To say that The Revolution has been less than impressed with the first two issues of Titans is being generous. Winick has turned in an embarrassing performance so far on this title despite the fact that he has the ultimate roster of former Teen Titans to work with. I have very little hopes that Winick will be able to put together a well crafted read with Titans #3. I would be happy if Winick could just avoid delivering another train wreck of a read. Seriously, an average story is about all I am asking for from Winick. Let’s go ahead and hit this review for Titans #3.
Creative Team
Writer: Judd Winick
Pencils: Joe Benitez
Inks: Victor Llamas, Sandra Hope, Derek Fridolfs & Joe Weems
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Story Rating: 4 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: We begin with Raven telling the other Titans about how her mother met her father, Trigon. Raven’s mother was a member of a satanic cult that offered her and three other girls as brides to Trigon. Raven states that Trigon believes there is power in names and anyone who has ever worn the mantle of Titan is perceived as a threat. Cyborg then informs the Titans that he has tracked down the other three brides of Trigon.
We cut to Donna and Wally talking to the daughter of one of the brides. Our heroes learn that the woman died three years ago from a blood clot. The girl says that she never knew her mother at all and that there is no death certificate for her mother.
We shift to Wally and Donna on a rooftop of a building talking about how they have run into a dead end with the dead bride having no history or contacts. Wally then zings Donna that she should know what that is like. The two begin to argue that it is easier for Donna to be a super hero with her husband and children dead while Wally has to deal with having a wife and kid. The two are about to come to blows when Cyborg contacts them to find out if they had a hot lead. They report that they didn’t find out anything.
We shift to Dick and Kory at the house of one of the brides. They learn from the neighbors that the woman died two years ago from a heart attack. The house is all boxed up and no one is living there anymore. They radio back to Cyborg and give him the news. He reports that he cannot find a death certificate for the woman.
Kory mentions that when she feels alone she thinks of Dick. Dick then responds that he thinks of Kory when he is not alone. Dick and Kory then get all hormonal and start kissing each other. They then strip down and proceed to have some good old fashioned dirty sex on the floor.
We cut to Raven, Roy and Gar talking with the husband of the third bride of Trigon. The husband says that his wife died four years ago from a brain aneurysm. Raven gets a little to direct and aggressive with her questioning of the husband about if his dead wife had any kids prior to their marriage. Gar transforms into a giant squid and grabs Raven and tells her to chill out.
We shift to an alley outside a building where Raven tells Roy and Gar that the husband was hiding something. Gar snipes that Raven doesn’t understand what it is like to be human and to have feelings. Raven shoots back that Gar wouldn’t know anything about being a human. The two heroes then get into a brawl with each other. Roy tries to break up the fight. The rest of the Titans appear on the scene and separate Raven, Roy and Gar from each other.
Everyone calms down and then Dick says that something is very wrong. That all of them have been acting out of character. (Not everyone, Dick. You acted like your normal slutty self.) The Titans figure out that Trigon has been manipulating their minds. That Trigon hit Wally and Donna with envy. Trigon hit Dick and Kory with lust. Trigon then hit Gar and Raven with rage.
Raven then says that rage, envy and lust are three of the deadly sins. Suddenly, three males appear on the scene and say “Yes. One for each of us. A gift from our father.” End of issue.
Comments
The Good: I have to admit that Titans #3 was not as putrid as the first two issues of this title. I am glad that Winick was at least able to meet my low expectations of delivering at least an almost average read.
Winick ends Titans #3 with a solid hook ending that appears to finally get this title moving after three issues of going nowhere slowly. Winick introduces three standard issue demonic villains for our heroes to brawl with. Hopefully, this means that we might finally get some quality action on Titans with the next issue.
The ending also revealed that the ridiculous actions of the various Titans where the result of Trigon making them act out of character. Thank god. I thought that this was just Winick pulling off his trademark slacker, mopey and angsty dialogue that he slaps on most of his characters. The fact that we learn right at the end that this was Trigon making the Titans succumb to three of the deadly sins saved this issue from being hideous to being just average.
Joe Benitez provides some average artwork for this issue. I will say that despite some of my criticisms of his artwork, that Benitez cranked out some panels that looked nice.
The Bad: I really do not have much to say about Titans #3. And that is because this is one incredibly shallow story. Titans #3 lacks any substance or depth. Winick has given the reader an amazingly uncreative plotline. And worst of all, Winick does not even provide the reader with any enjoyable action. That is the cardinal sin for a shallow title. If a writer is going to deliver a flat title with a fluff story then it is imperative that the writer at least deliver plenty of kick-ass action.
From a technical standpoint, Titans continues to be one of the worst written titles on the market. Titans #3 was poorly structured. The three scenes dealing with the Titans investigating each of the three brides of Trigon were repetitious and followed the exact same formula.
Titans #3 was also poorly paced. The story continues to meander about with no sense of purpose. Winick has managed to accomplish next to nothing in the span of three issues.
Titans #3 was also poorly plotted. In three issues, Winick has managed to establish a grand total of one plotline. That is it. This is a team title and it is imperative for the writer to make sure that there are several plotlines running at the same time to keep all the members of the team occupied. Winick has created no sub-plotlines. Winick has created no short term, medium term and long term plotlines. Instead, all we get is one single plotline involving Trigon.
Winick continues to perform some terrible character work. None of the Titans have much of a distinct personality. All the characters come across rather one-dimensional. Winick’s dialogue is summarily unimpressive. There is no flow to the dialogue and it comes off completely silly sounding at times.
Joe Benitez’s artwork is simply far too exaggerated and cartoony for my tastes. For example, at one point I felt that Kory’s hair had sprouted a mind of its own and was going to reach off the page and attack me.
Also, Benitez appears to have learned anatomy from Rob Liefeld. Some of the characters appear to have been cross-bred with giraffes considering the necks and trapezius muscles that they sport. I also found many of the facial expressions to be far too exaggerated to the point of deformity.
Overall: Titans #3 was another unimpressive issue. It is stunning that when given the roster of the all-time greatest Teen Titans that this is all that Winick was able to come up with. Talk about doing less with more. Titans is a title that continues to be a massive disappointment. This classic line-up of Teen Titans deserves a more talented writer to handle them. Hopefully, DC will pull the trigger on a writer switch soon.
I would only recommend getting Titans #3 if you are a huge Winick fan or if you are like me and are a die-hard fan of the Wolfman/Perez Titans.