#titans 2023

[gffa]

Hermes, a god: No mortal eyes can comprehend me, I am beyond their abilities to-- Wally, a human, coming in with snacks: o hi Hermes a;sdlkfj; I love it when comics gently make fun of trying to take themselves too seriously.

[robinhuntr]

What’s the saying? “pretty face, no waist and a big ol’ ass” ? Cause um yeah

It’s always “Nightwing ass this” “nightwings ass that” BUT ROYS PACKING A FUCKING BAKERY BACK THER

[wonds-troy]

Donna Troy with a ponytail and dc super hero girls shirt you have my heart forever

Titans (2023) #11

-- art by Lucas Meyer

[babblingbookends]

Hos don't get cold 👏

[ohmygodshesinsane]

i see you 👀

[superherocaps]

Starfire in Titans 2023 #9

[ravensvirginity]

Titans #15 Review

Oh my god. Where do I even begin.

To start with my one and only positive: the art is gorgeous. Lucas Meyer is the best artist the Titans have had in ages, and his new Raven design really delivered. I'm so sad that it appears that the artist who'll be taking over for him in #16 is undoing his design changes, I think it's a massive shame. I did appreciate the detail of Raven's white cloak design having rings on her index fingers, but it feels a little pointless without the lore of Azar's rings to back it up.

Now, the negatives: literally everything else about this comic. This comic fails to deliver on an eight issue arc in any kind of satisfying way, has a bizarre and out of character tone, and severely misunderstands the lore of its main villain. They literally defeated Trigon with the power of friendship. Maybe that could work in Teen Titans Go, but in a main timeline DC comic? What?

First, the demon Raven stuff. Gar saying that demon Raven and regular Raven aren't two different people--yeah, obviously. The severe degree of separation between demon Raven and regular Raven has been one of the big issues of this arc, and this conclusion is as unsatisfying as the rest of it. Raven and her demon side being able to talk face to face isn't new, but them being two separate people with separate physical bodies who can operate completely independently of each other--while there is some precident for this, to me it's a very strange writing choice and misses the point of a demon Raven arc.

The original idea of Raven and her demon side was that her demon side is her. It's all the worst instincts she inherited from Trigon locked up and carefully controlled. When Trigon takes control of her and turns her into her demon form, everything she's repressed, both good and bad, is released. Raven still having a soft spot for the Titans in her demon form makes sense; she's still Raven, just corrupted by Trigon into something she isn't. Raven deciding to stop being evil (not that she even really was) and going back to normal from one brief conversation with her teammate does not, and is really anticlimactic.

It's just such a waste of the story's potential. If you don't want to commit to Raven being the villain of the story, don't do a demon Raven arc! It's possible to do a Trigon story without Raven being evil, I don't get why they didn't just do that. None of the drama with Raven being evil was particularly well executed, and all it seemed to do was drag the comic on longer and longer with nothing actually happening, because they were unwilling to make Raven actually do anything villanous.

All that pales in comparison to how they defeated Trigon. I don't think I've ever seen such blatant disregard for previous canon. As Raven, powered up by the other Titans, fights Trigon, Gar narrates as follows:

"I doubt Trigon has ever been in a fight. An actual fight. With someone his own size and power level. Never had to face someone like Nightwing one-on-one. Never tried to stand while being pinned by the power of Donna Troy's will. Never been blasted... with a giant-sized Apokoliptian blast from Cyborg. And never, ever... felt the full force of a Tamaranean hit powered by the stars."

WHAT?

This comic canonically takes place in the same timeline as the New Teen Titans. There are many homages to the New Teen Titans. It has been made very clear that the team started as the New Teen Titans, and then after many, many years of crazy comic book history the team reformed as the Titans of this run.

The first ever Trigon arc that introduces him and Raven as characters takes place in the first six issues of the New Teen Titans, and culminates in Trigon being defeated by the Titans and thrown into an interdimensional prison. I can't stress this enough: literally every single one of the things Gar said have never happened to Trigon happen in that fight. Donna uses her lasso to dampen Trigon's will, in combination with Raven and Arella's empathic abilities. Wally rips a hole through the fabric of reality to throw Trigon into, and Kory and Vic connect their powers to amplify their blasts to throw Trigon into the interdimensional rift. The whole thing is coordinated and managed by Dick Grayson (who was still Robin at the time).

