World’s Finest: Teen Titans #2 – Mark Waid, Writer; Emanuela Lupacchino, Artist; Jordie Bellaire, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The first issue of this spinoff series gave us a new version of the classic 1960s Titans, with the classic roster but a modern sensibility and a focus on social media. Now with Bumblebee a member of the team from the start, the Titans had new relationships (Donna and Garth) as well as new conflicts (the constant simmering rivalry between Robin and Speedy). Given that this now took place roughly 10-15 years ago, it’s great to see these characters actually feeling like modern teens. A few more classic characters enter the fray this issue, including Mal Duncan (still a civilian and a new friend of Donna’s), as well as Lilith and Gnaark, who seem to be the Titans’ advance squad—they search for people in need of help and report it back to the A-team. This issue’s primary focus is on a teenage girl with mysterious psychic powers that have transformed an ordinary house into a haunted one.
This issue might suffer a bit from its release date, coming so close to the many Knight Terrors minis that deal with similar concepts of heroes being forced to confront their worst fears. The psychic horror show that this girl creates preys on many of the insecurities of the young Titans, particularly Garth’s fears of being a freak and an outsider, and Donna’s fears of never truly belonging to either world. The scenes of her finding herself back on Themyscira are genuinely upsetting, and do a lot of good work to fleshing out her character—something she’s needed for a very long time. It’s nice and creepy, but it’s also rather hopeful once we get to the resolution. However, it’s clear that for all the hopeful moments, there are some fractures emerging in the team. Donna is dealing with serious anxiety issues, Robin and Speedy’s rivalry seems to be escalating, and next issue is… TitansCon? This continues to be a blast, just like the parent series.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
