Titans:
Beast World by Tom Taylor
and illustrated by Ivan Reis, is the first, according to DC Comics, ever Titans
centric crossover. I am not sure that is entirely accurate, but okay. One could
read volume 1 of the Titans new series to be familiar with some
early story references, but it is not necessary. There is also a tie in
collection book called Titans: Beast World Tour which one could
read, but is unnecessary. The tie ins in that read are a very mixed bag with
some decent stories and some pretty bad ones. The main event book, Titans:
Beast World, is fun and full of action.
In this story,
the Titans attempt to stop Necrostar (giant alien with spores) from destroying
humanity. Beast Boy of the Titans turns himself into a Starro (a giant alien
with spores also) to defeat it. Starro is allegedly the only being in the
universe who can beat it.
The government
agent known as Waller, leader of the Suicide Squad, interferes to prevent the
heroes from saving the day in order to blame the heroes for the failure. Her
interference causes millions of humans alongside several of the world’s heroes
to be turned into animal human hybrids who are now attacking their loved ones. The
Titans have to rally the remaining noninfected heroes to save the planet while
Waller continues her attempts to frame the heroes of the world. She wants the
public to turn on them and she just might get her way.
Being generally
familiar with the Titans characters would be very helpful for this story as
this should not be the first Titans book read. This is a fun read if the idea
of Black Adam being turned into a giant lion and going on a rampage appeals to
you. The Titans have a lot of cool moments and show how powerful and skilled as
heroes they are.
Several
characters that would be helpful in this event just don’t appear in the tie ins
or the main event. Most of the magic users are also noticeably absent. Several
heavy hitters that would be helpful such as Superman (Clark), Wonder Woman, and
Martian Manhunter are just not very relevant to the plot for some reason. They
appear, but the author does not have them do much.
Spoilers--
Batman is taken off the board early so Nightwing can stay as the main leader because
Batman is turned into a wolf. He has been turned into a giant bat before, more
than once, so this time he gets to be a six-foot tall plus wolf. The only non-titan
characters with big roles are Batgirl (Barbara) and Superman (Jon). Also,
Detective Chimp (he is a talking monkey who dresses like Sherlock Holmes and
solves mysteries) has a unique perspective on the new hybrids. As always, the
DC universe is weird.
There are a lot
of epic action scenes, great art, cities being torn apart, character
development, humor, in a highly entertaining read. This book sets up the future
of the DC universe for a while. There are a lot of implied casualties and
several deaths are depicted on screen. Waller, Peacemaker, a cult leader, the
Starro Beast Boy, and Dr. Hate, all make trouble for the heroes. Of course, it
is a given the heroes will save the day, but how the Titans save the world
leads to consequences for the superhero community as a whole.
The Titans are
allowed to step up into the big leagues as the Earth’s protectors. They are
powerful, experienced, and skilled. They are a family, but will they save the
world in a way that the world will be happy with them afterwards? The Justice
League disbanded after Dark Crisis awhile back and left the younger heroes in
charge. Did they make the right call?
Also, expys (an
expy for people who don’t know is a character who, either for copy right
reasons or other reasons, are basically a specific character that is changed just
enough to not be copyrighted and yet is clearly that specific character) of
President Biden and Jill Biden appear. Jill Biden’s DC version is turned into
an otter at one point so in the future people will clearly be able to know when
this was made. As the infection and what type of animal you become is implied
to be linked to your personality, someone at DC thinks Jill is like an otter. Would
have been interesting to see what the convicted felon running for the highest office
of the land would have been in this universe.
Overall, I highly enjoyed this Titans event. But, if one is expecting a lot of crossover with other heroes than one would be disappointed. This is a Titans led crossover that does not want other heroes to play much of a role.
Amazon Associate
Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3X2ZUKC
My reading copy
came by way of the Hoopla App and the Dallas Public Library System.
Scott A. Tipple
©2024
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