WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Teen Titans Academy #6, on sale now from DC.
While the aspiring superhero students of Teen Titans Academy may be enjoying their summer break, the action and peril never stop for the vacationing teenagers as a familiar foe from the Arrowverse resurfaces. With the students out on holiday, they won't be able to rely on their experienced Teen Titan mentors this time as they stumble across a plot that could steer the course of the DC Universe if left unchecked. With the stakes as high as they have ever been, the students of Teen Titans Academy are in for a summer vacation to remember as they mark the holiday with all the bombastic superhero action they're known for.
The students embark on a getaway to the wilds of upstate New York, where they relax at an idyllic location known as Beach Pond. As the students enjoy a much-needed vacation and get to know each other better outside of classes and their usual superhero derring-do, they discover that the denizens of the nearby town have grown murderously hostile. Investigating the matter further, the culprit is revealed to be Gorilla Grodd, using his telepathic powers to assemble an army of angry townsfolk with designs towards taking over the world. As Teen Titans Academy #6 (by Tim Sheridan, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Ulises Arreola and Rob Leigh) reveals, one student has a very personal connection to the simian supervillain.
Among the students of Teen Titans Academy's inaugural class is Gorilla Greg, a shy simian that is sheepish when it comes to talking about his family history. Revealed to be from Gorilla City, the home of super-intelligent apes in the heart of Africa, Greg is named after his uncle, whom he identifies as something of a conqueror. And with Grodd back to his villainous ways, he has used his powers to apparently convert his nephew to his cause as Greg's classmates watch in horror.
Gorilla Grodd was last seen during the crossover event Dark Nights: Death Metal, imprisoned within Perpetua's throne alongside other members of the Legion of Doom to serve as a fuel source for the god-like being. Nightwing led a specially formed detachment of the Justice League to free the villains, who then turned against their cosmic benefactor, with Grodd among them. Prior to joining the Legion of Doom at the start of the Infinite Frontier era, Grodd was revealed to be the founder of the terrorist organization Black Hole as part of his latest bid to conquer Central City and steal the power of the Flash for himself.
Whenever Gorilla Grodd surfaces, it's an all hands on deck threat for the Fastest Man Alive, given Grodd's natural savagery and immense strength combined with his potent telepathic abilities. Rather than targeting one of the DCU's larger cities, Grodd has set his sights on a sleepy, unassuming town before gradually working his way up with a longer game towards global domination.
If not for the presence of the Teen Titans Academy students, this fiendish plot may never have been uncovered in time but, without their mentors and teachers on the scene to give them a hand, the students face the ultimate superhero test as they face off against Grodd alone with one of their own already converted to his cause.