Teen Titans #45 Review

Titans In Toyland

Written By: Robbie Thompson
Art By: Javier Fernandez, Marcelo Maiolo, Rob Leigh
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 15, 2020

Damian has gone off the deep end...... and I'm not talking about locking up criminals in his secret dungeon, magically altering their brains or even killing them. No, I'm talking about him throwing the Robin moniker away and essentially stating to Batman, Robin No More. Now, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that he was the best leader for the Teen Titans or even a decent superhero when he was with the group, but the idea of him not being Robin anymore and out and about with the idea that murder is the way to stop crime just doesn't sit right with me. Now with no Damian Wayne around, let's see what the Teen Titans end up doing now that Batman told them that the team was getting shut down. Let's check it out.

For this issue of Teen Titans, we see some subgroups forming, where Kid Flash and Red Arrow are hanging out trying to figure out what to do next and Crush and Roundhouse are doing the same, but ultimately, they are drawn back together by clues left for them by Damian Wayne to try and finish the Teen Titans work of catching the criminals that they mind whammied, that are now back on the streets, looking for vengeance against the team.  

In this issue, we see that Gizmo is the lead target for the team to take down, but they're having a hell of a time doing it, especially after Red Hood shows up and tells them that Damian is just playing them with these distractions so that he can get away Yeah, this is a messed up idea, which I don't want to believe and neither do the Teen Titans, but the other idea that you get from this interaction is that the rest of the Bat-Family are out on patrol trying to find Damian so that they can deal with him inside the Family and this is a development that I can't wait to see explored more. Beyond the Bat-Family and the Teen Titans, there's one more person in Damian's life that wants answers about what's been going on and that person shows up looking pissed at the end of this issue and even though we spend a lot of time here just taking out toys that Gizmo left our heroes, then taking on some Gizmo mechas, there's a lot of small aspects to this issue that kept me interested and this new person added to the book is something that I can't wait to see more of next issue.  

All in all, there are some small moments in this book that I really enjoy like the way that the Teen Titans act towards one another on their path to redemption, not to mention when they pair up with each other during their downtime. On top of that, the idea that the Bat-Family is hunting Damian down in the background is really intriguing, and can't wait to see where that's explored further and it looks like I kind of get my wish from the last issue with the villains that the Teen Titans crossed the line with are going to be going after our heroes, instead of just using Deathstroke, but from what we get in this issue it seems that it may just be a one at a time deal and that's not as interesting to me. Ultimately though, this issue besides for the small moments I was talking about came off a bit slow to me and a bit monotonous in their execution in taking down the bad guys, but I look forward to what's to come, especially because of the cliffhanger, I just wish that I enjoyed the art along the way because no matter what it seems like I'll never be a fan of Javier Fernadez's style and it's that style that really takes some of the "oomf" out of this book.

Bits and Pieces:

While this book never really felt like it rebounded after the Djinn War, especially now that Damian has gone full heel mode, there are moments here between the rest of our Teen Titans that I enjoy and feel that if they weren't in such a dark situation that we could actually get the "Friends" aspect of this book that I've desperately wanted out of this title. Beyond that though, we get a killer cliffhanger that I can't wait to see more of, I just wish that I was a fan of the art in this book because the style just drags the whole experience down for me.

5.8/10