Titans #27 Review and *SPOILERS*

The Grieving Process

Written By: Dan Abnett
Art By: Brent Peeples, Matt Santorelli, Ivan Plascencia
Letters By: Dave Sharpe
Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: October 10, 2018

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Titans has been a bit of a rollercoaster, I really wasn’t a fan of the first two issues of this new team but then the third issue came around and was incredible. The following issue was fine but it was just a long fight sequence. We have a bunch of hanging threads from the previous issues that I’m hoping we will capitalize on. I’m hoping we get more of the good Titans and less of the bickering and unhappy Titans, though based on the cover of this issue, I assume we will have some unhappy moments. That’s fine as long as it is done well. Let’s just jump right into this issue and see what happens.

We begin at a lonely grave in Seattle a few days ago, Donna Troy walks up to it and places a flower down before walking away and we see that the grave belongs to Roy Harper. We jump to the present at the Hall of Justice and Miss Martian has some grave news to share with everyone. Nightwing has been shot in the head. He’s still alive but based on the injury, Miss Martian suggests that Nightwing might never be the man that he was before. In order to keep their minds busy, they choose to help Gar with a situation he needs help in. The first victim of the emergent events, Tyler Baines, is dying in a hospital bed and they have to do something to save him. Gar is clearly very invested in this case as he has to excuse himself for a moment to control himself.

Back at Titan’s HQ, Raven confronts Donna about the drinking. During this encounter, Raven reveals her own struggles as of late. She has always been able to connect to people through empathy. It has sometimes been a curse but it has been all she has ever known. Now she feel absolutely nothing. Donna envies her but Raven explains that it is not a feeling to be envied. After their talk has ended, the two embrace. Meanwhile, another conversation takes place on the roof between Steel and Beast Boy. They talk about the future of the team. The team only exists because of Nightwing and none of them are sure about if the team will stay together without him. They want to help but without Nightwing, they aren’t sure that they are able. Steel then reveals that there might be a long shot treatment to help Tyler.

The two pitch the plan to Miss Martian who refuses. They explain that all the treatment Tyler is getting is just pain management and that their experiment might be able to save his life. Miss Martian refuses to experiment on live subjects. Gar loses it for a moment before calming himself again before doing any damage. Miss Martian then reveals that she is struggling to lead the team now and that she is mourning as well and isn’t sure what to do. Donna encourages her and tells her what Nightwing would have done and thus, they begin the experiment. They boot up the machine and begin the process. Once the dose is administered, they check on Tyler and find that the experiment didn’t work. He is dead. Gar rushes off in grief as all of the Titans mourn. We get one final image of Tempest speeding through the water which suggests he will be in the next issue. This is where the issue ends.

I am a firm believer that a comic needs to be able to stand on its own. There are plenty of comic fans who do not read a bunch of books. They read only a couple that interest them and plenty of Teen Titans fans will only get those books. So, to have an issue of this book be so heavily reliant on events of different books is a real disservice to this audience. Not only are we dealing with the Roy Harper death but also the injury to Nightwing. The entire issue revolves around this story that we haven’t even seen. I know people like having a connected universe but we at least need a couple pages to explain what exactly happened to get us here. Instead, we are just told that it happened and that we should feel sad about it. This is a real low point for this book. It’s not even a proper issue in my opinion. It’s bonus reading for different books.

Bits and Pieces

When a book relies so heavily on the reader being familiar with the other books in the universe, the book has failed in my opinion. I can understand that people like having a connected universe but this is basically a bonus read for people who read other books rather than continuing the story that this book’s audience has become invested in. This is comics at their worse and that deserves a very specific score that our regular readers will know the significance of.

5.0/10