Teen Titans – Review: The Sum of His Parts

Cyborg is reminded he’s not completely human, when his power cell dies during a wild junkyard battle with the Amazing Mumbo. The Titans fear Mumbo has taken their friend, and search the city for Cyborg. But Fixit, a cybernetic hermit who finds and repairs broken things, finds Cyborg.

Review by Bird Boy
Media by Bird Boy

Titans Voices
Greg Cipes as Beast Boy
Scott Menville as Robin
Khary Payton as Cyborg
Tara Strong as Raven
Hynden Walch as Starfire
Tom Kenny as Mumbo, Fix It

It makes me glad to say that I enjoyed this episode a lot. More so than any other to date. It never lost its humorous moments and actually had an interesting, meaningful plot for a character. By using two villains (one threatening, one camp) The Sum of His Parts demonstrates both of its elements in a smart way.

The typical laid-back style of the intros is present here, with the Titans actually acting like adolescents and hanging out outside. When we see Cyborg lose power while playing football, we realize something is wrong (which is a better way to announce it than having Robin say “Titans! Trouble!”).

On his way to recharge after his reserve battery kicks in, Cyborg meets the kid, who is actually a fan. This is the first Titans fan we’ve seen in the whole show. Showing off his prosthetic arm, he gladly compares himself to
Cyborg, who doesn’t seem to care about the similarities. When Cyborg recieves an alert of Mumbo the Magician’s antics, he decides to risk losing power to join the fray. As Robin says, “because he’s…Cyborg.”

Mumbo himself is a fun villain. He obviously bought his mask at the same shop as Robin’s, but otherwise his design is well-done. His spells and tricks are original and funny. Particularly when he encases the “lovely assistant” Starfire in a wooden box, conjures a saw and says, “I feel I must warn you…I have no idea what I’m doing.”

During the battle at the junkyard, Cyborg loses the last of his power and ends up getting dumped underground. This is where the cybernetic Fixit resides. Fixit is hands-down one of the creepiest villains of the DCAU. With a Brainiac-like monotone and alien motivations, he brings a suspenseful edge that was missing from the show before. Fixit’s interested in getting rid of
Cyborg’s “inferior biological components” and making him a complete machine.

This is where Cyborg shows some depth to his character. Protesting, he says he likes the sunlight, fresh air, and food of the outside world and that his human parts are what makes him…well, him. When Fixit attempts to appease him by “downloading” his memories, he finds the emotions to be too much for him. Fixit decides that maybe he is the one who needs “repairs.”

So this episode gave us a great look at Cyborg’s character and a decent moral to boot. It didn’t sacrifice any of its witty and fun style or its insistence in using anime techniques. If it can get even better than this,
I’ll be a happy viewer indeed.