Any Port In A Storm: Reviewing ‘Titans’ #8

Beast World has been dealt with, but another darkness within the Titans is waiting to be unleashed upon the world.

Preparation for the premiere hero team’s next big storyline begins with Titans #8. An issue from Tom Taylor, Stephen Segovia, Annette Kwok, and Wes Abbott.

To borrow another phrase that I’ve used in quite a few reviews recently, that was sure a series of events. To be fair, there were some intriguing character beats included within. Hell, Beast Boy had more focus and emotional beats in this issue than he had in an entire six-issue event centered on him.

Fallout from superhero events is something that has been lost a lot in the modern era. People fearing superheroes when things go wrong can be an interesting nugget to mine. It’s unfortunately been a premise that comics have mined to death, in both good and bad ways, for decades. Taylor has some intriguing beats in there and it could bear some solid fruit over time. Still not a fan of Waller becoming a cackling villain to get us here, but I’ll reserve some judgment till it all plays out.

Raven being fully evil now but doing the typical villain thing of stringing heroes along is a bit meh. Not even having the other villain briefly call her out (before changing his tune) can really save it. It’s just like the first arc, really dragging out story beats to build toward whatever next big storyline is in the works.

Titans as the big hero team of the world is a great premise. I just wish we were getting more actual time exploring that and the characters, rather than what amounts to almost a montage as a series.

Ahead of Lucas Meyer becoming the ongoing artist for the book, Segovia steps in to play for an issue.

It’s been a bit since I’ve read a book with Segovia’s artwork. It’s a little rougher than I recall, but still very expressive and dynamic. A lot of close-ups and smart panel choices allow more room for these emotional moments to breathe. Even as I describe the issue as a series of events, in a sense, they are a well depicted series of events.

Kwok returns as the colorist, bringing back a darker and heavier color palette into play. Interestingly, the two issues set within the overall dark event were way brighter/more vibrant. Tonally the darker stuff works here because the Titans are in a dark space, trying to find their place in the world, and Beast Boy especially certainly isn’t having a good day. Tons of shadows pop up as the colors are more dour/toned-down, outside of the Hell sequences that have a poppier red flare to them.

Emotional energy bursts through all the artwork, including the lettering. Abbott excels at capturing the character voices and the energy of the moment. Little flairs here or there enhance it all. Letting the volume, tone, or impact of words become stronger.

Titans #8 is now available from DC Comics.