Art by: Lucas Meyer
Colors by: Adriano Lucas
Letters by: Wes Abbott
Cover art by: Chris Samnee, Mateus Lopes
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: April 16, 2024
Titans #10 pits the team against Raven's demonic brother, Trilogy, but the attack may not be as random as Raven believes.
Is Titans #10 Good?
Okay. Titans #10 is okay. Not stellar, but not bad.
When last we left the Titans, Evil Raven intercepted Hermes from warning Donna Troy that Raven isn't who they believe her to be. Meanwhile, Trigon struck a deal with Amanda Waller to further their respective agendas. The details are TBD.
Now, Trilogy is fed up with playing Daddy Trigon's second (third?) favorite to Raven, so he grabs an enchanted staff that makes him bigger and stronger to put Raven in her place. What Trilogy doesn't realize is that the power-enhancing staff was left for Trilogy as part of Trigon's plan to goad Evil Raven to take more aggressive action toward becoming the Dark-Winged Queen.
Later, a Hulked-out Trilogy attacks the Titans, but Evil Raven makes short work of her brother by shearing off his arm, which holds the staff. Shocked by Evil Raven's brutality, Raven declares she'll hide the staff where it can't be found, and she drags Trilogy away to rot in a wasteland dimension. Out of sight of the Titans, Evil Raven decides to trap Trilogy in a crystal similar to the one holding Good Raven, and the conversion serves as the beginning of a crown that brings the Dark-Winged Queen closer to reality.
Later still, Amanda Waller visits T.O. Morrow to check on the progress of his latest robotic creation, Vanadia (no apparent connection to the fictional DC nation of the same name). Vanadia looks like a female Amazo, but its exact powers and purpose are TBD.
What's great about Titans #10? Despite the repetitive nature of the story (Raven turning bad... again), Taylor is turning out a decent plot with good pacing, solid dialog, purpose, and momentum. Plus, the epilogue introducing Morrow's latest creation is an intriguing touch.
What's not so great about Titans #10? In fairness, the story lacks originality. We've been down the "Evil Raven pretending to be Good Raven" road before, and so far, Taylor isn't showing how this time is new or different. Further, Raven's teammates have seen enough to realize something is out of place, but the fact that they're not talking about it or reacting to Raven's behavior lowers Taylor's character work.
How's the Art? Lucas Meyer's art is perfectly fine. There's a general lack of expressiveness in the characters' faces, which is more evident in a dialog-heavy issue. The composition, layout, figure work, and overall action are on point, but the facial acting is lacking.
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 YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Bits and Pieces:
Titans #10 continues Trigon's push to turn Evil Raven into Evil-er Raven by manipulating an attack on the Titans. The story is fine albeit unoriginal, and the art is generally good.
Is Titans #10 Good?
Okay. Titans #10 is okay. Not stellar, but not bad.
When last we left the Titans, Evil Raven intercepted Hermes from warning Donna Troy that Raven isn't who they believe her to be. Meanwhile, Trigon struck a deal with Amanda Waller to further their respective agendas. The details are TBD.
Now, Trilogy is fed up with playing Daddy Trigon's second (third?) favorite to Raven, so he grabs an enchanted staff that makes him bigger and stronger to put Raven in her place. What Trilogy doesn't realize is that the power-enhancing staff was left for Trilogy as part of Trigon's plan to goad Evil Raven to take more aggressive action toward becoming the Dark-Winged Queen.
Later, a Hulked-out Trilogy attacks the Titans, but Evil Raven makes short work of her brother by shearing off his arm, which holds the staff. Shocked by Evil Raven's brutality, Raven declares she'll hide the staff where it can't be found, and she drags Trilogy away to rot in a wasteland dimension. Out of sight of the Titans, Evil Raven decides to trap Trilogy in a crystal similar to the one holding Good Raven, and the conversion serves as the beginning of a crown that brings the Dark-Winged Queen closer to reality.
Later still, Amanda Waller visits T.O. Morrow to check on the progress of his latest robotic creation, Vanadia (no apparent connection to the fictional DC nation of the same name). Vanadia looks like a female Amazo, but its exact powers and purpose are TBD.
What's great about Titans #10? Despite the repetitive nature of the story (Raven turning bad... again), Taylor is turning out a decent plot with good pacing, solid dialog, purpose, and momentum. Plus, the epilogue introducing Morrow's latest creation is an intriguing touch.
