Titans #7 - DC Comics

TITANS No. 7, March 2024

Quite neatly bringing Tempest back into the family fold of the Titans, whilst simultaneously dispatching Brother Eternity rather fittingly to the Phantom Zone, Tom Taylor’s script for “Royal Blood” certainly seems to tick all the boxes needed for a successful comic book. Indeed, the Melbourne-born writer manages to imbue his twenty-page plot with a healthy dose of adrenalin-fuelled action as Batgirl single-handedly battles a horde of humanoid animal creatures, some distinctly dark decision-making on behalf of Raven, and even a smidgeon of tongue-in-cheek fun with the ever-dashing Dick Grayson being temporarily transformed into a red-furred specimen of Vulpes vulpes; “Nightwing is a fox. Of course he is.”

Sadly however, much of this publication’s impact is arguably lessened by just how easily the superhero team defeats its foes, starting with “the first Aqualad” - who is almost entirely dismissed by Rachel Roth’s alter-ego during their confrontation, and quickly laid low courtesy of a “flash dehydration”. Likewise, this long-running narrative’s main protagonist, the treacherous Tamaranean Xand’r, appears to completely fail in his plan to command the technologically-advanced Cyborg into doing his evil bidding, and is unflatteringly clobbered unconscious with a single punch from Starfire.

This sense of underwhelming achievement even debatably extends to the savage, seething mass of monsters who recently broke into the team’s base of operations and appeared to be on the verge of clawing all its occupants into tiny pieces. Rather than generate any lasting threat, at least once Barabara Gordon is shown bravely battling a trio of these nightmarishly fanged creatures in a partially submerged corridor, the audience are simply assured that the Flash has “rounded up all the beast people in the tower and contained them in the sub-basement.”

Ultimately, a lot of this lack of urgency or raw energy, may well lay at the feet of artist Travis Moore and colorist Tamra Bonvillain. There’s little doubt that the pair do a perfectly proficient job in depicting this book’s storyline, with Batgirl’s aforementioned fight whilst being waist-deep in water probably proving its highlight. Yet, there’s just something about the somewhat flat-looking, listless layouts which frustratingly doesn’t appear to imbue the panels with much in the way of palpable dynamism.

The regular cover art of "TITANS" #7 by Clayton Henry & Marcelo Maiolo