Welcome to the Jungle
Written by: Dan Jurgens
Art by: Scot Eaton, Wayne Faucher, Jim Charalampidis, and Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: July 01, 2018
This is a review of the original Teen Titans story by Dan Jurgens. Also included are SUPER SONS #1 (2017), SIDEWAYS #1 (2018), and TEEN TITANS #1 (2003). You can click on the Super Sons and Sideways links to read the reviews we did for those when they originally came out. So, did Dan Jurgens kick off the Teen Titans Walmart stories with style? Let's find out...
The issue opens with some classic Beast Boy fun...he's returned to Titans Tower with pizzas in tow ready to start a big old pizza party! I'll give it to Dan Jurgens here as he comes out of the gate with something that Teen Titans fans of all types can get into. Sure, the team for his story is kind of basic to begin with...Robin (Tim Drake), Starfire, Raven, and of course, Beast Boy, but that again allows most readers to have some footing going forward and from what I keep hearing, the hope is these books will get new readers out and buying comics.
Beast Boy doesn't get his party, but instead, Raven zaps in, grabs him and it's off to join the rest of the team to fight the Disruptor. Jurgens again keeps it simple here with the Disruptor explaining his powers which boils down to...disrupting things. Yep, powers, machinery, almost anything really, but he is looking to get a bit of a performance-enhancing boost. No, he is not Mark McGuire or Sammy Sosa under the mask, but he's looking to snatch a power amplifier from STAR LABS to up his game.
While this is going on, Jurgens gives each of the Titans a go at it and it's a good way to give readers a look at their powers and also a little teamwork. By the end, it looks like the good guys won, but this is a six-issue story so of course, there is a tweest ending. The issue ends with some Beast Boy humor that is a nice bookend to the beginning, but also a cliffhanger revealing more of the Big Bads that the team is going to have to face.
Of all the number one Giant issues, I think this is my favorite. Dan Jurgens keeps it simple and relies on some Teen Titans knowledge from other media to get the ball rolling and then uses the issue to show the team and set up the ongoing story. The art by Scot Eaton is really good and the only thing I could complain about is the length of the story (which I really can't because that's how all of these are set up) and that the issue is mainly one big fight scene. Still, I had fun throughout and give Jurgens a huge thumbs up!
Bits and Pieces:
This is my favorite Giant #1 story and the one that really fits the mission statement for these books. Dan Jurgens doesn't hold the reader's hand per se, but instead keeps it simple and easy for anyone to jump on. Sure, the story is a bit more basic because of that, but with this sort of thing, that is a positive more than a negative to me. Throw in some really good art, and you got yourself a winner!
9.3/10
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