Titans: Beast World has been delivering the epic scale fans expect from a big event. The chaotic situation created by the corrupted Beast Boy using Starro’s powers to turn the global population into beasts has continued to get worse. Now that we are in the second half of the story it is time for the Titans to start figuring out a way to save the day. If they don’t do that soon enough they’ll have to deal with Amanda Waller, who secretly created this event, taking over and calling shots publicly. Let’s see how things go next with Titans: Beast World #4.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Lucas Meyer
Colorist: Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: Wes Abbott
SOLICITATION
“WITNESS THE FALL OF A TITAN! With the greatest minds and killers of the DCU at her disposal, Amanda Waller unleashes her malevolent master plan to remake the world in her image. With the Titans off the board, do the beasts stand a chance? The Wall’s hunt begins here!” – DC Comics
REVIEW
Tom Taylor and Lucas Meyer certainly know how to kick off the second half of a big event with a bang. Titans: Beast World #4 maintained the momentum built by the first three issues to keep the stakes high. There is no point where the crisis facing the world isn’t felt. That all leads to a final moment where you are left shocked by how Amanda Waller steps in to brutally “solve” the Beast Boy Starro, aka Garro, problem.
Continuing the momentum from the previous issue, throughout Titans: Beast World #4 we see how the Titans are actively working to resolve the issue. While they are still reacting as things continue to be chaotic they aren’t being thrown off by what is going on. They have a better understanding of how to contain the situation and work with their allies to maximize their numbers.
We see this with how the Titans go about responding to Giganta being turned into a Kaiju. While the situation is chaotic Nightwing is quick to have Starfire, Flash, and Jon Kent’s Superman work together. Learning from he Black Adam situation, our heroes quickly figure out how to stop Giganta while still saving everyone they can.
Having Jon as part of the response worked to also give weight to how bad things are. His reaction to not being able to save everyone compliments how composed Starfire, Flash, Cyborg, and Nightwing are. Flash showing awareness of why Jon reacts the way that he does to help the young Superman grow was a great moment for Wally West.
While the Titans are obviously doing their best to contain the situation and save people while figuring out how to cure Garro of his corrupt status time was clearly running out. The clock running out is shown with Sergent Steel making his announcement to turn the attempt to turn the world against the heroes. Mixing the truth of the heroes not wanting to kill Beast Boy with his extreme xenophobic views by Sgt. Steel pushed the crisis to feel like it is now or never.
This shifts the story to focus even more on the bigger plot of Amanda Waller’s anti-superhero agenda. Everything that has gone down is part of Amanda Waller’s plan. We see this be even more the case with how Waller knew exactly what her next steps are. If she wanted to show the world to trust her over the heroes finding the quickest, most brutal solution was exactly how to do it. She does as Waller straps Chester Runk to a Justice League teleporter, with help from Lex Luthor, to transport a black hole bomb into Garro without the heroes noticing.
The brutality of this decision already was enough to show how much in control Waller was in the plan she created. What added to this moment was how she found a way to do it with the heroes not knowing where she came from. This all put over how well Amanda Waller has used her time working in the shadows throughout 2023 to be steps ahead of everyone. It made the moment the heroes see a Beast Boy’s Garro carcass hit as hard as intended.
Now what will be interesting from here is how Doctor Hate will factor into the story moving forward. While Waller is the one that set everything into motion we know the cause of this crisis is Doctor Hate. There’s no way Doctor Hate would’ve let this happen if it wasn’t part of his own plan. There is certainly a vibe with how Doctor Hate spoke to Raven that Waller walked right into what he has been planning. Finally seeing what that is should provide plenty of interesting developments in the final issues of Titans: Beast World.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Titans: Beast World #4 is another excellent chapter in the latest DC Universe event. Tom Taylor does a great job at positioning the Titans and other heroes to do what they do best. The way Amanda Waller is brought in to further the greater Dawn of DC direction creates several surprise moments, including an impactful ending. And once again Lucas Meyer delivers artwork that makes every page and panel have a sense of importance. It all comes together for another must-read experience.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10