Titans United #4

Titans United #4

DC Comics 2021

Written by Cavan Scott

Pencilled by Jose Luis

Inked by Jonas Trindade

Coloured by Rex Lokus

Lettered by Carlos M. Mangual

Starfire takes on Lady Vic as more super-powered sleeper agents activate, displaying powers far beyond those of the Titans. Just who is behind the Cadmus experiment, and what is Blackfire planning as she brings Superboy to his knees?

Oh why can’t we have this Titans series full time? This may be based off the television show but it’s also the strongest Titans book we’ve had in quite some time. I do like where we see the story going here and how Blackfire is still the same wicked version we’ve come to know and love since her debut. I also am very much enjoying seeing Lady Vic here and how she isn’t happy that the one who hired her to kill a scientist now has the Titans and Donna Troy in particular on her arse. She may be a hired assassin but messing with heroes this strong isn’t something she often does and prefers not to and it is something that we I personally like seeing because while she’s confident in her skills when it comes to these kinds of fights the odds aren’t in her favour. That she’s smart enough to know this goes a long way in my book.

I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information are presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter does an exceedingly brilliant job in continuing to flesh out the personalities. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story it is so brilliant to see this level of teamwork happening.

I am a huge fan of the way we see this being structured as well as how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow, evolve and strengthen. I am also liking the way we see these layers open up new avenues to be explored, like Blackfire and Connor, or the average folks suddenly finding themselves with power they cannot control. These and more add such great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is impeccably handled.

I am living for the interiors here. The linework is smooth, clean and crisp and how the inking just makes it feel that much stronger is amazing to see. How the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level & quality of detail within the work is extraordinary. I hate to brand something but it most assuredly feels like a DC quality book. How we see backgrounds utilised throughout makes me a happy camper as they enhance and expand the moments as well as work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work show a superb understanding of how colour works.

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Kudos to the creative team here because in a lot of ways I’m as excited for this as I was the New Teen Titans in the Eighties and to be able to do that takes some extraordinary skill and talent. It just feels right, all the elements of here and it never misses a beat in making us feel as if this family never left. The writing is utterly spectacular and the characterisation is flawless while the interiors are bloody well perfect creating one of today’s most exciting reads.