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ficticonsTeen Titans #94 ("The Power of Myth") - J. T. Krul [writer], Nicola Scott [penciller], Doug Hazlewood [inker], Carlos M. Mangual [letterer], and Jason Wright [colourist]. The cover is by Scott and Hazlewood with Wright.
Kiran starts off by telling the Teen Titans (hereafter the TT) an outline version of the Hindu epic poem, the Ramayana - the story of Rama, the god Vishnu reincarnated as a human prince, and how he fought a great demon king called Rankor after the latter kidnaps Rama's wife Sita. According to Kiran's story, Rama - in order to destroy Rankor once and for all - went into the "demon realm" after destroying the demons of "this world".
This is all relevant because she'd recognized a demon that the TT fought in the last issue as Tataka, a character out of the story. She hypothesizes that Cassie, Helena, Vijay, and Rani have been taken to the demon realm as well.
Meanwhile, in said demon realm, Cassie is fighting against a large grey demon (presumably the "Viradha" that the cover has on it) but doesn't appear to be doing very well.
Back in our world, the TT are at a loss as to how to open the "dimensional portal" through which Cassie and Helena disappeared last issue...until Tim recalls how Rama and his allies managed the task in the Ramayana (which he has apparently read "a few translations" of) (:D). They use a bridge of floating stones - with Rama's name on them, apparently - to cross a rough sea. Tim finds one such stone nearby and the TT are able to access the portal.
They leave the desert and enter a forest...where Bart finds Cassie's lasso and Rose finds a demon footprint. Kon can't see anything above the treeline except more trees, but he does say that there is a lot of dark cloud cover. The TT decide to stick together while they hunt for Cassie, Helena, and Kiran's parents. Kiran uses her light powers to provide a sort of "torch" for them as they follow Cassie's trail.
All of a sudden they're ambushed from above and have to defend themselves. All of them seem to do all right - except for Raven. Gar assumes it's because of the "nature of the place" and Rae's demonic "birthright". He fights to get the creatures off her, but when Kiran comes to help something about her powers affects Raven the wrong way.
Raven (in a thought box, about Kiran): "Her aura. Her energy. Her emotions. Everything about Solstice seems to work against me. Bringing pain and anguish." Finally, she can't take it and (involuntarily?) releases a powerful burst of energy that sends both the TT and their attackers flying.
As the heroes slowly pick themselves up, they realize that they've lost track of Tim and Rose, who finds herself face-to-face with one of a pair of demons. She attacks, but the demon manages to change shape to look like her. When Kon comes looking, the shapeshifted demon goes with him after the real Rose is restrained by the other demon.
Back with the TT, Raven is not happy.
Gar: "What happened?"
Raven: "I felt something. A great weight - pushing me down. Crushing me. And...I had to fight back."
Gar's not-very-tactful next choice of words gets Raven angry with him and, because he wants to keep an eye on Raven and make sure that she doesn't hurt "herself or anyone else", he sends Bart to do a 300-mile sweep of the area.
Gar (to Bart): "If you find them, don't try to be a hero on your own if it looks like too much trouble. Come get us. Red Robin was following Wonder Girl's trail south. We'll do the same." Bart speeds off.
The last two pages are a double spread of another part of the demon realm. We see Tim and the real Rose, both unconscious, being thrown into cages underneath Rankor's throne - where we also see Cassie and Helena.
The last page declares that next issue will have "Rankor Unearthed!"
My thoughts:
This was an interesting issue. It had good setup for what's to come next.
Kiran continues to be interesting. She seems to fit in nicely with this group of Teen Titans apart from one thing that's not really her fault, which is the tension she causes Raven. But since Rae hasn't mentioned it out loud to anyone yet, Kiran can't offer any theories on that. I expect it'll be a plot point in one of the next three issues in this arc. I like her response to something Rose says, and I like that she does seem genuinely, and very, pleased that Tim knows what he does about the Ramayana (and that she's able to express that pleasure with a quip).
And good for Tim for knowing that, too, although I wouldn't be surprised that reading up on the world's great stories is something done as part of training (at least; if not for pleasure) by someone who takes being part of the Batfamily the way that Tim does. In fact, I'm somewhat amused at the thought that he's probably read more advanced translations/different versions than I have! :P
The story of the Ramayana as I know it isn't quite like what Krul describes, but I suppose he's using what he can of the epic that suits his own needs, like I'm fairly sure other writers have done with other mythologies. For example, as far as I know the Ramayana doesn't involve a "demon realm" that's particularly different from ours per se (AFAIK it's just a different country). Also, the version that I've read doesn't say that the stones needed to cross the sea into that realm ever had anything written on them. Lastly, the demon king was called Ravan(a), not Rankor...but then there were other characters (like the 'Tataka' mentioned last issue) that I hadn't read about before. Perhaps that's because the text I know best is, I believe, an adaptation for younger readers? Anyway, a little online searching and looking through another version I have at home, to learn more about the source, was I think good for me.
The Raven/Gar relationship, though. It's clearly strained here - and Tim mentions it in the last issue - and I wonder if I don't really understand why because I haven't read any of the TT titles prior to this (well, if you don't count an old copy of the first issue of the current volume, read about six years after it first came out). I find myself wishing that Gar's focus wasn't so particularly "Raven above all else" when he's around her. 'Course, his awkwardness leading to unintendended insensitivity leading to anger from Raven isn't great either. But let's see...apparently issue #96 is going to be a spotlight on him. I just hope it's better than the last Gar-focused issue I read! :|
Looking forward to the next chapter.
