Title: Titans.
Book: 1.
Story-Arc: Titans Forever.
Writer(s): Judd Winick.
Illustrator(s): Joe Benitez, Ian Churchill and many more!
Publisher: DC Comics.
Format: Paperback.
Release Date: October 2nd 2018.
Pages: 320.
Genre(s): Comics, Science-Fiction.
ISBN13: 9781401284282.
My Overall Rating: ★★★☆☆.
Ever felt like you didn’t belong anywhere? That you were constantly being thrown around left and right by those who couldn’t afford to look out for you all the time? That feeling of finding a home where you were just as important as the person next to you can change you in so many ways. Going up against the evil out in the world, the Titans formed a group of their own and became a unity that was far too knitted-together for anyone to destroy. The lessons they learn together often arises from the trials they face and the solidarity that they showcase, but at the end of the day, trust is always key to their survival. But what happens when you insert doubt within their minds? Can they ever find it in them to become what they grew to be: a family?
Titans: Together Forever brings together a legendary team of friendly and young superheroes to fight off an unknown threat that seeks to eliminate anyone who has ever been a Titan. Although they have always stuck together to fight off crime while looking up to their idols who form a league of their own, these Titans have had to split up to deal with their own issues and responsibilities. In order to fill the void formed by their absence, new recruits have been brought together by Cyborg to form the new Titans. Things however don’t go according to plan when a tragedy strikes them and the original Titans realize that they need to get back together to figure out who is behind it all, but also why they’ve all got a target on their backs. Collecting Titans #1-11 and Titans East Special #1, this volume offers fans the chance to enjoy a glimpse of what Titans are about, and so much more.
Originally published as single issues back in 2008, the first dozen issues finally get collected and it is quite the treat. The story doesn’t solely focus on figuring out who the mysterious threat is and why anyone who has ever been a Titan is being hunted down as that very story arc ends halfway through the volume. The second story arc jumps to another issue at hand as the Titans are visited by an old friend who needs their help, but has difficulty accepting it unless it is done by his terms. To the very least, both stories are entertaining and cohesive in their own right. They don’t necessarily venture in complex ideas, but serve as a great way to introduce every member of the Titans as well as their history. You get a very thorough idea of who they are and what drives them, while still having an authentic take on the relationship between each of them; some spicier than others.
Early in the volume there are a lot of characters introduced, but it is never too overwhelming as the story slowly focuses, as it develops, on the key members and their role in the bigger scheme of things. But what makes this a bit more addictive and entertaining is the artwork. It will come as a surprise for some, but the artwork is extremely generous with curves for women and muscles for men. While these aren’t exactly teenagers, but closer to young adults, they all exhibit some form of sexuality through their designs, but also through their dialogue—careful around Beast Boy and his perverted and horny jokes. While technically it is excessive, I had a hilarious time finding out how far the artists would go with some of these characters. If anything, I think Starfire was the one who played the most with her skin-clothing ratio. It is however worth mentioning that it is sometimes quite beautiful, even though some designs were cringe-worthy. One thing that recurrently annoyed me was how the facial expressions could greatly vary throughout the story.
Titans: Together Forever is a fun starting point for anyone to find out what the Titans have always been about. It’s not just about taking down the bad guy, it’s about finding a home among others, a place to belong, a family to cherish and protect.
Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a copy for review!
If you thought DC couldn’t go any darker, think again. Titans (2018) is our first live-action TV series of the Teen Titans and it is bound to raise plenty of eyebrows. With insane amount of controversy around Starfire and Beast Boy’s casting and/or costume, among other things, like its overall tone and direction, I’m definitely excited to see if everyone’s first impression was the right impression.
Coming to DC Universe (streaming service for U.S. residents) on October 12th 2018, and on Netflix (internationally) soon!
P.S. The show isn’t exactly based on this comic book story in particular.
Roars and Echoes 
Just watched that trailer.
Why is the casting for the Beast guy controversial, or Starfire? Since I don’t know the characters I don’t know the issues.
Anything with a Robin and the “R” is something I’ll be looking into. Outside of Daredevil & Punisher, I’ve not been a fan of Neflix’s superhero shows. So I am really not holding my breath about this being great. The other thing is it being Dick Grayson as Robin and not as Nightwing. Maybe that will be part of the story arc?
However, with it being a weekly release (like Arrow instead of DD) and not bingeable, I doubt I’ll watch it. And by the time the whole season is out, I’ll have forgotten it even exists. I’m rather surprised that they didn’t put it on the CW and tie it into Arrow, Flash and all that jazz…
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The issue is mostly around Starfire’s costume being very unrepresentative of the character’s iconic look. It’s also the lack of orange skin. The fact that they didn’t attempt to do what Marvel did for Gamora’s character in Guardians of the Galaxy (black actress getting a green skin-over) is also something I see fans complain about. And then those issues blend together and inappropriately with skin colour, turning it into a racial casting question, but that’s only a minority that see an issue there. As for Beast Boy, it’s a similar issue with the character not having a green skin colour from the start.
I definitely believe there will be a sub-plot around Dick Grayson turning into Nightwing. You can alreadt tell with the whole “F*** Batman” line hahah I look forward to the transformation.
