Teen Titans Annual #2 Review

Robin No More

Written By: Robbie Thompson

Art By: Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira, Marelo Maiolo, Rob Leigh

Cover Price: $4.99

Release Date: August 25, 2020

After the dark turn that the Teen Titans took when they started jailing villains themselves and then the darker turn that Damian Wayne took after killing Brother Blood, it's finally time for a reckoning. I wasn't happy with the previous issue of Teen Titans, but after reading this issue I realize that it was all a lead up to this Annual and the final confrontation between not only the Teen Titans and their former leader but Batman and Robin as well. Let's jump into this issue and see where the Teen Titans go from here and if there is some sort of redemption for this team that went a little too far in their fight against crime. Let's jump into this issue and check it out.

Batman is here to confront his son and break apart the Teen Titans, but will our teen heroes give up so quickly?....... I know I would, but before anyone can really have a moment to fear the ramifications of going against Batman's wishes....... the team are just dumbfounded as they watch Robin take on his father and it's because of this aspect, where Damian works through his rage that has been brought to the surface since Alfred's death that this Annual shines more than the regular series lately because while yes we briefly touched on Damian's grief turned to anger over Alfred's death previously, it seemed to quickly go away and just made Damian appear to be a murderous jerk who wasn't going through anything.......... I know that his grief right now doesn't make him any less of a murderous jerk, but at least if you're a fan of the character you can see some added layers to what he's currently dealing with in this book.

On top of the Robin vs. Batman storyline that we have here, we have a bit of resolution to Damian and Deathstroke, not to mention Red Arrow, who's been going through this series only talking about how she's killed Slade Wilson and can't forgive herself for it. Well, instead of someone calling Emiko up and letting her know that the Terminator is still alive and kicking, his appearance here at least will put that bit of her characterization behind us so we can finally move on, but Deathstroke isn't what we're all here for because ultimately, he doesn't matter. What we're here for is Damian Wayne and wanting to know what his murderous turn means for the character........... and ultimately, it seems that he'll be moving away from his moniker and the Bat-Family as a whole and while a lot of people hate this because they're tired of him being this murderous jerk......... this is at least something new and I'm on board because it could at least be an interesting turn for the character.

All in all, the art is amazing in this issue and I wish that every Teen Titans issue could look as good as this one and the story took all the individual boring pieces of the story we've been playing with and mashed them together to make something I was all about by the end because while it is more the same overall, it's done in a way that I can actually get behind because it shows emotion in not only Robin, but the rest of his team as well as he slowly self destructs. It's a great look at grief through the mind of the Boy Wonder and while we're moving onto a version of Damian Wayne that a lot of people hate, I did need something new for the character because while I was initially happy with him taking over the Teen Titans and making it his own, his team never really went anywhere and with two iterations, they barely ever felt like a team........... so let's move on and hopefully the next time we see Damian after this series is over, he'll at least feel fresh again.

Bits and Pieces:

Is this story dark and does it paint Damian Wayne out to be a little prick? Yeah, but there's also a lot of emotion involved that elevates this Annual over what we've been getting out the Teen Titans series lately, not to mention that the book looks great in the process. If you're a fan of who Damian Wayne currently is and can't accept change or new things then you'll probably hate this issue, but if you're for progression and new characterizations, then maybe this is something you can get behind.

7.5/10