Titans: Beast World got off to a fantastic start with the Titans leading the heroes of the DC Universe against the Necrostar. Beast Boy stepped up big in the start of this event as he was the one to ultimately defeat Necrostar. But as that was just the beginning of Titans: Beast World we saw things go south quickly as Doctor Hate took control of Beast Boy in his Starro form. From there we saw the corrupted Beast Boy use his Starro powers to infect people across the world. The first major character to fall under Beast Boy’s beastly transformation was Black Adam, who transformed into a lion with all of his powers. With things not looking to get any better how will things go next? Let’s find out with Titans: Beast World #2.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Ivan Reis
Inker: Danny Miki
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Wes Abbott
SOLICITATION
“THE STATUS QUO-SHATTERING TITANS CROSSOVER CONTINUES! With beasts rampaging through the streets and a world conqueror in the sky, the Titans must do all they can to save humanity. But as heroes and villains alike are infected, will the team stay clear of the spores or become part of the threat? And as the world rages, can Raven discover a way to save Beast Boy?” – DC Comics
REVIEW
Given the game changing way the first issue ended Titans: Beast World #2 does a great job at showing the massive impact that ending has moving forward. There was no point where a hero or people around the world was safe. Tom Taylor and Ivan Reis absolutely nail the dangers that come with the scope of a corrupted Starro Beast Boy infecting everyone in the world, including some of the strongest heroes and villains.
Right away you feel the momentum of the epic scale of Titans: Beast World with our heroes desperately fighting the Beast Boy Starros. Opening this second chapter with Raven waking up Cyborg after he was knocked out gave proper framing for how shocking this development was. To our heroes credit while they know its Beast Boy they are fighting their immediate priority is fighting back and doing all they can to stop their corrupted friend.
Adding in Animal Man to this opening also works to play into The Red force that DC Comics has given Beast Boy a bigger connection with since New 52. By bringing Animal Man in Taylor and Reis immediately add an additional plot element of not just The Red but also The Green. Having Titans: Beast World deal with these elemental forces tied to the DC Universe will help this event to have its own identity compared to other Crisis-level events.
The rest of this issue focusing on two big battles was a good way to ground epic scale storytelling to dive into the concern for all the people our heroes are trying to save. With Batman and Nightwing, we see through them the urgency to get everyone not infected to safety. The longer the story goes the less places there are to feel safe. Which we see with how in the brief moment Batman and Nightwing to catch their breath and plan their next move they are attacked by a snake beast.
This leading to Batman becoming infected accomplished two things. One, it took Batman out of the equation. Second, it gave Nightwing a badass moment of defeating the Beast Batman as he realizes he does not have his mentor to help him on. Which further pushes Nightwing’s character arc of Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman all giving him the responsibility of leading the heroes when Dawn of DC began.
The other big battle of Beast Black Adam similarly accomplished multiple things. This situation gave Donna Troy and Starfire their moments to shine as heavy hitters. Seeing them respond the moment Oracle called for the most powerful heroes to deal with Beast Black Adam made this a badass moment right away. There was no hesitation when Donna Troy and Starfire answered the call.
At the same time, through the battle with Beast Black Adam it gave Oracle enough information to learn a key aspect of the corrupted Beast Boy’s Starro ability. That is that Beast Boy Starro is most attracted to infecting the most powerful people. This creates a situation where our heroes will have to be even more creative with how they deal with this situation. They can’t just throw Superman and Wonder Woman at the problem. The Titans, specifically Nightwing, Cyborg, Raven, and Oracle are now challenged to figure out how to work around this major aspect of Beast Boy Starro.
While our heroes deal with this massive problem Amanda Waller does not miss the opportunity to further her own plans. As the orchestrator of Titans: Beast World we see that Amanda Waller sees this as an opportunity to gain more political influence and turn the world against the Titans and heroes as a whole. This creates a situation where we could see Amanda Waller manipulate our heroes to further work in her plan to look good and further her own plans.
Making Doctor Hate into a wild card in this situation is an interesting one. Because while Doctor Hate is working with Amanda Waller he did indicate that he’s working his own angle in this event. Its an unpredictable element that should add more excitement to see how things end up when all is said and done.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Titans: Beast World #2 does an excellent job at keeping the momentum from the debut chapter moving forward. Tom Taylor and Ivan Reis constantly keep the tension high as our heroes don’t have a moment to rest. Everyone is on full “save the world” mode as the Beast Boy Starro infect more and more people with each passing second. It all leads to yet further proof why Titans: Beast World is a can’t miss comic book event.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10