Titans #13 - DC

I have to say . . either Joey's a whole lot smarter than anyone ever gave him credit for, or . . he's a whole lot crazier. We find out this issue just what his plans are. Basically . . he wants to kill all the Titans, and Teen Titans, and take the credit for it. He wants to show his dad that he could do it. And then . . then he's going after his father. Also we find out just why he has the guy tied up in his hotel room staring at the Hamilton Grande Hotel. He's got his eyes propped open, and we find out this issue that it was his emergency escape route. He comes into the hotel holding a trigger for a bomb. He tells them that until the Titans show up, he's going to kill a hostage every 2 minutes. Once the Titans show up he tells them, "I'm going to set off the explosives in this place . . and, because you're supposed to be heroes, you're going to have no choice but to try and save the hostages . . which means you will all die." But Rose has come along on this trip and tries to out-think Joey. First she appeals to the sibling connection, and then she grabs Joey's hand with the switch in it. "If I hold your thumb down on the trigger, the only way for you to set it off is to leap into some. Sure everyone else here still dies . . but you die with us." But this is just what Joey had the escape route set up for. He puts on a special pair of glasses and then jumps out of the eyes of the guy tied up in the hotel. Then, thinking that he's killed the Titans . . it's time to go after his father. The Titans show up as he's departing, but I think Joey thinks they're all just more voices in his head screaming out to him. Vigilante is also hot on his trail. He arrives at the hotel shortly after he leaves. On the final page Joey has finally come face to face with his father. Oh, I also forgot, Vic was in his hotel room when the news came across the TV. So, as far as he knows the Titans really are dead. So he's also on his way to get some vengeance on Joey. So far I like this story-line. I think Sean McKeever doing a pretty decent job here. I think he's finally found his groove on this title. I wasn't thrilled with Angel Unzueta's pencils, but . . they were ok. Overall I don't think this is really all that complicated of a story-line. But then . . Joey isn't really that complicated of a character. Sure he's got a whole lot of voices in his head, but . . then again, who doesn't? When it all comes down to it, it seems like the whole thing hinges upon the relationship between Joey and his father. Either he's trying to out-do him, or . . he's trying to prove himself to him. Either way, I think he's in a hopeless situation. Really, the only thing that's saving Joey is his power . . and his friendship with the Titans. They just can't bring themselves to believe that he's gone this rogue. Hopefully we'll get some more answers in the next issue of Vigilante.