Titans Beast World Tour: Central City #1 – Si Spurrier, Jarrett Williams, Alex Paknadel, A.L. Kaplan, Writers; Scott Koblish, George Kambadais, Serg Acuna, A. L. Kaplkan, Artists; Hi-Fi, Matt Herms, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Like the other anthologies so far, this one features four creative teams—but unlike those, it treats it as a single narrative, with each installment working together to create the story of how the beasts came to Central City.
The main framing segment, which reappears throughout the book, is by Si Spurrier and Scott Koblish and focuses on Barry Allen and Irey West, as Barry is pulled out of his odd slump by his niece as she lets him know that Godspeed is back—and has been turned into a giant murder hornet hunting people through the city. This partnership gives Barry his first chance to shine in a long while, as we get a few more answers about his absence in the Flash family and about Iris’ role in keeping him on an even keel.
To stop the plague from spreading, Barry calls in the rest of the Flash family—starting with Wallace and Avery, in a segment done by Jarrett Williams and George Kambadais, Much like in the Speed Force title, this segment really rises and falls on how entertaining the dialogue is. There are some nice shout-outs to the other heroes these two have befriended, but this one feels more like an ad for the main book than an essential part of the story.
By contrast, I really loved the Paknadel/Acuna segment, which finds Jai and Maxine on a sort-of date with Irey being kept in the dark. This segment is delightfully awkward and these two make a very amusing pair, especially for how angry it makes Irey. But it’s not all middle-school antics—the two find themselves in the middle of a Godspeed attack, with Jai tapping into new levels of his powers to survive. I’m hoping that we see a lot more of this pair, hopefully with Paknadel writing the Flash family more.
AL Kaplan returns for a Circuit Breaker segment, which also sees Pied Piper make his return in a clever way as he lives up to his superhero name and gets rid of some of the rat mutants. This really just feels like an excuse for these two to bounce off each other before we return to the main segment—for a truly ridiculous finish that calls back to one of the coolest little details about nature relating to murder hornets and bees. The ending of this book is so strange it feels like a Silver Age fever dream, which I imagine was exactly what Spurrier and co. were going for.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
