DCU Comic Book Reviews

BLACKEST NIGHT:  Titans #2

Bite The Hand That Feeds

November 2009

Written by J. T. Krul

Pencils by Ed Benes

Inks by Rob Hunter, Jon Sibal, JP Mayer

Covers by Ed Benes and Brian Haberlin

Synopsis

At Titans Tower, Donna Troy awakens to find her husband Terry and her son Robbie.  She wonders if it is a dream.  Terry tells her it is not a dream as Robbie bites her in the neck.  Elsewhere, the Titans are fighting Black Lanterns Terra and Omen.  Starfire blasts Terra, seemingly destroying her.  In Washington D.C., Black Lantern Hawk has just killed the current Hawk.  The current Dawn seeks revenge for her sister’s death and attacks Hawk, but is stopped short when he sister rises from the dead to become a Black Lantern.  Meanwhile, Donna tries to get away from Terry and Robbie.  She is saved by the Bart Allen.  Donna then falls to ground, an effect of being bitten by a Black Lantern.  In Washington D.C., Dove runs away from the Hawks.  At Titans Tower, Terra comes back (again) and sets off an earthquake.  Omen ensnares Cyborg and Starfire in an illusion that shows them happy.  Beast Boy tries to get them to fight it.  Terra is please she can finally kill the Titans.  She is then joined by Tempest and other Black Lanterns. They want to kill the Titans…together. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

The good news is that this issue doesn’t fall into the same pattern as the Batman and Superman mini-series fell into, mainly treading water with the plot to avoid getting to the real story before the final issue.  In the case of both Batman and Superman, there was a lot of fighting and action but all of it was pretty much just marking time until Dick and Clark are reunited with their fathers.  This issue is pretty much the same, with a lot of fighting and action.  Unlike the previous tie-ins, however, this one was a little more enjoyable in the sense that there were some actual plot developments, such as Hawk’s death, Terra’s second return, and the reaction to Donna’s bite.  Each of these are interesting enough that I am curious to see what happens next. 

The bad news for this issue of Titans is that I am not really sure what the story is supposed to be.  This issue is just a bunch of random fight scenes between the dead and the living and while the developments are interesting, I am not sure what it means.  Where is this all leading to, what is the basic point to this mini-series?  Sure, the Titans will prevail but with Blackest Night not ending any time soon, we know it can’t be definitive ending.  So beyond having the Black Lanterns return and then try to kill the Titans (and with Tempest arriving at the end, it looks as if we are going to get more fighting), what is the point of this story?  At the very least for Batman and Superman we get the chance to have the titular characters reunite with their dead fathers.  I am not sure where those scenes will lead, but it holds more intrigue (for me at least) than Beast Boy and Terra reuniting or Donna’s rise as a Black Lantern.

Thinking about it, there may be too many characters in this mini-series.  With the focus on so much action, I think we are losing the story, which is how a character reacts to the dead coming back.  We see some of it, but not enough, I think to really have an impact.  Maybe Krul can put it together for the end and there is enough happening that I will check it out, but I somehow don’t have a good feeling about this.

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