Reviewing TITANS

This was more a review for TITANS #2, but it applies equally to issues #1 and #2.

This is not very good. Just not very good at all. It's not a blight on society, but it's not a very good comic, either.

I think the thing that's most troubling is the overall tone of the comic. Trigon's evil has returned, which should seem urgent and dire. Instead, everyone is taking turns making snarky comments. Umm, your best friends LIVES are in danger! Some of them may be dead! There's this glib attitude that doesn't feel right, given the situation. Winick should re-read the "Terror of Trigon" arc... or, heck, even watch the fourth season of the animated series. When Trigon is around, it should feel like it may very well be the end of the world.

Argent barely escapes a violent torture, and the Titans seem too distracted to explain to her what is happening. Shouldn't they ALL be worried about their friends? Shouldn't Argent be worried about her teammates? Shouldn't Argent be COMPLETELY freaked and scared? Remember how shaken the New Teen Titans were when confronted by Trigon's evil?

I know some people liked how the JLA is rescuing the other Titans, but I think things like that make it seem all too easy. This is the Titans book, and it should be their mission. When you have the JLA and JSA backing you up, the main threat just seems less dire. It works better when you get a line like "The JLA and JSA are both on missions".

This should be a Titans case, where they are desperately trying to reach each member. Also, they should be recruiting rescued members to help in the Trigon battle. There's no plan or strategy here. There's no momentum to the plotting. There's no pacing. It's just the Titans standing around, panel after panel, spouting lame sit-com dialogue from the 90s.

Trigon's return should be a really big deal with a dark, gloomy air of dread looming. Instead, it's like the Titans are confronting Godiva or something.

Spilling out of that, the humor is too snarky and sarcastic. Gar is one to make silly, dumb jokes to lighten the tension. Here, he makes a borderline-cruel joke about Cyborg. It just seems out of character. When Terra insinuated that Starfire was dumb, Donna was very quick to put her in her place, "We joke with each other, but not like that." Where's THAT Donna?

Then there's the continuity flubs. Shouldn't the Titans be shocked that Trigon is alive at all? They saw him atomized before their eyes. Heck, the Teen Titans battled his reanimated skeletal remains not too long ago. Why is Bumblebee full size? Why does Trigon sound nothing like Trigon? Why does he have more children when it was a huge plot point that Raven was his only living heir?

To summarize: The thread-bare plot was a dull "Everyone is being hunted" affair. The return of Trigon is being treated as a big "whatever." The Titans are all talking like Chandler Bing. This storyline is a big miss. So far, the series rates about C-.

DC needs to step it up, because the Titans deserve a lot better.