It’s just another day for the New Titans.
And another…
…and another…
Oh, this is a fun issue. At the start I’m thinking new writer Tate Brombal hasn’t been reading the series, with Dick rather than Donna as leader, the heroes acting like they’re on Teen Titans Go, and Mammoth back with the Fearsome Five. Within a few pages, though, it’s obvious editor Marquis Draper has everything in hand and things aren’t as straightforward as they seem, so I settled into the rhythm of the story and just enjoyed the gentle mocking of writers’ tendencies to run the Titans greatest hits. That Tempest two-panel gag, for instance, made me laugh more than anything in comics for a good while, it’s a perfect encapsulation of Garth’s relationship to the Titans for, Lordy, 50 years.
As for the new team of Titans featured on the cover, they do show up, but perhaps Taurin Clarke’s impressive image should’ve been held over to next month. I’ll be interested to see how Brombal handles Terra’s latest tour of Titans duty after the roasting her constant traitor trope gets here. Plus, there’s a new New Titan I never saw coming.
Sami Basri, an illustrator I’ve enjoyed since his long-ago Power Girl assignment, gives us some very good looking art. While the script demands he repeats beats, he never bores, keeping the energy up throughout as we cheer Dick on to wake up and smell the coffee or Dr Destiny or Black Mercy… we shall see. And who knew a nine-panel grid of a caffeine drip could be exciting? Plus, that Pop Art style panel of an angsty Cyborg is just lovely.
The always excellent colour artist Adriano Lucas and letterer Tom Napolitano are the cherries on top of a very tasty Titans trifle. And the new logo is pretty decent, not as flatly dull as many mastheads of late.
If you fancy a refreshing take on an old superhero plotline, New Titans #33 could be just what you need.
Too Dangerous For a Girl 2 
Oh, this looks like a blast! I’ll definitely be interested in where this series goes with the new creative team.
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It’d be really great were the promise of this issue to be fulfilled.
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I stepped off this series for KO so it’s good not only I can go back but a blogger with I’d say eighty percent of the same taste as I have recommends it!
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Good luck!
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Was that Kid Devil? His demise was one of the biggest mistake during a bleak couple of years, compounded by him staying that way! And you were right. This was tons of fun!
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And, hurrah! Yep, it’s definitely Kid Devil, Tate, the writer, has been chatting about him online. Looks like the Red Devil name has been dropped, which is fine by me.
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Kid Devil! Oh, man, that’s fantastic!
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Maybe we’ll even get an update on where Ted is these days
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I think this issue had on me the opposite effect than the one that was intended.
You can tell Brombal feels very strongly about the Wolfman/Perez Titans, past Titans runs, how those characters are written, the influence of the animated series, etc.
Which leads me to question…why isn’t he just writing the Wolfman/Perez Titans instead like Taylor and Layman were doing?
I don’t know, as somebody who reads Titans I don’t care about Jon Kent and Yara Flor. I care about Raven, Starfire, Beast Boy, Donna Troy and Cyborg.
This issue makes the argument that the Titans should change, but it doesn’t really make the argument why this new roster should be that change. It’s not like new Titans rosters is something that has never been tried.
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Does anyone care for Yara Flor? She was written as so annoying and we didn’t need yet another Wonder Girl? Worse, she’s from yet another unneeded secret tribe of Amazons and raised in the US, making her half a step from the white savior trope. And as for old Titans, I agree with using the New Teen Titans but I’ll always have a soft spot for the members of the Rozakis team.
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Me too, give me a Bette Kane-led lot with Mal, Karen, Charlie and a recognisable Lilith. But no Duella.
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I liked Duela until Donna’s wedding but nothing since with either her character or the Joker’s Daughter codename.
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I care about Yara Flor in that I want her painfully kicked out of the DC Universe. I read a Reddit Q&A with Brombal last week and he kept saying most of the classic New Titans have new big DCU gigs coming up elsewhere. Still, I don’t see why we need another Titans lime-up, there are dozens of unused Titans out there. Heck, it’s been so long I’m even nostalgic now for rhe Dan Jurgens gang.
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