Titans #30 // Review
The Titans have been stranded on a distant planet while Earth faces a crisis. Each member struggles to persevere, as they carry along their own grievances and internal battles. Their only hope off of this alien world is Steel’s emergency beacon, as their “Boom Room” suffered damages in the crash landing and is now out of commision. Titans #30 is written by Dan Abnett and penciled by Minkyu Jung, with colors by Adriano Lucas, inks by John Dell, and letters by Dave Sharpe.
Last seen, the Titans were at each other’s throat as Gar lost control of his powers and a wounded M’gann, aka Miss Martian, was forced to reveal her true form. Beast Boy and Miss Martian wrestle for victory over the other as they go toe to toe; one seemingly lost all control and the other is just trying to protect their allies. As the team attempts to pull themselves back together, Raven gets an odd vision of something she’s lost, while Donna Troy reveals her long-held secret and tries to rise up to fill the shoes, Nightwing once wore. In her moment of strength, a saving grace may have finally arrived for the team.
Dan Abnett tries to write a story without showing any real villains or external force and it’s rather tedious to sit through as it goes on. This gathering of Titans is still trying to find out what makes them tick as a team, and that’s all that seems to be a motivator for the plot. Though constantly reminded of the problems the Titans and Earth are facing, the team doesn’t seem to make much headway into anything more. Abnett ushers these characters to confront the problems amongst each other, and hopefully it’ll lead to a stronger team, one that’ll possibly focus on more severe issues.
The illustrations provided by Minkyu Jung seem weaker than those of previous issues, as the characters and scenery were rather fundamental and without exquisite detail. Most often the faces of the characters were just little dots and lines. The colors provided by Adriano Lucas and inks by John Dell were a strong point of the issue, as this alien world is quite vivid. The colors depict the backdrop of the characters beautifully, and really breathe life into the world.
As the Titans are marooned on a seemingly-barren planet, the only force driving the story is internal conflict between the team. While the story progress, it could be interesting to see how the Titans all grow as a team from this experience now that all of the secrets have been poured out. Though drama between the character’s is a needed tool in stories, it being the only driving force for too long can get rather boring.