Yep.. DC sure are a curious bunch for creating these shows outside of the Arrowverse. But it’s not new. They initially made Supergirl outside of that universe and then they integrated it later on. Black Lightning and Gotham are two examples of shows outside of CW shows too, and DC has a whole list of DC-based shows to be released on their streaming service. Fun stuff. 😂
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Thanks.
As for the DC streaming service, I wonder just how successful it is going to be. People are already paying for multiple streams (for the most part) so yet another one seems like an impossible task. Marvel at least teamed up with Netflix and a network. Heck, I watched a season or 3 of Agents of Shield when it went to dvd, through the library. I don’t see that happening AT ALL with a DC only controlled stream.
Now, with all that negativity out of the way, I just watched the Aquaman trailer. I was pretty impressed. If DC can start making more hit movies with good story telling, they have a chance.
But I fear the burnout is real and not just in me. The last super hero movie I watched was Thor: Ragnarok. The next one will be Antman & Wasp. After that, it’s in doubt
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Yep.. It’s clearly a problem for consumers. A lot of us already have a bunch of subscriptions that charge us monthly, and creating a separate service will likely be too much for too many. By the way, Disney also plans on making their own streaming service. I’m convinced Netflix won’t have control over Marvel’s shows when that happens (Daredevil, Punisher, etc. etc. will likely follow Disney)…
I’m definitely hyped for Aquaman too. It does feel like it has a slightly different tone and direction, which will surely be refreshing for many, and hopefully critics won’t destroy it just because it’s not a Disney Marvel movie…
Why is Antman & The Wasp queued up next? 😮
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I can see the mctv (?) moving to disney if disney starts its own streaming. I wonder how many people will follow over though. Oversaturation is huge right now with “streaming services”. Maybe if it was more broken down into rough tv genres, but this “each company does its own thing” is killing everyone!
I had zero hope for Momoa as Aquaman, so the fact that he did such a good job in JL and then the trailer looks good, is making me happy.
Because Antman kept me from burning out on the MCU. It gave me hope that standalone stories could, and would, work and that humor might be coming back. That and Thor:R helped a lot. And Antman was the last superhero movie I’ve liked enough to buy on bluray.
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I have read one comic of this team way back in my early days as a kid. I can hardly remember it, and as such I’m pretty much not familiar at all with these team of superheroes. Which is probably why I like the look of the trailer, but can definitely understand that fans of the book itself might not like it 😊It’s probably another comic which I like the look of, but probably won’t be reading any time soon. The show though….I might watch at some point 😊😊
Another terrific review Lashaan…you are on a roll! 😊😊
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My earliest memory of the Titans is the animated series of the Teen Titans, which I truly loved and serve as my one and only real representation of the Teen Titans hahah I do hope you’ll enjoy the sheer brutality they put into this “new” retelling of the Titans when you get the chance to. So far, episode 1 was pretty intriguing. Thanks for reading, Michel! 😀
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Great analysis my friend! I haven’t read this, in fact I’ve only really touched on the Titans here and there (the Rebirth specials for example and their 80s Batman/Superman appearances) but I’m mainly interested to check out the Rebirth series as I hear that’s quite good.
Man, I hear that the DCU series is DARK. I don’t necessarily mind that if it makes sense and serves the narrative but it’s supposedly relentless and pretty darn violent – I saw a clip of Robin being shall we say, quite brutal. I’ll be giving it a go when it hits Netflix but I have reservations about the tone, mature and complex is one thing but if it’s just empty bone cracking and childish profanity I’ll be disappointed!
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Thanks Chris! I don’t think I’ll particularly hunt down all of the Titans-related material out there, but it is nice to see what kind of stories are done with them here and then. If anything, I just look forward to season 3 of Young Justice for now hahah
I actually saw the first episode and it is indeed very brutal. I am curious to see how they’ll keep it up throughout the season, but the pilot wasn’t so bad at all. It sets up everything, and does so quite well for something that so many fans don’t seem to have hope for.
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Okay, sounds promising and I did read a 7.5/10 review today that indicated the darker more violent take actually works with the story. Will definitely check it out when it lands on Netflix.
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Hmmm…. maybe I’ll catch it on Netflix 😉
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You should be wary of its level of brutality if you ever do give it a shot! 😏😉
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Ahhh… Thanks for the warning!
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This is a crew I’d never gotten into, and this looks like a good jumping in point. Correct?
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I couldn’t exactly point you towards the perfect starting point for the Titans, but if the potential “issues” I pointed out here doesn’t bother you, then it’s definitely a nice place to start, especially since the artwork is much more modern. Otherwise, you could always try the golden age era comic stories that highlight some of the Titans’ main villains and story arcs! 😀
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Ok, cool!
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hehe yeah the proportions do seem excessive (and are a little funny) but good that this was such a fun start for the characters! Great review!
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Hahah indeed! It’ll likely please a certain target audience for sure. 😀 Thank you so much! 🙂
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Have you seen the film already? The art work sounds almost provocative.
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I actually did watch the first episode of the TV series. It was quite brutal! But I’m completely enthralled. Curious to see how it’ll all develop throughout the first season. 🙂 And yes. Provocative is right. Teenage boys would love this. 😀
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