New Titans....... Together
Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Sergio Davila, Vincente Cifuentes, Brent Peeples, Matt Santorelli, Brian Ching, Nicola Scott, Max Raynor, Ben Oliver, Luis Guerrero, Marcelo Maiolo, Michael Atiyeh, Jordie Bellaire, Dinei Ribeiro, Romulo Fajardo Jr., Dave Sharpe
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: June 13, 2018
With the Titans disbanded by the Justice League it seems to keep this title alive we need Nightwing to decide that the world needs a new kind of team to fight against the ever growing threat of strange energies affecting people on Earth ever since the Source Wall was broken. With that, this Special will cover the formation of just such a team that the Justice League can get behind and sanction. Too bad that a lot of former heroes of this title aren't included, but hopefully, this new team becomes something that we can all love. Let's jump into this issue and see who Nightwing recruits for this new era of Titans............ which you've probably already seen in previews of other comics. Let's check it out.
So like I said in the opening paragraph, this issue is all about recruiting a new team to deal with meta-human problems that have sprung up due to the Source Wall being broken and how the Universe is changing and while I usually love a good recruitment issue, this one kind of falls flat in my mind.
Our team consists of Nightwing, Raven, Beast Boy, Donna Troy, Steel (Natasha Irons) and by the end, Miss Martian. and it's the latter that's the biggest problem for me in this issue because here we have a character that we haven't seen since the New 52 began and yet, she's pretty well known by some of the Titans and is being used as a liaison to the Justice League, which of course will create a bunch of drama for our heroes going forward.
Besides the team coming together and the trepidation that each of the members have about joining, there really isn't much to this issue besides for the idea that there is a new threat to the world from the Source Wall breaking and besides for the idea that energies from it are creating Meta-Humans, I don't quite get the basis of everything else. We have some monsters here that seem to be different than Meta-Humans and a idea that different energies can react to one another, but I just don't quite get the connection. Maybe it will become clearer as the series goes on, but right now I'm thinking that this just means anything crazy can happen now and our new Titans team will be the ones to respond to it. All in all, the art to this issue was pretty great even though we have a shit ton of artists on this book, but the team coming together just wasn't as fun as I thought it would be and right now it just seems that we're going to be dealing with a bunch of sad sacks going forward because we were made sure to see that each of the team members had a chip on their shoulder about something.
Bits and Pieces:
Even though I find the new Titans team interesting, this first meeting of them wasn't as much fun as I would have liked. Even the explanation about why this team needs to exist wasn't as clear to me as I would have liked and I'm just worried that we're going to be dealing with a bunch of sad sacks going forward who have to deal with crazy Source Wall problems that don't have to make sense because nothing was really defined here. I liked the art in this issue and the team, but I just hope that things pick up as the series progresses.
6.5/10
A very middle of the road 1st of a new run. While this is good enough i cant help but think that Nightwing is a fool of a leader. Let's run it down; Raven is a 100% not a stable or safe pick for the team considering past even if she has a specific power Dick wants, Beast Boy with unstable powers and now personality is unsafe, Donna Troy who is whinning about something that now should be in the past and who only wants to be a heavy hitter unsafe. I wish Dick had actually looked over Martian Manhunter suggestions, we could have had a new interesting team. Highlights of the issue are #1. Natasha Irons #2.Ms. Martian. There both unique and different in the new 52 Titans. Art this issue was all over the place some really good, and some really bad. But this isn't the worst first of a series I've had to read( looking back at the last Justice league run).
ReplyDelete6/10
Not my Titans. Bring back the originals. Raven and Beast Boy suck the sulk and spit it back at you. Natasha was better in Infinity project and Miss Martian is a Teen Titan/Young Justice mascot.
ReplyDeleteHard disagree.
ReplyDeleteI liked this iteration, but, full disclosure, I'm not looking for a "Fun" book. Teen Titans can go as light-hearted as it likes, but what I wanted for a Titans book is respect duly paid for former teen heroes who have come into their own, and I think this issue addresses that , and frankly, nails it.
This next iteration of Titans should be able to prove that they can effectively succeed the JLA (Although blowing up moons arbitrarily and such...well , whatever Scott Snyder).
You guys know I'm a Grayson-phile, so seeing him step to the League, and pull together a team that needs his leadership, and a path to 'redemption' (save that 'rebel with a cause' noise for Red Hood & the Outlaws), was a step in the right direction.
Even better, they called out the friend-club that made up the old team, for what it was, blatantly ineffective. Abnett's handling of the previous team , kept referencing this awesome friendship they all had, but never actually showed it. They did nothing to help Wally figure things out , and pretty much wasted their entire time on irrelevant plots and villains, oh , and they bickered over nonsense ALL THE TIME. The previous series started with the mission statement that they were going to get to the bottom of all these time/universe changing shenanigans that came out of Flashpoint, but they never did.
This newer team seems poised to take things a bit more seriously, especially since the JLA may be off planet swallowing stars or whatever ridiculous thing they're doing now.
Of course, I'm just saying that I liked the issue as a starting point, with a clearly mandated premise, and a likeable, although possibly unstable, team. All that taken with a grain, or two, of salt. Let's see if they can actually follow through.
8/10 for me
Rock on Hep Cats!
-Ascent