That sense of hope and optimism kicks in again.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund
Colors: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
What They Say:
Friends. Teammates. Titans. Donna Troy, Arsenal, Garth, Lilith and Nightwing were all that and more until a mysterious force erased their memories, forcing them to forget what they could accomplish together. Reunited with their memories returned, the Titans must destroy the interdimensional demon that broke them apart and threatens reality itself.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I still remember those early days in the 1980’s when I was a Marvel fan and didn’t read any DC Comics material and my friend who read them more told me to read Teen Titans because it was the equivalent of the X-Men for the publisher. Those early issues I read were the gateway into the world that DC offered and I found myself enjoying this world far more than others for the next decade or so before I shuffled out of comics in the mid 1990’s. So, when Rebirth hit and it put Wally front and center and offered him as our window into what’s gone wrong while also aligning him with the hope and optimism that long defined the character, it felt like going back home. That mean that the Titans: Rebirth issue was a must for me to check out just to see what elements from the team of days gone by I might get to reconnect with.
Written by Dan Abnett, who seems to be writing everywhere and everything these days, he’s joined by Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund as they deliver a very vibrant and dynamic book that hits up the whole Flash feeling right. In some ways, I almost but not quite want to say there’s a 90’s kind of energy about it, but I know that has some sort of bad connotation these days. What I get from it is a sense of momentum and movement in general with the layouts, the way the characters are presented by the camera, and just the detail in the designs that makes it feel richer as it draws you into them more. These are the four color heroes of my childhood in terms of the look and the look is very good because it pays respect to where they came from – even while giving Wally a new outfit to work with here, which he admits may not be the best of ideas.
Being told through Wally’s point of view, we get a great little nod/recap to the past that’s very wistful, particularly as it avoids much of the pain that the team went through in the time that was stolen from them. It sets up a brighter, more colorful and fun history that doesn’t exist now except for in Wally’s memories, before it shifts to the reality of the world at hand. Darker, a bit more depressing, and frustrating since he’s spent his time watching this happen while not knowing who or why it happened. But after making a connection with Barry in the main Rebirth book it makes sense that Wally would go and find his other family to try and reconnect. The need to feel real is strong in him and if he can reach Barry then surely he can reach the rest.
What follows is a crazily chaotic series of sequences as Nightwing comes across him first and is kind of shocked into remember pieces of Wally, and then in turn the same happening to the rest as they come to Nightwing’s aid. Abnett works this well to introduce us to the characters, though I think for new readers he could have gone a bit further in establishing who they are – and for lapsed readers as well as it took me a bit to figure out which Garth we had here. Having not read for probably twenty years with this cast, it’s interesting to see the familiar and different in some of them, such as Donna and Roy, while Lilith is someone that I can’t quite place at the moment. Still, it’s the kind of introduction set that works to give us the basics and there’s more than enough to tantalize with here because of my pre-Flashpoint familiarity, or more so my pre/post-Crisis familiarity, and the opportunity to revisit these characters again with what they’re like now as they struggle with what happened to them is far more enticing than I imagined it would be.
In Summary:
While I’ve struggled with Abnett’s writing from time to time as some books work far better than others, I’m hopeful that this one will flow pretty well once it settles into its ongoing a bit. I’m curious about this book more than others because of Wally’s memories and what he has to deal with as well as others having to deal with him, plus what he can provide in terms of what happened with Flashpoint and the greater powers in the mix. The big sell beyond that is what Brett Booth and Norm Rapmund are doing here with the artwork. There’s a strong design here that goes for the action side very well in making it feel almost classic superhero in a sense, classic being the 80’s/90’s style. It has a dynamism to it that carries well from panel to panel, giving it impact while capturing the choreography of the fights really well. I’m definitely looking forward to see how they grow with the book as well.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: June 15th, 2016
MSRP: $2.99