Gar was there when all this happened. There is no reason for him to not know that this happened. The only explanation is Tom Taylor doesn't know, or he doesn't care. This would be disappointing for any comic book run, but it leaves an especially sour taste in my mouth for this to happen in a run that's so built on NTT homages. It's clear that the writing could not care less about the comic it was inspired by.

And then Garth causes Trigon to have a heart attack. Okay, that was just stupid. Admittedly, I did think the page of Raven stabbing Trigon was cool (again, the art is really the only saving grace here), but her saying "Fuck you, Dad"? Seriously? An ongoing problem in this run has been the dialog feeling janky and too much like lines from a generic superhero movie, and this line embodies that very well. I'm not opposed to swearing in comic books, but to me, this is not the right time for it. It doesn't fit the moment, and I think it's quite out of character for Raven, even if the sentiment behind it isn't.

And then Trigon isn't even dead? What does "Demons don't die. They just fade away." even mean?? Is he dead or not? Will he come back tomorrow or in a thousand years? It's such a strange, confusing letdown of an ending.

I didn't have high hopes for this issue, but it was somehow worse than I could ever have imagined. I'm so glad that this run is getting a new writer. Here's hoping that the coming issues will actually feel like a team book, and that the decades of lore and characterization of these beloved characters will actually be considered during writing.

[imperatrice21]

FINALLY THE CLASSIC RAVEN AND STARFIRE HAIR IS BACK

THIS:

VS THIS:

They aren't terrible but I prefer the first designs much more. Fits their characters way better. Short-haired is so ughh

[thethingaboutnapkinman]

breaking news! Titans 2023 isn't terrible. I mean it's not great but it's not terrible.

[dykeanarchist]

Just learned dickkory aren’t together in the current titans 2023 run , may kms

[legomocfodder]

The Titans (Dawn of DC)

Nightwing, Flash, Troia, Cyborg, Starfire, Raven, and Beast Boy

[gffa]

I LOVE THAT THIS HAS BEEN BUILDING FOR AWHILE, it wasn't even just in the previous issue, but it's been underlining this entire storyline, that Dick has suspected something's going on with Raven since the beginning. So much so that he used the ability to section off part of his mind from even himself because he knew she would pick up on his thoughts, he deliberately separated those parts of himself out because of course he picks up on what's going on with her. This is why Dick Grayson is the leader of the Titans, not just because he's a phenomenal unpowered fighter or because he's brilliantly strategic--but because he picks up on these things because he knows his friends, he loves them and he can feel when they're different, when it's just something that's bothering them and when it's something Really Truly Dangerously Wrong and he knows he has to hide it. If Rachel were just struggling with something personal, he'd know that, too, but give her space and let those thoughts stay in his mind. But he knows his friend so well that he knows these thoughts can't stay in his head for her to find, because he knows when she's just troubled versus when something is BAD. Because Dick Grayson loves his friends enough to know them.

[robinhuntr]

Roy sending this to Wally and Dick after they leave the Titans the same day he re-joined

[wonds-troy]

donnakory being an inspiration to little girls is so real and important 🥹🩷

Titans (2023) #11

-- art by Lucas Meyer

[babblingbookends]

Roy nooooooo!!!! Roy can't you read?? The fragiles, Roy, the fragiles!

[plotbunny-bundle]

Tom Taylor has heard the accusations of queerbaiting and cries for Nightwing to be queer. He has decided to make One (1) character in his Titans run gay.

Please vote for who you would want to be made a queer character by Tom Taylor not who you think he would choose. Feel free to discuss both.

The character who wins will have their coming out scene and arc will be written by Tom Taylor in a hypothetical situation. All but Dick and Wally will be assigned a new love interest by Taylor as well. This will be a permanent change to the canon.