Blackest Night: Titans #3 – Review

by JT Krul (writer), Ed Benes (art), Rex Ogle (assistant editor), Brian Cunningham and Eddie Berganza (editors)

The Story: The Titans are trapped in a massive slugfest with the dead.

What’s Good: Krul did a great job of tying a lot of the feeling of Blackest Night together. Blackest Night is about making every hero in the DCU feel loss, regret, horror and despair, as much as humanly possible, and then seeing how they react. Donna Troy turns out to be a serious badass. You can tell that Krul got James Robinson’s memo that Donna Troy is going to be a major heavy in his new JLA in January, because she’s a major heavy in this one. She’s a great hero. She feels pain, regret and sorrow, but she does what she has to do to lead her friends out of the darkness. It’s a great show. Krul also worked with Gar, the perennial loser at love, who regrets and yet still loves, even though he feels stupid about who he still loves. Krul has caught something important about love here. You don’t get to pick who. Love doesn’t make sense, but you still have to deal with it. Gar’s arc in this book is great to watch. On the writing and story, I finally have to say that I love that they found a new weapon to use against the Black Lanterns. They found two in Blackest Night: Superman, one here, and one in the main Blackest Night series, so I’m feeling a bit of hope.

On the art, I know some people don’t like Benes’ stuff. He likes to draw beautiful people. But even if Donna Troy’s neckline seemed to plunge especially low in this issue, every panel told the story clearly and cleanly. At no time did I have to ask myself what was going on. Everyone, hero and zombie, had a distinctive look, even if half the cast was colored with gray tones. And Benes delivered a few great visions. Garfield, as a bear or a dinosaur, turns out to be pretty effective at kicking zombie tail. Donna Troy’s hands turn out to be WMDs against these villains, even if the villains come back two minutes later.

What’s Not So Good: Okay, I’ll take a shot at the necklines. Donna Troy’s almost reaches her navel and Starfire’s costume looks like it got left in the drier too long. I know that companies have to push up (pun intended) sales to pubescent boys, but when heroines are over-sexualized for reasons that have nothing to do with the story (there are many examples in many comics), it takes away from the story. That’s the definition of gratuitous, plain and simple.

Conclusion: Krul and Benes delivered a very fine conclusion to this miniseries. Gar and Donna went through some heart-rending experiences that will change them as people. If you are fans of those characters, then this miniseries matters to you. And if you are not, you will be by the end of this book. Recommended.

Grade: B+

-DS Arsenault