The New Teen Titans #3
Published and © by DC, January 1981
Title: “The Fearsome Five!”
Synopsis: The Teen Titans go zero for two in battles against Dr. Light and the newly formed Fearful Five.
Writer: Marv Wolfman
Artist (layouts): George Pérez
Artist (finishes): Frank Chiaramonte
Review: Marv Wolfman and George Pérez smacked it out of the park with last issue’s debut of the Terminator (see review). But their second effort at developing the new Titans’ rogues gallery isn’t nearly as strong. The Fearful Five run the gamut from generic to kind of silly (Psimon? Really?) and the whole Trigon connection feels quite convoluted. But writer Wolfman continues to develop his heroes and Pérez delivers strong support for both action scenes and quiet moments. They’ll need better foils, but it’s already clear this iteration of the Titans is here for the long haul.
Grade: B
Cool factor: George Pérez is a master of fight choreography.
Not-so-cool factor: There’s an ongoing subplot about the origins of Titans Tower that should be sending up more red flags.
Notable: Origin of Starfire. … First appearance of the Fearsome Five.
Collector’s note: According to MyComicShop.com, there is a 15p British variant of this issue.
Character quotable: “Insects do not hurt Mammoth! Nothing that lives can hurt Mammoth!” – Mammoth, sounding a bit like a B-list Hulk
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Sequential Reaction (Vol. 1) on Jan. 19, 2016.
