TITANS #1written by Judd Winick
art by Ian Churchill & Norm Rapmund
Okay...
When this book was first announced I was kind of excited. I mean,
THE NEW TEEN TITANS has always been one of my all-time favorite comics. I love these characters and having them come back together was just too much to ask. Even though the previous
TITANS revival kinda fell apart, I still wanted to love that one, too.
Judd Winick wasn't really a stumbling block for me. I know a lot of people on the internet seem to hate him, but he's written some good stuff (
GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY, the first couple years of
THE OUTSIDERS) along with the bad (
TITANS/YOUNG JUSTICE: GRADUATION DAY,
TITANS EAST SPECTACULAR). So, I wasn't too worried.
Ian Churchill's art on the other hand had me a little trepidatious. I just don't get it most of the time. He can draw a pretty man on occassion, but on the whole it just does nothing for me. But I read the interviews, and Winick seemed like he was excited and got the group. So I thought it might me all right.
I guess I was kinda wrong. This book just doesn't make any sense. I could go into more detail, but
Troy Brownfield over at Newsarama has pretty much taken all the words out of my mouth.
Go
read his review and then come on back. I'll wait.
Hmm, hmmm. La la la la...
Oh, hi! Okay: First of all, I don't hate it quite that much. But it's close.
What
is the timeline on this thing? Are they all attacked at once? They couldn't get ahold of Dick to let him know what was happening, because his comm was cut while he was fighting. And how long was his fight that they got ahold of Batman and he got to Dick before Dick was done? Or did the other attacks happen before Dick's? And how
did they get away.
Especially Donna. She was out in space with Kyle, gets attacked by some tentacle thing, and then has time to get free, come back to earth and change clothes. All the while that Dick is running around with glass sticking out of his neck. !!??? And where did Kyle go? He
was a Titan once. He
did get attacked same time as Donna. Were they just like "Okay, see ya later!" !!???
About the only thing I didn't hate that most people seem to have a problem with is the return of Trigon. I love him. I hope he turns out to be cool. But really, this
should have been a lot more Raven oriented for Trigon's return...
All in all, there were some highlights in the artwork :). However if these weren't my favorite characters, I probably wouldn't be back. But I have to keep reading to see if maybe it gets better. Please.
And now for something completely different: Here's a
review of the book from an alternate universe. I really, truly cannot believe we read the same book. I so wish I could love it as much as this guy did.
Patrick C over at his blog thinks so. I'm not naming the blog because that gives away the whole point, but he does have sound theories. Personally, I think that would rock!!
Wave 4 (due in the fall) includes Cyborg. KB Toys will have an exclusive variant with Sonic Arm Cyborg.
Wave 7 (yeah, there's a bit of break there) is fairly Flash-centric, but that begets us a Wally West Kid-Flash!!
There's also a Starfire figure coming, but this one's a little trickier. It only comes in a two-pack with Adam Strange...and it's only available from mattycollector.com.
There is a little bit of "boo" associated with these, though. They've all already been released by DC Direct in one fashion or another. How many DC Direct and Mattel versions of Nightwing and Robin have there been?
My other big gripe is the big hero group shot. One word: perspective. Or is it: proportion? Hmm, I'm not sure...
But anyway, the line-up alone should make you go "WOW!" but it doesn't. Maybe because they all look like they're only 3-feet tall. And:
Of course, her "what the hell is going on here" line fits the story...but it's also the thought that went through my head when I saw the costume she's wearing! Don't get me wrong, I detest the Ian Churchill travesty, but if that's the costume she's supposed to be wearing, she should be wearing it everywhere.
The REAL Donna Troy is back (at least visually...). And even if Starfire looks like a trainwreck, Gar looks better than he did in the past couple issues. Now if only they could get a writer who understood the characters...
Okay...
Ian Churchill's art on the other hand had me a little trepidatious. I just don't get it most of the time. He can draw a pretty man on occassion, but on the whole it just does nothing for me. But I read the interviews, and Winick seemed like he was excited and got the group. So I thought it might me all right.
Go read his review and then come on back. I'll wait.
Especially Donna. She was out in space with Kyle, gets attacked by some tentacle thing, and then has time to get free, come back to earth and change clothes. All the while that Dick is running around with glass sticking out of his neck. !!??? And where did Kyle go? He was a Titan once. He did get attacked same time as Donna. Were they just like "Okay, see ya later!" !!???
THE TITANS - Yeah, I've already mentioned that mess to the left, but it fit in with this post. The first issue is drawn by Ian Churchill (or scheduled to be, anyway). The second by Joe Bennett. Two strikes out the gate. And as much as I absolutely love GREEN ARROW/BLACK CANARY, the TITANS EAST SPECTACULAR was more craptacular than anything else. Not sure I hold out much hope for Judd Winick's handling of the Titans.
Gotta love a house ad that's drawn by an unspectacular artist who's not associated with the book. Dick and Donna look okay, altho Donna's not wearing the new costume. Kory, Vic, Gar and Raven all look like crap. Wally would look alright if not for the freaky-scary not-quite-human-looking pose...and the whole eunuch-thing going on.
Yes, the (yet another) Aqualad (as) punchline is cute and all, but I wanted to take this semi-seriously, even if it is just a comic.
DC SPECIAL: RAVEN #1 - Y'know, this could quite conceivably be the greatest comic ever written.
