The world is being overrun by crazed animal people, transformed by little Starros made from a super-sized Beast Boy. The heroes are doing what they can, and so are the villains. Well, some of them, anyway.
It’s Giganta, longtime enemy of Wonder Woman and occasional girlfriend of all-new Atom Ryan Choi. Ryan’s not in this story, nor – bar a random poster – is original Earth Zero Atom Ray Palmer. But Giganta is big and brave and determined to save Ivy Town…
… oops.
The Titans, who feel a certain responsibility for the current crisis, wrangle heroes – including a Swamp Thing – to save as many lives as possible.
Amanda Waller, who used to be a hero but is now finding as many ways as possible to make super-people look bad, reckons she can solve a problem like ‘Garro’.
I always liked Chunk. Chester Runk, sweet-natured pal of Flash Wally West, a man with the power of a black hole within him. And now Waller’s unwilling weapon against Beast Boy.
By the end of the issue he’s been pronounced dead. I really hope that’s a feint from writer Tom Taylor – surely he wouldn’t throw away a much-liked character with loads of potential? Bad enough he has Peacemaker carelessly kill Chunk’s son earlier in this chapter. It’s all so cruel, and I hate that this supposed Waller is constantly allowed to get away with murdering heroes and villains at will to further her own twisted ends.
I also don’t like that while most of the Titans are on Earth, doing a pretty good job in the face of overwhelming odds, other mega-powerful, experienced heroes are just hanging around, watching Donna keep the giant Starro-fied Beast Boy at bay.
What attack? Have they been told an assault on Earth by other parties is imminent? Even if that’s the case, how many heroes with the ability to get to and from Earth in seconds have to keep watch? Earth is falling apart as the Starro plague spreads. Millions of people could die. So why not just leave a Green Lantern, perhaps a Super-Person, and get down to Earth where it’s not a matter of threat, it’s an active assault on mankind?
Heck, it’s not as if anyone is even offering Donna a hand in restraining Angry Gar.
All of which begs the question: how big does the threat have to be before the Justice League is officially re-formed?
That was the final issue of Dark Crisis in December 2022 and Batman’s move never made a lick of sense. There have been various threats to the DC Universe since then, such as Night Terrors, yet still the League lies dormant? Why is DC convinced that the Titans can only shine if they’re nominated the Biggest and Bestest Team by Batman? The DC Universe is big enough for more than a single blockbuster brigade.
And does DC not want the sales a Justice League relaunch book would undoubtedly bring?
The weirdness of the absent Justice League, and the participation of Eeeeevil Waller apart, I’m rather enjoying this storyline. This main mini series is fun, the regular Titans book is strong, and there have been some decent shorts – and a few horrors – in the ‘World Tour’ books.
Here Tom Taylor provides a good script, while illustrator Lucas Meyer and colourist Romulo Fajardo Jr produce some cracking pages. Taylor, bless him, is still trying to make Jon Kent as Superman happen, but Jr does feature in a fantastic scene.
Sadly for him, Wally West is the star, comforting a Jon who’s overwhelmed by all the suffering he perceives. I suspect we’re meant to be impressed by the kid’s super-empathy, but really, it makes Jon look like he’s in the wrong job. How I miss his never-say-die, scrappy Super Son days.
Waller, Peacemaker and Luthor aren’t as involved in this issue as the terrific cover by Ivan Reis, Danny Miki and Brad Anderson implies, which is a shame, I’d love to see Waller slapped about by were-people… when you’re coming across as less moral than Lex Luthor, you’re probably on the bottom of someone’s shoe.
Two issues to go. I’d love Taylor and co to wrap this thing up conclusively, but it’s almost certainly leading into the next stage of Waller’s unwarranted war on the superheroes.
>Theatrical sigh<
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
1. It bugs me how DC/Taylor forget/ignore that the Titans (or some of them at least) already stepped up and WERE the Justice League when James Robinson wrote that title just before the New52 was launched. That was a fun/decent run that made good use of the premise of the younger heroes graduating to the JLA.
