TITANS #19

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Warning: The following comic book features words, sentences, paragraphs, monologues, punctuation, bad grammar, good grammar, nice Grandma, the smell of cheese, the sound of silence, and fudge. Want to know more? Then please check it out. It was created by Dan Abnett, Paul Pelletier, and published by DC in January, 2018.

TO QUOTE My Mum: 'For behaving like that, young man, you will go to your room right this instant!'.

THE REVIEW:

Some people get told off for lying, some people get punished for behaving badly, and to a certain degree, some people get reprimanded for talking back to their elders. But in the case of the Titans, well, they get taken down a peg or two because they saved the entire planet!

Yeah! I'm not kidding! According to the Justice League, this group of ex-sidekicks could have handled the whole Troia situation a lot better than they did. For a start, Wally West’s unstable powers almost killed him, whereas the individual members of the team seemed to flounder from one ordeal to the next. Plus, to make matters even worse, Donna Troy’s unpredictable future is so uncertain that it could easily tarnish everyone, particularly if not properly assessed. 

So, what do you think they should do in order to rectify this mess? Have an argument? Call each other silly names? Fight against an evil cartel stockpiling a large batch of fake drugs? Yeah! Why not! Then once that’s done and dusted, they can then figure out if the Titans should stay together or fall apart! Want to know more? Then please pick up issue 19 of the Titans today. But before you do that, here, check this out...

Part One) AAAHHHHHH:   Now I’m sure you will agree with me when I say that having an argument isn’t always a good idea. Sometimes it’s a very emotional experience because it can make everyone involved feel bitter, angry, and stressed out, especially if someone involved is partly to blame. That said, however, the opposite can also be true, saying so because constructive criticism can be very beneficial when handled in the correct manner. After all, if you genuinely want to help someone out you have to make sure your approach is caring and not too judgmental. Otherwise what you might come out with could sound somewhat pious, hypocritical, and act in detriment to what you initially wanted to accomplish! 

So with that in mind, we have to ask ourselves: Why did the Justice League behave in such a blunt manner when they confronted the Titans? Particularly Batman, because he’s usually a pretty stoic character who always acts fairly well under pressure! Now though, well, now he seems more like a stern headmaster disciplining his pupils, and to me, this felt forced, really forced, bordering on the superficial.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, however, there were two members of the League that did stand out from the crowd, namely, The Flash and Wonder Woman, saying so because they were able to express their more compassionate side without it feeling too staged or overt. 

Now don’t get me wrong, up to a point I can completely understand that the Titans should have handled the whole Troia situation a lot better than they did, and yes, I do know that Wally and Donna both need someone to keep an eye on them given their individual predicaments. What I don’t understand, though, is why the League judged them so quickly without giving them a chance to explain themselves. Not properly, anyway, which from my point of view felt completely out of character for both teams!

Still, with that said, I suppose at the end of the day a positive outcome was reached, and I also liked that scene between Bruce and Dick, even though I’m not entirely sure if it was in sync with their normal portrayals.  Nonetheless, stuff was said, issues were resolved, and as push comes to shove a stepping stone has been put in place within this current story-line.

Part Two) SNIFF-SNIFF, AT-CHOO:   Despite it being fun, mildly ironic, and a good way of breaking up the narrative for the aforementioned argument, can someone please explain to me why Roy Harper wanted to stop that evil drug dealing cartel from peddling their wares? Yes, I do know that he was once an addict himself, and yes, I do know that stopping the bad guy is what he normally likes to do! But what else did he want to accomplish? Did he just do it to show them his best impersonation of Bruce Willis? Or was he trying to prove to himself that he could still handle drugs during his usual line of work?

Either way, I felt that this section was done in pretty bad taste, and trust me, I should know, because I for one am fully aware of how hard it can be for someone to overcome a continued addiction. All in all it’s never an easy thing to do because there is no such thing as a quick fix. On top of that, you also have to consider that certain addictions stay around for quite a while and need to be curbed when dealing with them, day in, day out, for most probably the rest of their lives. 

So once again, I must ask, why was Roy trying to stop an evil drug cartel when he knows that temptation is close by?  Maybe Dan Abnett thought that this would be an appropriate adventure for an ex-junky to pursue, knowing full well that he’s done so previously in numerous other tales? But then again, what new ingredients can Dan add to the mix? Can he add something to it to make this adventure feel more real, more pertinent, and more tempting to follow? I hope so. I really do. 

Part Three) PAUL IS NO FOOL:   I first fell in love with Paul Pelletier’s artwork when I first saw it on such titles as Darkstar, The Flash, Green Lantern, as well as an earlier version of the Titans series. In my eyes his cartoonish style is always fun to follow plus I particularly like the way his characters seem bold, polished, and dynamic on the page. So dynamic in fact, that sometimes his illustrations can seem too clean for an adventure where a lot of gritty emotion is involved.

Take a look at that scene which features Bruce and Dick for instance: The one where they both confront each other in a closed room situated in Titans Tower. Essentially this scene should be a real moody scene, and should show both characters scowling, grimacing, snarling, and basically behaving in a way you’d expect two people to react when they’re having an argument. But the thing is; when Paul tries to draw something like this, it unfortunately always seems to turn out slightly happier and more upbeat than it should. 

Now don’t get me wrong! I’m not trying to blame Paul because everyone at DC knows exactly how he draws. Who I’m blaming are those people that hired him because they should know a lot better. Apart from that, though, all in all Paul did a brilliant job on this book and I did enjoy those dynamic action scenes he drew which featured Arsenal. Well done, mate, and please keep up the good work.

THE MUSIC:

A song sprung to mind while I was reading this story, and it was so appropriate, so catchy, and so much fun to listen to, that I had no other choice but to select it for this months musical match-up. It’s the Pink Floyd song, ‘Another Brick in the Wall’.

THE COMPARISON:

Yes. That’s correct. I’m now going to compare this comic book to a teacher (or some other such person in authority). 

Do you want to know why? No. Of course you don’t. So comparison made. 

THE CONCLUSION:

At the end of this adventure, Roy Harper finds himself in a very difficult situation. So, out of the following eight scenarios, let’s see if you can guess what difficult situation he’s currently in? Could he be…

• Taking a shower situated on top of a live volcano. 
• Arguing to keep his name because he shares it with a football team based in England. 
• Dancing the tango in a field populated with landmines. 
• Fighting against a hail of bullets shot at him by a group of mercenaries.
• Swearing at a priest in a church full of nuns. 
• Sleeping on a bed of rusty nails laced with poison.
• Joining forces with The Outlaws because he thinks he’s being depicted better there.  
• Getting punched by a church full of nuns after swearing at a priest.

Nuff said.