Teen Titans #38 Review

Other Problems

Written By: Adam Glass
Art By: Bernard Chang, Scott Hanna, Hi-Fi, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 15, 2020


The Other was finally revealed last issue and for all the build up of Adam Glass's run with this character and the threat that he supposedly posed......... it kind of came off as underwhelming in my mind and even made The Heretic a bit less.  I mean, to take away his death after killing Damian just to reanimate him to be this Other character doesn't do much for me and the explanation about his return doesn't really add up all that much either.  It is what it is though and now we have Damian at his clone brother's mercy, where The Other wants Damian to take over his supernatural criminal empire.  Let's jump into this issue and see if our Teen Titans can overcome.



While we do get a healthy does of recap this issue, with The Other's choice that he's given Damian, to what led Roundhouse to the Teen Titans that ultimately saved their lives and also the day, there is some really good moments in this issue where we get to see Djinn imprisoned in her ring and it's during this point that the book really shines because when Damian is shown Djinn, she is able to show him the future that The Other has offered him and he finds it beautiful in that it's all he's ever wanted.  Yeah, that's a scary concept, but this is where we get to see the growth of Damian Wayne in that he knows he wants this dark future, where he controls crime and because of that, he completely rejects it, leading to our heroes being heroes.

Ultimately though, it really feels like the reveal/conclusion to The Other was really a letdown for all the buildup we got with him in the background for forever and a day because the reveal did nothing for me last issue and even made the Heretic feel like less in my mind and here he's just taken out to the point where he may or may not be back...... again, not a very satisfying with its uncertainty, but this issue does end with the Teen Titans looking like they're going to be stronger than ever going forward, while also realizing that all the dark shit they've been up to was a little too dark and they're going to move past that.

All in all, the art didn't seem as polished as it usually does, but even with that you still get some really decent moments out of this in not only art, but with story too.  Yeah, The Other stuff doesn't really hit too hard here and we have no idea what his powers are now that he's become some sort of wizard or something, but Damian and Roundhouse really shine in this issue and now that we've gotten past the sour grapes for the most part, I can't wait to see how the team works together going forward.  So yeah, The Other and the Year of the Villain are now in the rear view mirror so pretty much the sky's the limit as we go on our next quest to release Djinn, discover her full backstory and see what this Titans team is made of now that they're finally going to act like real heroes.

Bits and Pieces:

While I was underwhelmed with the end of The Other and even some of the art this issue, there were some really great parts with Damian Wayne that get me really excited for not only Robin's attitude going forward, but with how the rest of the Teen Titans will interact with him going forward. 

6.5/10