Titans #14 – Review

By Eric Wallace (writer), Michael Shoyket (artist), Edgar Delgado and Jo Smith (colorists)

Some Thoughts Before the Review: I have to say that I’ve never been a Cyborg fan and after the continuing train wreck that has been the last few months of Titans, I came to this book with very low expectations.

The Story: Vic Stone, the Cyborg, is tense. His friend Gar tells him that he needs to get out, outside in the real world, away from metahumans and away from labs. He even offers Vic the card of a dating service. Vic doesn’t buy what Gar is selling at first, but when he almost clocks a purse-snatcher, he realizes that Gar is right. He just doesn’t know what to do about being lonely.

What’s Good: Wallace told a really good story by sticking to some pretty time-tested principles: take a likable character, make him want something, watch him try to get it. Wallace showed us Vic’s loneliness in obvious and subtle ways: in his lab by himself, and in the avatar he chooses to use while he’s in the cyber-network, fixing something. Wallace drew a very human Vic in a situation where he’s just got to meet some new people. All readers will identify with Vic, because we’ve all been there at least once.

Wallace also played the cyborg angles really well. He gave us a better look at Vic’s insecurities without ever having to tell them to us outright. He does this effectively in a scene were Vic first sees some kids with prosthetics, and when he runs into an old friend who had rejected high-tech prosthetics and stands preaching about it with two hooks instead of hands. It’s really great to see a writer who takes not only the reader seriously, but the subject matter too. This is a story about emotions, insecurities, and self; and Wallace brings it to a perfect ending.

What’s Not So Good: The art was competently done, especially the facial expressions which were so important to the story, but everything else seemed a bit crude and stylized. The art was enough to tell the story, but I wouldn’t open the book again for the art.

Conclusion: I wish there were more writers out there who could write a solid, single-issue story with so much in it. Even if you’re not a Titans or Cyborg fan, it’s worth checking out.

Grade: B

-DS Arsenault

Legion of Super-Heroes #39

By Jim Shooter (writer), Francis Manapul (pencils), Livesay (inks), Jo Smith (colors)

The Legion is reeling after barely winning the battle on Triton last issue. The win has come at a high cost. The team is completely fragmented with problems galore piling up. Even the most mundane of chores has become hazardous for the team. And from the looks of it, things are about to become much worse before they get better.

For one, the press is having a field day with the Legion on Triton, blaming the property damage on the team’s “incompetence”. Projectra is a princess without a homeworld. Her anguish has done little to improve her image as she’s gone into severe debt, losing everything she owns. Even a small rat infestation goes awry for Colossal Boy has he gets owned by a bunch of biker thugs. On top of all this, someone’s infiltrated the Legion’s headquarters and is closely monitoring this chain of events.

With all the bad stuff going on, it was kind of hard to enjoy this issue. Sure, there are a few moments like Projectra scaring some looters away and Ultra Boy landing some big punches, but much like the team, this issue feels a little disjointed. I think the team is just in too many places at once and because of this, we’re not getting as much as we should. Hopefully, next issue’s story will be more centralized.

My biggest beef with this issue is the constant displaying of headquarter’s computer screen. It’s in way too many pages. After the second time I had had enough and just skipped over it whenever it showed up. Francis Manapul’s art is excellent, once again, and he does the best he can with the script he’s given. Just stop making him draw computer screens! Enough’s enough!  (Grade: C)

– J. Montes