2. I refuse to read anything involving this new Waller. DC has given absolutely no in-universe justification for her complete turn into a villain. I think it just started with some writers misunderstanding the character and it stuck. Unfortunately it kinda feels like she’s been Hank Pym-ed, if you understand the reference. One writer’s characterization of her has just been maintained by everyone else until now it is THE characterization…
3. Totally agree on the lack of a Justice League. It feels like a forced editorial mandate with no valid in-universe explanation for it. There’s nothing wrong with having the Titans fill that role, but the way it’s been done just does not at all feel organic. At least when Robinson did it it was post-Infinite Crisis and Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman had all stepped away from superheroing for a year to recover/get their heads straight.
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That Robinson run is seriously underrated and yes, they must be deliberately ignoring it. As well as Donna and Dick in the Robinson run we’ve had Arsenal in the Meltzer, Cyborg and Starfire in… Justice League Odyssey? Wally, of course. Why didn’t the Titans just call themselves the Justice League Blüdhaven or something!
Good choice on Pretendy Waller.
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Forgot to add my name on the above post – Brian
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Hi Brian!
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I’m enjoying Beast World – but ignoring non-Taylor tie-ins, no point to them – and I think this is a better crossover event than most. Over in Nightwing and Titans, he’s sold me on the idea that the Titans can lead the heroes the same way the JLA used to, in a way that didn’t YET make sense when they gave Dick the reins in Zero Hour.
Turning people into animals is whatever (better than the samey Eclipso transformations), but Gar as a Starro, and Waller’s plan to discredit the heroes (Legends – oh my, it really is a big remix, isn’t it?) are interesting (even if I long for a heroic Wall) and there are a lot of strong/crazy moments.
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That last one was Siskoid, by the way. The site is anonymoused me.
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It has been a pretty good surprise. The transformations are so speedy there has to be a magical element – maybe they’ll bring Circe into the mix, could be she seduced Gar at some point and infected him.
I promise I am not fantasising, Siskoid!
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There’s plenty of room for more teams. Not long ago, we had Justice League, Justice League Dark, Teen Titans, and Titans running concurrently. (Also Justice League Odyssey was running, but that wasn’t a team in the normal sense.)
That said, I’ve been enjoying Beast World. Tom Taylor does well in this kind of genre, and Lucas Meyer has been doing good work picking up after Ivan Reiss.
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It has been pretty good. I worry about all these offcuts of Beast Boy getting blasted to smithereens.
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Oh, replying has changed here – didn’t mean to post 100% anonymously. That was from T.N.
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Always great to have you drop by!
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I’m enjoying the series, but I hate to see Chunk die. I’ve always liked him.
That said, I don’t see sacrificing one person/two people to save millions (or more) as entirely beyond even the original Waller’s ethics. I think she’d have qualms about Chester, as he’s not a criminal; to me, it’d be more likely that she’d find someone in jail with similar powers and do this to them. (I can’t think of who that’d be, but I’m sure there’s someone.) But as a strategic move, I can see any Waller, original or this one (a doppelganger*, I’m sure) deciding that the math works: millions > 2.
*I’ve seen some hints dropped in DC books that something’s not right with Waller — I think someone in Green Arrow noticed it (Roy?), and the notion has cropped up somewhere else, too. I suspect this arc continues for a while, with her amassing more power, and publicly, after the conclusion of Beast World, and then overreaching and getting taken down by the heroes (and having her shadier shenanigans revealed to the world). And somewhere in there — the ORIGINAL Waller returns. And has to build back her reputation (and solve a crisis that only she sees coming) after trust has completely eroded beneath her. She’ll get her own solo book to tell that story (just as her show premieres on MAX), as she starts from zero and tries not to walk the same path as her evil duplicate did, even as she’s constantly presented with ethical quandaries that tempt her toward cruel and expedient successes.
At least, that’s how I’D do it.
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Oh, excellent speculation and suggestions, Rob, something like that wouldn’t take away the bad taste of recent Waller/‘Waller’ appearances, but it’d make for some interesting stories.
Green Arrow #5 was the comic in which Waller’s behaviour was questioned – Cheshire said: ‘Waller has made deals, compromises I never would have expected of her. Given we know Roy is soon apparently working with her, it sounds like he’s gone undercover to check her out.
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And he’s worked with her before, too — in the original Suicide Squad 10 and 11, if I’ve got my numbers right — so maybe he’ll know the difference.
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Oh, great memory!
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