Titans #26 Review and *SPOILERS*

Blood for the Blood Cult

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Brent Peeples, Matt Santorelli, Hi-Fi
Letters By: Dave Sharpe
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 26, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Titans has been a bit of a let down since the new team was formed but the latest issue was one that I very much enjoyed. It wasn’t perfect but the latest issue was tons of fun and resolved one of the biggest issues that I was having with this series. Considering that issue is taken care of now, I can’t wait to see more of this series. I’m hoping that it will pick up where it left off in the last issue and give us some really great storytelling. However, we still haven’t addressed how Raven’s soul is lost in that fantasy world and how that is affecting her in the real world. In addition, we now know that the Blood Cult is involved with the emergent events and they are being led by Mother Mayhem. Let’s just jump right in and see where this issue takes us.

We start our issue with Donna Troy downing some alcohol as an alert is being sounded throughout the base. She sets the bottle down before joining the team. Now I know that Donna is dealing with a lot but considering her close relationship with Roy Harper, I find it a bit odd that she turned to substance abuse. Then again, that might explain how far she’s fallen. The team teleports to Norway to investigate the latest issue. We see a member of the Blood Cult calling in the Titan’s arrival to his superiors. The entire town they are in has disappeared and the Titans need to investigate so Ms. Martian sets up the mind-link with everyone. Raven has stayed behind in the ship due to her powers being on the fritz. They also have their newest member Ben Rubel on board. He is experiencing his first mind-link.

Ben tries to take credit for a machine that he and Steel made that when at full power can stop an emergent event by depowering the situation. The machine is turned on when the Blood Cult member orders the attack. Suddenly the pools of blood around the area take form into giant blood monsters. The monsters are a serious threat as they immediately take out the heavy hitter of the team, Ms. Martian but punching her through a house. Steel suits up and joins the fight while Ben freaks out due to the stressful situation caused by the mind-link. During the fight Beast Boy is injured and when he tries to help, Nightwing gets knocked back by Gar who goes into a fury. Steel finally arrives, destroying the monsters surrounding Beast Boy before knocking Gar out to control him. Ms. Martian collects herself but she is harmed badly. Her emotions get away from her and she is unable to control herself. For a moment, she is unable to hide her true image which is that of a white martian rather than a green one. This causes the mind-link to be severed.

After defeating the blood monsters, the team runs to Ms. Martian’s aid. She has already regained her normal form at this point. None of them seem to know about Ms. Martian’s true form but they are quickly surrounded by more blood monsters. The monsters also begin trying to break into the Titans’ ship. The machine made by Ben and Steel isn’t stopping the event but Ben thinks of a way to stop the monsters but he’s not quite there. Once Steel tells him to reverse the process of the machine, he does so and the blood monsters are no more. Where the monsters were though are bodies. The residents of the town were killed before the Titans even arrived. There are ritualistic cuts on their bodies which points to the Blood Cult. Back at the Hall of Justice, Nightwing is wallowing and Gar talks to him. He points out that while things are bad, Nightwing was the only one that saw it coming. The Justice League is off doing something else and so the Titans have to handle this. Ben and Steel come to an agreement to work together from now on and just before the issue ends, Ben reveals to Ms. Martian that he saw what she truly is but he was going to keep her secret.

This issue wasn’t bad but was far from the quality that we got in the previous issue. Last issue was incredibly entertaining while this issue is basically a big fight scene. That’s not the worst thing in the world as we got tons of action that is really nice to look at since the art in this book is so good. However, when an entire issue is a fight scene, the issue seems to go really fast and we usually don’t get a ton of new information or story development. However, there are some parts of this book that do stand out. Regular comic book fans will not be surprised by the Ms. Martian reveal but perhaps a new reader would be taken off guard. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike this but I’ve seen this play out a dozen different times. Regular fans have seen the “Ms. Martian is actually a white martian” several times through several different mediums. We also got more from the Blood Cult storyline and Diana and Gar dealing with their own demonds but for the most part we don’t get a whole lot of new stuff this issue.

Bits and Pieces

For an issue that is pretty much a long fight sequence, this issue isn’t horrible. We get some character development throughout the issue and even though the biggest twist is one that we’ve seen dozens of times over the years, it’s not the worst development in the world. Overall the issue is fine. It’s good. But it’s not great.

6.0/10