Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Lucas Meyer
Colorist: Adriano Lucas
Letterer: Wes Abbott
Release Date: 21st August 2024

Wonderfully paced and containing the odd misdirection which will surely catch out the audience, Tom Taylor’s twenty-page plot for issue fourteen of Titans certainly seems to show just how dangerous Trigon’s daughter could actually be if she were to fully embrace the devilishly dark magic which flows through her veins. In fact, it’s probably difficult for even the most ardent fan of the titular characters to recall Marv Wolfman’s co-creation being quite so all-powerful as she is in this comic; “Broadcasting on emergency channel Omega. This is Nightwing. We need reinforcements. We need every hero on Earth.”

Intriguingly though, the prodigious penmanship on show throughout this book should still convincingly persuade the audience that Dick Grayson’s super-team are about to take the empath down, and if not them, then certainly the “divine entity representing vengeance” himself – The Spectre. For whilst some may well doubt Tempest’s ability to “break the soul gem” and release Rachel Roth from her ruby-red prison, few bibliophiles would surely wager against the nigh omnipotent Ghostly Guardian from defeating the demonic hybrid – especially after he’s quite literally cut her in two with a giant flaming sword.

Also adding a genuinely touching moment to all these nerve-wrenching situations is Beast Boy’s heart-warming concern for his beloved “Rae”, and the shapeshifter’s subsequent horror when he realises a supposedly bested Dark-Winged Queen was actually just fooling with him. Garfield Logan’s emotions are clearly running high for the possessed Azarathian Cambion in this publication, and his concern that she’ll be permanently injured as a result of the Changeling’s comrades-in-arms is evident for all to see – even during the opening when he utters a desperate, tearful plea for Raven not to attack Nightwing in a highly dramatic flashback sequence.

Aiding and abetting Taylor with his storytelling is Lucas Meyer, whose pencils clearly add to the increasing sense of tension permeating this periodical. In addition, the illustrator’s concluding panels do a truly astounding job of depicting Trigon’s apparent victory, and Grayson’s convincing concern that his friends need every helping hand they can get from across the planet (and maybe beyond) if they’re to tackle the two “extinction-level beings” before him and Swamp-Thing.

The writer of this piece was: Simon Moore
Simon Tweets from @Blaxkleric ‏
You can read more of his reviews at The Brown Bag