Secrets revealed!
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Abnett
Art: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund
Colors: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Josh Reed
What They Say:
“DOUBLE AGENT”! The hunt for the team’s traitor takes an impossible turn when Nightwing is revealed as an agent of H.I.V.E.! As the Titans hunt for answers about their leader and friend, loyalties are tested like never before-and the Titans may never recover!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Titans has been one crazy ride overall since it got underway as Dan Abnett has poured a lot of things into it at a brisk pace that belies its monthly status. A lot of that is owed to what Booth and Rapmund bring to the book as the dynamic action sequences and the layouts that move you along in an engaging way really does give it a sense of urgency and speed. Which is why I did appreciate the quiet issue we had a bit ago that let the gang just sit around and chill a bit. But amid an arc about a traitor and a potential reveal of a global threat that’s close we aren’t getting anything that slows things down here. But, if we go too fast, well, Wally’s gonna die as his heart’s going to give out. Which is always a fun way to end an issue.
The reveal at the end of the last issue about Dick being the traitor was something that you could take with a grain of salt simply because it was a way to get you to come back but also because of his time being a spy recently meaning that there’s likely some deception involved. That’s not quite it as Roy pins him down while Wally insists everyone chill because Dick’s going to have a good answer. That he was infected by the nanites a while ago and broadcasting information unbeknownst to him isn’t the best reveal but it’s one that works because we get it reinforced that the team does trust him in all things. It also comes back to Wally insisting on no secrets. All of this ties into how HIVE has been aware of them and that has Dick trying to trace their steps back to their location through this, putting some of that good spy background to use while also frustrated with himself about how like Batman he is at times.
What’s driving a lot of this with HIVE however is the reveal through Lilith that they’re preparing for the aforementioned global catastrophe that they believe Lilith is at the center/cause of. That has her panicking a bit and ready to bring a close to things but an event in Delaware changes everything as the true evil is getting going, having overtaken Mal and Gnnark and then Psimon as well, resulting in some bad things set in motion amid the dead. The book shifts hard and fast to this so we don’t get any breathing room after the discoveries related to the traitor and what’s up with Lilith, but we do get a small bit of space where we see Donna and Wally bringing things to a close here to ease any confusion and just remain friends. Both have gone through a lot since Wally returned and it never felt like it was cemented but rather just a little subplot to add a little tension that didn’t click well enough.
In Summary:
Titans continues to burn through a good chunk of story that really makes me wish it was a biweekly book so that it didn’t have to be as compressed as it is. Some of that is just the way Booth lays out the pages as every panel feels like it has a lot going on, which makes for a great second and third reading, but it also makes it feel like it’s moving faster than it needs to. Such is the case of any book that has Wally West in it, though. This issue doesn’t quite reveal the real traitor yet but it ramps up more of what’s going on, something we’re seeing tastes of in other books in other ways as well, as events continue to build in the post-Rebirth world.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: September 13th, 2017
MSRP: $2.99
