Check out Our Review [WITH SPOILERS] of Teen Titans: Rebirth #1!!
The Teen Titans have been disbanded and its members have gone their separate ways. Too bad for them, because that’s not good enough for Damian Wayne! Robin has a mission and he’ll need the help of Starfire, Kid Flash, Raven, and Beast Boy. Will the son of Batman keep this team together, or drive them further apart?
The Titans have to be my favorite DC superhero team of all time. Between their decades of adventures and how well they interact, the Teen Titans have always been fun to follow. Well…almost always.
Much like a lot of other DC titles, the New 52 Teen Titans suffered from all the changes made to revitalize the DC Universe. The series had poor storytelling, the “erasing” of the team’s history, and unlikable characters. They seemed less like friends and more like a set of students forced to do a group project together! There are many that regarded it as one of the worst comics to come out of the New 52 era and it even gave birth to that horrible crossover event, The Culling!! After all that, I still had high hopes that Teen Titans: Rebirth #1 would be better. Thankfully, it seems the team may have a bright future ahead of them.
While the issue is short, Benjamin Percy manages a quality prologue giving the reader an idea where each of the Titans are now and how things might develop for them on the team.
While it’s not exactly the same, it feels great to see some of these characters together again. Each character’s inner thoughts were well written and it never felt like one had more time than the other. What I really liked about it was how, for the first time in a while, the Teen Titans seemed like actual teenagers (although I’ll admit I’m a bit confused about Starfire’s age).
Where the last run on the Titans made them seem more like teenagers in a young adult novel or even stereotypes of teenagers, Percy manages to make the Titans more down to Earth!
Each member (aside from Damian) in this issue seems to be struggling to find their identity, given the overall craziness of their lives, and I think that aspect makes the comic very relatable. Each of them have different ways of coping with their issues. For example, Beast Boy prefers to ignore problems by having fun, Starfire tries to dive into her work, Raven chooses to run from her heritage, and then there’s Wally who’s trying to stand out as a speedster!
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised on how they handled Kid Flash in this comic.
If there was one character I was worried about before I read this comic, it was Wally. Given how this Wally West is separate from the one we know, it’s hard to judge him the same way as the others since he’s relatively new to the DC Universe. That being said, if this series keeps up the great characterizations, it might finally give this version of Kid Flash a chance to shine!
The artwork by Jonboy Meyers is absolutely phenomenal! It’s very expressive and vibrant; it really gives the comic this fun, adventurous feeling that really fits the Titans! There were also a few nods to the Teen Titans animated series that were sprinkled here and there. This made it fun for me to re-read!
I actually have a hard time thinking of anything that I really disliked in this issue. If I had to say one thing, it’s that the issue was so short that it was hard to get a clear idea of what the plot will be going forward, or why Damian needed to assemble the Titans. Honestly, that could just be me wanting to see more!
Like most of DC’s Rebirth, Teen Titans: Rebirth ditches all the things that made the last series so unlikable (I don’t even think the last team was even mentioned other than Tim Drake a few times).
As a result, we get a solid prelude with great writing and fantastic art! It feels fresh and new while also feeling very familiar. Basically, I really liked it, and if you’re a fan of the Teen Titans, then I say you should definitely read this comic when issue #1 hits shelves this October. TITANS, TOGETHER!!
