DC Comics reviews for 6/27/18

Teen Titans Special #1

It seems like every couple of years we’re getting a new take on the Teen Titans. And in to Year 3 of DC Rebirth, you guessed it — time for a new relaunch of the team.

In fairness, developments post No Justice had a major impact on the Rebirth version of the Teen Titans. Raven and Beast Boy got promoted to Nightwing’s Titans squad and Starfire has joined a Justice League squad creating enough of a void that a full team makeover was warranted. For this special, writer Adam Glass focuses on his team’s big three — Robin, Kid Flash and Red Arrow.

Each of the trip faces villains that make them reconsider lessons learned from their mentors and take a more aggressive approach. The sight of Robin with a gun is as shocking as it’s intended, but I’m not entirely sold on the extreme perspective of the characters.

To be fair, the Teen Titans of today shouldn’t be written the same way as their counterparts from the 1960s. Robin and crew’s attitudes would probably be edgier and prone to more black and white style solutions. But maybe I’m too old school in wanting the Teen Titans to reflect the teachings of their mentors without scoffing or writing them off as ineffective.

Glass’ portrayals of the characters isn’t too far off from how they’ve been written in other titles. If there was one knock it’s that the shift in thinking comes so abruptly for all three of them. And with the Justice League benching the Titans for not staying in line it seems reasonable that a confrontation is imminent.

Glass teases more members to the ranks beyond the initial three although it’s a little disappointing cast-offs like Wonder Girl, Bunker and Aqualad are on the sidelines.

Artist Robson Rocha drew this issue showing continued improvement from his earlier days on Green Lanterns. Rocha really wouldn’t have been a bad choice to stay on the title, but Bernard Chang is tabbed as the regular artist.

I’m intrigued to see where Glass is going to take these characters so the Special definitely accomplished its goal. This isn’t even the Teen Titans of 2016, but maybe that’s not a bad thing? We’ll see soon enough.

Rating: 9 out of 10