Review
Teen Titans #52
Writer: Sean McKeever
Pencils: Jamal Igle, Marlo Alquiza, Jesse Delperdang
Welcome to my (and DC’s apparently) Blue Beetle push. In this issue Blue Beetle joins the Titans to help them battle a Starro thread (mind controlling starfish) while their future selves, who have become a cynical Justice League, try and convince them to kill everyone. The issue is mostly a fight, and that’s fairly well done, if rather uneventful. Beetle is included here as a push to his own book, since all the big names of the DCU are present and he’s, in wrestling terms, getting a rub from them by being in the same book.
The fight may consume the action, but it isn’t what this story is about. This is about alternate, darker versions of the characters we know well. Unfortunately, this is taken a bit far to the point where it’s difficult to see how these characters have become this warped. Most have better moral compasses than this and in at least two cases we’re asked to believe these changes are the result of heartbreak. Heartbreak is certainly traumatizing, but this absolutely takes those changes a bit too far to be taken seriously.
The characterization of the Titans themselves seems shallow. Blue Beetle himself suffers from the same problem and his voice fails to ring true, particularly in a small, unintentional disrespect of Superman. The writing is focused on their character traits so as to contrast them with their counterparts, but in doing so seems to forget how viable they are as well rounded characters and that none of this is big enough to shake them severely, particularly after the very recent Crisis to which this pales in comparison. The return of several dead characters could also have more done with them, since there is little done with reactions to their being alive.
The issue suffers from a change in pencils several times throughout, with quite a few panels looking outright rushed. Luckily since this is largely an action comic, the rushed panels merely have a cartoony feel which isn’t too jarring from the rest of the issue.
Ultimately this issue suffers from some shady characterization of the Titans both present and future, but is carried by a strong central premise. It’s difficult not to be at least slightly engaged by future versions of these characters as the Icons of present day. The Titans are more than the traits displayed here and really more must be done to make me accept such a bleak future. At least the cliffhanger promises an interesting next issue…
