DC Comics reviews for 2/22/17 – Hal Jordan, The Flash, Suicide Squad

Teen Titans #5

Maybe the worst thing that could happen to Teen Titans is seeing how great Damian can be playing off another teen. Super Sons had a great kickoff with Damian at his finest, which makes this lackluster version in Teen Titans all the more disappointing.

Writer Benjamin Percy has centered this new team around Damian. While Teen Titans typically focus on their respective Robin, this team needs a more dynamic center so Damian can go back to being the mischievous nuisance we all know and love. Percy’s Damian seems out of character with him learning moral lessons and the importance of teamwork a poor fit for the misfit who can’t get along with Nightwing.

But for this showdown with Ra’s al Ghul, Damian learns some important lessons and the value of friends that don’t have ties to Batman. While the Ra’s confrontation is underwhelming, Percy is starting to flesh out the team and how they play off one another. Beast Boy and Raven are the characters Percy has down fine and Kid Flash is enough of a blank slate that Percy can help create his voice. Damian continues to be a problem though.

Khol Pham is still figuring out how to consistently draw the Titans. This gig was essentially forced on him and there’s a sense of a learning curve as to the best approach for each character. Colorist Jim Charalampidis continues to wash out Pham’s work giving the pages a dreary and faded appearance.

Teen Titans wraps its first big storyline with no wholesale improvements or steps back from the previous installments. In that sense, the book has been solidly consistent. With the arrival of a new team member next issue, the dynamic should hopefully improve. So far, Teen Titans isn’t wowing me, but it seems like a book headed in the right direction.

Rating: 6.5 out of 10