Titans: Beast World #5 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Ivan Reis/Danny Miki, Eduardo Pansica/Julio Ferreira, Artists; Brad Anderson, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: For the first four issues of this series, the pressing threat was a wave of beast monsters, created by a starro-possessed Beast Boy manipulated by Doctor Hate. It was big, over-the-top comic book action—and then it ended, suddenly and brutally, as Amanda Waller executed a brilliant plan to detonate a living bomb inside the green star, killing Beast Boy and her unwilling accomplice. Now, as the Titans mourn their fallen friend, Waller springs into action—getting the government to grant her near-unlimited powers as the head of a shadow agency dedicated to national security. While the President dithers, she makes a plan to eliminate the remaining beast threat with massive drone strikes to kill a million people. It’s a dark study of just how willing people often are to give away their rights and their very humanity in the middle of a crisis, and it’s happening in full view of the world—and the Titans.
Some of the Titans are ready to take action, with Nightwing, Flash, and Cyborg putting together a plan. But Raven, maybe the most powerful member of the team, is at first too distraught to think and is struggling to keep her demonic side under control. Starfire and Donna have a few good moments interacting with her as well, and it’s not long before the Titans get ready to make their move to take down Waller’s new empire before it gets a seven-figure body count. My one hesitation about this series—and this has been brewing for a while—is that it really takes Waller and Peacemaker both past the point of no return. These two are monstrous villains, with Doctor Hate pursuing their own agenda, of course. And we do get a reveal about the mystery masked chaos-bearer this issue. I can safely say I never even considered this possibility, so kudos to Taylor for completely surprising me.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
