A Tragic Case Of Fandom: Reviewing ‘Titans’ #12

Never meet your heroes. Actually, never let an evil scientist turn you into an android sent to fight your heroes. It’s an equation that sadly leads to only one predictable tragic outcome.

Titans #12 concludes an interesting story that is somewhat mired by being stuck in the middle of a stretched out longer event-lead up storyline. Tom Taylor, Lucas Meyer, Adriano Lucas, and Web Abbott conclude the tale of Vandia and kick the Dark-Winged Queen Raven story into higher gear.

No doubt it’s clear from the previous eleven reviews, my relationship with this series is a bit complicated. Overall, I think it’s a fine book. The Titans relationships are front and center and feel authentic, pulling from these characters decades long history together. Some of the more progressive minded plots fall apart a bit, mostly because comics from DC and Marvel can only be so progressive (since status quo is the king at the end of the day). Never have they really felt like the premiere heroes that they are meant to be with the Justice League disbanded (till the end of Absolute Power most likely).

Taylor presents a story that has some intriguing beats here. As I said in the last issue review, a young person who lived their life inspired by the Titans only to end up fighting them is a powerful story. It shows the impact of these characters outside of the usual scope, and has a very human tragic element baked right in. Especially since Raven happens to be evil Raven currently, causing the ending to fit that predictably tragic space I mentioned above.

On the other hand, the Raven beats of the story often feel like they are taking far too long to play out. Yet, this is somewhat addressed in the issue. What goes down between the two sides of Raven is a bit predictable (and her trapped brother calls it out somewhat) but adds some traction to the event. As does the cliffhanger ending.

Visually it just sings because Meyer is such a fantastic artist for this series. His style very much hits all the beats that many expect from superhero comics but comes with a very emotionally heavy weight. Slick, smooth, and kinetically charged as things just fly across the page as light as air. Giving plenty of space to every moment, whether through close-ups or pulling back. Keeping the audience in the thick of the moment, because we’re more than observers.

Each character has such life-like qualities, looking like they will punch or blast their way out of the comic at any second. Some of the shots have a bit of a static energy to them, but it’s not bad in any way.

Poppy and light very much is something that Lucas achieves with a color palette on a regular basis. Over in Nightwing that is the general tonal choice, and since this series also takes place in Blüdhaven and features heroics (and Nightwing) the connective color tissue works quite well. Each space, and moment (including time of day), has authentic unique qualities on display. Whether through shadows, bursts of light, or more vibrant blaring elements.

An emotionally powerful story has to feel that way all around, and Abbott is always there to nail the beats word wise. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Abbott pairs so well with Taylor. Able to take the type of story that Taylor is telling whether it’s working or not and make some magic with the words. Helping the moments land better, pack a punch, and flow smoothly as possible. Little moves with changing fonts, bubbles, and other elements helps the moments come in for a solid landing each time.

Titans #12 is now available from DC Comics.