Pete Woods’ striking cover, an acknowledged homage to Frank Quitely’s JLA: Earth Crime Syndicate image, is a fitting way to trail the conclusion to the current storyline. For months, master mercenary turned oddball obsessive Deathstroke has been building his own Crime Syndicate, comprising longtime Titans foe Mammoth, a back-from-the-dead Terra, an amped-up Clock King, a recidivist Killer Frost and would-be heroine turned Deathstroke dupe Vanadia.
The issue opens with heroes and villains clashing, and the good guys look to be on the back foot.
Then narrator Beast Boy takes us back to before the tussle.
And wouldn’t you know it, Gar, so often the useful idiot of the Titans, comes up with a very solid plan. Which means there’s surely no way it’s going to come off.
And, back at the fight.
OK, not a win for Starfire… but we do get eventual victory for the team as a whole. In a very refreshing move courtesy of writer John Layman, the plan comes together. Gar’s observations prove key to working out the Crime Syndicate’s team dynamics well enough to derail them, with his pals executing their part to a tee.
What’s more, the aspect of the serial that had disappointed me – Killer Frost’s return to crime after her rehabilitation in Steve Orlando’s Justice League of America – is explained away in a way that’s easy to accept.
There isn’t room for every Titan to get a spotlight moment amid the action, but Cyborg and Raven share the joint MVP with Beast Boy. Of the rogues, Mammoth is the most fun.
The only off-note is current Titans leader Donna Troy remarking ‘Terra used to be one of us’, apparently forgetting she was a traitor from Day One.
Still, good on Layman for showing the Titans as a together team – smart, functional and able to parlay setbacks into success. They were never this good when they officially replaced the Justice League as the DCU’s top team.
Pete Woods gives us another 20 pages of sharp full-colour art, replete with well-considered angles, popping power blasts and cracking characters. I mean, dig the lolloping green bunny.
There’s a rare typo from letterer Wes Abbott, but otherwise it’s another good job. I’m not a big fan of borderless balloons, but I assume that’s a request by Woods.
I doubt you need to have been following the ongoing story to enjoy this issue, so if you’ve been skipping Titans, give this issue a go, you may be pleasantly surprised.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
I’ve been buying this since Layman took over and have been enjoying it a lot and Woods seems to be levelling up as an artist and he was already very good! Layman is a solid writer who deserves a bit more of a spotlight. If we could get a bit more of the Titans when they’re not being Titans, that would be my only note, though reading upcoming issue blurbs, it feels like it might get sideswiped a bit by DC KO.
Stu
LikeLiked by 1 person
I definitely agree with that one, I think I said as much in a recent review… perhaps I nicked that from you.
LikeLike
Surprised to see you so positive about it. I have been seeing a lot of hate towards this run online, although maybe Titans fans are just hard to please.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so out of touch with online opinion. I just can’t get my head around Discord (Ma Kent Lives!). I only see those comic book reviews that give everything a core of 8+. If you have a minute, could you tell me what people don’t like?
LikeLike
Late to the party as one of those haters. It’s because I’m finding his treatment of the Titans women to be terrible. Kory’s lucky if she gets a line an issue, and luckier still if it’s vaguely in character or not clunky ‘I miss space’ (charitably) foreshadowing. As of the current issue, Donna’s massively insecure and back with Roy-both of which are such incredible whiplash from the truly stellar Annual-and feels like she has zero presence.
And as for Raven… well. That’s been a case of complete and utter character assasination. She’s gone from borderline unrecognisable to completely unrecognisable. The resolution of the DWQ storyline was to turn her into a plot device to introduce Roy to the team, with Layman so uninterested in exploring her that he gave us exactly two panels of truly horendous exposition to explain what she’d been going through for multiple issues. And her entire existence revolves around Gar, to the point she’s never seen without him, has gone exactly one conversation without referencing him in I think seven issues now, and her conflict with Terra in the KO event is being framed, not around their historical issues with each other, but about whether or not Raven’s secure in her relationship with Gar. As unrecognisable Ravens goes, it’s almost up there with her Titans Hunt wedding crasher days.
And don’t get me started on his approach to reintroducing Terra. As you note, Terra was a traitor from day one. She lied her way into the Tower, spied on and manipulated them, stole their secret identities, betrayed them to their enemies, endangered their loved ones, tried to kill them, and then killed herself rather than accept their help. She had complete contempt for Kory and Gar, a chilling outright hated of Raven (and was, in turn, one of the few characters NTT-era Raven found irredeemable), and thought the others were stuck-up, self-righteous bastards as best. And yet we’re being told the story as if the only thing that matters is that she’s Gar’s ‘ex’. Which she never even was.
And in exchange, we’re getting, what? A whistlestop tour of the Doom Patrol? Nice, but that whole thing really just further highlighted to me how much both Taylor and Layman think the Titans should revolve around Gar for reasons I frankly don’t understand.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! Thats a superb, detailed look at what’s wrong with Layman’s scripts. I’d noticed that we’ve been getting an awful lot of Gar these past few years, but it hadn’t dawned on me quite what short shrift the women were getting.
I’d basically shrugged at the modern YA Raven, rather than spoke out against the insipid soul she’s been for quite a while (although I did enjoy the way she dealt with that robot woman, Veryhardtorecall or whoever recently).
Starfire should be a mix of delightful and fierce, and yes, it’s been a long while. And Donna often seems to be on the verge of being herself, but outside of that annual it’s not really happening.
I like Beast Girl, but I do worry Layman seems to like using her more than the actual female Titans.
LikeLike
This has been a very good run to date. I don’t buy as much DC as I used to so how Terra is alive is lost on me but enough time has passed since her madness induced suicide and its immediate emotional effects on the team that I can just enjoy her being the bitch nemesis now.
And do you think Layman is purposefully writing Donna as a fairly poor leader or did they have to eff up loads to get us to this great issue and that just made her look bad? She is never going to live up to Dick’s standard but almost every Titan ever would also be a bad leader over time. I think Karen and Mal could each pull it off and if you go through the whole long list of Titans, Ravager and Supergirl would be effective as well. I’d rather just have Dick back though. He’s DC’s Cyclops after all.
And howzabout a hearty call for that robot girl to be written out within the first three pages of next issue. She’s too OP and her emotional issues bore. I can’t ever recall her name and she’s nt worth Googling right now.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m amazed Verucca the Overpowered is still around, I was sure she’d fulfilled her story potential. They may as well bring back that terrible Indigo thingie.
I don’t think Donna has been too bad…I expect this week’s annual by Phil Jimenez will give her a good showing.
LikeLike
I liked Indigo and Metamorfaux a lot. Her turning was the emotional hit i was supposed to be for me at least. I’m on the fence looking forward to the annual TBH. I’ve never been too excited by his art and his writing hits me even less. I just love Donna so it’s okay. Even Byrne’s Dark angel crap coasted by with me.
LikeLike