Titans #8 – Tom Taylor, Writer; Stephen Segovia, Artist; Annette Kwok, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: Tom Taylor is a writer who always puts a lot of his personal thoughts and fears about the state of the world into his work, usually to great effect. This is reflected in stories about the environment, immigration, and of course, the threat of fascism. The latter is looming large in the aftermath of Beast World, as the Titans have saved the day—but the government led by Amanda Waller and Sergeant Steel now have the propaganda coup they need to further instill fear of metahumans and Beast Boy in particular into the public. Gar is clearly deeply traumatized, Steel is on TV essentially urging the government to treat all metas like they do the Amazons, and even the Mayor of Bludhaven (Dick’s sister) can’t really make a dent in public perception. And of course, there’s the demon in the room—Raven isn’t herself, and is actually under the control of her demon self and directly communicating with Trigon.
This doesn’t stop the Titans from entering the fray (in a new T-Jet) to save civilians from a massive flood in Key West. The rescue segments are strong, but Beast Boy nearly being killed by a father as he tries to rescue two kids casts a dark pall over the issue. That’s the thing—Taylor is writing all this really well as the DCU descends into fascism, but I’m not sure it’s a status quo that quite works for the DCU. We’ve seen this play out so many times in the competition to the point where it almost feels like a worn trope, and this story is a better execution than that usually is. But between turning Amanda Waller into a one-note villain and casting a much more cynical eye on the civilians of this world, it doesn’t seem like it serves the overall optimistic tone of Taylor’s writing. Overall, a strong issue but it does feel a bit dragged down by the overall direction of the universe at the moment.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
