Teen Titans #21
DC Comics
Written by: Adam Glass
Art by: Bernard Chang
Colors by: Marcelo Maiolo
Letters by: Rob Leigh
Teen Titans #21 has a tonal problem. I greatly enjoyed the previous issue of Teen Titans and the potential of this new team, however, this issue was troubled. I picked up and put down this issue four times because I did not want to read it anymore. The story isn’t terrible but it cannot decide if it wants to be gritty or lighthearted fun.
Those two tones can mesh well together and have in previous runs like Dick Grayson’s run as Batman or even Tom King’s current run on the Dark Knight. However, here the characters here all seem disjointed.
The issue sees the new Teen Titans taking on Gizmo. The majority of the issue focuses on Billy Wu’s, Roadhouse, point of view and how he sees his fellow Teen Titans. This character immediately reminded me of “Super Dan” from Brooklyn 99. However, he isn’t a parody, he’s a real character on a real superhero team. He tries desperately to be funny but the jokes don’t land.
The most interesting character so far as been Djinn. However, I worry based on this issue that her story will be furtherment of other characters, particularly Damian. However, her design, dynamic with the team, and personality remain to be my favorite part of this book.
Most of the art in this issue feels like a caricature drawing. The faces, particularly the lips of characters, are over-exaggerated. The coloring is well done and the brightness adds to the redesigns of a lot of the Teen Titans.
Overall, I hope as this series progresses the team dynamic gets better and feels less forced but I cannot in good faith recommend this issue.