Emotion And Confronting Tragedy In Titans #27
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
The Titans must cope with their leader, Nightwing, having been shot in the head in Gotham City. He brought the team together, and now he is incapacitated and may die. Meanwhile, Tyler Baines, the first person the Titans saved as a team, is in a coma from exposure to the source energy. Steel may have a way to save him, but it’s dangerous. Miss Martian is unsure if it’s the ethical thing to do, and she is the de facto leader of the Titans now.
Titans #27 deals with the fallout of many of the recent events across the DC Universe. In addition to Nightwing being shot, the opening also shows Donna Troy visiting Arsenal’s grave.
The comic shows how each of the members are dealing with these tragedies. Donna Troy drinks, Beast Boy obsesses over saving Tyler Baines, Steel loses herself in her engineering work, Miss Martian takes a firmer grip on leadership, and Raven, unable to feel emotion currently, merely observes the others.
It’s not the most tear-jerking comic ever printed (that is Fantastic Four #588, where the FF deal with the apparent death of Human Torch), but it is genuine and emotional. It forces the team together more and builds the chemistry that has been lacking somewhat since the beginning of this Titans redux.
Brent Peeples once again nails the artwork on this issue, showing the subtler expression of the team members well. He does especially good work with Beast Boy and Donna Troy in this issue. Matt Sontorelli provides solid inkwork to it all. Ivan Plascencia’s color work is especially well-balanced and, as a result, adds extra energy to the visuals.
Titans #27 continues the sizable task of building chemistry in the new team lineup by showing them coping with tragedy. It’s not the most emotionally intelligent comic—it can come off as almost “emo” at times. However, it is engaging, and you can feel for the characters. As a result, I can recommend this one. Feel free to check it out.
Titans #27 comes to us from writer Dan Abnett, artist Brent Peeples, inker Matt Santorelli, color artist Ivan Plascencia, letterer Dave Sharpe, cover artist Clayton Henry with Ivan Plascencia, and variant cover artist Jose Luis with Richard Friend and Pete Pantazis.