Kiran starts off by telling the Teen Titans (hereafter the TT) an outline version of the Hindu epic poem, the Ramayana - the story of Rama, the god Vishnu reincarnated as a human prince, and how he fought a great demon king called Rankor after the latter kidnaps Rama's wife Sita. According to Kiran's story, Rama - in order to destroy Rankor once and for all - went into the "demon realm" after destroying the demons of "this world".
This is all relevant because she'd recognized a demon that the TT fought in the last issue as Tataka, a character out of the story. She hypothesizes that Cassie, Helena, Vijay, and Rani have been taken to the demon realm as well.
Meanwhile, in said demon realm, Cassie is fighting against a large grey demon (presumably the "Viradha" that the cover has on it) but doesn't appear to be doing very well.
Back in our world, the TT are at a loss as to how to open the "dimensional portal" through which Cassie and Helena disappeared last issue...until Tim recalls how Rama and his allies managed the task in the Ramayana (which he has apparently read "a few translations" of) (:D). They use a bridge of floating stones - with Rama's name on them, apparently - to cross a rough sea. Tim finds one such stone nearby and the TT are able to access the portal.
They leave the desert and enter a forest...where Bart finds Cassie's lasso and Rose finds a demon footprint. Kon can't see anything above the treeline except more trees, but he does say that there is a lot of dark cloud cover. The TT decide to stick together while they hunt for Cassie, Helena, and Kiran's parents. Kiran uses her light powers to provide a sort of "torch" for them as they follow Cassie's trail.
All of a sudden they're ambushed from above and have to defend themselves. All of them seem to do all right - except for Raven. Gar assumes it's because of the "nature of the place" and Rae's demonic "birthright". He fights to get the creatures off her, but when Kiran comes to help something about her powers affects Raven the wrong way.
Raven (in a thought box, about Kiran): "Her aura. Her energy. Her emotions. Everything about Solstice seems to work against me. Bringing pain and anguish." Finally, she can't take it and (involuntarily?) releases a powerful burst of energy that sends both the TT and their attackers flying.
As the heroes slowly pick themselves up, they realize that they've lost track of Tim and Rose, who finds herself face-to-face with one of a pair of demons. She attacks, but the demon manages to change shape to look like her. When Kon comes looking, the shapeshifted demon goes with him after the real Rose is restrained by the other demon.
Back with the TT, Raven is not happy.
Gar: "What happened?"
Raven: "I felt something. A great weight - pushing me down. Crushing me. And...I had to fight back."
Gar's not-very-tactful next choice of words gets Raven angry with him and, because he wants to keep an eye on Raven and make sure that she doesn't hurt "herself or anyone else", he sends Bart to do a 300-mile sweep of the area.
Gar (to Bart): "If you find them, don't try to be a hero on your own if it looks like too much trouble. Come get us. Red Robin was following Wonder Girl's trail south. We'll do the same." Bart speeds off.
The last two pages are a double spread of another part of the demon realm. We see Tim and the real Rose, both unconscious, being thrown into cages underneath Rankor's throne - where we also see Cassie and Helena.
The last page declares that next issue will have "Rankor Unearthed!"
My thoughts:
This was an interesting issue. It had good setup for what's to come next.
Kiran continues to be interesting. She seems to fit in nicely with this group of Teen Titans apart from one thing that's not really her fault, which is the tension she causes Raven. But since Rae hasn't mentioned it out loud to anyone yet, Kiran can't offer any theories on that. I expect it'll be a plot point in one of the next three issues in this arc. I like her response to something Rose says, and I like that she does seem genuinely, and very, pleased that Tim knows what he does about the Ramayana (and that she's able to express that pleasure with a quip).
And good for Tim for knowing that, too, although I wouldn't be surprised that reading up on the world's great stories is something done as part of training (at least; if not for pleasure) by someone who takes being part of the Batfamily the way that Tim does. In fact, I'm somewhat amused at the thought that he's probably read more advanced translations/different versions than I have! :P
The story of the Ramayana as I know it isn't quite like what Krul describes, but I suppose he's using what he can of the epic that suits his own needs, like I'm fairly sure other writers have done with other mythologies. For example, as far as I know the Ramayana doesn't involve a "demon realm" that's particularly different from ours per se (AFAIK it's just a different country). Also, the version that I've read doesn't say that the stones needed to cross the sea into that realm ever had anything written on them. Lastly, the demon king was called Ravan(a), not Rankor...but then there were other characters (like the 'Tataka' mentioned last issue) that I hadn't read about before. Perhaps that's because the text I know best is, I believe, an adaptation for younger readers? Anyway, a little online searching and looking through another version I have at home, to learn more about the source, was I think good for me.
The Raven/Gar relationship, though. It's clearly strained here - and Tim mentions it in the last issue - and I wonder if I don't really understand why because I haven't read any of the TT titles prior to this (well, if you don't count an old copy of the first issue of the current volume, read about six years after it first came out). I find myself wishing that Gar's focus wasn't so particularly "Raven above all else" when he's around her. 'Course, his awkwardness leading to unintendended insensitivity leading to anger from Raven isn't great either. But let's see...apparently issue #96 is going to be a spotlight on him. I just hope it's better than the last Gar-focused issue I read! :|
Looking forward to the next chapter.
