Skip to main content

Titans Rebirth Vol. 1: The Return of Wally West (Rebirth #1, #1-#6)


2/5

After being lost outside of time and space, Wally West (the original Kid Flash), finally returns home in the events of DC Rebirth thanks to the help of Barry Allen. However, a bigger power has taken away 10 years from their world and any memory of Wally. That doesn't stop Kid Flash from finding his friends, though, and through the magic of the speed force, Nightwing, Aqualad, Omen, Donna, and Arsenal are a team once again now called the Titans.

That's the summary for the first issue in this volume and it's certainly a heartwarming read. It was this one-shot issue that really made me think that this was going to be a fun series to get into.

I was wrong.

After that solid 4-star issue, Dan Abnett decides to take the grand mystery of how Watchmen's Dr. Manhattan is related to the Flashpoint event into his own hands by reviving the villain Kadabra. Abnett writes that it was Kadabra who sent Wally outside of time and space as an act of vengeance, leading to underwhelming results of the whole Rebirth mystery. To top it off, Kadabra's character is rather flat and uninteresting, making this opening story to the Titans series start with a bang and then fall into a drawn-out whimper.

The villain the the plot points aren't the only weak parts of the story. Though Wally is definitely the lead here, the other Titans are merely along for the ride. Execution-wise, I see this as a missed opportunity because each of these characters suddenly have memories and a whole life with Wally they never knew about and Abnett should have taken a chance and focus on a different character each issue. Instead, everyone else on the team is merely background noise with a few segments of friendly banter between them (kind of disappointing considering how much I'm enjoying the Nightwing comics).

But, as much as I can criticize the writing, the Brett Booth's art is also to blame here. I've seen his work in the New 52 Flash series and my opinion on his art still stands: His speedster action sequences are fun, but his wacky page layout doesn't work anywhere else. A slow scene shouldn't have panels tilting 45 degrees and it actually ruins the flow of reading. Plus, when a scene gets emotional, his art is difficult to take seriously. The best of his work I've read was the graphic novel adaption of Jim Butcher's Storm Front, where he kept a normal page layout.

So though Titans Rebirth #1 was a solid read full of heart, the following issues in this volume pale in comparison. Hopefully this series picks up soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Need for Speed" (2014) REVIEW

I know I'm not the only one who thought this movie was going to be a flop. I mean, not only is it a high-speed street racing movie, but it's also a videogame movie. Still, I gave it a shot, but mostly for the D-Box experience. Even with the earnings from winning illegal street races, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is still unable to keep his auto repair shop from his father open. For a chance to get $500,000, Tobey takes an offer from his street racing rival and successful car dealer Dino Brewster (Domonic Cooper) to finish building the Ford Mustang that Caroll Shelby was working on when he died. After building the car and selling it without Dino's consent, Dino challenges Tobey and Tobey's friend, Pete, to a street race for the money. Nearing the end of the race, desperate for revenge, Dino pushes Pete over a bridge and drives away, leaving Tobey to be blamed for vehicular manslaughter. Two years later, fresh out of prison, Tobey seeks out to knock Dino off his p
2 comments
Read more

Stick University: Week #2

Brand new set of comics! (Click on them to make them a more readable size) <-Previous   Next->
Post a Comment
Read more

"Alan Wake" novelization (2010) by Rick Burroughs REVIEW

As a fan of the video game Alan Wake  and also an avid reader, when I had learned a novelization of the game was made, I couldn't resist buying a copy and reading it. Best-selling novelist Alan Wake has been suffering from writer's block for the past two years. In hopes to cure it, Alan and his wife, Alice, go on a vacation to a small remote town called Bright Falls. Shortly after arriving in their cabin, a force of darkness kidnaps Alice and Alan wakes up in a car crash almost two weeks later. Trying to wrap his head around the scenario, Alan soon finds himself a target to the force of darkness, possessing the people of Bright Falls to stop him from saving his wife. It's a horror story Alan is unsure he could overcome and a mystery he seems to have written in a manuscript he has no memory of. I was ecstatic to start the book, but, unfortunately, I am a bit disappointed. For a book that praises creative storytelling, the writing of the book falls a little above basi
Post a Comment
Read more