Art by: Ivan Reis, Danny Miki
Colors by: Brad Anderson
Letters by: Wes Abbott
Cover art by: Ivan Reis, Danny Miki, Brad Anderson
Cover price: $5.99
Release date: November 28, 2023
Titans: Beast World #1 begins a planet-sized conflict when Beast Boy takes on the biggest shape of his life to stop an equally big invader, not realizing his selfless act will be Earth's downfall.
Is Titans: Beast World #1 Good?
Titans: Beast World #1 is a weirdly mixed bag of a comic because there are parts that are super (no pun intended), and there are other parts that are too conveniently contrived to keep you in the story. Put another way, great art and big wow moments wrapped around a too-convenient plot.
Tom Taylor puts Beast Boy front and center when a Cult of Eternity expedition to the Saturn moon of Titan accidentally (or is it?) awakens a gigantic beast from Tamaranean history called the Necrostar that uses mind-control spores. The Tamaraneans were able to beat the beast in the past with the help of Starro as a competitive force strong enough to weaken the monster, imprison it, and shoot it into space, where it eventually crash-landed on Titan.
Without enough brain power to formulate a plan, yet having enough trust from all of Earth's heroes, Beast Boy morphs into a whale to make his brain bigger (I'm not kidding) and works out a scenario where he transforms into a version of Starro to fight the Necrostar long enough for Cyborg to create a continent-sized Boom Tube to push the beast into a super cold galaxy. The plan works, but suddenly, Doctor Hate shows up (remember him? No? That's okay. Nobody else does.) under Amanda Waller's orders to take control of "Garro," who then uses his Garro spores to infect the world and transform the world's heroes and villains into Animorphs.
Did you get all that? It makes sense in the reading experience as long as you don't poke at the plot holes too hard.
What's great about Titans: Beast World #1? If you've been down on Tom Taylor's writing due to the lack of urgency, drama, and action, this issue goes a long way toward course-correcting that gap. Taylor's pacing is brisk, the threats are big, and there's plenty of action and urgency to keep the train running.
What's not so great about Titans: Beast World #1? Plot holes aplenty. Why would the sum total of Earth's heroes put faith in Gar's plan when he didn't have one worked out? How did the Cult of Eternity get to Titan so quickly when a trip of that distance should have taken months or years? How were the Titans able to survive the distant cold of space with little more than an oxygen mask when they arrived on Titan? What could Amanda Waller possibly gain by shorting out Gar's mind and infecting the world with Starro/Beast Boy hybrid spores? When everything happens in a matter of minutes, how did Amanda Waller know to send Dactor Hate at just the right time to set whatever plan she has in motion?
The list goes on and on. If you turn your brain off, you'll probably like it. If you think about it too much, the flaws pull you out of the story more than once.
How's the art? Magnitudes better than any other Tom Taylor comic on the shelves right now. This isn't a slight on Nicola Scott or Bruno Redondo, but nothing either artist has shown on their respective titles comes close to matching the energy and superhero action shown in this issue. Ivan Reis is doing the Lord's work by saving Tom Taylor's flawed script.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Bits and Pieces:
Titans: Beast World #1 is a weirdly mixed bag of a comic. Tom Taylor's energy, drama, action, and pacing are on point for once, but the story is riddled with plot holes and contrivances. Still, it's a fun read as long as you turn your brain off first, and Ivan Reis's art is stupendous.
7/10
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