Comic Book Review – Blackest Night Titans
Titans Past and Present Face Off Against The Black Lanterns
Nov 12, 2009
"Heroes Day" is a holiday set aside by both heroes and villains in the DC Universe to remember their fallen comrades. But as the black rings descend on Earth, the fallen begin to rise.
Blackest Night Titans Written by J.T. Krul With Art by Ed Benes
The story begins with a number of Titans past and present gathering in Titans Tower in San Francisco to wander among the statues commemorating the lives of fallen Titans. They discuss former teammates gone bad, and the comic shifts to show the graves of the former Hawk and Dove. While Dove is at peace and cannot be resurrected, Hawk rises and goes after the new Hawk and Dove.
Hawk is killed by the Black Lantern Hawk and rises herself. Meanwhile, Black Lanterns Omen and Terra try to trick Beast Boy into thinking his former love Terra is back and alive, and Donna Troy wakes to find her dead son and husband standing at the foot of her bed. More former Titans show up as Black Lanterns, and a large battle ensues, with the Titans unable to defeat their regenerating former teammates.
Lots of "you're not really them!"s and "don't worry, its not really them!"s later, and several of the Black Lanterns are destroyed thanks to the current Dove's inner peace, or inability to become controlled by emotion or something (it's not explained). Donna Troy has been infected thanks to a bite from her undead child and now sees as the Black Lanterns do, in the colors of the emotional spectrum. Beast Boy has come to terms with losing Terra, and everyone else is apparently unaffected by the appearance of undead teammates. After a brief non-appearance of The Flash, the Titans get ready to go meet up with the other heroes to help defend the planet from the Black Lanterns
The Last Word on Blackest Night Titans from DC Comics
Unfortunately, with Blackest Night still in high gear, the relevance of this miniseries can't yet be judged. Is Donna Troy's infection important? Can Dove save the Earth? It's unlikely that with several other miniseries having been released or on the way that this one will hold all the answers. However, it's not without some great moments.
Beast Boy losing it and tearing into Terra definitely seemed to be change for the character, but heroes going off the deep end every once in a while is nothing unusual. The scene where Donna Troy faces the truth about her undead family and kills her baby son, however, is an incredibly heart-breaking moment,and easily the best single page in the entire miniseries. Both teams of Hawk and Dove are also enjoyable to read here, and the current Dove definitely comes out as the most interesting character of the mini, being unreadable by the Black Lanterns and the one who saves everyone by doing next to nothing.
Big battles are definitely a part of what make Blackest Night exciting, but by jumping from truly amazing emotional moments to giant action, Krul ended up with what seemed like an almost-epic, uneven story that's hard to hate, but tough to love as a whole.
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