Art by: Travis Moore
Colors by: Tamra Bonvillain
Letters by: Wes Abbott
Cover art by: Clayton Henry, Marcelo Maiolo
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: December 26, 2023
Titans #6 brings the Beast War event to the front doors of Titans Tower when Brother Eternity's role (and true identity) is finally revealed.
Is Titans #6 Good?
"Huh? What do you mean by Brother Eternity's 'true identity'?" you might wonder. Well, yes, it turns out that Brother Eternity is not who he claims he is, which is a surprising development, but surprises can be a bad thing when it makes the plot more confusing.
When last we left the Titans, the future murder of Wally West was lamely thwarted just before Brother Eternity launched an initiative to establish a colony on the Saturn moon of Titan. Brother Eternity's expedition accidentally (or was it?) released an imprisoned NecroStar to create havoc on Earth, leading to the current Beast World crossover.
Now, the Titans are spread across the Earth while Nightwing, Oracle, and Detective Chimp run Wolf-Batman through a series of tests to learn the extent of Garro's spore infection. Suddenly, a NecroStar-possessed Tempest unlocks Titan Tower's defenses to let in Brother Eternity and a horde of Animorphs. Tempest fights Nightwing and Oracle while Starfire arrives to hit Brother Eternity head-on, revealing an old acquaintance behind the brotherly face.
Who? Who is it???
[SPOILER AHEAD]
Bother Eternity is Xand'r, a member of the Tamaranean royal entourage, and he has a bone to pick with Starfire. On the one hand, Xand'r's presence makes the NecroStar plot device more logical. On the other hand, a Tamaranean grudge plot makes no sense when you consider Garro's threat was partly orchestrated by Amanda Waller.
[END SPOILERS]
What this means is that Brother Eternity and the NecroStar are part of a larger revenge plot orchestrated by [REDACTED] (not Amanda Waller).
What's great about Titans #6? Tom Taylor's plot feels more urgent, directed, and purposeful than any of the prior issues, which is how it should be for EVERY issue. Taylor's writing has been stuck in a boring haze for nearly two years, so hopefully the influence of the Beast World event is just the kick to get Taylor's writing back on track.
What's not so great about Titans #6? Revealing Brother Eternity's identity is a surprise that ultimately makes the Beast World even more confusing because it presumes that forces who have no connection with each other are either in league with each other or there's a heck of a lot of coincidences going on.
If [REDACTED] and Amanda Waller are working together, why? What's in it for either of them?
If [REDACTED] and Amanda Waller aren't working together, how was Waller able to orchestrate a global plan on nothing more than the pure coincidence that [REDACTED] would stage an attack?
The more you think about all the little touchpoints between Waller and [REDACTED]'s respective plans, the less the Beast World crossover makes sense.
How's the art? Travis Moore steps into this issue, away from the main artist (Nicola Scott), and Moore's style is a blessed upgrade. In an action-heavy issue, it behooves DC to have an artist who can project action, energy, and facial acting that portrays more than sleepy boredom, so Moore is a move in the right direction.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Bits and Pieces:
Titans #6 gives readers plenty of action, surprising developments, and better art as a key tie-in to the Beast World crossover. That said, the biggest surprise of all, Brother Eternity's true identity, throws a confusing monkey wrench into the heart of the crossover with no clear way out of the confusion.
Is Titans #6 Good?
"Huh? What do you mean by Brother Eternity's 'true identity'?" you might wonder. Well, yes, it turns out that Brother Eternity is not who he claims he is, which is a surprising development, but surprises can be a bad thing when it makes the plot more confusing.
When last we left the Titans, the future murder of Wally West was lamely thwarted just before Brother Eternity launched an initiative to establish a colony on the Saturn moon of Titan. Brother Eternity's expedition accidentally (or was it?) released an imprisoned NecroStar to create havoc on Earth, leading to the current Beast World crossover.
Now, the Titans are spread across the Earth while Nightwing, Oracle, and Detective Chimp run Wolf-Batman through a series of tests to learn the extent of Garro's spore infection. Suddenly, a NecroStar-possessed Tempest unlocks Titan Tower's defenses to let in Brother Eternity and a horde of Animorphs. Tempest fights Nightwing and Oracle while Starfire arrives to hit Brother Eternity head-on, revealing an old acquaintance behind the brotherly face.
Who? Who is it???
[SPOILER AHEAD]
Bother Eternity is Xand'r, a member of the Tamaranean royal entourage, and he has a bone to pick with Starfire. On the one hand, Xand'r's presence makes the NecroStar plot device more logical. On the other hand, a Tamaranean grudge plot makes no sense when you consider Garro's threat was partly orchestrated by Amanda Waller.
[END SPOILERS]
What this means is that Brother Eternity and the NecroStar are part of a larger revenge plot orchestrated by [REDACTED] (not Amanda Waller).
What's great about Titans #6? Tom Taylor's plot feels more urgent, directed, and purposeful than any of the prior issues, which is how it should be for EVERY issue. Taylor's writing has been stuck in a boring haze for nearly two years, so hopefully the influence of the Beast World event is just the kick to get Taylor's writing back on track.
What's not so great about Titans #6? Revealing Brother Eternity's identity is a surprise that ultimately makes the Beast World even more confusing because it presumes that forces who have no connection with each other are either in league with each other or there's a heck of a lot of coincidences going on.
If [REDACTED] and Amanda Waller are working together, why? What's in it for either of them?
If [REDACTED] and Amanda Waller aren't working together, how was Waller able to orchestrate a global plan on nothing more than the pure coincidence that [REDACTED] would stage an attack?
The more you think about all the little touchpoints between Waller and [REDACTED]'s respective plans, the less the Beast World crossover makes sense.
How's the art? Travis Moore steps into this issue, away from the main artist (Nicola Scott), and Moore's style is a blessed upgrade. In an action-heavy issue, it behooves DC to have an artist who can project action, energy, and facial acting that portrays more than sleepy boredom, so Moore is a move in the right direction.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
Follow @ComicalOpinions on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Bits and Pieces:
Titans #6 gives readers plenty of action, surprising developments, and better art as a key tie-in to the Beast World crossover. That said, the biggest surprise of all, Brother Eternity's true identity, throws a confusing monkey wrench into the heart of the crossover with no clear way out of the confusion.
6/10
[Spoiler]
ReplyDeleteSo now Starfire's parents were killed when she was a child instead of them selling her into slavery to save their planet? And wasn't her dad part of that conspiracy in Bendis's Superman run not that long ago? Odd that they retconned something so recent. Does this mean that Ghost Sector stuff didn't happen either?
Yes. Taylor really screwed up with Starfire’s history to the point that I’d rather ignore what was in this issue regarding her origin.
ReplyDelete