Titans #1 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Nicola Scott, Artist; Annette Kwok, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Tom Taylor has been building to the launch of his new super-team for months over in Nightwing, and it’s finally here—as Nightwing and his old friends take over as the premiere super-team of the DCU. With the always-popular Nicola Scott on art, this is definitely the most well-done attempt to revive this particular group—but it’s not without some in-story bumps. We’ve been told one member of the team will die, and the opening segment reveals it’s Wally West, seemingly cut down by a bullet and racing against time to pull something off before his time runs out. With Wally having his own title AND having just had a fake-out death a few years back, it’s clear this won’t stick, but it’s also an effective mystery to kick things off.
Wally isn’t the only one facing… challenges at the beginning. Beast Boy has his eye back (the secrets of which will be revealed later) but is haunted by PTSD, despite Raven’s best attempts to help him. The two are now an official couple, and it’s pretty clear Scott has taken some major cues from the animated Raven in her design. Dick is trying to get the whole crew back together, including Cyborg, Donna Troy, and Starfire, but there’s one hold-out—Tempest, who seems more concerned with the state of the oceans and is sounding a big Namor-esque when he refuses to join up. But this missing figure isn’t keeping the group from having a big move-in day celebration—one that’s rudely interrupted by a giant ape.
When Titano attacks a nuclear plant with the apparent intention of causing a meltdown, the Titans spring into action—with Beast Boy getting the starring role. It’s clear Taylor gets how fun these characters can be when they’re in sync, but not everyone is enjoying it—Peacemaker shows up, representing the government, and kicks off what’s sure to be an antagonistic relationship. There have been a lot of failed starts for the Titans in the past few years, but this one actually seems to get the big things right—it views the Titans as a family, shows them both having fun and supporting each other, and has some big threats and big mysteries as it kicks off a new era of DC teams.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
