Titans: Beast World #2 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Ivan Reis, Penciller; Danny Miki, Inker, Brad Anderson, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: The first episode of this huge-scale mini set the Titans up against the Necrostar, with Beast Boy playing the key role and finally showing off how powerful he could be. But interference by Doctor Hate led to Gar losing control of himself—and distributing millions of spores across the world, essentially creating a werebeast plague. The plague spreads via jumping spores, with the creatures seeking the most powerful host they can find. That gives the heroes the advantage at first—but all it takes is one jumping to the wrong person, and it’s game over. And one has already found Black Adam. To no one’s surprise, Gotham is ground zero for the infection—along with just about everywhere else—and Batman and Nightwing team up to fight off the beasts and protect civilians. Taylor always has an amazing handle on writing these two and their complex relationship, but it’s not long before Batman is infected and all hell breaks loose.
Speaking of hell breaking loose, Donna Troy and Starfire are in Khandaq to try to rein in Black Adam—but once Oracle reaches out to them with a warning about how the spores spread, it becomes a battle to keep themselves safe—because no one needs an Amazon or Tamaranean beast-monster. As massive as this overarching threat is, the larger problem might be going on behind the scenes. Doctor Hate has been Amanda Waller’s pawn, but the mad supernatural being is getting increasingly out of her control and playing his own agenda. At the same time, Waller and Peacemaker are taking their case directly to the President, seeking emergency powers that will allow them to take control of the response as opposed to the heroes—and the odds are they’re not planning to give them back. This was a fast-paced issue that set up the main crisis, and this event continues to be a strong one for DC so far.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
