No matter how long your into something, you'll always glance over some of the most important works in a certain field. For example, I'm very much into film and cinema...almost an unhealthy amount. But it wasn't till a few years ago that a good friend of mine made me sit down and watch "Jaws" for the first time. When I told her I hadn't seen it, she was aghast and we immediately made plans to see it the next day.
The Judas Contract is my "Jaws" of comics. An Important, influential work that cannot go unread. But of course, like the real "Jaws" before it, it wasn't something I ever read...until now. It most DEFINITELY lives up to the hype. Not only is the story line responsible for th birth of Dick Grayson's Nightwing persona, as well as being a breakout story line for Deathstroke, revealing his secret history. It's also filled with intrigue and heart. This where I'd put a synopsis, but theres no easy way to sum this comic up into a few sentences without revealing too much of the story, so I'll just try and some up some of what I like about it.
The art by George Perez (with ba beautiful coloring job by Adrienne Roy and Anthony Tollin) is mind-meltingly kinetic and vibrant. The action is frantic, yet pristine and the way the characters emote is pretty life like, and in turn engaging as all hell. The writing does feel dated, but it is still miles ahead of where it was at the time, and brought forth a mix of drama and fun witty comedy that has long since become the norm or team books. One of the more heartfelt things in this book is the relationship between Beast Boy and new member of the Titans, Terra....there's a lot going on there...I'll let you find out what.
This is more of me just gushing about an arc then it is an in depth review, but man I felt like I needed to. Everybody who considers themselves a fan of the comic book medium needs to give this a look. It may be tough to find a copy, but there are ways! Go! Seek out Teen Titans : Judas Contract by Marv Wolfman and George Perez ASAP!!!!