What's not so great about Titans #10? In fairness, the story lacks originality. We've been down the "Evil Raven pretending to be Good Raven" road before, and so far, Taylor isn't showing how this time is new or different. Further, Raven's teammates have seen enough to realize something is out of place, but the fact that they're not talking about it or reacting to Raven's behavior lowers Taylor's character work.
How's the Art? Lucas Meyer's art is perfectly fine. There's a general lack of expressiveness in the characters' faces, which is more evident in a dialog-heavy issue. The composition, layout, figure work, and overall action are on point, but the facial acting is lacking.
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 YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
Bits and Pieces:
Titans #10 continues Trigon's push to turn Evil Raven into Evil-er Raven by manipulating an attack on the Titans. The story is fine albeit unoriginal, and the art is generally good.
6.8/10
Remember when Raven didn't have siblings and Trigon stayed dead? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
ReplyDeleteLike previously in Taylor's run the Titans will look like clueless idiots but really had a plan all along (TM) especially since Good Raven pulled some morally questionable shenanigans before by sending Xand'r to the Phantom Zone so they may have been on alert from that. I'm waiting for a reveal that Evil Raven isn't that evil after all because friendship or something. I will be more surprised if they ever acknowledge that the "bigoted outrage" protestors have a right to be upset with the Titans but more so Raven then Gar because she didn't know her demon self was running around in an evil Dr Fate helmet causing Beast World to happen.
ReplyDeleteNothing screamed more that Taylor doesn't understand heroism than this chapter when Beast Boy instead of just grabbing as many people he could ( as heroes used to do and we have seen them do so), he just waits there for the people to acknowledge they are wrong in not liking him in a smug vindicative fashion as if he would have let them die if they sweared at him or were unwilling to be saved by him, as if now is the time to prove a point in a debate. I mean I already knew Taylor doesn't understand heroism and only does decent action scenes by reading his injustice 2 series but now it's in the mainline books.
DeleteAnd Taylor called Beast Boy the "Heart of the Titans" too. Given how much spotlight he's been giving Gar he's just showcasing his pet character that isn't Dick. How the protestors are treated really does bother me given we did see the Titans at fault and should be held accountable, especially Raven not knowing where her demon self was but that may be hand waived just like her previous possessions were but here she actually did screw up.
DeleteI use to and still am in the camp that Taylor's Elseworlds stuff was better for a lot of reasons but his attitude leaking in and hopes of flashy scenes to not think about the plot gets frustrating there too.
You bring up a good point about the blame raven also has in this that I didn't previously realise because I was so distracted by the attitude Gar and Cyborg have in these recent issues (even batman). However I will point out that injustice 2 is atrocious. It's the prototype for the writing Taylor displays today. Same dialogue and voice for all characters (that is quirky self deprecating modern "humour ") in basically every sentence, putting blame where there isn't one and absolving when there is blame (basically questionable morals especially the way he approached the Ras al ghul and Gorilla city alliance and the "green earth" stuff, the way aquaman viewed aqualad's actions, the attitude toward batman aka let's keep blaming him while having no other solution, everything to do with harley quinn etc etc), thinking he is writing grey characters where there is no sophistication for that kind of writing in that series ( see Damian's sister) , basically everyone's characterisations ( batman' and other's reaction to tim's death for example). I could go on. Taylor has been as bad as Tom King but for some odd reason, maybe cause he didn't use to write for main titles before these past few years, he doesn't get the same amount of criticism he should ( and that's from someone who thinks King doesn't get as much criticism as he should either). I doubt many has read his one bad day issue but I have and that is a very very disturbing and also nonsensical story.
DeleteI think Taylor gets away with more because 1) he hasn't had a "Wally West in Heroes in Crisis" type story to really put people off, that the very least seemed to get King more heat than he did before. 2) he writes "fun" stories that give people feel good fuzzies and can easily share out of context comics panels across social media for a laugh. And if you do criticize that you must hate fun or hater about something else about him. People especially love his Nightwing after the abysmal way Dick was treated before especially the Ric Grayson storyline. Meanwhile, King is like the polar opposite in his tone which some comic fans are getting tired of.
DeleteI think you are absolutely right, the out of context comic panels bit especially. Almost all his issues benefit when you don't know the context they happen in. Anyways, Thanks for taking the time to reply.
DeleteYou're welcome! Thank you for sharing too!
Delete