The New Teen Titans #15
Published and © by DC, January 1982
Title: “The Brotherhood of Evil Lives Again!”
Synopsis: Changeling teams with the new Brotherhood of Evil to save the Titans and get revenge on the Doom Patrol’s killers.
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Penciler: George Pérez
Embellisher: Romeo Tanghal
Review: This is a tricky issue to grade. As a superteam comic, there’s excellent action and strong fight choreography, and the art by George Pérez and Romeo Tanghal is top shelf. It also serves as a strong eulogy for the fondly remembered Doom Patrol. But writer Marv Wolfman is clearly going for something more. Multiple plot threads and much of the dialogue are focused on the morality of killing, so it comes as a shock when one of the Titans kills someone and the others aren’t all that concerned. This lack of consequence ultimately undermines this issue’s emotional heft.
Grade: B+
Cool factor: George Pérez is masterful at many elements of comic-book art, but few pencilers have ever drawn the all-out action of superteam battles quite so well.
Collector’s note: According to MyComicShop.com, there is a Mark Jewelers variant of this issue.
Character quotable: “Not even God allows himself the last laugh, Zahl. He only weeps for his children gone astray.” – Robotman, philosopher
A word from the writer/co-creator: “Influenced by the Arnold Drake originals, George and I created some new Brotherhood of Evil members that I think are every bit as good and goofy as the originals.” – Marv Wolfman, from the “Foreword” to “The New Teen Titans Archives: Volume 2,” 2004
Editor’s note: This review was written Jan. 5, 2023.
