Writer: Sean McKeever
Pencils: Angel Unzueta

With tons of buildup in the various Titans books, the Deathtrap story finally gets an official start. To be honesty, I’ve actually enjoyed the tie-in books leading up to Part 1 more than Part 1 itself, as it seemed like more of the same– talking heads while Jericho runs amok. C’mon, this should be the big kickoff and I feel a bit letdown by it.

At least we get a bit more into the messed up mind of Jericho (who between Teen Titans Annual 2009 and this issue has somehow jumped into a policeman’s body). Crazy Jericho keeps seeing his father, Deathstroke, egging him on (yes, that’s an Easter reference) with sage advice like “do it”, “prove it” and “kill them all”.

After a mock fight between the Titans and Jericho-free Cyborg– staged to lure out the other person hunting Jericho– Vigilante, who the Titans believe could be helpful in finding Jericho. The Titans knew Vigilante didn’t didn’t know Jericho had already jumped out of Cyborg’s body, but the plan backfires as the issue ends with Vigilante shooting Cyborg in the head. This pretty much obliterates the cybernetic side of his noggin and the final panel shows Vigilante standing over his body. This was a really strong, impactful cliffhanger and Vigilante is becoming a guilty pleasure of mine in the DCU.

While those final panels were handled very well, Unzueta’s art was hit or miss with me. Some panels were pretty darn good (the guy draws a mean Deathstroke) but for other panels and pages the art came off as sloppy and/or cartoonish. I don’t mind the less detailed cartoonish style in my superhero books, but at least pick a style and keep it.

Like I said, this is Part 1 of the Deathtrap crossover, but it really feels more like part 3 or 4 if you’ve been reading the books lately, so let’s judge it based on that and not look at as the Part 1 DC is branding it as…

Call it 2 body jumpers out of 5.