It’s an even bigger New Comic Book Day than normal. Marvel is kicking off a new Avengers series by Jed MacKay, Carlos Villa, and Federico Blee. DC, meanwhile, is offering Batman: The Brave and the Bold by Tom King and a murders’ row of talent, and the comic we’re here to talk about today: Titans #1 by Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott. If you read Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths, you’ve seen how much impact, drama, and legacy the Titans team has in their adventures; combine that with Tom Taylor’s writing on Nightwing and you know you’ve got a fantastic comic series in store.
Nicola Scott has previously worked with Tom Taylor on the New 52 series, Earth 2. Their time on that series proved they could handle an extensive roster of heroes by giving each character a moment to shine and creating scripts with a spectacle and pages of art that show how the characters can save the day with astounding feats. Right from the get-go in Titans #1, you can see that they have resumed their fantastic chemistry. Annette Kwok joins in on the fun as the colorist for this issue and gives a lovely shine to Scott’s art that provides the Titans a glow, showing their celebrity and heroic status.
We get some great scenes that showcase the team in action as they are called upon to stop Titano from destroying a nuclear power plant. I like this device as it is an excellent way for newer readers to see how the team comes together in the face of danger and how cool they are since they’ve been doing work like this since their teen years. It is a subtle way of showing their abilities and teamwork without using a flashback to remind us of their chemistry. We are fortunate as the chemistry of the characters and the creative team are in sync with each other, and we are reaping some awesome, entertaining rewards.
Speaking of devices that make the issue enjoyable, using The Flash like Tom Taylor does is exciting and quite the hook. Wally West is a hot character right now with his “rebirth” in Joshua Adams’ Flash run, so to take Wally and put him in danger will get some notice from fans. Taylor has also been fantastic with characters on his Nightwing series, so the increase in character roster amplifies that. This issue has my interest in looking at Beast Boy and Raven to see how they are growing and maturing through the trauma suffered in Dark Crisis. This issue is a character “dramedy” wrapped up in a mysterious death with a side of action. Family can usually beat most teams, and the Titans will give Batman and the Avengers a run this week as they continue saving the world and looking good while they do it.
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