4 issue test #31 - Titans

It’s DC Rebirth time again!

The return of Wally West, the ginger haired one not the black one which was introduced in the New52, was one of the most celebrated parts of the rebirth special, but where does he go from here, the one place he will always be welcomed, the Titans.

This story is written by Will Abnett, who had written Titans Hunt, a mini-series coming from the wake of Convergence which shows the group coming back together to fight a threat they’d left behind, it’s a good story and worth the trade in my opinion. The artwork is done by Brett Booth, who tends to be hit and miss but there’s no denying it’s more attune to my taste than someone like Frazer Irving, god his art sucks.

Anyway, but how does this new Titans book stack up? Let’s dig into the Rebirth special and #1-4 and find out.

#19 The Rise of Arsenal

Oh boy, more of the aftermath of cry for justice. Help!

So, whilst the fall of Green Arrow has its problems, hence its spot amongst my rage reviews, the critical consensus despises the Rise of Arsenal.

Let’s get one thing out the way. Everything that happened to Roy in Cry for Justice and also in this follow-up story, was editorially mandated. The editors had the place they wanted characters to go and it was up to the writers to make sure they got there, no matter how little sense it made. Editorial control of stories is something that has plagued comics in recent years. JT Krul is a decent writer but when editors try and force the writers to write their stories, it nearly always results in cr*p. One More Day, Countdown to Final Crisis, Amazons Attack and others are awful stories because of editorial control above anything else.

Editors do need to have some control over stories to keep the characters consistent through multiple titles and to check for errors. They should not be forcing their direction for the characters on the writers.

Safe to say, Cry for Justice, whilst selling decent numbers did not settle well with people, hence the need for follow-up titles to ensure a plan was there (yeah… right) the plan which eventually lead to Deathstroke’s Titans book, a story I refuse to read owing to the fact that in their first issue (in fact I think it was a one-shot) Deathstroke unceremoniously killed off Ryan Choi, the Atom.

But I digress, we’re here to talk about Roy Harper, AKA Red Arrow. So in cry for Justice he lost his arm, and his daughter, and of course there have to be repercussions. But, *sighs* let’s dig into The Rise of Arsenal and see how they screw it all up