The Titans march along as the Beast World event continues, but sadly, this chapter is a little out of order. You should read this before Titans: Beast World #4, so hopefully, if you are catching up on your comics reading, you can sneak this in. What has been great about this volume of Titans is that even if you are not reading the event, the story is contained enough and contains references to what you need to understand so that you can stick to the main series and not feel like you are missing pieces of the story arc. From this current Titans series, we have been following Brother Eternity, and after the last issue reveal, just how far will one Titan go to stop this evil?
The issue opens just like our preview shows, and the creative team of writer Tom Taylor, artist Travis Moore, and colorist Tamra Bonvillain have the Titans on the ropes. I like the framing of how Brother Eternity, a.k.a. Xand’R, has Starfire and Cyborg pinned down along with Batgirl, a.k.a. Oracle, making an all-call for help. It’s a great setup that showcases the present danger and the team’s response. Taylor plays Xand’R perfectly as we see what deals he has made to betray Starfire’s family on his quest for power. Luckily, he plays a trope of being ignorant of his enemy, and Cyborg plays a foil to Xand’R’s plans.
By this point in the series and event, we have seen many characters transformed into beasts, and the last issue previewed Nightwing’s transformation. Hopefully, it’s not too much of a SPOILER, but I want to prepare you: we see Nightwing transform into a fox. I like that he and Batman were not transformed into creatures that would’ve played to their heroic names. I hope somewhere down the line, we get an explanation from Tom Taylor as to how the beasts and characters matched up. The pairing of Dick Grayson and a fox is excellent for both, as they share traits of being intuitive, intelligent, and emotional.
Artist Travis Moore and colorist Tamra Bonvillain are an excellent pairing for this comic. They come together to create some pages that start with showing our heroes driven to the edge by the dangers they face and then end by instilling hope. We get some suspenseful chase scenes and quick battles that show what happens when the Titans escape and get their wits back. Two great scenes are Starfire saving Nightwing from the beast spore and the other when the team discovers Xand’R is no longer an issue. That second moment will play to the characters’ emotions as they might disagree with the solution; after the event, the team might have some civil issues to deal with internally.
It’s always darkest before the dawn. This issue proves it, as the Titans are against the ropes, but they regroup and come together for a costly win. The threat of Brother Eternity getting shut down will create a future problem for the close-knit team, as they might not like the solution made for them. It’s a fun issue that adds to the Beast World event at DC Comics.
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