength, but he manages to cause a rift between Cyborg and Robin during his prison break, which ultimately leads to Cyborg quitting the team.

Cyborg's absence is felt throughout the team, and Starfire immediately tries to comfort her teammates' woes with a Tamaranian "pudding of sadness." Basically the soup tastes so bad it makes you forget your troubles, and Beast Boy dubs it "pudding of toenails." This doesn't work for Robin who spends his time sulking around the Tower regretting his fight with Cyborg. If Robin learned one thing from Batman, it's how to brood.

Plasmus shows up at a waste management type facility and begins downing barrels of toxic waste, so the remaining Titans attack. This fight would have been far more deadly if Plasmus still had his radioactive touch, but the re-vamped Plasmus proves to be a worthy opponent nonetheless.

This is where Plasmus actually becomes an excellent choice for television adaptation. Since he is made of malleable ooze he can easily be blown to smithereens by Starfire's blasts or Robin's discs like no other human villain could.

This makes for a far more dynamic fight on screen. At one point, Plasmus gets blasted into many pieces and he reforms each piece into an opponent for the Titans to face. Ironically, each reformed Plasmus piece resembles the various incarnations of the alien in John Carpenter's The Thing.

Slade's purpose for springing Plasmus is never fully made clear, although he may just be throwing villains at the team to see how they handle each skirmish. Who knows what his intentions are at this point, although one thing is perfectly clear, he has it in for the Teen Titans.

In the end, Robin and Cyborg make up and our team is once again re-united. All in all, the episode provides an important lesson about friendship and introduces a couple of new villains, but where it truly succeeds is in stretching out the looming plot of Slade. The Titans, as well as viewers, are left completely in the dark to his plans.

So much so, that the conflict between Robin and Cyborg takes center stage entirely. Plasmus' attack on the waste facility, Cinderblock's attacks on the prison and whatever else he was engaging in when Cyborg rounded him up, these events do not add up to anything substantial as far as motivated evil schemes are concerned leaving the Titans completely puzzled. They know that these attacks are related to one another, but how and why? The importance of the series is rightfully placed on relationships between the characters despite their superhero status. The big battles and fights with villains serve a purpose, but ultimately the true core of the Titans, or any superhero group for that matter, lies in the relationships and bonds formed between heroes of differing creeds and codes.

At this point in the series, the Titans have yet to encounter Slade face to face. We all know Slade's plot will be revealed in time, but by taking smaller steps, the characters and the series were allowed to grow making that first confrontation all the more substantial in the end.

Next Week: We continue our trek backwards in time as "Sisters" hits the rerun airwaves. Yup, I referenced it in this retro-review, but we'll dive in head first next week so stay tuned.

Mario Anima