Scott's Take: Titans: Beast World by Tom Taylor, lIlustrator Ivan Reis

 

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