DC Comics reviews for 6/28/17

Teen Titans #9

Teen Titans #9 marks another slow step for a title thats still trying to establish its identity. There’s some good moments and others that warrant some cringes. Teen Titans has the makings of a strong title, but right now it’s still a work in progress.
I’m definitely not a fan of the somewhat sloppy way Kid Flash was booted from the team. Damian can be a jerk all day, but the rest of the team looked real impotent just going along with him firing Kid Flash.

With Aqualad having just signed up, this played out like swapping one black hero for another and Teen Titans was in the rare space of having two black heroes on one team.
Aqualad’s journey of self discovery feels a little cliche and overly familiar. He’s more than a little angsty and sounds like a complicated teenager written by an adult. His parents’ relationship played out far more interestingly this issue.

Writer Benjamin Percy has about half the team down, but is struggling to find the voice of some of the others.
Percy fared much better with Beast Boy and Starfire with some great moments that provided some entertaining character development beats.

Phil Hester provided the layouts, which seemed to help Khoi Pham’s artwork this issue. Hester probably did a significant amount as the framing and character posing was better than the norm for Teen Titans.

Aqualad’s parents face off next issue, which probably isn’t the best hook for Teen Titans, but I’m invested in that showdown potentially more than half the Titans themselves.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10