Reviewer: Jesse Baker
Story Title: Beware the Wrath of Brother Blood
Written by: Marv Wolfman
Penciled by: George Perez
Inked by: Romeo Tanghal
Colored by: Adrienne Roy
Lettered by: Ben Oda
Editor: Len Wein
Publisher: DC Comics
In honor of Baron Blood’s return in this month’s “Outsiders”, lets look back at the first appearance of the man who has to be considered one of the most dangerous enemies of the New Titans.
The issue opens with a rather historic sequence as Starfire and Raven beat up some random terrorists who are attacking a baseball game. As they dispose of a bomb they possess and wonder where they could have gotten the technology, we cut to an alien satellite where an unseen figure comments on the power of these two Titans and how it would be useful information to his criminal clients. This character was originally supposed to be a brand-new villain by the name of “The Librarian” but Marv Wolfman would quickly take the character into a totally opposite direction, as “The Librarian” became “The Monitor”, who would be a cornerstone of the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” mini-series.
The book quickly cuts to Marcy Reynolds, Cyborg’s evil ex-girlfriend who we met back in New Teen Titans #8 (the famous “Day In The Life” issue, which received so much positive reader feedback that it convinced DC to keep publishing the book, which was on the fence in terms of whether or not DC would cancel the title after it’s first year). Since dumping Cyborg for being an amputee and a mechanical freak, Marcy has done what every evil bitch would do in her situation: joined an evil cult and left the cult upon realizing that she no longer was the most evil person on the block. As a scantily clad nun wielding a nasty ray-gun chases after her, things soon take a twist towards the comical as the nun is hit by a train after stopping on a railroad track to fire at Marcy.
We then cut to Cyborg and his new girlfriend, white chick Sarah Simms as they get a frantic call from Marcy, who is begging to be rescued by her ex. As Cyborg gets her location, three more nuns from hell show up and “excommunicate” Marcy by shooting her with their laser guns. Cyborg leaps across the city and finds the charred ashed remains and cries out “WHY?” repeatedly, showing that even in death a-hole girlfriends still have a grasp on men.
We cut back to the cult compound as Brother Blood makes his grand debut. We see Brother Blood bring out a female cult member named Karyn who recruited Marcy into the cult. Apparently she forgot to include in Marcy’s recruitment file that she used to bang a super-hero, something Blood knew about ahead of time it seems. For forgetting this crucial information and the consequences it will now bring about, Karyn is fed to Brother Blood’s giant pet spider.
The Titans arrive at the funeral of Marcy the Super-Bitch, as the group tells Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds that they want to avenge their daughter’s deaths. After Raven uses her powers to chill out Mr. Reynolds (who blames Cyborg for driving his daughter into joining the cult), they get some information about Brother Blood and the location of the nearest Blood Cult Center. They then have the normal looking Titans (Raven, Wonder Girl, Kid Flash, and Robin) infiltrate the Blood Compound but unfortunately they are immediately identified by Blood’s security. During the nightly “Confess Your Sins or Be Disintegrated” assembly, Blood murders a follower who proclaims her desire to leave and proclaims shenanigans on Blood and then outs the Titans with instructions to have them murdered. The boys are quickly dispatched while Donna and Raven last longer but fall just the same. The ending has Raven’s soul self watching on in horror as Brother Blood stands triumphant over the defeated Titans…
