TITANS #8

If you ever decide to go to New York City, please try to remember to take in all of the sights. There's the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building, NBC Studios, Rockefeller Center, plus there's that other place shaped like a giant 'T'. You know the one, as you can see it in the following comic book created by Dan Abnett, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, and published by DC Comics. It's February, 2017, and it's time for the Titans in review.

TO QUOTE Bruce Lee: 'Knowledge will give you power, but character respect'.

THE REVIEW:

Part one of Made In Manhattan is a story that mainly focuses on Mal Duncan and his beautiful wife, Karen. Now as some of you may recall, last month they both went to a meta-human clinic in order for Karen to decide on what she wanted to do with her speed-induced superpowers. One part of her is intrigued by her fledgling abilities, whereas another part is in love with her current lifestyle and she doesn't want to change it.

What makes matters even more confusing is what Mal then decides to tell her. From the looks of it, Mal's scared, real scared. Not only because he's concerned about what these powers can do to his wife, but also because he knows what it's like to be a superhero. In fact, Mal's concern has become so overbearing, a few days previously he paid this clinic a visit and got them to remove his powers (which they did), and he would now like Karen to do the same thing, but only if she wants to.

Another factor I would like to address centers on the clinic itself, namely, it being run by a doctor called Peter Simon, who's secretly known as the villain Psimon. Worse still, is that once Karen goes into his office to discuss matters further, Mal suddenly spots one of his henchmen from the Fearsome Five, the henchman called Mammoth, who almost killed him during the Titans Hunt saga.

Now during this time the other members of the team are dealing with their own personal issues back at Titans Tower. This basically comprises three separate yet interlocking sequences where we get to see: (1) Donna talking to Roy about her job as a photographer; (2) Wally explaining to Dick about his budding relationship with Linda; And (3) Lilith sparring with Garth so she can improve her fighting skills! When suddenly, lo and behold -- bang -- Lilith gets a psychic flash about Mal, and they all go off to investigate what's happening to him.

So yeah, that's about it for this story. So far, anyway! As for the art, on the other hand, as per usual Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund have both provided us with some cleanly illustrated visuals that tell a story and evolve the plot, doing so in a style that's one part manga and one part superhero. Dan Abnett's adventure is a fairly intriguing one as well, as I did like the way each team member had some time in the spotlight, while the main brunt of the story gradually crept up around them.

What I didn't like, however, is Mal's portrayal in this book. Currently he's coming across as being a bit of a coward, or at least someone who would rather avoid situations than confront them. But in the same breath I could also be wrong, as this aspect of his personality could be explained away at a later date. For the time being, though, nice story, great art, and a finale that got me buzzing for next month.

THE MUSIC:

While I'm on the subject of the finale, for this month's musical match-up I'd like to partner this comic with the following song sung by the SNL alumni, John Belushi. Let's just say it's all about the buzz, ha!

THE COMPARISON:

I'd like to compare this month's adventure to a clinic, or some other brand of medical establishment.

Well, it only stands to reason! Most of the story was set in a clinic, and involved people talking about, quote, unquote, 'issues'. So what else am I going to compare it to? A list of bee related puns?

THE CONCLUSION:

At the very end of this episode the Titans show up at the clinic and find Karen dressed as a bee. Yes. That's correct. I said a bee: Those black and yellow striped insects that buzz around the garden and collect pollen. Anyway, what I want to know is if you can guess what she say's to the Titans during their confrontation? Could it be...