“Underground and Overwhelmed!”
Well, if it hadn't been confirmed before now, this Kid Flash is indeed Bart Allen – although what relation he is to Barry Allen Flash is not clear. We see right off the bat that after his misbegotten attempt to be a “hero” in the first issue, he was captured by N.O.W.H.E.R.E. He's “working on” a plan to escape. Which means he has no clue.
Meanwhile, Tim and Cassie (not “Wonder Girl”) have retreated to her home, which is filled with “clutter.” “Some of this stuff looks authentic,” Tim observes. “But you'd have to have been stealing from archaeological digs and museums from around the world for years. … That'd be crazy.” – “Yeah, crazy,” she mutters. Hmmmm.... As she hands him bedding for the living room couch, she finally thanks him for helping her out. “Whoever you are … You're a good guy.” – Tim's inner'logue*: “Good guy. … Great. … Just what I was going for. … Missed 'annoying kid brother' by this much.” Well, she did have to keep redirecting his eyes upward to her face.
Anyway, next day, Tim finds a news report of a mysterious creature in Los Angeles – and tracks down a girl who turns out to be the twin sister of this “Skitter” – a normal girl until just two weeks ago. Unfortunately the sister has also given the same information to “those people from the government.” Tim's search for “Skitter” brings him into conflict with another N.O.W.H.E.R.E. agent, brothers who can use each others' bodies to teleport. They break off the fight when one of them finds Skitter – to their dismay. Tim goes to her “aid,” and is about to get skewered for it when she's saved by “Wonder Girl!” (oops.) Tim's inner'logue: “If I'm not careful – I could fall in love with that girl.” But she considers that just evening the score for him helping her out, and makes her exit, leaving Tim to carry the unconscious insectoid Skitter away.
Last scene: Bart makes a break for freedom, but comes across another cell marked “Solstice,” in which is a girl with energy discharges coming out of her eyes, mouth, ears, and various other parts of her body (which looks like it's disintegrating) – pleading, “Please … help me!”
Next: Red Robin! Wonder Girl! Skitter! Solstice! Kid Flash! And now … Bunker! Be there next issue as the final member of the new Teen Titans is introduced.
Taken together with Tim's rumination (“... this was so the shortest incarnation of the Teen Titans. … Ever.”) I think it's pretty apparent that unlike some have speculated, there were earlier groups. I'm glad of that in principle, but imagine how much more it complicates any kind of time-line given the dumb new five-year history of public super-heroics.
I'm still undecided on the long-term prospects of this title for me. Frankly, that's just not a very attractive group of kids, Cassie notwithstanding. Skitter … well, Cassie sums it up: “BACK OFF, ROACH!” Solstice? … well, she was much cuter before. And that's not counting the fact that she's radiating away pretty violently. Bart seems like a bit of an ass. Tim needs to go back to a new costume designer, not Jim Lee. Bunker? … I don't hold much hope. We'll have to see, but this is the title that first comes to mind when I think about which one of these might be cut.
Thanks for reading. Cheers!
* I'm coining a new word with this post – inner'logue = interior monologue (if you didn't figure it out all by yourself).
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