Oversized But Lacking — Reviewing ‘Titans: Beast World’ #6

Titanic forces collide as the threat of the beast spores comes to a potentially universe-altering conclusion. Or maybe not.

The first event featuring the former sidekicks turned elite superhero team closes out with Titans: Beast World #6. A story from Tom Taylor, Lucas Meyer, Ivan Reis, Eduardo Pansica, Danny Miki, Julio Ferreira, Brad Anderson, Romulo Fajardo Jr., and Wes Abbott.

No, you didn’t blink and miss something. The Titans event is already over, tossing its final three issues out rapid-fire in the same month. There are food items in many of our fridges that lasted longer than this event. I’m sure DC has their reasons, but it sure feels pretty weird to just Flash-run the first headlining event as the premiere heroes of the universe.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t just the release pace that felt rushed with this story.

I appreciate, in some respects, what Taylor was trying to do here. A wild event story featuring Beast Boy becoming Starro to beat another giant alien star before losing control & causing people to become beasts? Sign me up, I’m on board.

American politics and Amanda Waller going full mustache-twirling supervillain with borderline right-wing commentary? Yeah, you’re losing me here. Final two issue sudden fourth villain reveal leading to an unsatisfactory rapid wrap-up in an oversized final issue? Color me bored.

Two-thirds of the conflicts of this final issue were introduced in the fifth issue. Doctor Hate/Raven’s demon self-came out of left field. Waller went from a few panels to borderline cackling supervillain in a flash. Most of the plots reach unceremonious semi-conclusions, some even happening off-panel, leaving the issue feeling like it has fifteen natural ending spots it ignores.

It’s like the version of a film where the final 45 minutes are all epilogues.

Taylor finds ways to inject some character stuff into the mix which at least helps the issue work a bit more. Conceptually it has a lot of good ideas and some of the execution works. The Waller stuff, while bizarre and feeling way too out of nowhere, might actually pay off. Evil Raven at least will get some room to breathe though the swap feels like an overdone trope. Beast Boy had a whole event around him and literally none of it was actually about him, but maybe his trauma will be addressed.

Don’t even get me started on the Joe Biden but not Joe Biden thing with Nightwing. Could not have groaned any louder than I actually did at that moment. Though, there is a chance I could. Guess we’ll see where things go.

At the end of the day, too many ideas, and not enough space to do any of them real justice. Good thing Waller is phasing out justice for order.

Things are all hands on deck for the heroes, and similarly so for the visuals. Every artist credited for former issues comes together in order to help piece together this big conclusion.

Reis, Pansica, and Meyer all have very superhero-friendly stylings while being very notably different from one another. One of those moments where the differences are apparent but not so jarring that it throws off when the changes occur. Tons of detail, pretty solid action, a lot of heavier aspects enhanced by the inks of Miki and Ferreira along the way.

Some of the moments are allowed to feel bigger than they would otherwise because of the work being done here. It’s all very kinetic, allowing the characters to flow and the emotional work is solid. I mentioned above about the character moments we witness here, and the collected artists deliver. One of the things that has worked in this event and the Titans book itself has been a nailing of the feeling of these being actual friends/found family who are heroic together.

Out of all the things being tossed around on the pages, that is one of the few things I do buy without question. Some clunky dialogue and characters talking at us aside, the story and the way the artists present it makes sure that we at least know and feel that history and depth.

As a darker-nature story, there are a lot of shadows in play to contrast the more vibrant popping colors that come with heroes. Anderson and Fajardo Jr. share the coloring workload here, finding a way to bridge their styles pretty seamlessly across the issue. While the previous issue leaned heavier into the darker tones, as evil was seemingly winning, here they remain dark but start to lighten as we move through the fifteen endings of the story. Speaking to the brightness that is there as the Titans stand against Waller and save those whom she is willing to sacrifice to keep her ill-gotten power.

I said some stuff a few lines ago about clunky dialogue, and there is quite a bit of that. Characters state a lot of things that we weren’t shown, dumping exposition on the reader because time has run out. That being said, Abbott does his usual solid job of at least making it look good and flow on the page. Especially in the more character and relationship-based scenes where emotions are high.

Final thoughts? A lot of ambition but not enough cohesion. Clip a few, or a lot, of plot points out of this book and there might have been a fun compelling story found.  A few solid beats and good artwork help an otherwise mostly forgettable event. I take no joy in saying that about a story that was right up my alley. Giving the Titans more spotlight, letting them be the big heroes, is something I’ve wanted for a long time.

I just wish it was living up to the promise it could have.

Titans: Beast World #6 is now available from DC Comics.