Ray: This book’s main strength is its pacing, knowing exactly when to push on the brakes and let things develop naturally and when to hit the gas. The opening segment, which finds Virgil using some of Curtis Metcalf’s borrowed technology to escape the government, gives us some great action, but most of the issue is dedicated to quieter moments. We see Virgil design his first costume, bond a little with his father and friends, and get closer to deciding what kind of hero he wants to be. But danger is lurking, the government is closing in, and that threat comes very close to one of Virgil’s few safe spots in the finale. The big twist this issue is the role Hotstreak will be playing in this version, something that I didn’t expect but makes a lot of sense. After all, if you’re a bully, wouldn’t you want to be working with the biggest bully in the room? There are just enough unique elements in this reboot to really make it stand out.
Ray: This series jumps around a lot, letting us get to know its kids as they go on bizarre adventures that don’t always have to do with the main Red X narrative. This issue takes them far away from Teen Titans Academy, as a group of students including Gorilla Gregg, Stitch, and Summer decide to go on vacation. They teleport to a swimming hole in New York, and find themselves in an eerily deserted town hiding a dark mystery. There’s some genuine tension and creepy visuals in this story, but it’s undercut by Stitch’s oddly self-referential dialogue as he’s obsessed with playing out the mystery like a Scooby Doo episode. We don’t know many of these characters too well, which makes it hard to get invested, but the end of the issue has a clever reveal that pits one of the characters against a major—and very personal—enemy. Overall, still finding its footing.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
This post was last modified on August 30, 2021 2:26 pm
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