When Talking To Yourself Pays Off — Reviewing ‘New Titans’ #35

Having friends means being willing to fight the Persian Empire to make sure they are safe and protected. In some cases, that might mean having to fight yourself from being too overprotective.

As the split versions of Cyborg battle it out mentally, the rest of the Titans, new and old, fight for their freedom in New Titans #35. Pieces begin to come together as Tate Brombal, Sami Basri, Jordi Tarragona, Vincente Cifuentes, Adriano Lucas, and Tom Napolitano bring the first arc of the new Titans era to a close.

Ushering in a new status quo, especially hot on the heels of a big event, is never easy. There are a lot of balls to juggle as the new creative team gets their bearings and lays out the first steps of their new foundation.

Overall, I would say that this team was successful. Even if this particular issue was not the strongest of the three, especially as a conclusion.

If it were not for the very last pages, there would have been a paragraph here about things being wrapped up too quickly and neatly. As we see, though, the threat that the split Cyborg was worried about isn’t gone. Nor is the threat of Cyborg perhaps reaching too far and high.

I would say that Brombal has a pretty steady hand on the voices and developments of these characters. In this issue there was a bit too much exposition, and having to explain after the previous two issues were more gimmick and fight-focused. So, we get a whole montage of Cyborg explaining who all these new Titans are. While it could be argued that this is potentially new reader friendly, it also undeniably bogs the issue down a bit.

I’m still invested in this pairing of characters and where it goes from here which is what most creators want to achieve.

There is a noticeable shift on the artistic side as it changes from Basri to Cifuentes very early on. It’s not that type of shift that is a bad one to notice. Those are where the styles are so jarringly different or incompatible that it throws a whole story off. These artists have styles that are similar enough to one another that it’s just a minimal type of shift.

It was the faces that showed me the shift as they sort of slimmed a bit between styles.

Either way, it still flows and moves quite well, matching each other for tones that lean on the lighter whimsical superhero side while still adding some rougher textual depth at the same time. There’s plenty of dynamic energy crackling in the fight scenes. Each space they visit does feel unique and very well-rendered. The inks that Tarragona and Cifuentes provide expand that heft and depth.

A portion of that superhero boldness comes from Lucas, who has been a steady hand on the book for quite some time. He offers up a color palette that is lush, vibrant, bold, smooth, and shadowy at every turn, giving each space a very different lighting style and colorful filter adds to the uniqueness I referenced above.

It feels so very light and powerful at the same time.

Remember how I said that things got really wordy at some points? Despite the deluge of exposition, it never becomes too overwhelming on a visual level. That’s thanks to the grand lettering work that Napolitano always delivers, giving it all the right amount of emotional resonance and power no matter who it’s coming from.

Little modifications with color, shape, size, and placement make sure we can always tell the tone or volume we’re meant to hear. Just like all the sweet sweet SFX that are all over the place doing that grand comic book sound thing.

New Titans #35 is now available from DC Comics.