Raven’s brother Trilogy goes after the team in the hopes of winning Trigon’s approval in this issue of Titans.
I’ll start off by saying what I like here. It’s fun to have an issue that mostly centers on the interplay between Trilogy, Trigon and Raven. This isn’t really a story about the Titans so much as it’s a narrative about Raven with occasional cameos from other heroes. There’s a lot of ways to write a team comic, and Tom Taylor seems to favor the approach of zooming in on a specific character for an arc before moving on to another character. It makes this comic feel like a charcuterie plate of DC heroes, and who doesn’t love a charcuterie plate?
Lucas Meyer also brings a stellar art style to this comic as always. His work has a cinematic quality that complements the epic scale of Trigon’s Hell quite nicely. Colorist Wes Abbott collaborates with Meyer well, and really steals the show in terms of memorable panels. There’s a few times in this issue where the silhouettes of characters are all that is visible on a black background, and it gives Abbott the opportunity to show off the color palette of Titans in a visually satisfying way.
I’m also a fan of the characterization. In my Titans #9 review I criticized this comic for messing up Nightwing slightly by making him seem like a leader unaware of what is happening on his own team. That certainly isn’t the case in this issue, as it seems that Dick catches onto Raven’s odd behavior.
Beast Boy is delightful as always, and in this issue there’s a page where he has a snarky argument with some protesters while in the form of a horse. That hilarious image justifies reading Titans #10 on its own.
On the villians side, this issue makes me appreciate Trilogy as a character in a way I hadn’t before. The abusive dynamic between him and Trigon, who withholds his approval to manipulate his son, makes Trilogy more sympathetic than I’ve ever seen him.
Raven is basically a villian currently due to her being under Trigon’s control. That makes sense narratively but I’m sure it’s a bit of a bummer for fans who want to see more of her character. She’s basically just a proxy for Trigon in this arc. It is nice that this issue moves the plot forward quickly and gets us moving toward a confrontation with Raven. If done right, that could be a lot of fun.
While this arc is interesting, I wish that this series would try out a new storyline. I’ve mentioned this problem before (yes, I’m being repetitive by critiquing this comic as repetitive) but the mind-control shtick has already played out with Tempest. Taylor’s dialogue is strong, and I enjoy spending time with the Titans enough to continue to enjoy this comic, but I think this series would give readers a better foothold if the narrative was more compelling.
Spoiler
The last page of this issue shows Dr. Morrow creating a new android to defeat the Titans, financed by Amanda Waller. Honestly even though we were already aware that Waller is going after the team from last issue, it had sort of escaped my mind. This isn’t really this particular comic’s fault, but it feels like Waller is behind every bad thing that happens in the DC universe these days, which makes her feel sort of redundant in this comic.
Recommended if…
- You are in the middle of the “Dark-Winged Queen” arc and want to see it through.
- You enjoy watching Beast Boy horse around.
- You are a Trigon or Trilogy fan.
Overall:
This is a fun comic. It’s unfortunate that Titans has been a little repetitive and formulaic over ten issues, but none of it has felt tedious. If you are a fan of these characters I think you’ll agree that this issue is a good time even if it doesn’t introduce many new ideas.
Score: 6.5/10
DISCLAIMER: DC Comics provided Batman News with a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review.
COMMENTS
